When you enter the Crystal Cathedral grounds in Garden Grove, California, the beautiful landscape setting isn’t the first thing that catches your eye. The Cathedral itself, with more than 10,000 tempered silver-colored glass windows, together with a towering spire and prayer chapel, provide plenty of visual interest.
Serving as the home base for the international Crystal Cathedral Ministries founded by Dr. Robert H. Schuller, the 40-acre grounds also feature a family life center, welcoming center, arboretum, memorial gardens and art gallery.
“The Cathedral campus is truly a work of art,” says Mark Rogers, president of Rogers & Company Landscapes Inc. in nearby Orange, California. “This may be the only property in the country where you can find the work of three award-winning architects sitting side-by-side. The turf grass and other landscape elements simply provide the framework.”
Learning the ropes After graduating with a degree in Ornamental Horticulture from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona in 1996, Rogers spent four years learning the industry, working for large golf course and landscape maintenance companies. Looking back, he says that each experience was really a paid internship.
“Working as an Assistant Golf Course Superintendent for one of the largest golf course companies in the world at the time, I learned the technicalities of how to keep turf lush, green and healthy. Later, as a supervisor with a large landscape company, I learned that maintaining properties was as much about operating a business as it was about operating equipment.
“From the time I was 12 and mowed my neighbors’ yards, I developed an interest in the green industry and an appreciation for being my own boss,” Rogers says. “From a very early age, I knew I wanted to run my own company some day.”
With the support of his wife, Diana, her teaching salary and an excellent business mentor in his father, Larry, Rogers launched his business in 2000. He purchased a new 26-hp Walker with a 48-inch GHS deck and 42-inch mulching deck, a new Wright Stander, and a covey of brand new handheld equipment. He loaded the lineup into a new Wells Cargo trailer and started to look for work.
“The outfit looked great, and the business plan was solid,” Rogers recalls, “but I didn’t have any accounts yet.” What the new owner did have, though, was an education, industry experience, and the ability to install and maintain irrigation systems, an important expertise in a water-challenged environment. He also liked to sell, and one account led to another. After a year in business, Rogers was given the opportunity to bid on maintaining the Crystal Cathedral campus.
In many ways, Rogers & Company and the Cathedral were a perfect fit. There were tons of turf to mow— upwards of 200,000 square feet a week—and the 50-year-old-property was equipped with tired irrigation systems in need of revitalization. The young company also had to operate within the parameters of the client’s ever-changing landscape budget, a skill Rogers refined early on.
Turf, water and business issues, all at one location. What more could Rogers ask for? He met the challenge head on, and immediately worked to build up the turf and initiate a program to upgrade the Cathedral’s irrigation system. When the budget permitted, his crew members added color to the grounds. When it didn’t, they looked for ways to make the most of what was already on site, all the time ensuring that the expanse of turf was green and lush.
“The same theory applies to almost any landscape,” Rogers goes on to say. “Great trees, color, water features and other landscape elements will go unnoticed if the turf isn’t well-maintained. Conversely, a well-maintained turf will complement and enhance its surroundings.”
The point is well taken. Looking around the grounds, the healthy turf provides a dramatic background for the award-winning architecture, water features and statues of Job and Christ as the Good Shepherd. The turf also neatly frames walkways throughout the grounds that are studded with marble plaques bearing short, inspirational Bible verses and the names of contributors.
Putting an exclamation point on how important turf care and maintenance is, Rogers accompanies the Walker Talk editor to the top of the Tower Chapel. “From this vantage, you can see where turf is starting to get stressed from lack of water,” he points out. “You can’t see the slight browning from ground level, but it’s as plain as day here. I require my crew leader to come up here once a week to help identify areas that need more water.”
Rogers looks out over the grounds. “Do you see the Italian Cypress trees that ring the parking lot?” he asks. “Dr. Schuller planted all 110 of them by hand. They used to be decorated with white lights for Christmas. For a couple of years, the lights were left in the trees all year long. When a contractor was asked to remove them, they were virtually ripped from the trees, taking the branches with them. One of our first jobs was to ‘nip and tuck’ the trees, tying the remaining bent branches back into shape. It worked.”
Rogers’ can-do attitude is what keeps his young business growing. “At the Cathedral, we have to be especially sensitive to funerals, weddings and other events that take place on a regular basis,” he notes. “You just have to work your schedule around them.”
Another challenge on the grounds is the soil. It’s all sand. “Turf and flowers can be lost in a day when one sprinkler head malfunctions,” Rogers points out. “We’re gradually updating the system, but there’s still work to be done, and our crew has to be constantly on the lookout for problem areas.”
The can-do attitude, though, can’t be done alone. Rogers works closely with the facility manager to ensure that the grounds continue to meet the Cathedral’s high standards. Rogers & Company also relies on suppliers like Eberhard Equipment in Santa Ana to keep the crews up and running.
In addition to the new walk-behind and his 48-inch Walker Mower, Rogers’ three maintenance crews operate a 48- inch Scag and 48-inch Lesco mid-size mower, along with a Scag Cougar zeroturn. The Scag mid-size is great, Rogers says, but the Cougar doesn’t compare to his Walker in terms of maneuverability, cut and reliability—all of which are critical for keeping that important green framework looking its very best.
During the week, Rogers has a fulltime crew working on the property. On mow day, the crew size may double or triple, depending on scheduled events at the Cathedral, which may alter the time allowed to operate the machinery. In the meantime, additional crews are out and about maintaining properties and doing installations, primarily for upscale office buildings, shopping centers and large estates.
After being in business nearly seven years, Rogers hasn’t lost sight of his beginnings. In fact, his very first employee, Alfonso, still works for him. Rogers continues to appreciate and recognize the contribution all team members make to the company and his clients’ properties.
He also continues to sell his knowledge, equipment and experience, and encourages others to pursue the profession. Every year his company gives several scholarships to students in pursuit of a green industry career.
Every beginning, Rogers adds, has a starting point. “When you operate your own business, there are a lot of little beginnings that add up to a solid operation.” One great beginning was his relationship with the Crystal Cathedral, a fact that does not go unappreciated. His company works just as hard today maintaining the property as it did six years ago.