Did you know April is Water Conservation Month? With all the ways you can save money on your water bill by reducing the amount of water you use, it should be called “How to Reduce Your Water Bill” Month.

One of the most important ways to reduce the amount of water you use is by inspecting your irrigation system frequently to make sure you don’t have any broken sprinkler heads that are just gushing water. In addition to that, here are a few other tips that will help you conserve water this month:

1. Water at the right time. Most areas have watering restrictions that tell you what days and times you can water – find out what yours are by visiting your local water management district’s website or giving them a call.
2. Set your timers. Watering needs change with each season. Make sure your system is set to provide the right amount of water by season.
3. Give your lawn the right coverage. Your sprinklers should each be spraying all the way to the next one to get proper coverage. Also, make sure the water is actually landing on plants, grass and shrubs – not the pavement or sidewalk.
4. Use a rain sensor. The best way to find out if your lawn received the right amount of water from a recent rainfall is by using a rain gauge. Plus, be sure a rain sensor is installed with your irrigation system so it shuts off when rainfall occurs.

These are just a few tips we can offer you on how to conserve water this month. For more info, check out the St. Johns River Management District website.

Massey Services truly believes in giving back to the local communities that we serve. Today team members went casual for a good cause. All who wanted to wear their favorite pair of jeans to work were encouraged to donate a few bucks to Junior Achievement. We ended up raising over $350 in just ONE DAY! Great job team!

JA is dedicated to educating students on workforce readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy through experiential, hands-on programs. And it’s an organization that we are proud to cheer on - in more ways than one. Massey supports JA not only through Jeans Days, but also with an annual Bowl-a-Thon for Team Members and volunteer programs that utilize Massey’s finest to teach students in local schools through experiential, hands-on programs.

For more information about JA and how you can get involved, visit http://www.ja.org

Bob Belmont, Massey’s Training & Technical Director and a Board Certified Entomologist, recently walked the grounds of the Central Florida Zoo with Sandi Linn, the Zoo’s Director of Education, scoping out the best spot to place a special insect trap. In partnership with the Zoo, Massey will soon begin an insect biodiversity study that will hopefully lead to a complete biodiversity study of the entire zoo grounds.

Massey’s eco-friendly insect trap (similar to the one on the right that Bob has behind his own moth lab in Sanford, Fla.) will randomly attract night-flying insects to a walk-in screened cage. The special trap allows for the collection of a few bugs and the release of other insects during the day. Massey will be teaching interested Zoo employees how to run the trap, collect the samples, and then preserve and label the specimens to be of scientific value. Various other trapping methods will also be utilized throughout the year.

The Zoo will learn a great deal from this study about their local insect fauna and will begin to better understand insects, their food plants and adult flight periods. The published data will also likely spur similar studies and attract local and out-of-state scientists to the location.

Thanks Bob! We look forward to hearing more about this study as it progresses.

This weekend (April 9^th thru 11^th) is the perfect time to spring into gear and get a free, no-obligation inspection for Pest Prevention, Termite Protection, GreenUP Landscape Services (including renovation for freeze-damaged landscapes) and Irrigation Maintenance and save big!

There is no obligation to have one of our trained inspectors come to your home and provide you with a free home and lawn inspection. And to make the deal even sweeter, we are offering some AMAZING SAVINGS- this weekend only!

If you are interested in purchasing one of our great services – now is the time! Spring is here and these savings only happen once a year.

To schedule your free inspection for this weekend, click here or call us at 1-888-2MASSEY (262-7739) today!

Please share this exciting news with your co-workers, family, friends and neighbors that may be interested. Existing customers can take advantage of our Pass It On referral program and earn a Publix gift card for yourself AND every new Massey customer that you refer!

Jeff Buhler

You may remember our post a couple weeks ago about Ed Dougherty being promoted to Executive Vice President Consumer Services. Well, we’ve had a few more promotions that we just had to announce!

Jeff Buhler has been promoted to Executive Vice President of Landscape Services! Jeff was previously the Vice President of Operations at Middleton Lawn & Pest Control. We are very excited to welcome Jeff to Massey and look forward to the leadership that he will bring to our Landscape Services Division!

Paul Giordano

Paul Giordano has been promoted to Vice President of the PrevenTech Commercial Services Division. Paul was previously the Divisional Manager of our PrevenTech Commercial Services Division. We are confident he will keep providing outstanding service to our customers and strong leadership to our team!

Mike Swanson

Mike Swanson and Greg Kopplow have both been promoted to Regional Managers of our GreenUP East and GreenUP West Divisions, respectively. Greg and Mike were both Regional Managers at Middleton Lawn & Pest Control before joining the Massey Services family. Both bring extensive experience and expertise, and we’re lucky to have them on the team!

Greg Kopplow

We’re just so proud of our team that we couldn’t keep this information quiet! Please join us in congratulating them.

I don’t know about you, but I am more excited about the arrival of Spring this year than ever before. And though I personally suffered by losing my precious one hour of sleep last weekend when the time changed, I am loving the extra sunlight every evening.

 After enduring the freezing temperatures of January and February, I am chomping at the bit to spend some quality time outside with my family. I’m looking forward to weekend barbeques, walks at the park, planting spring flowers and tomato plants, hitting the beach and getting the pool ready for summer. One of my favorite annual traditions that pops up every year is a night out with my gal pals at the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra’s Concert at the Springs. If you live in the Orlando area and have never attended this, you are missing out!

 Another special springtime tradition in my family (started by my super-fun dad) is making our own bubble mixture and getting outside for the simple pleasure of just blowing some bubbles. Kids love bubbles and here’s a site with a simple recipe to get your bubble party started, as well as links to some other fun Spring crafts, games and activities for your family.

 Enjoy your Spring!!

Last month, we reached another milestone in our company history – our 25th Anniversary! Harvey L. Massey purchased Walker Chemical & Exterminating on February 20, 1985 and ironically, we were able to celebrate on that very same day 25 years later at our Annual Awards Banquet, where we honored our top team members of the previous year.

In planning for this celebration, we pulled out old photographs and interviewed several team members that have been here since the beginning! We heard some amazing stories and saw some great pictures – some of them were hysterical but all of them had a great story behind them.

Moving forward, I can’t wait to see what the next 25 years brings to our company! Happy Anniversary Massey Services!

Remember back in November when we changed from daylight savings time back to eastern standard time? Remember how the watering restrictions changed with the time? Well, it’s time again to change the clocks and you know what that means…yep! Time for watering restrictions to change!

First thing you need to find out is what water management district you are in. Click here to find out. Next, you need to answer this question – do you live in the St. John’s Water Management District? If you answered yes, your watering rules change Sunday with the time.

Fortunately, the only change they’ve made are the days you can water – previously you could only water one day per week, now we can water two! Check the schedule below to see what days you can water on:

• Houses ending in an odd number (1,3,5,7,9) or that don’t have an address water on Wednesday & Saturday
• Houses ending in an even number (0,2,4,6,8) water on Thursday & Sunday

In case you have forgotten (I tend to forget), these rules still apply:

• Water no more than one hour per zone
• Water only when needed and not between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. This ensures water reaches the root zone and doesn’t evaporate before it’s had a chance to soak in

If you would like to visit the St. John’s Water Management District website, click here. And don’t forget – when you reset your clocks Sunday, reset those sprinklers too!

When I walked outside today I noticed something…my lawn and landscape are STILL yellow! You may have noticed something similar, too. If you’re anything like me, you may be wondering “Why does my lawn still look like this?” and “Will it come back to life?” Luckily, I can walk down the hallway and ask our resident Plant Doctor these questions. In case you don’t work down the hall from a Plant Doctor – here’s what he said:

Unfortunately – this questions don’t have just one answer. There are many types of ornamental plants, trees and grass that all have their own tolerances for heat, drought, temperature, moisture, etc. With respect to cold temperatures, they also have different reactions – some grass types go into a hibernation phase, called dormancy, and some just don’t deal well with cold weather and may end up dying.

With the return of warmer temperatures this week in most of Florida – and hopefully coming soon to our friends in Atlanta and Baton Rouge – lawns, trees and shrubs will begin to come out of their hibernation phase. Now is the time when it’s important to evaluate your landscape, determine what is growing back and what’s not, and then make plans to renovate your landscape.

So it looks like this St. Patrick’s day (one of my favorite holidays), finding a leprechaun may be easier than finding a green lawn – but be patient and keep an eye on your landscape!

We are pleased to announce the promotion of Ed Dougherty to Executive Vice President of Consumer Services for Massey Services. In this role, Ed will oversee all residential Service Center operations.

Ed has been a pest management professional for approximately 26 years, and he has worked for Massey Services for approximately 18 years. Prior to assuming his new position, Ed has served as the Vice President and Division Manager for Massey Services’ GreenUP Division as well as Vice President and Regional Manager of the Central Florida and Georgia regions.

“Ed has consistently demonstrated his commitment to service excellence and the growth of our company,” said Tony Massey. “His contributions within Massey Services span all aspects of our company, from residential pest prevention to commercial service to lawn care and irrigation.”

Ed began his career in the pest management industry after he received his B.B.A. in Marketing from Eastern Michigan University in 1984. He completed the Harvard Business School OPM Key Executives Program in 2004. He remains involved in the Central Florida community through commitment to Junior Achievement, Leadership Orlando and Florida Citrus Sports.