ILLUSTRATION BY EMILY WHANG / NEXTGENRADIO
The
Impact
of
Climate Change
In this project we are highlighting the experiences of people whose lives are being affected by climate change.
Kiara Demare speaks with John Buccos, the grounds maintenance manager for Panorama Coordinated Services in Longmont, Colorado. Buccos tells us how climate change has affected the landscaping industry. Wildfires and droughts have forced Buccos to adapt the way he and his staff work. From intense working hours, to rethinking installations, Buccos has been working towards sustainability and combating climate change within the landscaping industry.
Wildfires and drought: Climate change has forced a Colorado landscaper to adapt
Wildfires and drought: Climate change has forced a Colorado landscaper to adapt
Click here for audio transcript
John Buccos: (Lawnmower sounds) I got into landscaping because it’s something I love to do. There’s something about planting a tree that stays with you. It stemmed from a love of golf, and that turned into sort of a passion for turf healthcare.
My name is John Buccos and I am the director of maintenance operations at Panorama Landscape Service. I’ve been in the business for over 20 years, and I’ve been with Panorama for a little over 11.
(Lawn mower sounds)
We try to maintain a staff of about 40 to 50 employees full season. And then we bring up about 40 workers from Mexico via the H-2B work visa program.
Here in Colorado, working in July and August means working in a hundred degree temperature and it is just really physically taxing on my labor force.
I don’t have my guys work more than four days a week, so they have three days a week off to recover. And it’s difficult to work from say 10 a.m. to 4 or 5 p.m., so we try to get a bulk load of our work done early in the morning and then later in the day, and they could just do what they can during the middle part of the day.
That’s my number one concern, right? This is just landscaping. Human health is more important.
So I’m originally from the East Coast where it’s maybe a little more temperate, less fluctuations in climate. When I initially moved to the west, that’s when I noticed it right away.
Our seasonal transitions are becoming more and more dramatic, and we’re starting to see plants that did well in the past in Colorado not thriving, surviving, like they used to.
Ever since I’ve been here, every year I’ve noticed it’s been a little bit hotter, a little bit drier. It just seems to jump a little bit more every single year. We are having bouts of spell 70 degree weather in February. The spring seems to be encroaching on the winter and the summer seems to be encroaching on the spring. Right?
So the biggest effect that we’ve experienced here in Colorado recently from climate change is wildfire, right? We have these thunderstorms that don’t rain. We just have lightning striking dry forest and rolling over grassland.
We can’t stop fire from happening. We can’t stop lightning from striking during drought and we can’t make rainfall, but we can be proactive.
We can install landscapes that help combat fire jumping from house to house.
Xeriscaping, some people think it is only just putting rock in their yard and that is not the case. Xeriscaping is using water-wise plants – plants that store water rather than need to drink every single day – and also watering root systems underneath the ground – less water is used and it’s just more efficient. Where maybe we’re putting a tree canopy in your yard that shades your home, where you don’t have to use as much energy in your cooling bill.
It’s a part of the stew of the solution, right? There’s no one answer. No one thing we can do to our landscape to help combat climate change.
I don’t know how we’re gonna do in the future, but as we start to get away from gasoline and fuel, I hope that someone can come up with a battery that can withstand the beating that we have on our equipment on a daily basis.
We’ve experimented using some battery-operated backpack blowers and some battery-operated mowers. And they’re not commercial grade yet.
Our efforts are going to electric vehicles. No one’s thinking about landscaping, construction, and I don’t know how we’re gonna do it, but there’s gonna have to be a redirection of focus toward that.
I enjoy my work.I see myself doing this for 10, 20, more years.
I need to get out and get my fingernails dirty. And there’s just something about watching the work that you did just mature and become something beautiful.
When you initially stall a twig here and a rock there and a little tiny flower there out of the nursery, sometimes the plants don’t look great, but then I’ll drive by it eight years later and it’s huge and there’s birds flying around and there’s bees humming around the flowers and it’s just, it’s something that stays with you.
John Buccos arrives at his office each day by 4:30 a.m. He has to figure out scheduling for his 100 staff members, who need to start their day no later than 7:30 a.m. to beat the extreme midday heat.
“Fisherman and fireman hours,” Buccos said to describe his workday.
He’s worked as a landscape contractor for the last 20 years. He said that watching the landscape mature and develop has been the most rewarding part for him.
“There’s something about planting a tree that stays with you,” he said.
Throughout his time as a landscaper, he’s experienced the effects of climate change first-hand.
“Our seasonal transitions are becoming more and more dramatic. We’re starting to see plants that did well in the past in Colorado not thriving, surviving, like they used to,” Buccos said.
John Buccos, the grounds maintenance manager for Panorama Coordinated Services, stands in the company’s lawnmower shop. Aug. 8, 2022.
KIARA DEMARE / NEXTGENRADIO
THERE’S NO ONE ANSWER, NO ONE THING WE CAN DO TO OUR LANDSCAPE TO HELP COMBAT CLIMATE CHANGE… IT’S LIKE A STEW.
As the ground maintenance manager for Panorama Coordinated Services in Longmont, Buccos said climate change forced him to adapt. He adjusts the hours his staff works, implements plants that will continue to survive in Colorado and contemplates the future of the industry.
“There’s no one answer, no one thing we can do to our landscape to help combat climate change,” Buccos said. “It’s like a stew.”
For Buccos, one of the most important aspects is keeping his staff safe. His staff has a four-day work week and takes breaks in the middle of the day when temperatures are higher.
“This is just landscaping. Human health is more important,” he said.
Another aspect of Buccos’s job is customer service. To keep clients happy, he has to have an in-depth understanding of Colorado’s climate and its challenges — drought, wildfires and flooding.
“Colorado’s a desirable place to live. Denver’s a great city. The mountains here are beautiful. You can ski and golf on the same day,” the golf fanatic turned turf professional said.
But as the state sees more transplants, Buccos said he has worked with multiple people who want to bring pieces of their home state with them through plants.
Cristo Noe Arrellano Cerceda (left) and Juan Carlos Medina work throughout the day covered head to toe in clothes for protection. Aug. 8, 2022.
KIARA DEMARE / NEXTGENRADIO
“They’re really trying to force a square peg. And [the plants] just don’t do well here,” he said.
Buccos advises them to choose Colorado’s native plants, like Cottonwood, Buffalo Grass and Juniper.
“[Those plants] have gone through these changes,” he said. “They’ve earned the right to live here.”
Buccos’s employer, Panorama, is located in Boulder County, which saw the most destructive wildfire in state history last year. The Marshall Fire shocked Colorado as it destroyed more than 6,000 acres.
“The Oak tree was the most fire resistant of all the species that I saw there. It’s drought resistant, it does very well during season transitions and it’s just hardy,” Buccos said, adding that the fire has changed how he views landscaping.
Panorama Coordinated Services in Longmont Colorado is one of the largest landscaping companies based in Boulder County. Aug. 8, 2022.
KIARA DEMARE / NEXTGENRADIO
He tells his crew members to clean up debris around homes and is more conscious of landscape designs that are more fire resistant, like xeriscape. It’s a style of landscape that minimizes water use. Buccos said he also encourages clients to utilize systems like underground irrigation, install plants that retain water and avoid mulch.
Buccos said he and his team continue to learn.
“Climate change is something we’re gonna all have to deal with, right? It’s becoming more and more apparent,” he said.
While Buccos said he doesn’t know a lot of what the future of landscaping holds, he hopes the industry moves away from fossil fuels.
“I don’t know how we’re gonna do it, but we’re gonna have to,” Buccos said of the advancements in electric vehicles. “No one’s thinking about the other industries like landscaping, construction, and at some point that discussion’s gonna have to be had, and there’s gonna have to be a redirection of focus toward that.”
CLIMATE CHANGE IS SOMETHING WE’RE ALL GONNA HAVE TO DEAL WITH, RIGHT? IT’S BECOMING MORE AND MORE APPARENT.
Despite his uncertainty about how to solve climate change through landscaping, Buccos doesn’t see himself leaving the industry for many years to come.
“I’ve seen employees grow up, get married and have kids. It’s been great to watch how the guys have developed. And there’s just something about watching the work that you did or installed in the past, just mature and become something beautiful.” Buccos said. “They both grow. Humans grow and the landscape grows.”
Miguel Angel Rodriguez Caldera works maintenance on a lawnmower while Antonio Lara Garcia works at the bench inside Panorama Coordinated Services’ workshop. Aug. 8, 2022.
KIARA DEMARE / NEXTGENRADIO