Faster Work, Stronger Landscapes

Reviving Florida Soil, Saving Water, Keeping Employees
Safe & Doubling Revenues with Mulch Mate

Do you remember the last time you found yourself shoveling material out of a truck bed or trailer? Can you fathom doing that all day, every day, to keep up with the changing needs of your customers? Despite how simple the task may seem from an outside perspective, this can be an extremely physically demanding job, even in ideal weather conditions. Add in record-high summer heat, and the task becomes more dangerous by the hour.

“Imagine standing inside of an aluminum truck body and shoveling mulch while the sun is reflecting off that aluminum,” says Nick Carlson, former landscape business owner and current founder and CEO of Mulch Mate. “You’re literally standing in an oven and most people, until they experience that, don’t think about it. They’re not going to realize how high of a safety risk and liability situation they’re creating.”

Nick is a self-proclaimed landscaping problem solver. Out of his collection of ground-breaking products, the Mulch Mate DS1000 and DMT Mulch Mate Trailer are specifically designed to eliminate the shoveling process when unloading mulch, gravel, compost and more on the job. A tarping mechanism pulls material and feeds it directly into wheelbarrows, saving landscape companies time and reducing the amount of labor needed to finish a yard.

Being the first of Nick’s many inventions, the original Mulch Mate concept was simply meant to fill an efficiency gap he witnessed with his own landscaping company that he recognized as a source of tension between members of his team. He knew he needed to do something to increase the job satisfaction of his employees and keep things moving. Unbeknownst to him, the need for Mulch Mate trucks and trailers would extend far beyond what he could envision at the time.

"I never would have thought that this machine
that I initially developed for mulch would
turn into this all-encompassing solution."

“I’m just a landscaper with no credentials. My name’s not Nick Toro or John Deere. I’m coming out of nowhere. I developed this product. I have to make it undeniable and make every detail perfect so people can have some faith in us. Now, we’ve got the industry’s faith and trust. We’ve been around, we’re not going anywhere.,” Nick says.

Like Nick, when SYNKD began gathering information to write this article on Mulch Mate, we had no idea how deep this story would go. There is a treasure trove of writing material contained just on the Mulch Mate website (www.mulchmateusa.com) and speaking with Nick, hearing his passion for identifying and resolving pain points within everyday tasks, unlocked a plethora of hard-hitting questions on the future of the landscaping industry across the country. The original plan was to speak with Nick and his customers to highlight a product line that, while incredibly revolutionary, seemed to require little explanation. Then, as we began our customer interviews, we quickly realized that Mulch Mate is an integral part of a much larger story, not just about doubling revenues and keeping employees safe, but about reviving soil, rethinking development practices and preserving water, particularly in the state of Florida.

Florida’s subsoil is dry and inert. It doesn’t hold water well, and it lacks the nutrients, microbes and organic matter that nurture prospering plants. On top of this, and in part because the state is experiencing unprecedented development rates, the soil is constantly being compacted in residential areas, leading to poor aeration and root penetration. Illinformed Floridians have attempted to put an expensive bandaid over this problem by watering excessively and using disproportionate amounts of pesticides and fertilizers, leading to harmful red algae blooms and other unintended environmental consequences. As bleak as the situation may seem, the key to fortifying Florida landscapes is surprisingly straightforward and manageable with a Mulch Mate truck or trailer on hand.

“You can do top-dressing year-round in Florida,” explains Joey Mckinny of Mckinney Landscapes. “You’re basically amending the soil. When they build a house down here, it’s on ground-up shell, hardpan and stuff like that. Oftentimes, they just lay sod right on that. Then, I’m bringing in really good compost with my Mulch Mate to put on top of it. If I can get under the grass before they lay it, that’s awesome. But I can also, right after they lay it, add that compost which will work its way through that grass and into the soil.”

The compost of choice for all top-dressing Mulch Mate customers we spoke with is called COMAND by Life Soils. In addition to the carefully researched structural, nutritional and biological soil amending attributes, according to Darren Midlane, vice president and chief technical officer of Life Soils, what makes COMAND unique is the innovative composting methodology that reduces labor and retains more nutrients than other options.

“We had a broken sprinkler in a customer’s lawn, and it had been broken for a while, Josh Harding of Cardinal Solutions recalls. “There was a huge washout around the pipe, and all I had was a bag of COMAND in my truck that I’d never used before. So I dumped it in the hole, and I filled it in. Then, we came back two or three weeks later for a followup visit. The growth habit of that turf, how it repaired around that sprinkler and just pushed out some of the healthiest grass, much higher than the other grass next to it, what a huge eye-opener. I’m thinking, Wow, how can I put down more? How do I apply it in wider areas? The answer was Mulch Mate.”

Another remarkable benefit of COMAND compost is the improved water retention properties the product adds to the soil. Darren and Territory Manager and Soil Ecosystem Restoration Specialist at Life Soils Mark Singleton provided many insights on water conservation in Florida. It is a topic to revisit at our 2024 SYNKD Live event this February in Atlanta with Life Soils, the Mulch Mate crew and their loyal customers.

Our repeated discussions about top-dressing in Florida highlight the importance of communication across the design, build and maintain sectors. It is astonishing to think that a short conversation between a soil restoration expert and a developer could avoid so many environmental ramifications and unnecessary expenses for Florida homeowners wanting to enjoy their yards. Regardless of the Mulch Mate application, though, it is refreshing to hear how involved Nick strives to be in finding the right solution for his customers, no matter the cost to his business.

“I lost the remote controls for the unit a couple of weeks ago, called Nick at Mulch Mate up and said, ‘Hey I need some remotes. Just bill me, but please send them overnight,’” Tom O’Brien of Oxford Lawn remarks. “He just shipped them out. We haven’t even seen a bill for it. I don’t think he’s going to send one. He just really does treat people well, and we would not be able to do the level or quantity of work that we are doing if it wasn’t for Mulch Mate and how fast that thing lets us get through a yard. It’s that speed that has made the profit margins incredible.”

The way Nick and his happy customers see it, these products could easily replace the work of one or two employees depending on the use. You may find that the price of your Mulch Mate truck or trailer is comparable to an employee salary—without the liability, the sick days or sudden quitting risk. Nick views his products as high-quality solutions unlike anything on the market, and the results described by his customers are extraordinary.

Get In Touch With...

Nick Carlson
Founder & CEO of Mulch Mate

Email: nick@mulchmateusa.com
Phone: (888) 776–8524
mulchmateusa.com