We at Lawncierge believe that the field of landscaping in South Florida is set to be disrupted. You wouldn’t ordinarily consider landscaping and technology to be discussed in the same sentence, let alone consider such a common profession be susceptible to disruption at all. Advancements made in other fields are about to trickle down into lawn care and landscaping in South Florida which will yield tremendous improvements in how you interact with your landscaping company, and what they can do for you.

All of these technologies are currently being used in practice to help us improve your landscaping in South Florida, so if any of these are of particular interest to you then feel free to reach out to us to see how we can put these technologies to work for you and your home.

1. Drones and Drone Photography

Drones are an excellent tool for landscaping in South Florida. Drones enable exquisite aerial photographs of properties and lawns which can aid in the landscape design and initial job scoping processes. Drones can also be used to create a series of images over time to see how plants are growing, or spot seasonal or recurring drainage issues.

Note that like any technology, drones should be used properly to avoid legal penalties or other conflicts. Your drone must be registered with the FAA and all steps they enumerate must be followed or else face government penalties. Drones should also be operated only in areas where they are not restricted, which may be temporary as say, when a US President’s aircraft is flying into town. Property rights and the privacy of neighbors must also be respected when taking aerial photography.

2. Virtual Reality (“VR”)

A technique already in practice today, advanced modeling and design software allows users to create images in Virtual Reality. When we perform landscaping design services, our clients can use a headset (such as an Oculus) to see a three-dimensional mockup of what their beautified property will look like.

While virtual reality gives a more immersive experience, it does have its limitations. When used for landscaping in South Florida – such as in design services – it does only let you see the future vision and not compare that with the current status quo without taking off your headset. To that end, this can be remedied through Augmented Reality.

3. Augmented Reality (“AR”)

Augmented reality is a fantastic improvement to the process of landscaping in South Florida. Using augmented reality, a user can take their phone and put it in front of their home or lawn and using the model created by their landscaper, see what the work will look like after it’s done. We at Lawncierge have found that this is an extremely effective way of communicating our vision and proposals to clients looking to remake their lawn and landscapes.

4. Cryptocurrencies

We’ve spoken at length about the benefits that cryptocurrencies can bring to the world of landscaping in South Florida. In a nutshell, it helps the both client and landscapers. For clients who prefer to pay with cash or avoid banking and credit card fees, cryptocurrencies can be an easy way to pay for services that avoid these feeds. It also settles almost as fast as cash (depending on the cryptocurrency), and retains a digital paper trail that can be used to track past purchases. In other words, it’s like paying with cash with an immutable receipt. Employees can also get paid in cryptocurrency which some prefer to do to avoid predatory banking practices or sending remittances back to family and friends abroad without paying exorbitant money transfer fees.

5. Virtual Agents

Sometimes called chatbots, virtual agents are already starting to make appearance across the landscaping industry. Sometimes referred to as chatbots, these artificial intelligence communication platforms can be used to communicate different information with large numbers of people concurrently without a call center.

Some firms leverage chatbots to take orders and attempt to schedule deals with new clients. Note that we at Lawncierge do not use chatbots to communicate with our clients – we believe that a personal touch is necessary for the best working relationship.

On the other side of the house, chatbots can be used to coordinate employees. Chatbots can optimize routes, handle interruptions or unexpected deviations in a schedule to help mass coordinate staff. In these cases, they can be thought of as intelligent menus or ways to route you to information you need faster.

The other benefit of virtual agents is that you don’t need a stand alone platform to use them. They can be integrated into whatever communication medium (e.g. text, web, or even Alexa) such that the users can have access to their information and services without having to go anywhere to access them.