Rooted in Innovation

Most CAD software wasn't built with landscape architects in mind. In this episode of Rooted in Innovation, host Dionisio Roman, joined by Ethan Hartzel, sits down with Jake Lott, an 11-year member of the Land F/X team who now also teaches AutoCAD for Environmental Design at Utah State, to unpack Land F/X's origin story (built by a landscape architect and his programmer son, now CEO), how a user-driven "wish list" process turns trade-show feedback into shipped features within weeks, where 2D and 3D workflows are headed as Revit still lacks real irrigation functionality, and where AI genuinely fits into landscape design software, from Land F/X's new support assistant Leah and AI-generated plant imagery to why Jake argues AI can speed up a designer's workflow but can't replace the judgment at the center of the job. Timecodes: 00:00 – 01:10 | Cold Open and Introducing Jake Lott 01:10 – 01:43 | Episode Roadmap: Land F/X, Feedback Loops, and AI 01:43 – 03:48 | Jake's Path From a Landscaping Family to Utah State 03:48 – 05:07 | What Land F/X Actually Is 05:07 – 06:41 | The Workflow Gaps Standard CAD Leaves for Landscape Architects 06:41 – 08:53 | Built By a Landscape Architect and His Son: The Land F/X Origin Story 08:53 – 10:42 | Turning User Requests Into Custom Symbols and a 56,000-Plant Database 10:42 – 12:31 | Scaling to 9,000 Licenses on the Back of Support 12:31 – 14:02 | From Trade-Show Ask to Shipped Feature in Two Weeks 14:02 – 15:14 | Inside the Feature Wish List Process 15:14 – 19:28 | Teaching AutoCAD and the Origin of "Genius Hour" 19:28 – 22:46 | Why Understanding Tools Under the Hood Still Matters 22:46 – 24:51 | Land F/X as a Lead Source and Using the Right Tool for the Job 24:51 – 26:16 | Teaching the Math Before You Teach the Calculator 26:16 – 30:36 | 2D, 3D, and Where Revit Falls Short for Irrigation Design 30:36 – 36:49 | Jake's Many Hats: Support, Training Videos, and the Excel Analogy 36:49 – 40:19 | Why AI Won't Replace the Designer 40:19 – 42:50 | Meet Leah and AI-Generated Plant Imagery With Nano Banana 42:50 – 44:45 | AI as a Design Assistant, Not an Artist 44:45 – 47:47 | Manufacturer Partnerships and What's Next for Landscape Tech 47:47 – 48:50 | Closing and Where to Find Land F/X Resources: Have an upcoming landscaping project? Contact Tree Staple for a quote treestaple.com Connect with Jim Mancini on LinkedIn Connect with Dionisio Roman III on LinkedIn Connect with Jake Lott on LinkedIn Connect with Land F/X on LinkedIn Learn more about LandFX: https://www.landfx.com/ Listen to the Land F/X CEO's podcast episode on AI: https://www.landfx.com/news/podcasts/7821-tool-or-takeover-ai-in-landscape-architecture Subscribe to Rooted in Innovation

Most cities manage their urban forests on gut instinct and aging data, and on this episode of Rooted in Innovation, presented by Tree Staple, host Dionisio Roman talks with Josh Behounek, a 25-year consulting arborist at Davey Tree Expert Company, about how that's changing. Josh explains how Davey's partnership with tech company Greehill uses LiDAR scanning and AI to build a full digital twin of a city's tree canopy, why leaf area index and percent dieback have become the strongest predictors of a tree's health, and how a two-year rescan cycle is finally giving city foresters a closed feedback loop on their removal and pruning decisions. The conversation also covers what it takes to build a 20-year urban forest master plan that survives a change in city administration, with real examples from Pittsburgh, Knoxville, Louisville, and Atlanta. If you manage green infrastructure for a city or just want to understand the strategy behind the trees lining your streets, this episode lays it out. Timecodes: 00:01 – 02:10 | Meet Josh Behounek: 25 Years at Davey Tree's Consulting Division 02:10 – 04:30 | From Pen and Paper to GIS Maps: A Brief History of Tree Inventories 04:30 – 07:41 | Building Smart Tree Inventory: The Microsoft Grant That Started It All 07:41 – 11:31 | The Real Cost of Outdated Data for City Foresters 11:31 – 14:40 | Inside the Scan: LiDAR Hardware, the Greehill Partnership, and Scanning Atlanta 14:40 – 18:19 | What AI Extracts From Every Tree, and Atlanta vs. Louisville's Approach 18:19 – 22:05 | The Metrics That Matter: Leaf Area Index, Dieback, Lean Angle, and Trunk Stability 22:05 – 26:21 | Comparing Cities and Closing the Two-Year Feedback Loop 26:21 – 28:40 | Why Trees Actually Fail: Debunking the Included Bark Myth 28:40 – 31:49 | Who Owns the Urban Forest? Jurisdiction and Private Land Challenges 31:49 – 33:42 | Building a 20-Year Master Plan: Lessons From Pittsburgh and Knoxville 33:42 – 36:44 | Getting Developers to the Table on Tree Preservation 36:44 – 40:12 | Surviving Administration Turnover, Equity, and Rising Heat Priorities 40:12 – 42:06 | The Industry's Storytelling Problem 42:06 – 44:18 | Closing Thoughts and Where to Learn More Resources: Connect with Dionisio Roman (Host) on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dionisio-roman-iii-6a228590/ Connect with Jim Mancini on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-mancini-743b386/ Connect with Josh Behounek on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshbehounek/ Learn more about Davey Tree Expert Company: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-davey-tree-expert-company/ Follow Tree Staple on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tree-staple-inc

The 2025 LA wildfires exposed a hard truth: most of what we think makes neighborhoods fire safe is wrong. Landscape architect Gary Lai, founder of quixotic Nature Based Solutions and a professor at Cal Poly Pomona, lived three miles from the Eaton Fire and saw firsthand what worked and what failed. In this episode, hosts Dionisio Roman III and Ethan Hartzel talk with Gary about why 80 years of fire suppression policy set the stage for today's mega fires, why ember driven fires (not the main fire front) destroy most homes, and what a true fire adaptive community looks like in practice, from home hardening to evacuation planning to strong neighbor networks. If you work near the wildland urban interface or have defaulted to the standard "clear everything" fire safety playbook, this episode will change how you think about the problem. Learn more at quixotic Nature Based Solutions. Timecodes: 00:00 – 01:13 | Intro and Welcoming Ethan Hartzel 01:13 – 04:07 | Meet Gary Lai and the Fire Adaptive Community Framework 04:07 – 05:48 | How Gary Got Into Fire Ecology and Landscape Design 05:48 – 09:26 | Living Through the Eaton Fire: A Firsthand Account 09:26 – 14:42 | 80 Years of Fire Suppression and Why It Backfired 14:42 – 17:35 | Native Plants, Ember Fires, and Why Oak Trees Save Homes 17:35 – 21:05 | The Landscape Isn't the Villain: What Actually Burns Houses 21:05 – 24:31 | What Is a Fire Adaptive Community 24:31 – 28:36 | Home Hardening, Infrastructure, and Why Community Survival Matters Most 28:36 – 32:29 | The Insurance Crisis and the Real Cost of Rebuilding 32:29 – 38:06 | What Landscape Architects Should Do Differently During Rebuilding 38:06 – 41:10 | Lessons From Greece, Australia, and Other Fire Prone Regions 41:10 – 44:05 | Climate Change, Unpredictable Drought, and Why Insurers Are Pulling Out 44:05 – 48:43 | The Eaton Fire's Impact on Altadena and Questions of Equity 48:43 – 52:52 | Closing Thoughts and Where to Learn More About Gary's Work Resources: Have an upcoming landscaping project? Contact Tree Staple for a quote treestaple.com Connect with Jim Mancini on LinkedIn Connect with Dionisio Roman III on LinkedIn Connect with Gary Lai on LinkedIn on LinkedIn Connect with quixotic Nature Based Solutions on LinkedIn Subscribe to Rooted in Innovation

Brandon Comstock went from selling mattresses on commission to building Landscapers by Nature into a 60-person operation serving multifamily and HOA properties in Calgary, then sold the entire business. Now he's building SiteDNA, software designed to solve the exact problems he lived through as an operator. In this episode, hosts Dionisio Roman and Ethan Hartzel unpack how Brandon went from helping his dad run a small garage-based crew to scaling a specialized landscaping company worth acquiring. They explore the non-negotiable operational systems that made the business sellable, the mistakes landscape account managers make daily that cost them money, and how rethinking property management creates competitive advantage. Whether you're running a landscape operation or thinking about your own exit, Brandon reveals the principles that made his company valuable and how SiteDNA is building the shortcuts he wishes he'd had. Timecodes: 00:00 – 00:27 | Intro and Show Overview 00:27 – 01:22 | Brandon's Background and Journey into Landscaping 01:49 – 02:31 | Starting from High School and Mattress Sales 02:31 – 04:16 | The Move to Calgary and First Landscape Crew 04:39 – 05:50 | Trial by Fire: Learning the Landscape Business 05:50 – 06:41 | Growing the Business with His Father 06:41 – 08:15 | Leaving to Prove Himself and Building His Own Company 08:15 – 09:40 | Landing First Contracts and the Multi-Family Niche 09:40 – 11:50 | Why Specialization Beats Being a Generalist 11:50 – 13:40 | Building Systems and Removing Yourself from Critical Path 13:40 – 15:30 | Account Manager Leverage and Property Management Innovation 15:30 – 17:20 | The Real Problem with Landscape Operations 17:20 – 19:15 | How Long-Term Planning Increases Customer Retention 19:15 – 21:00 | Preparing the Company for Sale 21:00 – 23:30 | The Exit and What Made the Business Valuable 23:30 – 25:10 | Life After the Exit and Building SiteDNA 25:10 – 28:15 | The Problem SiteDNA Solves 28:15 – 30:40 | How SiteDNA Makes Account Managers More Effective 30:40 – 35:20 | Product Features and Account Manager Workflow 35:20 – 39:45 | Spreading Team Capacity and Supporting New Managers 39:45 – 41:20 | Long-Term Planning and Customer Communication 41:20 – 43:45 | Making Account Management More Turnkey 43:45 – 44:52 | SiteDNA Product Launch and Waitlist 44:52 – 46:42 | Integrations and AI-Ready Architecture 46:42 – 47:37 | Brandon's Vision and the Shortcut He's Building 47:37 – 48:21 | Outro Resources: Have an upcoming landscaping project? Contact Tree Staple for a quote treestaple.com Connect with Jim Mancini on LinkedIn Connect with Dionisio Roman III on LinkedIn Connect with Brandon Comstock on LinkedIn SiteDNA: https://sitedna.ai Subscribe to Rooted in Innovation

The landscape industry is at an inflection point. Robotic mowers are being deployed at scale. AI is automating executive-level admin work. And the companies that fail to adapt are not just falling behind on efficiency — they're creating a competitive gap that will be nearly impossible to close in three to five years. The question for green industry leaders is not whether to modernize. It's whether they're moving fast enough. If you run or lead a green industry business and you're trying to figure out where technology fits, how to lead your people better, or how to get out of your own way, this is a blueprint worth your time. Learn more about The Disruptors at jwhitegroup.com. Timecodes: 00:00 – 00:27 | Welcome to Rooted in Innovation 00:27 – 07:02 | Guest Introduction and K&D's Origin Story 07:02 – 10:02 | The Three Pillars That Started the Turnaround 10:02 – 13:12 | Community Partnerships and the Leo's Haven Project 13:12 – 16:55 | The $1.5M Tech Mistake of 2021 16:55 – 21:19 | Skin in the Game: Jim's Subcontractor Ownership Model 21:19 – 27:31 | Intentional Tech: Robotic Mowers and the 30-40% Pricing Advantage 27:31 – 32:45 | The Fifth Pillar: Why Every Landscape Company Needs a Tech Leader 32:45 – 35:22 | Where Technology Pays the Most in the Field 35:22 – 40:15 | Robotics by 2030 and What's Coming for the Green Industry 40:15 – 43:32 | Automating 80% of CEO Admin and Getting Back to People 43:32 – 46:21 | Why Justin Built The Disruptors 46:21 – 53:54 | The 90-Day Vision Exercise for Leaders Who Feel Stuck 53:54 – 54:19 | Outro and How to Stay Connected Resources: Have an upcoming landscaping project? Contact Tree Staple for a quote treestaple.com Connect with Jim Mancini on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-mancini-743b386/ Connect with Dionisio Roman III on