Good Neighbor Podcast South Charlotte
Bringing Together Local Businesses and Neighbors of South Charlotte.
Good Neighbor Podcast South Charlotte
Ep. #78 Transforming Outdoor Spaces: Richard Laney's Journey and Expertise in Custom Landscaping
Richard Laney, a seasoned expert with 27 years in the landscaping industry, shares his inspiring journey from mowing lawns as a young boy in Monroe, North Carolina, to becoming a master landscaper. Raised in a family steeped in the landscaping and contracting trades, Richard was profoundly influenced by his grandfather and uncles, who helped him hone his skills and passion for machinery. This episode is a treasure trove of insights as Richard discusses his decision to focus exclusively on landscaping, particularly custom projects that transform outdoor spaces into personalized retreats for homeowners.
Join us as we explore the diverse services offered by Richard Laney Landscaping, from grading and drainage to creating enchanting outdoor spaces complete with fireplaces, kitchenettes, and lighting. Richard's one-stop-shop approach has made his business a go-to for clients who seek tailored solutions, even when they aren't entirely sure of their vision. He takes pride in understanding clients' intentions for their spaces and providing expert guidance to bring their outdoor dreams to life. Whether you're a gardening enthusiast or contemplating a backyard makeover, Richard's expertise and enthusiasm for his craft will surely kindle your imagination.
Richard Laney Landscaping INC.
Richard Laney
Indian Trail, NC 28079
(704) 201-7349
richard.laney@yahoo.com
laneylandscaping.biz
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Regina Lee.
Speaker 2:Welcome everybody to another episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast. My name is Regina and I own South Charlotte Media Group, and what I love to do is introduce you guys to new business owners or business owners in our area. Today I have Richard Laney Landscaping Richard, and you are not new. You've been around 27 years. Welcome.
Speaker 3:Yes, thank you.
Speaker 2:It is so nice to finally meet you. I have heard your name for years because I'm a master gardener. I used to own a garden center and I love the world you get to work in. You're very blessed. So tell us a little bit about you, your upbringing, where you're from and then how you got into this industry.
Speaker 3:Well, I'm originally born and raised in Monroe. I was adopted, so were my two siblings, and as I grew up I just liked to be outside. I had a couple of little yards. I would mow the neighbors and, yeah, made a little cash and I loved doing it. It was fun.
Speaker 2:But what inspired you? Most kids. You have to drag them to mow your parents' grass. I know I was tortured with trimmers back in the day. How did you know that's what you wanted to do?
Speaker 3:I just I love doing it and I just grew from there. I just started. I was really kind of self-taught. My grandfather was a landscaper and my dad and uncles were. They worked for some contractors and I helped them out and learned the ropes, basically mostly about machinery, and as I got older I just wanted to do landscaping and they were in the septic tank business as well too, and I just decided I wanted to just be in landscaping and mostly custom stuff, working directly with the homeowner.
Speaker 2:How old were you when you started digging in the dirt?
Speaker 3:Started digging in the dirt, probably about eight or 10, less. I don't remember not doing it. Yeah, so yeah.
Speaker 2:What was the first piece of equipment you learned to drive?
Speaker 3:That's going to be a running lawnmower.
Speaker 2:Oh okay. That was torture, probably when you had to mow the lawn.
Speaker 3:Yeah Well, I was used to pushing a mower. Me and my brother were so small it would take both of us to push the mower. So when we got on a riding mower, you thought you were on this massive tractor and had to sit down and do the same job, and we thought we were in heaven and had to sit down and do the same job and we thought we were in heaven, oh God.
Speaker 2:Well, and looking at your website and the projects you work on, you guys move some big dirt, big boulders, a lot of heavy, heavy things. So let's talk a little bit about the landscaping business you own and the services you provide. Kind of give us an overview of what you do and the services you provide.
Speaker 3:Kind of give us an overview of what you do. So yeah, we basically come in and give estimates and get started that way with before and afters. Just say, there's a customer that's got a wooden deck in the backyard. We can we tear those down? Most of our jobs are actually in the backyard, so a good bit I'd say nine out of 10, we'd like tear a deck down. We'd do the drainage, taking the downspout pots and burying those and getting the drainage away from the house, doing grading a stoop or a raised patio, and then come down and like do pavers, retaining walls, seating walls. We do outdoor fireplaces and outdoor kitchenettes, grills, fire pits, seating walls, the plant material. We'll do the irrigation then and then the outdoor lighting and then do a nice mulch and then we do sod as well too. It's basically a one-stop shop.
Speaker 2:Do you find that most people have a vision or come with photos, or do you find that you coming up with ideas? What does your process look like?
Speaker 3:I would say seven out of 10 people do not know what they really want, which I enjoy. Yeah, I enjoy that part. Hey, I let the customer tell me what they're trying to get out of it and how they're going to use the space, and then we'll go in there and go hey, you need X, y and Z and this is what. And we'll give them two or three options on how to get there, and then ours is a la carte, so they can choose how they want to go about it if they want to do it all at once, or if they want to do it one season now and wait one or two seasons and do something else, and so forth yeah, yeah, take baby steps.
Speaker 2:That that's probably why, well, the homes in this area and lawns are so beautiful. Um, you're very. I bet there's just some great jobs. Describe one of your favorite jobs, the transformation you made with the project.
Speaker 3:I've got several in mind, but the one job that's the biggest transformation would have to probably be the biggest I've ever done in my career. It was 1,600 square facial feet of retained wall blocks. So just to give an idea about that, each pallet only has 44 blocks on it. So 1,600 blocks and one of the walls was 13 feet tall, the other one was about 9 feet tall and it created the side and the back and part of the front of this property for a customer Before it. Just it was sloped off really, really heavily and we basically created a front and a side yard for this customer. That was not there at all. It just sloped off into into nowhere.
Speaker 2:So yeah, so you had to bring in a ton of dirt then as well into nowhere, so you had to bring in a ton of dirt then as well, a lot of block, a lot of gravel, a lot of field dirt.
Speaker 3:Yes, Is that one of your areas of expertise? Yeah, retainer walls I've been doing for for years. Now We've got two. My two tallest walls are in Charlotte. One's 27 feet tall and one's 24 feet tall, so I'm pretty proud about that. They're still standing and they've been there. One's been up there for 22 years, oh my.
Speaker 2:God, you know there's a lot of that needed in Charlotte and you cannot. There's a lot that aren't done well, so congrats on being able to do that and have them be sturdy and stand up. What are you most proud of with your company and having it so long?
Speaker 3:What am I most proud of now is actually my employees. It's hard to find good, steady employees, people that really care and like our office manager now is amazing. Yeah, I couldn't ask for any better. If it wasn't for great employees, you wouldn't get anywhere because it's hard and I've done all of it myself before and it's not easy. And it reduces you, it puts you in a box. It's hard to grow like that and get all the work done.
Speaker 2:Right, right and have people be loyal and it. You know it's so weather dependent too what you do. Some of these projects, when we get endless days or weeks of rain, can really really be challenging.
Speaker 3:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Well, it has been a pleasure talking to you when you're not doing this work. What do you like to do for fun?
Speaker 3:I like I'm just a good old Southern boy so I like guns, God, cars, my family and yeah.
Speaker 2:That is so fun. I love that. A good old Southern boy.
Speaker 3:Well.
Speaker 2:Richard, it's a pleasure speaking with you today and I look forward to seeing you out in the community at some point.
Speaker 3:Thank you, Regina.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPSouthCharlottecom. That's GNPSouthCharlottecom. That's GNPSouthCharlottecom, or call 980-351-5719.