Landscaper Tradition

Happy Dove Season, My Friends, Family Members and Dear Clients!

It happens every year.

Right around Labor Day weekend, dove season opens here in my home state of Georgia. And for the Bass family, that means more than grabbing a shotgun and heading to the field.

It means tradition.

Three generations of our family have participated in dove season – together for decades. Here’s a picture to show you what I’m talking about.

Pictured above left to right: Maxx (son), Tony & Buddy Bass (my Dad) and Joe Lashley (my nephew).

We lost my Dad on June 17, 2026. So this photo of our past hunting memories means the world to me, Maxx & Joseph.

But the hunt is only part of it. The dove harvest leads to another Bass family tradition—a big family meal.

And everybody has a job.

We all chip-in and clean the birds. Somebody washes and prepares the meat. Somebody gathers the groceries. Mama and others cook. And if you’re lucky, somebody else cleans up the kitchen!

Here’s another photo to show you what a dove cleaning session looks like from inside my Dad’s legendary shop.

The team gathers around the harvested birds, we remove the feathers and guts. Then the meat is ready for final cleaning. Even though the process requires work, this has never felt like work. The time together is pure joy in my book.

Now, I know hunting isn’t everybody’s cup of tea. That’s okay.

But after nearly four decades working around lawn and landscape contractors, I’ve noticed something: landscapers tend to be outdoor people.

We hunt. We fish. We garden. We farm. We cook outside. We coach ball. We work on and work with equipment. We enjoy getting together with family and friends.

Maybe that’s part of the reason we became landscapers in the first place.

We’d rather smell fresh-cut grass and equipment fumes than carpet, vinyl floors or inside paint! So…get outside and have fun this labor day weekend!

Labor Day Means Another Tradition, Too

About the same time dove season arrives, another great southern tradition comes roaring back to life:

College football!

Lord have mercy.

Now we’ve got debates about players pursuing professional opportunities and whether they should be able to return to college competition. NIL money, transfer portals, eligibility rules—the college game sure doesn’t look like the game many of us grew up watching.

The old tradition of the pure amateur college athlete is changing right before our eyes.

And maybe there’s a business lesson buried in all this.

The one thing that is constant is change.

Equipment changes.

Employees change.

Customers change.

Technology changes.

Government regulations change.

And sooner or later, the way you’ve always done something will probably have to change, too.

But there are some things worth hanging onto.

Keep the Traditions. Improve the Business.

I hope this Labor Day weekend you keep some of your family traditions alive.

Take the kids hunting.

Go fishing.

Fire up the grill.

Watch your favorite football team.

Sit around the table and tell some of those old family stories one more time.

Because I’ve learned something as I’ve gotten older:

You can make more money. You cannot replace the people you love when they are gone.

Protect some traditions.

Create some new ones.

And make some memories with the people you love.

But when Tuesday morning rolls around, there’s another tradition I’d encourage every lawn and landscape business owner to maintain:

The relentless pursuit of improvement.

We’ve got to get better.

Better at estimating.

Better at pricing.

Better at organizing trucks and tools.

Better at finding and developing people.

Better at productivity.

And ultimately, we’ve got to get better at making a profit.

Because traditions can survive change.

But poorly run businesses usually don’t.

A profitable company gives you choices. It gives you the ability to invest in equipment, pay good people, survive the next downturn and—maybe most importantly—get away from the business long enough to enjoy the people you built the darn thing for in the first place.

So here’s to dove fields, football games, family dinners and a few traditions that are worth protecting.

From my family to yours…

Happy Labor Day!

And to all my hunting buddies out there—

Happy dove season!

Profit greatly,

Tony Bass, Founder

P.S. Another tradition is just a few weeks away—the Equip Exposition in Louisville, Kentucky. Our family and team at Super Lawn Trucks will be there showing off our newest lineup of trucks designed to help landscapers improve productivity, organize their crews and make the landscape job safer day in and day out.

If you’re headed to Louisville, come see us. We’d love to shake your hand.

If you have never been to the Equip Expo, you should go. It’s the right decision.