Landscapers cash in on Christmas season: stringing lights brings extra income during downtime.

Indianapolis Business Journal, December, 2002 by Scott Olson

About a week before Thanksgiving, the phone at Michael's Landscapes & Gardens on Zionsville Road began ringing off the hook.

No, the calls weren't from over-eager customers wanting to place tree and shrub orders for the spring planting season. Instead, they were booking an appointment to have the landscaper put up their holiday displays.

Michael's President Michael Maloy is part of a growing number of landscapers nationwide who are turning to holiday light installation as a means to make an extra buck during the slow winter months.

"It's been good for us," Maloy said. "It's hard, long, cold hours, but it's very rewarding to drive by at night and see what we've done."

Maloy and a core number of employees, who otherwise would be out of work...