Every property that you service – from a small residential installation to a Class A commercial property – has a cheese walk.

The cheese walk is where the homeowner walks her dogs, what the property manger sees when he looks out his window, where the executives (the big cheeses) park and walk into the building.

It’s the part of the property that is the most-seen by the most-important person.

I heard the term from Jim McCutcheon, owner of HighGrove Partners in Austell, Ga. His crews visit the cheese walk on some properties as many as 20 times a week.

“We have to understand our properties to that level,” he said. “If we screw up the cheese walk, we’re done.”

Before Next Level University got started yesterday, I sat down with Gary Mallory, owner of Heads Up Landscaping in Albuquerque, N.M.

Gary has played in more than 1,000 basketball games and coached more than 600, and told me he runs his company like he does his teams.

Here are his nine guiding team principles:

1. Have fun
2. The team’s goals are more important than the individual’s.
3. Never quit. Never give up. If things are tough, stopping isn’t going to make them any easier.
4. Don’t blame the ref. They may not do a good job, but it’s not their fault if you lose. It’s your own.
5. Know your role and master it. You may not be the star shooter, but you still play an important role in the team’s success.
6. The team needs to know the big picture. “Adults shouldn’t work their asses off and not know where they are,” Mallory said.
7. Be tough on your teammates, but don’t throw anyone under the bus.
8. Cheating is losing.
9. Be quick, but don’t hurry.

I’m on the road this week in Atlanta for Next Level University, the annual development meeting for the Next Level Network.

Before the meetings got started yesterday, I met up with David Bell, the owner at Lifescapes in Marietta, Ga.

Over a cup of coffee, he gave me a quick run down of his market conditions here in the southeast, and what he’s hoping to accomplish in 2012.

David’s company does mostly high-end residential maintenance (about 80 percent) and the rest design/build. With 11 crews headquartered in the city’s northern suburbs, he brings in about $2.5 million a year.

Last year, he rebounded from the recession and grew about nine percent. This year, he hopes to build on that and grow another 10 percent. The downturn in 2010 and 2011 forced him to become leaner and more efficient, which he says put him in the catbird seat for 2012.

He’ll do that, he says, thanks to a new focus on SEO marketing that has beefed up his list of leads. It’s also forced him to implement some more qualification questions that his office staff ask prospective clients.

He’s also brought on a landscape architect in house to bolster his design/build services for his existing client base.

He’s not banking on city’s exurbs boosting their spending – those “homes” are mostly still graded lots with survey stakes in the clay. Georgia ranks fourth in the nation for the rate of homes in foreclosure, behind only Nevada, California and Arizona.

Those foreclosures have put a lot of downward pressure on market prices in the Atlanta region. Coupled with raising costs for fuel, that makes for a very competitive market.

But Bell’s still looking at acquisitions, and is confident his niche of the residential market will stabilize through 2012.

So this mild winter has a Yahoo Music writer mowing his lawn when he should be sledding with his kids. And the mowing got him thinking…what are the best lawnmower songs? Below is his top 5; click the link for the rest. What’s your favorite lawnmower song?

1. Lawn Mower Man – Jon Barker

2. The Human Being Lawnmower – MC5

3. A Child and His Lawnmower – Dead Kennedys

4. Lawnmower – Los Straitjackets

5. Lawnmower Repair – Putnam Smith

Click here for the bottom 5.

One of my favorite days each month. Thanks @lawnlandscapetwitter.com/ChadsLandscape…

— Chad’s Landscape (@ChadsLandscape) February 17, 2012

Love to see stuff like this. Thanks, Chad!

You can read our February issue on screen here.

And if you don’t already have it, download our app for iOS and Android.

Here’s our weekly digest of cool internet stuff. Enjoy!

• Chris Heiler launches an online radio show.
• Ikea granite.
• Five tips on improving your local search results. (via @canyoncomm)
• Interview with Nike’s VP of sustainability. (via @waterguru2)
• Too much work is bad. Except when it’s good.
• Green construction is booming.
• A round-up of water rebates from across the country.
• Above: The concept of doughnut marketing, illustrated.

Sometimes companies spend so much time thinking outside of the box that they forget about the basics. Last week, I attended GROW! 2012. Joe Calloway said a simple sentence in a small discussion that quickly became a resonating and repetitive theme for the three-day event.

This is what he said:

“Be the best at what your customer values the most.”

Nothing about that is rocket science, right? It’s so simple, yet so true.

* If you need a constant reminder, apparently the image above can be found on posters,  mugs, gift cards, you name it.

When I was at CENTS last month, I attended a talk by James Urban on the science of urban soils. The soil underneath urban areas is getting a lot more attention these days, at least as much – if not more – than the concrete and steel above grade.

As Amy Biegelsen writes in the Atlantic:

Lately, though, the jungle has made a comeback as cities have begun investing in more ways to improve street trees and their soil. That’s partly thanks to growing enthusiasm for green infrastructure and landscape projects as economic development engines. It’s also due to federal regulations that require cities to draft and implement formal plans to keep storm water run-off from spreading pollutants and overburdening sewer systems. If rainwater can get back into the ground through by filtering through street tree soil, there’s less of it for the city to manage.

As any landscaper worth his salt knows, the surest way to guarantee the success of a plant is to guarantee the quality of hte soil it grows in.

For a good read on this, pick up Urban’s “Up by Roots,” where he outlines the basic techniques necessary to find, test and improve the soil in urban areas.

And check out the rest of the Atlantic article for an update on new systems that folks like Davey, Bartlett and other city-focused companies are using to ensure the urban canopy survives for the next generations of city dwellers.

For our forthcoming February issue, I talked with Joel Wihebrink, who runs a hardscape company in northern Indiana (and loves to fish).

Part of the story that didn’t make it into print was some of Joel’s advice on working with a stone supplier. His insight works for anyone dealing with a distributor or dealer, whether they’re buying rocks, iron or herbicide, so I wanted to share it here.

1. Do your homework. Find a manufacturer or dealer that thinks like you do when it comes to pricing and quality of product. Do they compete on price, or do they offer a higher-end line of supplies? Pick a distributor whose philosophy meshes with your own.
2. Build a relationship with a supply house. Joel buys mostly Belgard hardscape products, and that concentration of business gets him special treatment. His rep will often drive up from Indianapolis – a few hours away – to drop off product samples for customer presentations.
3. Take advantage of their education. The courses your dealer offers are a great way for you and your employees to learn more about specific product lines and techniques. Joel counts the classes he takes toward his ICPI certification, an extra designation many of his competitors don’t have.

Now, Joel buys a lot of stone – like multiple semi-trailer loads every season. But even if you buy your product ad hoc, you can still build a solid relationship with a distributor and gain some serious business advantages in the process.

Here’s our weekly collection of cool stuff. This one’s got Fibonacci in it!

• A quick guide on how to calculate water use and loss.
• The forgetable equipment in your garage.
• Better than networking: connecting.
• And the next level: How to be remembered.
• Are you an idea monkey?
• Above: Spirals, Fibonacci and the beautiful math of plants. (via @aquatrols)