My first week was exciting, while riding with my mentor, I saw what managers do and how they handle the crews on a day to day basis. Learning how the managers worked helped me understand what was expected of them and their crews. My mentor is very supportive, he answers all my questions and helps me understand my role as an Intern.
Tom, my Mentor, manages the irrigation work also and I began working on some of these jobs for him in my second week. The previous summer I worked in Dallas, TX for a company doing residential irrigation repairs and trouble shooting. This is where I learned skills to benefit Tom as an irrigation helper. The scope of things I encounter here are larger in size compared to what I have in the past due to the commercial aspect, but for the most part, it all works the same. During my time with Austin Outdoor I replaced double checks, fixed broken pipes, replaced heads, located valves, replaced controllers, and more. I have loved every minute of it!
After running the irrigation truck for a while, I was put in charge of driving different maintenance trucks to fill in for various Crew Leaders. This was a new experience for me. I had never serviced a commercial property before and I had never even been to most of these properties. I gave it my best shot and each day I learned more and more about what to look for on the sites. Riding with different crews is beneficial because each crew would let me know how the regular Crew Leader would handle the property. From these experiences I learned the most efficient way to conduct day to day operations. Juan Carlos is a Crew Leader that sections his properties off in three week rotations. He does this because it is difficult to prune everything all in one day on a property. Every week the mowing, blowing, and edging would get done, but each week only a section would get pruned, sprayed, and weeded. After three weeks, it was time to do that section again. This system works great for keeping up with the property and not missing any areas.
Working for Austin Outdoor has taught me a lot about maintaining landscapes and I am grateful for the hands on experience I have received. A career with Austin Outdoor is something to consider if you are interested in landscape management. If you love working outdoors as much as I do and are looking for an internship or pursuing a career, I highly recommend Austin Outdoor!