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-EMBERS COME TOGETHER FOR PLANET )MPORTANT CHANGES TO NURSERY CERTIlCATION 2ETAILING FOR WEEKEND WARRIORS "UDDING HORTICULTURISTS GET FREE TRAINING


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Message from the President

Digging deeper As an association driven by members we are always looking for more— members, that is. More is better, and you can help. The BCLNA offers an incredibly diverse number of programs and benefits for our members. I hope you are taking maximum advantage of them.

With the development of the Jane Stock Foundation, we will capitalize on the opportunity to do more: to build a sustainable horticulture future by helping students and supporting community activities. The larger our membership is, the bigger our sphere of influence and ideas can be.

We are also amazingly open: we get to know our competitors, and share concerns and ideas with them to create a stronger industry and public image.

The Friday Files disperse weekly time sensitive, invaluable information to members. Every issue of HortWest is full of kudos for industry enhancing activities. And every working day, BCLNA staff is acting on our direction with diligence and creativity. What more could we ask for? More members.

There is much more. Our members are exceptionally active volunteers.

I was given this poem recently, written by 10-year-old L.C. Cassidy:

3FHJTUFS ZPVS GPVSTPNF UPEBZ

The fun loving / Joy of life / A hue of amazement / The garden is bountiful / The littlest things / Make a difference / So ask yourself / Can you dig deeper / To find your / Garden soul? Good question. These are challenging and exciting times. Share the success of membership. Please seek out and encourage non-members to give themselves the same opportunity to enhance their industry. Have BCLNA reach out: give Cheryl a call at (604) 574-7772 ext. 110 to let her know of a non-member who could use a hand.

Ruth Olde, President, B.C. Landscape & Nursery Association

HortWest MAY 2010 MANAGING EDITOR Renata Triveri ADVERTISING Cheryl Lee

BCLNA’s Annual Golf Tournament

Phone: (604) 574-7772 Fax: (604) 574-7773

HortWest is the Newsletter of the B.C. Landscape & Nursery Association for the horticultural trade in Western Canada. For further information, contact us at: Suite 102, 5783 – 176A Street Surrey, B.C., Canada V3S 6S6 Telephone (604) 574-7772 Fax (604) 574-7773

June 22, 2010

HortWest is owned by the B.C. Landscape & Nursery Association, and is published 10 times a year. Views expressed inside do not necessarily reflect the attitudes of the Association but are those of the writer concerned. Material may not be reprinted from this magazine without the consent of the publisher.

Register your foursome today! Your $150 tournament fee includes green fees, power cart, lunch, deluxe dinner buffet, and prizes.

All advertising and editorial material are to be received one month in advance of mail out date.

Call Barb: 604-574-7772 ext. 115.

HortWest is mailed under Canadian Publications Mail Product Sales Agreement N. 0288608 This magazine is printed in Canada by Globe Printers.

On the cover: Pacifica Landscape Works crafted this west coast retreat from what was once a hilly pasture. The project netted a BCLNA Landscape Award of Excellence for the 2009 season. Are you ready to submit your project to the awards program? See page 10 to learn how to enter.

Swan-e-Set Bay Resort Golf & Country Club

www.swaneset.com

BCLNA golf.indd 1

4/28/10 10:00:34 AM


Board Synopsis

BCLNA welcomes Lesley Tannen Following a lengthy search and interview process, BCLNA is pleased to announce the hiring of Lesley Tannen, B.Sc Agriculture (UBC), MBA (SFU). Ms Tannen joins the team as BCLNA’s Executive Director, having served most recently as the executive director of the Downtown Surrey Business Improvement Association, as well as a consultant and strategic leadership facilitator for COR Management Consulting Inc. Said President Ruth Olde of the selection, “We are excited to welcome

a new executive director, and are confident that the BCLNA will benefit from Lesley’s combination of skills, which feel like an ideal fit. Her strengths match our association’s needs well—the hiring committee was particularly impressed with her background in working with elected officials and her strategic planning and implementation ability. These are two skills BCLNA can put to use immediately with regard to our most pressing initiatives.” “I am looking forward to working with the directors, professional staff and members of BCLNA ,” commented Tannen. “It will allow me to combine my education in science and business with my experience in a range of enterprises—education, retail and

service in both profit and non-profits. Having lived in a number of cities across BC, I have gained perspective about the common and unique challenges faced by businesses and communities. I applaud the Association’s goals of increasing professionalism, plant health and pro-actively addressing public concerns, including pesticides. I am also keen to ensure that BCLNA is widely recognized as the leading organization representing the green industry in B.C.”


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Retail Reminders

The Wheelbarrow Project John Stanley, John Stanley Associates

Over the last twelve months, I and my team have been developing a concept we have called the “Wheelbarrow Project” which we launched at the 2009 GLEE show in Birmingham, U.K. The origins of the project are based on the research carried out by Nursery Retailer Magazine in the U.S.A. and released at the 2008 I.G.C. Conference and Trade Show in Chicago.

consumers into the centre to grow sales. A wheelbarrow was chosen as the centrepiece, to replace the supermarket shopping trolley as a “vehicle” in the consumers’ minds. Why don’t we place the pieces for a weekend project in a wheelbarrow to give the customer an idea of what they need to achieve success?

2. Establish the local garden centre in the young consumer’s mind as the local expert he or she can trust on gardening issues. 3. Widen the customer base for the local garden centre and provide a marketing campaign that will appeal to younger gardeners. 4. Allow a group of suppliers to work together to provide solutions and ideas to the consumer rather than just offering them a single product.

That research focused on new gardeners, the Gen X crowd (25-35 year olds), and their wants and needs as garden decorators. Having read the research, I watched our own Gen X children and their habits in Australia were identical to their American counterparts’.

5. Increase the overall awareness of the independent garden centre in the minds of all consumers.

The research identified that these consumers were not dedicated gardeners; in fact they had little garden knowledge. They came in and out of the garden category and were project-based thinkers. One weekend would be a project in the kitchen, then the next weekend it may be a project in the bathroom and the next was a project in the garden. They walk into a garden centre looking for their weekend project.

6. Increase the customer count, customer conversion and average sale per customer in garden centres. 7. Move the mindset of the customers away from price as the main purchasing motivator.

Over the last twelve months, I have tried to put my 35 year old customer project head on and go shopping in a garden centre. What do you find? There was a confusing array of products; finding the pieces for “a” project was a real challenge.

The objectives of the wheelbarrow project are as follows:

This confusion means there is an opportunity for independent garden centres to develop monthly weekend garden projects to attract younger

1. Provide independent garden centres with a unique marketing opportunity that will not be available to “box” store retailers.

The concept revolves around a weekend garden based project. The project should be displayed in a prime location in the garden centre, inside the shop or outside the plant area, in a wheelbarrow. The promotion should change monthly to provide consumers with a constant stream of new ideas to develop their garden. Each new promotion should be unique to the participating garden centre and provide them with a point of difference over their competitors. What promotions should you introduce? In developing the project I asked 30-35 year old consumers what suggestions they


September 29 - 30, 2010 Exciting New Venue! Exciting New Floor Plan!

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had for weekend projects. The projects were split into four main categories.

Sustainable Gardens

Examples: Water harvesting and reuse, flora and fauna, composting and worm farms, habitat gardening, sustainability in the garden.

Fashion

Examples: Dress up alfresco, grow a gift, drop-dead gorgeous, green walls, container fashion.

Food

Examples: Dinner parties, grow your dinner, menu planning in the garden, container gardens.

Kids

Examples: Garden tea party, kids garden, gardening across the generations. What next? A garden centre should have one person dedicated to managing their “wheelbarrow” project. The wheelbarrow should be positioned in a key location in the garden centre. I recommend it goes on a round plinth with a backdrop banner. The wheelbarrow should contain the pieces required for the project, but placed next to the barrow should be the finished project. The sales items should then be displayed around this central focal point. Will it work? The reaction at GLEE was exceptionally positive and retailers from the U.S.A., Europe and Asia came up to say they would give it a try. Hopefully the next few months will prove the success… give it a try. John Stanley, M.Sc. (Horticulture) has a background teaching perishable retailing in the UK and many of his books have been standard texts in horticultural colleges around the world.

Reserve your booth space today. Call Cheryl Lee 604.574.7772 or email clee@bclna.com BCLNA.indd 1

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6

Landscape Clippings

GPS foils excavator thieves Jeremy Miller, Managing Partner, Houston Landscapes Our JD 50 Mini Excavator was stolen last month on a Saturday morning at 6:00 a.m., from our job site in near Esplanade and Lonsdale in North Vancouver. The machine’s GPS system (a Nero Global Tracking product) sent a notification as a text message and email that the “arm where parked” security had been breached so Duncan, the foreman for that project, headed down to the site and confirmed that the machine had been removed. Duncan called me, and we left in my vehicle in pursuit. Together, we got the RCMP on the phone, and provided minute by minute directions as to where the machine was heading, which we were able to track through our GPS’s website on our laptop while we were pursuing the thieves. The driver took the 232nd exit in Langley and stopped near Fraser Hwy and 232nd; the GPS gave us an address. Within a minute, the police were on scene and arrested the thief as he was off-loading the machine. I would have paid to see the look on his face! We have since had it towed back to our job site. To steal the machine, the perpetrator stuck a screwdriver into the cab lock, and did the same for the ignition lock. As far as we can tell, this is the only damage. We relayed the story to our insurance company who has since come back to us with an $1,800 discount per year on our machine insurance policy. We have six machines, so this resulted in a $300 per discount per machine. The moral of the story: get GPS tracking on your expensive machinery! We purchased it one year ago having operated for five years without it—luckily without incident. Another moral: if you have GPS, call your insurance company and demand

a discount on your insurance. Editor’s note: This story was received through BCLNA’s Landscape Link, a service that connects landscape members for info and idea sharing. To participate, contact Krista Manton: kmanton@bclna. com. A video account has been uploaded to BCLNA’s Facebook page; join by searching “BC Landscape & Nursery Association” from your Facebook home page.

HortProtect discounts with GPS The Canadian Nursery and Landscape Association’s HortProtect Insurance program offers a discount for having GPS installed on pricey equipment. HortProtect was developed by CNLA to offer a comprehensive group of insurance products designed specifically to meet the needs of individuals and companies operating within the horticulture industry. Through the CNLA Insurance Committee (made up of association members and CNLA staff) the products and pricing are closely monitored to ensure members are receiving the best possible arrangements. By using these industry-designed products, members not only purchase

quality coverage, but also support your association. The participating insurance companies refund a small percentage of every premium dollar collected back to the CNLA . These dollars are used to offset the cost of running the association. To learn more, visit www.hortprotect.com.

Members come together for PLANET Day of Service BCLNA members came together on Earth Day, April 22, to initiate the year’s only Canadian activity in honour of the Professional Landcare Network’s (PLANET) Day of Service.

Held annually, PLANET Day of Service is a grassroots event that allows lawn and landscape professionals to organize volunteer projects to beautify the grounds of schools, parks, playgrounds, senior centers, shelters, and anywhere that people enjoy green spaces. “The concept behind the PLANET Day of Service is to allow members to organize projects that have the greatest impact in their own community and that at the same time are part of a nationwide movement to educate the public about the importance of caring for our green spaces,” said PLANET President Bill Hildebolt, Ph.D., Landscape Industry Certified Manager & Technician. The movement was one Sherilyn Gale of Beneath Your Feet Landscaping could really get behind. Despite the early and


7

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frenetic start to the season, she and partner Rob Turner rallied Maple Ridge area BCLNA members to spruce up the grounds of the Ridge Meadows Hospice Society’s Bailey House and McKinney Creek residences. The crew of landscapers—from Beneath Your Feet, Blasig Landscape Design & Construction, Golden Ears Landscape, Janzen & Co. Landscaping, and The Greenman Landscape Services—was able to provide site-wide cleanup and beautification. With donations from Avenue Machinery, Meadows Landscape Supply and Pickett’s Nursery (and sustenance from the local Tim Hortons, KFC , and Mona’s Pizza) the group also refreshed plantings and hardscapes. Maple Ridge resident Ulrich Zenker of BC Magnetic Signs even supplied signage for the day. During last year’s inaugural event, PLANET members completed more than 280 projects in 43 states and provinces, with nearly 2,000 volunteers donating more than $400,000 in time and services; the count is still being tabulated for 2010. For more details, visit www.planetdayofservice.org. BCLNA is pleased to promote the PLANET Day of Service, and is proud of

the ongoing partnership enjoyed between CNLA and PLANET, which allows the Landscape Industry Certified program to be internationally recognized. continued on page 10

3/30/10 2:53:49 PM


PDA

BCLNA OFFICE: 604-574-7772; 800-421-7963

?H=OOE A@O &AHL 5=JPA@ Wholesale native plant nursery in Abbotsford seeks a nursery sales manager. Candidate must have experience in sales and be proficient in Microsoft Office applications. Attendance at a minimum of three North American trade shows a year

events

Industry

is mandatory. Sales and marketing duties will include transmitting weekly availability updates and updating online availability. Please e-mail resumes to canamnurseries@canamnurseries.com.

and programs

May 14 Urban Forestry Symposium Cedar Hill Golf Course, Victoria www.bclna.com

June 9 BCLNA Landscape Commodity Meeting East Richmond Nurseries Inc. www.bclna.com 16 BCLNA Growers Commodity Meeting Redwoods Golf Course, Langley www.bclna.com

Call us for all your native and ornamental plant needs

22 BCLNA Golf Tournament Swan E-Set Golf Course, Pitt Meadows www.bclna.com

July 16-17 Certification Exams Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Langley www.bclna.com

Call for all wholesale ornamentals, native plants and ferns. B 900 Bowman Road, Abbotsford, BC V3G 1T1 P.O. Box 2157, Abbotsford, BC V2T 3X8 Phone: 604-854-6986 Fax: 604-854-6982 canamnurseries@canamnurseries.com

www.canamnurseries.com

18-24 Perennial Plant Symposium Portland, Oregon www.perennialplant.org

LINNAEA NURSERIES LTD. Tel: 604-533-8281 Fax: 604-533-8246 1-888-327-7705 email: linnaea@telus.net 3666 - 224th Street, Langley, BC V2Z 2G7 Canada

August 11 BCLNA Landscape Commodity Meeting FarmHouse Lifestyle, Pitt Meadows www.bclna.com

September 29-30 CanWest Hort Show Vancouver Convention & Exhibition Centre www.canwesthortshow.com

October 10-15 International Garden Centre Association Congress Tokyo / Kyoto, Japan www.igcacongress.com

Advertise

13 BCLNA Landscape Commodity Meeting Inline Nurseries, Chilliwack www.bclna.com

in Marketplace by contacting Cheryl Lee at BCLNA 604-574-7772 or clee@bclna.com

22-23 Certification Exams Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Langley www.bclna.com

November

Toll Free: 1-800-498-7403 • Tel: 604-946-5641 • Email: info@crofton.ca www.crofton.ca or www.jvk.net

4-5 BCLNA Annual General Meeting & Convention Westin Bear Mountain Resort, Victoria www.bclna.com


9

Industry Bits

Outstanding achievement recognized posthumously On March 31, Ruth Olde was called upon to receive the Professional Pest Management Association’s Contech Award of Excellence on behalf of the late Jane Stock. The award recognized Jane’s significant contribution to the advancement of environmentally sensitive pest management practices while she was the executive director of BCLNA. Nominated by Deborah Henderson, the award was presented to Ruth in Jane’s honour by sponsor, Cameron Lait of Contech Industries Inc.

In Memoriam

Roy Hans Jonsson July 20, 1936 - April 19, 2010

Following a valiant two-year fight with colon and liver cancer, Roy Jonsson succumbed to his illness late last month. He died comfortably and peacefully at home, surrounded by the love of his family. He left us on a beautiful spring morning with the sun coming in the bedroom window and a vase of tulips from his garden by his bedside; he had no regrets and was grateful for the wonderful

life he had enjoyed with his wife Margaret at his side. Roy had been receiving palliative care for the past two weeks and was unresponsive during his last few days, so his death did not come as a surprise. Roy joined the BCLNA in 1993 while working to help establish the first

commercial composting facility in the Lower Mainland. He enjoyed his association with the BCLNA and felt the organization held an important role in providing leadership, education and landscape standards to improve the quality of landscaping throughout the province. Roy operated a landscape consulting business and championed these qualities. He was an accomplished writer, having recently published “Garden Sense – Secrets of an Experienced Gardener,” for homeowners and garden maintenance workers. He was a regular garden columnist for the North Shore News, and contributed to a variety of garden magazines including GardenWise. He guest appeared regularly on a number of radio shows, and was a well-loved seminar instructor at VanDusen and UBC Botanical Gardens, along with the Continuing Education Department on the North Shore. A celebration of Roy’s life and a Service of Thanksgiving were held last month. Roy is survived by Margaret, their two children and their three grandchildren.


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Landscape Clippings continued from page 7.

Plan your landscape award entries BCLNA’s Landscape Awards of Excellence are a sure-fire way for landscape professionals to be recognized by your peers and the public! The awards program gets noticed in newspapers and magazines, and landscape companies’ better quality digital photos mean that nearly all editorials are accompanied with striking images. Some of the best have even been used on magazine covers. Now is the time to start planning your Landscape Award of Excellence entry, so that you too can benefit from this invaluable P.R. New for this year, the judging system has been aligned with the National Awards of Excellence criteria—in synchronizing BCLNA’s program with that of the CNLA, entrants will have a better sense of the workmanship required to excel at a national level. Another change for maintenance category entrants means projects submitted must include photos showing three seasons of maintenance or more. So get out to your top landscapes with camera in hand, or consider using a professional to shoot your landscape at its peak: the better your project’s scope is depicted, the better judges can assess its merits and the more likely that your team will find its winning projects in a magazine spread! All entries are due on August 11, 2010 (no extensions, no exceptions)! The full entry package will be available at the end of this month; contact Barb Nelson for your application package at (604) 574-7772 ext.115 or bnelson@bclna.com.

Inspiring youth to consider horticulture trades Liz Spring, HortEducationBC

With all the career paths available to youth today, we know that inspiring them to pursue horticulture trades is a challenge. HortEducationBC has accepted that challenge and is providing events that allow junior high students to gain a perspective on our industry. Camosun College, along with other industry partners, hosted the first South Vancouver Island YES-2-IT event this past March. More than 1400

Camosun Horticulture students encouraged junior high-schoolers to understand the elements of landscape design.

grade-eight students participated in activities showcasing 11 trades including horticulture. The event allowed youth to meet trades people in their communities, have classroom learning activities, and participate in actual hands-on experiences. Dale Toronitz, Horticulture Program Leader at Camosun, along with current Camosun horticulture students, introduced 200 of these grade-eight students to the world of horticulture. Subjects such as vegetable market farming, arboriculture, landscape

design, cut flower crops, landscape construction and maintenance were presented. The eighth graders were over the top enthusiastic to hear about the diversity of opportunities in the industry. Hands-on activities included a ‘design a landscape’ event where a template design was provided to eager students who then compiled a table-top mock up of the landscape. The Camosun horticulture students then judged each creation, commenting on feature plants selected and additions of other materials such as rocks to enhance their masterpieces. All students were presented with an award for their efforts. This fun event is the first of many that HortEducationBC staff hope to become involved with to better reach youth at an early stage and help them to understand the many career paths in the horticulture trade can offer. HortEducationBC would like to thank Camosun College, the South Island Partnership, and the energetic horticulture student volunteers who donated their time and enthusiasm to this successful event.

Pictured are Camosun College student volunteers who participated in March’s Yes-2-It event.


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Training Pays

FREE Horticulture Basics® training at the CanWest Hort Show Inspire your entry level staff with an opportunity to participate at the CanWest Horticultural Show. This year, the event will be at the new Vancouver Convention Centre on September 29 and 30 with full-day tours taking place on October 1. Each day there will be an afternoon seminar topic specially geared to the novice employee. A visit to the show floor is planned after class to introduce participants to the variety of exhibitors and the resources they offer. On the final day, an Industry Sampler Tour has been designed to create an overview of all horticulture sectors. The tour will circuit the Lower Mainland and stop at an ornamental plant nursery, greenhouse grower (floral/vegetable), retail garden centre, and a landscape installation in progress at a jobsite. The tour’s aim is to provide the entry level employee with an appreciation for the scope of this industry. The Horticultural Basics® Training Program was developed in response to the horticulture industry’s need for skilled entry level employees. It has been designed to help small business by subsidizing the training of eligible employees who may lack a high school education, with essential and industry specific skills training currently not offered via other means. Encouraging your staff to participate in Horticultural Basics® Training, whether at CanWest or at sessions offered throughout the year, is an investment of time that benefits your business with safe, productive, quality workers. To find out more about the program’s purpose or view upcoming training sessions on the BCLNA Google Calendar, please go to: www.bclna.com/ horticulturebasics.htm. Or contact Ann

Marie Walsh, Industry Sills Training Coordinator at (604) 574-7772 ext. 108,

or awalsh@bclna.com to plan a personalized training opportunity.


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Grower Updates

Grandfather clause for P. ramorum allowed At the most recent meeting of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Nursery Certification Institute, it was determined that BC nurseries currently certified under the P. ramorum Certification Program would be granted the option for a staged approach to become certified under the Domestic Phytosanitary Certification Program (DPCP). This decision was made to accommodate the concerns of BC growers about the additional requirements involved in making the transition to a whole-

Canada to consider DPCP certification. “Certification under a systems-based approach is simply easier for all if all are certified. Using this staged approach will help the industry to make that happen.”

nursery system required by the DPCP.

until March 31, 2012. At that time, it will be integrated as a module into the DPCP and will no longer be offered as a stand-alone option.

After agreeing in principle to this new approach for BC nurseries, an industry committee has worked with staff to develop a grandfathering process and related deadlines. It was agreed that the P. ramorum Certification Program will be offered in its current form

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According to CNCI president John Bakker (Bakker Nurseries, St. Catherine’s, ON), “It is widely accepted that nurseries certified under the P. ramorum program have many of the elements and procedures already in place to achieve DPCP certification, but there continues to be a reluctance to move to this next step. We believe that this staged approach represents a friendlier solution to meet grower concerns in this area.” CNCI vice president Anita Heuver, of

Eagle Lake Nurseries, Strathmore, AB, one of the first nurseries to be certified under the DPCP agreed, adding that it is important for the industry across

At the same time, the CNCI board has also responded favourably to the suggestion that the name of the Domestic Phytosanitary Certification Program (DPCP) should be changed to “Clean Plants”. The suggestion was brought forth by nursery growers who thought “DPCP” was a bit of a tongue twister and that the program name should be more reflective of the program’s benefits. For further information on the process, or for general program information, please visit: www.cleanplants.ca.


New

BCLNA Members Final Approval The BCLNA welcomes the following new members as of the April 19 board meeting:

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Coastal Design Landscaping Ram & Ajool Adi, Coquitlam, Active Landscaper Culture Care Landscaping Ltd. Brent & Bonnie Bylsma, Kamloops, Active Landscaper Green Design – Gardens To Live In Susan Wheeler, Surrey, Active Landscaper Hawleyscape Tree Service Ltd. Wes Hawley, Port Coquitlam, Active Landscaper MetroGrow Soil Products Inc. Mike Van Ham & Troy Cressman, New Westminster, Associate (Interim) Sandra Dee Garden Escapes Sandi Gowda, Port Coquitlam, Active Landscaper (Interim) Tentative Approval The following companies will become BCLNA members at the next board meeting unless a member provides a valid reason for not accepting the application: A Cultivated Garden Laurel Polkosnik, Vancouver, Active Landscaper (Interim) Artistic Stoneworks Ltd. Ken Tucker, Vancouver, Active Landscaper Birch Grove Nursery Tiffany Knight, Agassiz, Active Grower Paul Boers Ltd. Peter Reus, Abbotsford Associate (Out of Province) Tree Canada Foundation Michael Rosen, Ottawa, Horticulturist Megan McDonald North Vancouver, Student Graham Nicholas Vancouver, Student

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BCMAL Report

Research Snippets Dave Woodske, Industry Specialist BCMAL

Planting Depth During Container Production and Landscape Establishment Affects Growth of Ulmus parvifolia (HortScience 45(1):54-60) – The study investigated the impact of transplanting depth on growth of lacebark elm seedlings. The growth parameters measured included tree height, trunk diameter, and shoot and root dry mass. The trees were transplanted with their root collars at substrate grade (G), 5 cm below grade (B), or 5 cm above grade (A). For the final two transplants, the surface of the substrate was maintained at grade, or at 5 cm above or below grade. The seedlings were first transplanted into 10.8-L containers for ~200 days (Expt. 1), followed by 36.6-L containers for ~100 days (Expt. 2), and then into the field for 1 year (Expt. 3). The field site had a sandy loam texture. In Expt. 3, the final root collar depth varied in 5 cm increments from 15 cm below grade to 15 cm above grade. In Expt. 1, planting at 5 cm below grade significantly reduced tree height (26%), and leaf (37%) and stem (42%) growth relative to planting at grade. Transplanting at 5 cm above grade also reduced plant growth relative to the plants grown at grade, but the differences were not statistically significant. For Expt. 2, all of the treatments had growth that was equal to or greater than the trees grown at grade in both the 10.8-L and 36.6L containers, with the exception of:

UÑ treatment BG (5 cm below grade in 10.8-L containers and at grade in 36.6-L containers) had significantly reduced tree height, and UÑ treatment AA (5 cm above grade in both the 10.8-L and the 36.6L containers) had significantly reduced trunk diameter. Deep planting actually appeared to be beneficial in some cases in the 36.6-L containers. For Expt. 3, field planting depth had a significant effect on tree height. In general, trees planted at grade and above grade were 10 cm taller than trees planted below grade. However, field planting depth did not have a significant effect on the relative growth rate of the trees. The results of this study need to be interpreted with caution because the long term impact of deep planting lacebark elms was not evaluated.

Important changes to AgriStability Mohini Singh, Communications Officer, AgriStability, BCMAL British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture and Land’s AgriStability staff across the province have been extremely busy working on the delivery of the AgriStability Program. Program delivery was transferred January 1, 2010 from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to the British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture and Lands. Producers, please note some important changes: BC MAL will be responsible for 2009 and future program years; AAFC is responsible for completion of 2008 and prior years:

AAFC Responsibilities

For all processing, adjustments and questions related to 2008 and prior years, Or 2009 program year enrolment notices, fees and appeals, and 2009 program year interim applications up to December 16, 2009, call AAFC toll free 1-866-367-8506.

BC MAL Responsibilities

For 2009 program year interim applications after December 16, 2009, processing of final 2009 applications, and beginning with the 2010 program year,


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full delivery, call BC MAL toll free 1-877343-2767. Note: The 2009 interim application deadline was March 31, 2010.

Objectives of BC MAL delivery To ensure producers have one on one access to locally knowledgeable staff. Regional staff understand the program and the farming conditions producers face in each particular region of the province.

B.C. AgriStability verification staff have processed 25 or 13.9% of the applications. UÑ Anticipated turn around time for interim payment benefit cheques is 30 days. UÑ 75% of final payments are expected to be made in 75 days. BC MAL is taking a new approach to benefit payment processing. Payment processing and verification staff are located in Kelowna.

To deliver accurate benefit payments in a timely manner.

UÑ Files are assigned by commodity, complexity operation type. UÑ One verifier processes a file from beginning to end, review all areas of the file and recommend the file for approval. Amore senior verifier reviews and approves the result. UÑ All the files receive equal review, whether there is a payment or not. UÑ Regional program representatives support verification staff with information collection from producers so that verification staff can focus on file processing

Since January 1, 2010 BC MAL has received 180 interim payment applications for the 2009 program year.

Annually, the program pays out between $40 to $60 million dollars in payment benefits to B.C. producers.

UÑ Since the deadline of March 31, 2010

Localized and personalized service

In the first three months of this year program representatives have conducted ten information sessions across the province to inform producers about AgriStability. Program representatives will continue to hold information sessions as required. Each of the workshops has been well attended and the reaction from producers has been positive.

There are now four regional B.C. Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, AgriStability offices: UÑ Abbotsford: Serving the Fraser Valley and Vancouver Island. UÑ Oliver: Serving the South Okanagan, Similkameen and Kootenay regions. UÑ Kelowna: Serving the Thompson Valley, Nicola Valley, the North Okanagan and the Cariboo. UÑ Fort St John: Serving all regions north of Prince George including Highway 16. Regional Program Representatives will be available to meet face to face with producers. During these meetings producers can receive: UÑ Advice on completing their 2009 AgriStability/AgriInvest Harmonized form UÑ New Participant Packages for 2010 Program Year UÑ General program information There are some deadlines that producers need to be aware of. For details please go to www.agf.gov.bc.ca/agristability. If you have any questions or if you want to want to enroll in the 2010 program, contact a B.C. Regional Office by calling the toll free: 1 (877) 343-2767.

t Raw materials purchased in advance helps to ensure product consistency and availability.

Perfect Growing Media… Every Time Specializing in custom blended growing media for nurseries, greenhouses and rooftops ALL MIXES GO THROUGH A FINAL SCREENING PROCESS BEFORE DELIVERY. 42481 Industrial Way, Chilliwack, B.C. V2R 4H8 Ph 604-823-6688 Fax 604-823-7206 Email hjally@telus.net www.sumasgromedia.ca Sumas Gro-Media.indd 1

t Multiple computers control the dosing equipment, increasing accuracy and speed. This makes it easier to offer competitively priced products. t Non-invasive mixing equipment protects the structure and consistency of the media.

11/30/09 11:14:40 AM



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