COEUR d'ALENE - Charles Sciortino, co-owner of Post Falls-based Jack's Lawn Service, says he has too many customers waiting for the sun.

"The bad weather is not a yard person's best friend," he said Friday. People don't want their lawns mowed when the rain and clouds dominate the daily forecast.

Whether it's fewer customers calling for service, days of work lost to lousy weather, or ground that's just too soggy and muddy to work on, this spring has chilled and dampened the annual demand some seasonal businesses count on.

"We're so far behind because of it it's not even funny," said Myron Farrar, owner of Lake City Roofing and Construction in Coeur d'Alene.

Farrar said the weather has at times limited work to one or two days per week.

In one case, a four-day project recently turned into a month-long project.

For Mountain View Sprinklers and Landscaping, the mud is affecting the money.

"We haven't been able to get anything done, because it's too wet," said Rusty Saldana, owner of Mountain View. "I mean you can, but you're spinning your wheels."

Sciortino, of Jack's Lawn Service, said, "The client base has been way down" this year.

He won't be able to make up the lost business, he said.

"We get paid on a per-mow basis," he said. "It's been a tough year so far."

High gas prices have done damage, too, Sciortino said.

Tim Kastning, owner of Hayden-based Grace Tree Service, said he's had to call off work for crews some days this spring because it was just too rainy and cold to go out and be efficient.

"A drizzle doesn't bother us, but when it's a downpour it's not really productive," Kastning said.

He said sunlight and warmth motivate people to get out and start yard work. That work is starting later this year, he said.

That, in turn, has people calling Grace Tree Service a couple of weeks later than in years past.

"As soon as it warms up more, we'll get a lot of those phone calls," he said.

The cool weather has slowed down mother nature, too, with trees blossoming and leafing out a couple weeks later than normal, he said.

Still, he said, Grace crews have been working.

"We've been plenty busy," he said.

Farrar, of Lake City Roofing and Construction, said he's gotten a lot of jobs, and everybody wants work done right away. He's gotten no cooperation from the weather, and he's had to manage clients' expectations and plead with them to stick with him.

"Most of them are understanding," he said.

Along with roofing and construction, Lake City also does log-home restoration.

"On pretty much every one of our (roofing) jobs, we have to tear the roof off," he said.

Those projects require a window of two or three days of clear weather to complete. Those openings have been almost all closed, he said.

"It's been one of the worst years in a long time because of the weather," he said.

Saldana said he's behind past years by about three weeks because of soil conditions, but expects to make it up. The last few days have helped a lot.

"We'll hire more people and get it done," he said. "People are being understanding."

The overall impact of the cool, wet spring on the wider North Idaho economy will be less of a dramatic downpour and more of a sprinkle.

"My sense is it's not going to be that substantial," said Randy Barcus, an economist for Avista Corp.

The structure of the labor market today has far fewer seasonal workers than people think, or than it did 25 years ago, he said.

It will take weeks, possible six, before data is available to make economic comparisons to previous years.

The cool weather might actually be good for some businesses, including restaurants and mall shops that benefit from people staying indoors.