Some pricing information, business strategy and how to use your extra leaf blowers to make high art. Have a great weekend.

• Find out what customers will pay.
• How to say no.
• Terrible social media advice. (via Chris Heiler)
• Sometimes you have to disappear to run your business better.
• The mother of all terraria.
• Above: Leaf blower portraits.

For your reading pleasure, here’s our latest collection of interesting stuff from the web. Have a great weekend!

• The richest metro areas in the United States.
• Top social media trends of 2013.
• Great training opportunity on tap in Colorado from L&L columnist Jim Huston.
• The latest edition of MOWmentum is live! Get it for iOS and Android tablets today.
• Learn how to best use local search.
• 5 invasive plants you can eat. (via Bates Nursery)
• Pantone releases its official color of 2013.
• Above: Bill and Ed discuss the foundation of a plan for profit.

I’m on the road to Columbus today, attending the OTF Show. Follow along on Facebook and Twitter.

Here’s our weekly digest of cool and interesting stuff. Happy reading, and we’ll see you next week!

• It’s now cheaper to buy than rent in America’s top 100 markets.
• See also: Trulia’s 2012 rent vs. buy report.
• New stats on who’s using smartphones.
• Also: New stats on online photo sharing.
• How office park landscapes can reduce water use. (via @BldgOpMgmt)
• Thinking about supermodels.
• Amazon fungi: Making it rain.
• Above: What you need to know about gross margins from the Harvest Group.

A lot of this list from Inc. leans pretty far into get off my lawn territory, but the main point is sound: Don’t assume someone is good at social media just because they weren’t alive during the Reagan administration.

6.  They may not understand your business.  You are handing the keys to your social media kingdom to a newcomer, but there’s plenty that they need to understand beyond the social tools themselves. What are the nuances of your products or services? What makes you stand out in the marketplace? What are the typical expectations of your customers? How do you troubleshoot issues or cajole customers into working a bit more with you? What does your company stand for? No new hire will be able to absorb these issues overnight, of course–but a brand-new graduate will have an even steeper learning curve.

I talk to a lot of contractors who put their kid in charge of their social media, or who say that they have a “young guy perfect for this stuff.”

We address this in our July cover story on how to build your social media team.

Scott Jamison, vice president at Bartlett Tree Experts and cyclist extraordinaire, sent me this note yesterday:

Not sure if you are aware of this green industry fundraising event. I am riding for the first time. 600 miles on a bike in and around the mountains of Portland, OR, for 7 days. I hesitate to send you my blog link after reading your social media issue that arrived yesterday, but here it is anyway. Going to try and keep posting during the ride.

On Sunday, Scott and dozens other tree lovers will set out on a seven-day bicycle tour through the woods and mountains of Oregon as part of the Stihl Tour des Trees. The ride raises money for the TREE Fund, one of the leading tree research and advocacy organizations the green industry has. Since its founding 20 years ago, the ride has pulled in more than $5 million.

You can follow Scott’s blog here. He’s on Twitter, too.

The folks who do this ride are dedicated to the industry and to the sport. They’re spending a week in the saddle, pedaling nearly 100 miles a day. And just to roll up to the start line, they had to pony up at least $3,500 for the fund.

So to Scott and the rest of the riders, I say good luck. I’ll pray for sunshine and a seven-day tailwind.

Here’s our round-up for the week.

• How some firms game Yelp reviews.
• 10 largest green roofs worldwide. See also: Our 2011 Green Roof Guide.
• Economic power of top U.S. cities, 1978 to now.
• Learn how to tumblr from Mr. Tumblr himself. Related: Bates Nursery is killing it on Tumblr.
• Above: Living wall installation at the Plaza Hotel in New York. (via @PIAgrows)

What software do you use to route your trucks?

How much do you charge customers for turf maintenance?

Which marketing works best?

At the L&L Linkedin group, 3,300 landscape contractors, lawn care operators and other green industry professionals ask questions of their  colleagues and learn their best practices.

Check it out today!

I’m pulling together my social media presentation for the OPEI annual meeting next week, and I found this TED talk from Seth Godin. In the short video, Godin outlines his thinking on tribes – the groups people organize themselves in. Increasingly, these tribes are online, and involve tools like Twitter, Facebook and other social media.

It’s worth your 15 minutes.

Here’s our weekly digest of interesting stuff from the internet. Have a great weekend. (And call your mom.)

• A history of the sunflower.
• Top 2012 outdoor living trends.
• The best times to post to Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.
• Massive stormwater park opens in Los Angeles. (via @ValleyCrest)
• Chris Heiler on practical uses of Pinterest.
• Above: Transplanting a tree in Australia with ArborCo.