Leadership

 Hermann Lindau - Past CEO & Founder

As a young boy in his homeland country, Mr. Lindau took to the soil early in his life on the family farm. Already in those days he found spading up sod and replanting to cover the bare ground around his family’s home to be beneficial.

Leaving his homeland as a young man in the late 1920s, he headed to New York to start the adventure of a life time. At this time he was a Bricklayer by trade and worked with his older brother on construction sites in New York City. As faith would have it, a new direction of employment was in the cards. With hard work, Bricklayer skills and an eye for quality, Mr. Lindau embarked on a career with one of the earliest turf installers in the New York Metro area working on all types of sodding projects, including the 1939 New York City World’s Fair.

Soon another change took place in Mr. Lindau’s life. World War II affected so many lives from that time on. After a number of years in the Middle East Theatre, then to the south France and ending his tour of duty in central France, he began his journey home to New York.

With the end of the War, opportunities were abundant back home. A new family and a new company, started with his friend Bob Dohne, gave Mr. Lindau the opportunity to raise the bar on turf projects, sodding seeding, throughout the New York Metro area. Their landscape and turf projects included parts of Northern State Parkway, Taconic Parkway and 47 acres sodding on the Maine Turnpike - State of Maine.

By the mid 50’s, home building in Nassau and Suffolk County was at a fast pace. Mr. Lindau decided to start his own firm and take advantage of the private sector growth. By the mid-sixties, as a result of his relationships with turf growers and high quality of workmanship, Mr. Lindau’s reputation became well known. Mr. Lindau was proud to install the sod for Mr. McGovern Sr. of McGovern Sod Farms and for Mr. Louis DeLea of DeLea Sod Farm, at their own personal residents - and to also consider these turf growers as friends.

During his long tenure in the turf industry, Mr. Lindau always looked for innovative technology that would make the turf industry move forward. One of the earliest Ryan Sod Cutter, used on the parkway, which was originally K&M Machine Shop, is still owned by the company today. In the earlier 1970’s, Mr. Lindau purchased the first Rockhound Rake in the North East. This was an invaluable piece of equipment that revolutionized the quality turf installation procedure on high end projects, even to this date.

Throughout the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s Mr. Lindau leadership continued creating turf projects for high end homeowners, landscape design firms, educational facilities, golf courses, cemeteries and municipalities in the area.

 Herman A Lindau - President CEO

From an early age growing up on Long Island New York, Mr. Lindau had a keen interest in the turf and landscape industry. By the age of 6 he was driving tractors on projects, which for him was as normal as playing baseball. Thrilled to partake in the family’s turf installation landscape company, Mr. Lindau’s summers from the early 1960s on, were spent training for what was to become his life-long occupation. An with his training on the companies equipment, later becoming a member of the International Operating Engineers.

After graduating from Farmingdale State University with a degree in Landscape Design, Mr. Lindau began his role in his father’s company, becoming Vice President in 1976. Eager to excel in the field of turf development, Mr. Lindau assumed the responsibility such as estimating, bidding and project management for Hermann Lindau & Son, Inc. Developing a high degree of quality grading and turf installation from the years of experience working with his father’s leadership. The firm excelled with projects on Long Islands high end homes, sport field development for educational facilities, municipalities, golf course installations and parks including, Silver Lake Park - Staten Island, Wantagh Park, Cantiaque Park, Ostsego Park and Bethpage Black Course. Additionally,  performing turfgrass and seed installation for a numer of prestigious, well known landscape design firms projects. At one time, every monthly edition of a local Long Island Home Magazine included a project that had turf installed by Mr. Lindau's firm.

Mr. Lindau’s reputation continued to grow in the industry, as did his persistence to explore new equipment technologies that increase quality and production on large projects, a necessity for success that he learned from his father. Through Mr. Lindau’s insight, the company has acquired unique innovative and advanced equipment, allowing them to develop new services never offered before in the New York Metro area. 

Today the company continues the adventurous vision of their founder Hermann Lindau and is into their third generation of skilled equipment operating, quality grading and the passion for the industry.