Autumn Newsbrief 2014 by Canadian Nursery Landscape Association

New partnership with CNLA and CFIB

New event: Cultivate & Connect

New greenhouse for Vineland

Green Industry News Autumn 2014 Vol. 23 Issue 4

What’s inside: •

Using a GPS tracking system •

COHA launches Plants Love You marketing campaign •

Government invests $2.3 million in horticulture research •

Time to revisit Canada’s Nursery Stock Standards •

Connecting the dots for human resources

NOA for Landscape Horticulturist updated The one-week Landscape Horticulturist National Occupational Analysis (NOA) workshop was recently held in Ottawa, Ontario. Each provincial organization was asked to put forward an industry representative to share their knowledge and skills to inform this updated edition of the Red Seal standard for the Landscape Horticulturist trade. After analysis of the industry trends and expectations of a Landscape Horticulturist in 2014 and over the next five years, the industry representatives expanded the scope of competencies and knowledge to include increased focus on environmental stewardship and horticultural principles. As a result of this inter-provincial collaboration, there is now a recommendation to add a new

block of Occupational Skills called; ‘Horticulture Skills’, which encompasses the horticultural principles and skill required to perform basic design, installation and maintenance of landscapes and Green Infrastructure. The following participants dedicated their time to this important workshop. Thanks go to Michael Murray (NF), Doug Conrad (NS), Mike Gallant (PEI), Karen Carrier (NB), John Soychak (ON), Guy Dowhy (MB), Kurtis Langton (SK), William Dorman (AB), Heike Stippler (BC), Tim Kearney (ON/CNLA) and Sally Harvey (ON/CAHRC). Feedback from the group was very positive, with high praise for the ESDC and Ontario College of Trades facilitators. Continued on page four...

CNLA Newsbrief

Autumn 2014

ASSOCIATION NEWS EXECUTIVE BOARD: President Past President First Vice President Second Vice President

Member Services & Insurance Chair

Christene LeVatte, CLP - NS Bill Stensson - ON Rene Thiebaud, CLP - ON Gerald Boot, CLP - ON

Treasurer Bruce Hunter, CLT, CLD, CLP - BC

DIRECTORS: LNS Representative LOHTA Representative BCLNA Representative Human Resources Chair Public Relations Chair Research Chair Government Relations AQPP Representative LNB Representative Garden Centre Canada Chair Certification Chair Landscape Canada Chair LA Representative LM Representative Growers Canada Chair LNL Representative SNLA Representative

Robin Godfrey - NS Alan White - ON Michael Kato - BC Harold Deenen, CLP - ON Bill Hardy, CLP - BC Vic Krahn, CLT - SK Michael Murray - NL Sylvie Deslauriers - QC Kevin Nauss, CLP - NB Anthony O’Neill - NL Jeff Foley, CLT, CLP - BC Phil Paxton, CLT, CLP - AB Anita Heuver - AB David Hinton, CLP - MB John Byland - BC Krista Russell - NL Aaron Krahn - SK

STAFF: Executive Director Victor Santacruz, CAE, CLP victor@cnla-acpp.ca Executive Assistant Cheryl Gall cheryl@cnla-acpp.ca Growers Manager Rita Weerdenburg rita@cnla-acpp.ca Landscape & Garden Centres Julia Ricottone, EP Priorities Manager julia@cnla-acpp.ca Member Services & Government Rebecca Doutre, CAE Relations Manager rebecca@cnla-acpp.ca Director of Human Resource Sally Harvey, CLT, CLP Strategy sally@cnla-acpp.ca Industry Human Resource Stacey Porter Coordinator stacey@cnla-acpp.ca Certification Coordinator (East) Claudia Santos claudia@cnla-acpp.ca Certification Coordinator (West) Colin Vince colin@cnla-acpp.ca Member Programs Coordinator Christine Finn christine@cnla-acpp.ca Member Services & Chelsea Ten Broeck Commodities Coordinator chelsea@cnla-acpp.ca Communications Coordinator Anne Bowering anne@cnla-acpp.ca Minor Use/IPM Coordinator Peter Isaacson, B.Sc., MPM peter@cnla-acpp.ca

Celebrating National Tree Day This September, CNLA members across the country celebrated National Tree Day by hosting planting events at local schools, holding sales, giving away saplings, and more! National Tree Day takes place on the Wednesday of National Forest Week each September. Thank you to the members that shared your Tree Day celebrations with us. Here is how a few of them chose to recognize the day:

one percent of their resources to causes and organizations doing good in their communities. David Hunter Garden Centres Both locations of this garden centre gave a free tree seedling to the first 50 customers in their stores on National Tree Day. They also held a buy-one/get-one-free sale on all shade and fruit trees during National Forest Week. Sheridan Nurseries The Sheridan Nurseries garden centres across Ontario teamed up with local schools to plant a tree in each of their communities. All the stores also held an in-store promotion on trees.

GPS tracking can save you time and money

Western Landscape Services Arborist Pat Mocc shows Southview Public School’s Grade six class some of the items he uses on the job. Western Landscape Services Western Landscape Services planted a native tree with 60 grade six students at Southview Public School in Nappanee, Ontario. The arborist and his team taught students, through a class presentation, the importance of trees in an urban environment. Following the presentation, students helped plant their tree and each student was given a seedling to take home to plant at a location of their choice. Since 2008, Western Landscape Services visits 10 schools per year planting trees with students. The Grounds Guys During their national company conference, the Grounds Guys planted trees in the Collingwood, Ontario area. The event included owners from 45 Grounds Guys and eight Sprinkler Guys locations from coast to coast to coast. This fit into the company’s one percent model program where they, as a company, donate one percent of their time, one percent of their money and

Installing a GPS vehicle tracking device does more than just tell you where your vehicles are. It can control fuel costs, facilitate regular maintenance schedules and increase productivity. We asked Neil Huck, Vice President of the European Landscape Contractors Association, about the system he uses at his company Ground Control Ltd. in the United Kingdom. Ground Control Ltd. has installed a GPS tracking system in all of its vehicles – from mobile maintenance teams, to managers’ cars. The system is linked to an app for smartphones and the schedule for site visits to ensure compliance. They selected a system with the following features:

• • • •

Live time reporting of GPS Live mapping of the whole country with positions of vehicles Monthly fleet reporting and individual reports Route optimization reporting

When the tracking system was implemented, Ground Control management explained to their teams how the system works. They received some pushback, but staff quickly realized the benefits that come with the system. They have even used the system to dispute traffic violation tickets because it can backup speed levels, idling time, location and hours of driving.

Canadian Nursery Landscape Association / Association Canadienne des Pépiniéristes et des Paysagistes 7856 Fifth Line South, Milton, ON L9T 2X8 | Toll Free: 1-888-446-3499 | Toll Free Fax: 1-866-833-8603 | Email: info@cnla-acpp.ca| www.cnla-acpp.ca

CNLA Newsbrief

Autumn 2014

ASSOCIATION NEWS A GPS tracking system helps control vehicle maintenance and provides accurate mileage tracking. Some systems have maintenance reminders incorporated into them. You can use this information to improve fuel economy by ensuring vehicles are following the appropriate maintenance schedules. Ground Control was able to incorporate the costs of the system into their maintenance contracts and they use the system to create progress reports for their clients. Changing driving habits can have drastic benefits to fuel economy. It ensures that teams are following their schedules and managers are able to check in regularly to locate their position. GPS can make it easier to locate crews on the job and provide more efficient route planning, saving you administration time and potentially reducing labour costs. Streamlining routes may even free up enough time to add one more stop per day. If you are thinking about installing a GPS tracking system for your company, consider installing devices on a few test vehicles and see what you think. Systems can be flexible based on your needs. Like Ground Control, you can even consider developing an app for your smart phone to always have the information at your fingertips.

CNLA teams up with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business

leaders and policy makers. There is a limited space for registration, so reserve your seat today!

Join us at Cultivate and Connect, a feature event at Landscape Ontario Congress 2015, January 5th and 6th. The event facilitates the exchange of tools and resources that support career and skills development in the landscape horticulture industry. It provides an excellent opportunity to network with educators, industry members, government

This special ticketed event grants you access to the Congress trade show. Ticket price includes dinner on January 5th and breakfast and lunch on January 6th. For more information or to register, visit cultivateandconnect.ca or contact Stacey Porter at stacey@cnla-acpp.ca

navigate sales

streamline jobs

GROW profit

Find out what this means for your company on page 13.

“Boot’s Landscaping has been a member of CFIB since the 1980’s. It is a great resource for small business and extremely helpful when it comes to government regulations. They lobby on behalf of small businesses and because of their large membership the government listens and often implements their suggestions. The CFIB will be an excellent advocate for CNLA’s HR issues.” - Gerald Boot, President of Boot’s Landscaping and Maintenance

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CNLA Newsbrief

Autumn 2014

ASSOCIATION NEWS Continued from cover... CNLA asked a few of the participants to share their experience of the workshop, here is what they had to say. “A major accomplishment coming out of the recent NOA for the Landscape Horticulturist Red Seal Journeyperson and Apprenticeship Training designation is the inclusion of an entirely new Occupational Skills Block entitled ‘Horticulture Skills’, which includes skills supporting the installation and maintenance of a broad range of competencies, such as green roof and living wall technologies, bio-swales and storm water management systems, in stream habitat conservation work, wetland and retention pond systems and the construction and maintenance of these systems. This now gives more legitimacy to our involvement in these environmental areas and supports the industry term ‘Environmental Horticulture’”. Michael Murray, President of Murray’s Landscape and Horticultural Services, Newfoundland and Labrador

“The NOA meeting was a great opportunity to get together with peers from across the country representing various sectors of our diverse industry and it was so encouraging to see that the intention to deliver a comprehensive trade summary was shared throughout the group. The existing NOA was comprehensive, but we found some aspects were not defined well enough, such as basic plant and soil sciences; and recognizing that current Green Infrastructure trends have become commonplace in the industry since the initial analysis was prepared and should be included. These meetings always reveal a passion for our industry that affirms that what we are doing matters. Participating in setting a standard that exemplifies our trade at a national level hopefully gains us some leverage as a credible, though still voluntary, trade and helps Red Seal individuals and companies stand above the others.” Guy Dowhy Landscape Industry Certified Manager and Technician, Owner of Dowhy Design & Landscapes Inc., Manitoba

“In an industry where there never seems to be enough time, a group of dedicated, intelligent, and passionate leaders met to discuss the requirements of a Red Seal Landscape Horticulturist. Our facilitators were nothing but fabulous and most accommodating and also, somewhat sympathetic…because in their world verbs mattered. In my world “who cares”…just get it done and don’t screw it up. But patiently we drilled down and boiled down to the lowest common denominator the requirements of the Landscape Horticulturist. We had to review what was previously done in 2008. It just goes to show the changes to our industry when we had to include things such as environmental stewardship, and horticultural principles, thus, requiring new grounds to be covered. Anyone reading this may simply say “how boring”. You couldn’t be further from the truth. To watch people “who get it” go word-for-word, line-by-line, verb-by-verb – create a document that can be used to exemplify a three to five year apprentice red seal was most rewarding. But it also did show a desperate need to elevate all of our education programs to include these new fields that we are now required to be knowledgeable about. Education committees from across Canada need to immediately look at their programs and confirm that they are “current” and offering courses to help all our members become even more relevant. It is what it is. There is the need for a call to action for everyone who proudly proclaims their CNLA membership. We all have to buy into the notion of connecting the dots, in order to see every member obtain their Red Seal certificate. Quite frankly we are lousy at spreading the word as to what we are all about. No wonder we are desperately in need of people coming into our industry – Canada-wide!!! I heard story after story about no staff. Seriously? No wonder. Industry lacks involvement when it comes to programs put in place to create relevancy for our trade. So a group of people from across the land clarified what we require. Some things change… and yet some things never change. Do we, as an industry, have the desire to work together to create change and say enough is enough? In hindsight, the week we gave in early November was an honour because I was in a room of winners wanting to help each other. So we can decide to be a functional team working together to create relevance or remain dysfunctional until the next NOA meetings…” Tim J Kearney, Landscape Industry Certified Manager, President of Garden Creations of Ottawa Ltd., Ontario

“It was a good week, intense, but with a great group of people working daily with passion to review and develop NOA for Landscape Horticulturist. It was an interesting mix of experience, ages, and size of company – from all across Canada. We started reviewing existing NOA overall, which I found important to better understand how it all works in the big picture and what affect certain decisions within NOA may actually have down the road. We discussed the overall structure and current blocks. A new structure and reflecting tasks, skills and knowledge was developed, and partially renamed to better reflect the trade. Horticulture and Environmental Principals were defined and listed as a base for other blocks. Landscape Construction and Maintenance as well as Production of Plant Materials now include reflecting items. Every single block item was discussed, partially re-structured, renamed and/or detailed better. Landscape horticulture is very diverse! Overall, they were very intense days of getting into detail and trying to formulate everything just right to make it very clear and precise. Everyone had input and some aspects were surprisingly the same and others differed across the country.” Heike Stippler, President of Heike Designs Inc., British Columbia

CNLA Newsbrief

Autumn 2014

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CNLA Newsbrief

Autumn 2014

New research supports industry promotion The PlantsLoveYou.ca / Lesplantesvousaiment.ca website was launched to the trade this October at the Landscape Ontario Garden and Floral Expo by the Canadian Ornamental Horticulture Alliance (COHA). It will act as an information database to support the claim “Plants Love You”. In 2011, COHA received a grant from the government allowing them to begin research on plant benefits and how to market this research to the public. The Plants Love You campaign is the application of this research. According to Victor Santacruz, Executive Director for the Canadian Nursery Landscape Association, one of the three founding associations that make up COHA (along with the Flowers Canada Growers, and Fédération interdisciplinaire de l’horticulture ornementale du Quebec), increased public awareness about plants and their important benefits is good for business. He says, “The Plants Love You website provides our members with an easy to access source of credible information to back up the claims that plants are both beautiful and healthy. This translates into the direct marketability of the products and services our sector offers.” These research findings will be used to compliment the association’s on-going “Green for Life” marketing campaign, and encourage members to integrate the information into their own communications materials.

Important New Research About Plant Benefits Research* conducted for COHA with households across the country confirmed Canadians already have a positive perception about plants and their ability to enhance beauty, but only a few of the many documented health and well-being, environmental and economic plant benefits are known or appreciated. Research identified that Canadians respond equally well to positive plant benefit messages about quality of life, value and the environment, and have a strong interest to learn more about these subjects. Emotional messaging – delivering a what’s in it for ‘me’ promise – was identified as more likely to influence purchasing behaviour than rational - or ‘just the facts’ messaging. *A quantitative national survey was completed from February 14th to 28th 2012 with 1204 households, allowing a comparison of results on a national and on a regional level: Atlantic provinces, Québec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia.

Why “Plants Love You” Recognizing the marketing significance of the study, COHA commissioned the development of an icon and message in 2013 to brand plant benefits for the ornamental horticulture industry. After several concepts were evaluated through focus groups and qualitative research, “Plants Love You / Les plantes vous aiment” was selected for its: • Unique play on words from “I Love Plants” to “Plants Love You” because it makes it easy to explain why they love you with information about a plant benefit;

• •

•

Simple yet powerful and memorable design and message in both English and French; Relevance to all ornamental horticulture industry segments, from trade associations to individual businesses, including member growers, retailers, service providers and allied trades; Adaptability to support their marketing and communications efforts with credible research-based information about the aesthetic, health and well-being, economic and environmental benefits plants provide.

The “Plants Love You” website, developed in 2014 and maintained by COHA, www.plantsloveyou.ca / www.lesplatesvouseaiment.ca, is an easy to use resource for consumers, educators, business, media, government and horticulture industry members to find credible, research-based, non-commercial information about plants and their benefits. Designed as a searchable database, the site can be accessed on smart-phones, tablets or computers. Information is organized by the four plant benefit categories: Beauty, Environment, Health and Quality of Life, and Economic. Each category is organized by plant type: outdoor flowers, vegetables and herbs, indoor plants, cut flowers, trees, gardens and green spaces, lawns. Articles link to the appropriate horticulture industry association that will help viewers find the right horticulture professional –

CNLA Newsbrief

Autumn 2014

INDUSTRY NEWS grower, retailer or service provider – to answer questions about plants, how to plant, care for and enjoy them, where to buy them, or who can help install and maintain them.

Does to following article provide inspiration and resources for you to help outline a future blog or column? www.PlantsLoveYou.ca/natural-stressreliever

Chris Andrews, Canadian Ornamental Horticulture Alliance administrator adds, “New research articles will be added regularly to keep the web site dynamic, interesting and relevant. We are excited about this easy to use new tool to help our partner Associations help their professional members reach and inspire the public about plants benefits.

To find the Plants Love You terms of use, and more Plants Love You inspirations, please enter the following link in your browser. www.PlantsLoveYou.ca/terms-of-use

Use The “Plants Love You” Website To Help Your Business Research showed Canadian consumers are receptive to learning about plant benefits. Finding good content for social media outreach can be challenging for all industry members. Greenhouse, nursery and sod growers, garden retailers and florists, and landscape and maintenance professionals, why not share “Plants Love You” information on your Facebook, LinkedIn, or on other social media sites.

The Canadian Ornamental Horticulture Alliance gratefully acknowledges funding provided by Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada through the Canadian Agricultural Adaptation Program.

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Scan for offer details. Visit CatResourceCenter.com/CNLA to download your discount card. *To redeem your credit: This card must be presented to your local Cat dealer at time of quote. This offer applies to new Cat machines and select new Work Tool attachments purchased by Canadian Nursery Landscape Association members before December 31, 2014. Limit of one credit per new Cat machine and one credit per new Work Tool purchased. Offer available on new quotes only and may be combined with published Caterpillar Building Construction Product Division U.S. and Canadian national offers only. Contact your local dealer for details and to see the complete discount pricing available per model. Subject to credit approval. Valid only at Cat dealer locations in the U.S. and Canada. Subject to change without prior notice. Contact membershipservices@cnla-acpp.ca or call 1-888-446-3499 for a CNLA membership confirmation letter. © 2014 Caterpillar. All Rights Reserved. CAT, CATERPILLAR, BUILT FOR IT, their respective logos, “Caterpillar Yellow,” the “Power Edge” trade dress as well as corporate and product identity used herein, are trademarks of Caterpillar and may not be used without permission.

Canadian Nursery Landscape Association / Association CATBC47923_Blain Ad.indd 1Canadienne des Pépiniéristes et des Paysagistes

7856 Fifth Line South, Milton, ON L9T 2X8 | Toll Free: 1-888-446-3499 | Toll Free Fax: 1-866-833-8603 | Email: info@cnla-acpp.ca | www.cnla-acpp.ca

10/23/14 8:59 AM

CNLA Newsbrief

Autumn 2014

INDUSTRY NEWS • • • • • •

Durham College launches first-ever crowdfunding campaign Durham College (DC) is changing the way local communities eat and grow food and every little bit of support counts. On August 19, the college launched Field to Fork: Sowing the Seeds of our Community, its first-ever crowdfunding campaign. Inspired by its commitment to bring field to fork, the vision of bringing locally sourced, quality produce from field to table, to Durham Region, the online campaign aims to garner support from the community for the completion of the landscaping and planting needed at the Centre for Food (CFF). A new learning facility created in direct response to the demand of the local culinary, hospitality, tourism, agriculture and horticulture sectors that opened to students in September 2013, the CFF houses Bistro ’67, a teaching-inspired restaurant and pantry, a unique retail store that brings student-created goods straight from the culinary classroom to the community. With crowdfunding working by identifying a specific initiative(s) or project(s) online and making its intended purpose and details available and accessible to prospective donors, Field to Fork: Sowing the Seeds of our Community offers a unique opportunity to support many aspects of the CFF’s

landscaping. This includes the planting of trees, shrubs, fruits, vegetables and arboretum, garden tools, a walking path, new soil, and more, all of which will be used by students, engaging them in the growing, harvesting, storing, processing, packaging and selling of delicious food. Interested individuals then have the option to choose any project(s) they would like to support. “There are 15 landscaping projects to choose from including a Kitchen Garden, Arboretum, Pollinator Garden and more,” said David Chambers, associate vicepresident, Office of Development, DC. “By helping to support the completion of the landscaping at the Centre for Food, donors will help us strengthen field to fork in Durham Region including providing our students with first-hand experience in the planting, growing and cultivating of plants, fruits and vegetables via enriched, realworld curriculum and an outdoor extension to the indoor classroom.” Located at the Whitby campus and supported by ambassador and celebrity chef Jamie Kennedy, the CFF can accommodate approximately 900 students studying in programs based on the fieldto-fork concept, completing the full cycle of farming to the preparation, serving and celebration of food. This includes:

•

Cook – Apprenticeship Culinary Management Culinary Skills Event Management Horticulture – Food and Farming

Horticulture Technician Hospitality Management – Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Hospitality Skills Pharmaceutical and Food Science Technology Pharmaceutical and Food Science Technology (compressed, fast-track) Special Events Planning

“From a philanthropic perspective it is our hope that Field to Fork: Sowing the Seeds of our Community will support the link between the college and our community by offering donors an opportunity to provide financial assistance to any project where they have a special interest,” added Chambers. Please support this initiative and help spread the word by sharing http:// fieldtofork.durhamcollege.ca with your friends and colleagues.

Have you developed a Millennial marketing strategy? By: John Stanley, Retail Consultant The industry is about to see the “Millennial” customer become more interested in garden products as they develop their homes. These 14 to 33 year-old consumers are now moving into apartments and new houses and are looking for inspiration to make their homes unique. Compared to the elder customer they are more distrusting of company advertising, are wary of in-house marketing and engage with each other and businesses in a different way. More and more research is coming out on what this market is looking for and the report published in the Independent Newspaper in the UK was most encouraging as it indicated that gardening was one of their top five activities and also saw an increased spend over the last 12 months. What worked in the past to attract new customers to garden centres will definitely not work in the future. According to research carried out by Melissa Hoffman and reported in Adweek August 15th 2014, the Millennials, who are now 27% of the American market check their smart phone on average 43 times a day and

CNLA Newsbrief

Autumn 2014

INDUSTRY NEWS use four or more devices. The challenge we all have is how to communicate with this new consumer and get them to visit our business rather than have them deal with our competitors. The Adweek research reveals that 66% ask a friend, 59% ask a partner and 37% ask mom or dad before purchasing, with 93% buying based on one of these endorsements. 41% of this communication is via social media and 59% is face-to-face. The good news is that research in the USA indicates that Millennial’s would rather shop with a local independent business than a big box retailer. But, those independent businesses have to relate to Millennials if they are to attract them to their offer. There are numerous ways we can attract those consumers as long as we remember that the method we use is not one many of us are used to, it is time to think outside the box or simply throw the box away. Who is your Scumbag? It is accepted that this generation does not trust traditional marketing techniques, one survey indicated that 80% of them distrusted advertising by businesses. They rely on their peers to make recommendations and the key to success is to influence their peers and let them do the marketing for them. One of the most successful peer marketing techniques is that used by Steven Fernandez aka Baby Scumbag. This young teenager has developed a successful income by recommending and wearing specific “cool” clothing and using sports equipment gifted to him by suppliers and then recommending it via his blog. The same technique is used with young mothers to promote baby products. A garden centre needs to develop an advocate, who is not a team member, but is promoting products and gardening to their peers both in social media and traditional marketing techniques. The garden centre can give product to the advocate on the understanding that they will discuss the product in their communications channels. In many retail sectors this has become a major marketing technique and gardening is an ideal vehicle for it.

#selfie

Are your customers taking “selfies”? There was a huge amount of publicity when the Queen was seen in a “selfie” at the recent Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Whether “selfies” is a fad or a trend is hard to tell, but take a walk around any major tourist venue and you will see tourists taking “selfies” of themselves near major tourist icons. All credit to Blooms Nurseries in the UK for promoting Geranium “Rozanne” using a “selfie” promotion. This is an ideal way of promoting a new plant and could be used by a nursery producer or retailer to promote to the younger generation. “Selfie” pictures could be displayed on a board in the garden centre next to the plant promotion. They can make a pizza. Can they make a garden? Domino Pizza have gained market share in recent years by developing a number of creative marketing strategies. One of them is the Phone App, Pizza Hero that allows the user to design their own pizza and then get the local Domino Pizza outlet to make it and deliver it to them. If other friends through social media also order this unique pizza the company pays the inventor a commission. This personalizes the whole marketing environment and empowers the consumer. The same principle applies in the garden

sector, Phone Apps are now available to design your own container garden, vegetable garden or patio. One of them is “Picagardi” which allows the homeowner to design their own garden in the comfort of their own home. The new consumer wants to engage with their local garden centre, the local garden centre needs to think in the same way that they do and communicate with them in a way that can relate to the business. It is time to throw away some of the old ideas and engage with new ways to attract consumers. John Stanley’s New Vision Workshop is coming to Ontario March 23-24, 2015. Details and registration is available at www.gardencentrescanada.com

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CNLA Newsbrief

Autumn 2014

INDUSTRY NEWS New greenhouse for Vineland Research and Innovation Centre Vineland Research and Innovation Centre hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony on September 25th to celebrate the construction of their new research greenhouse facility. Through a $10 million investment from Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs, this 3,700 sq metre facility will be the largest of its kind in Canada. Noted Jeff Leal, Minister of Agriculture ”The Ontario government is proud to support the new greenhouse facility at Vineland. Investments in research and innovation are critical to growing our horticultural sector and will create jobs in the agri-food industry across Ontario.“

CNLA meets with Federal Government in Ottawa On November 18th and 19th CNLA, in partnership with the Canadian Ornamental Horticulture Alliance (COHA), participated in a series of meetings with the Federal Government in Ottawa to advance our core issues and raise our profile with 15 government officials. The two main issues that CNLA brought to the table were the changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and EI Reform.

Vineland’s Board of Directors was on hand to participate in the official ribbon cutting ceremonies to herald the start of the construction of the new greenhouse facility at Vineland Research and Innovation Centre. The ornamental horticulture industry is well represented on the Board through Rob Bierhuizen of Sunrise Greenhouses and Bill Stensson of Sheridan Nurseries (second and third from left, respectively.)

including regular meetings with the departments moving forward. “CNLA, in partnership with COHA, are working hard on our members’ behalf to address our industry’s HR issues with government. The meetings we organized in November allowed us to share our concerns and open dialogue for future consultations and support”, stated Michael Murray. CNLA will be meeting with Employment and Social Development Canada’s Minister Jason Kenney at the Labour Mobility Round Table in late November and will keep members posted as to the outcomes from the event.

Michael Murray (CNLA Government Relations Chair and COHA President), Harold Deenen (CNLA HR Chair), Phil Paxton (Landscape Canada Committee Chair), Victor Santacruz (CNLA Executive Director), along with representatives from Flowers Canada Growers and FIHOQ (making up the COHA delegation), attended meetings with 15 government officials in the following departments: Employment and Social Development Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Small Business, Tourism and Agriculture, Health Canada, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, as well as with the Director of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

The Honourable Kevin Sorenson, Minister of State (Finance) and Member of Parliament for Crowfoot, on behalf of Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, announced an investment of $2.3 million to the Canadian Ornamental Horticulture Alliance for a national research cluster to help address the industry’s top priorities.

There are a number of items for COHA to follow up on as a result of the sessions,

This cluster, comprised of industry partners and research organizations across Canada,

will harness Canada’s expertise in areas such as water and nutrient management and sustainable production. It will also help the industry tap into new market opportunities at home and abroad. “This AgriInnovation funding provides the very real opportunity for our industry to develop new breeds of plant material that represent the beauty and hardiness that Canada is known for around the world. It also helps us proactively address growing threats to crops from environmental challenges and to improve production practices for continued growth and sustainability.” - Michael Murray, President of the Canadian Ornamental Horticulture Alliance

$2.3 million investment for national research cluster

L to R: MP Kevin Sorenson, Dean Shoemaker (FCG), Victor Santacruz (CNLA), Phil Paxton (CNLA and Landscape Alberta)

CNLA Newsbrief

Autumn 2014

landscape industry

certified

Recently Awarded Landscape Industry Certification Technician - Softscape Installation Luis Cole ON Technician - Ornamental Maintenance Duane Smith ON Tim Elliot ON Richard Lubbers ON Technician - Turf Maintenance Rasim Xhoni ON Richard Lubbers ON

Certification Corner Integrated Testing Program is unique to the Canadian Certification scene and Fanshawe College is the first school to implement the Landscape Industry Certified Technician designation within school curriculum. This program serves as a fantastic way for students to bridge what they learn in the classroom with what they learn in the field and combines it with a program that gives them a designation that is recognized internationally. The beautiful A.M. Cuddy Gardens property, which hosts the Landscape Industry Certified test day, is also the home of the

Landscape Industry Certified Technician designation, in conjunction with their Fanshawe College diploma. We would like to commend all of the students in taking part in the first portion of the Landscape Industry Certification process. On behalf of the CNLA and Landscape Ontario staff involved with the exam, we would like to extend a huge thank you to all of the volunteers, judges, and sponsors who took part in test day! It was a cold blustery day with an early start time right before the Thanksgiving weekend. We also thank the students, judges, and all those involved for

*as of November 1, 2014

inars

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ev g Speakin g in Writ g Readin

Fanshawe College certification test day This past September, the new school year brought with it a fresh crop of students ready to tackle Landscape Industry Certification. The 2014-2015 school year marks the second year that students in the Horticulture Technician program at Fanshawe College in London, ON have taken part in certification. Under the guidance of Program Coordinator, Michael Pascoe, CLT, and Horticulture Technician, Lucas Michielsen, CLT with the School of Design at Fanshawe College, the students challenged the Ornamental Maintenance designation on Friday October 10, at A.M. Cuddy Gardens in Strathroy, ON. The

Horticultural Technician Program’s ‘living lab’. The students work on and maintain the site’s property that serves as an extension to the Fanshawe College campus throughout the school year and served as the perfect backdrop to the day’s testing. The 26 students challenged half of the practical testing components from the Ornamental Maintenance designation, which included the Basic Program Controller, Tree Planting and Staking, Lateral Repair and Head Adjustment, and Plant Identification stations. The second half of their practical testing will take place in April 2015, with the students challenging the rigorous written component in December. The exam itself requires courage, stamina and hard work to be completed successfully and brings students one step closer to the

braving the cold with the hot beverages and Kleenexes that seemed to be in constant rotation. Without your help, none of this would have been possible. For those interested in being a judge, please keep an eye out in the spring of 2015 for volunteer opportunities. Being an active participant in test days is not only a fantastic way to give back to the program, but also to earn a good portion of the Continuing Education Units required for individuals holding CNLA designations during their recertification period. For any questions related to Certification, please do not hesitate to contact us at certification@cnla-acpp.ca or reach us at (888) 446-3499 ext. 8625 for Colin Vince, or ext. 8635 for Claudia Santos.

CNLA Newsbrief

Autumn 2014

Member Services Get your holiday cards with NEBS!

SAVE

15% on any NEBS or Bags & Bows product!* Contact your Association to find out your MEMBER CODE.

With the Holiday season right around the corner, sending out Holiday cards is a great way to build loyalty and spread some Holiday cheer! Order your Holiday cards with NEBS! NEBS has a great selection of highquality, custom-printed and affordable cards to suit any business’ needs. Don’t forget NEBS Business Products is your one-stop-shop for all of your printed stationary (including cheques and forms) and marketing material (including promotional products and clothing)! CNLA members also have access to special rates for NEBS Payweb.ca, a web-hosted payroll solution that gives you absolute confidence that all your payroll needs are being taken care of. Receive an additional 15 percent off printed products (now including logo design)* Contact Member Services today to receive CNLA’s membership code! *Cannot be combined with any other offer

Krown Rust Control Get your vehicles protected for winter at any Krown Centre across Canada. Receive access to special fleet pricing program and discounts on specific Krown products. Simply, let your Krown representative know that you are a member of CNLA.

Lyreco Office Supplies Discounts on over 7,000 office products. Also offering to customize a discounted core list of items for your business. Contact CNLA’s Enhance Your Business Sophisticated Style. The Petro-Canada™ SuperPass™in saves you Lyreco office supplies representative, Cheryl Bags fleet & Bows$2.4 offers cents/litre a unique line ofon stylish includes and your all retail fuelpackaging that gift bags, boxes, gift wrap, tissue paper, ribbon, bows and more. purchases and hasOrder over today 1,500 retail stores in!* Hardy at cheryl.hardy@lyreco.com or and save 15% 647-216-7555. Canada. Enterprise (vehicle rentals) Save 10 percent off daily, weekly and monthly posted retail rates for commercial truck rentals. Members can also receive an additional five percent discount off the Visit the CNLA800.461.7572 website to download yourow s. calowest internet pricing for Enterprise Rent A • bagsb Car and 25 percent off National Car Rental Esso or Petro-Canada application today! and Alamo Rent A Car. www.cnla-acpp.ca/benefits Purchase restrictions allow you to control costs. With PIN-protection and online monitoring, you will have security against fraud and card abuse.

*Offer does not include website services, payroll and other business services, EZShield, McAfee, shipping and handling, tax and other order fees. Not valid in combination with any other offers. Not valid on previously placed orders. ©2014 Deluxe Enterprise Operations, Inc. All rights reserved. CTC4BAGS

Take advantage of CNLA’s most popular Member Savings Programs

Four brand new Member Savings Programs!

The CNLA Member Services Team is always looking for new programs to benefit our membership. If you would like to recommend a program, contact Christine Finn at 1-888-446-3499, ext. 8655 or christine@cnla-acpp.ca

Our most popular program by far is our GMC/CNLA Fleet Assistance Program! As a member of your provincial association you are eligible to receive significant savings off the MSRP of GMC/Chevrolet trucks and vehicles. Many of you take advantage of this great program, so it is no wonder that we are in the TOP FIVE of GMC’s largest fleet programs in Canada!

Work Authority Comply with PPE (personal protective equipment) standards and look good at the same time!

Take advantage of the ability to save even more money with one of our fuel programs with Esso and Petro-Canada.

Work Authority has a wide selection of footwear, apparel (including Hi-Visibility) and accessories. Make sure you and your crew are prepared for the winter with top name brands like CAT, Dickies, Kodiak and Carhartt. Work Authority has 37 retail stores across Canada.

If you just pay the telecom carriers what they are asking for, then you are probably paying too much. Schooley Mitchell Telecom Consultants will work with you to reduce your costs for telephone and internet services by reviewing your current telecom system in detail and then recommending improvements to your services. This will not only save you profit, but, more importantly, time!

Contact Member Services to receive your discount voucher (in .pdf format).

Staying with your current provider because it works is not the way to stay in business.

The Esso Business Card Program gives you $2.9 cents/litre savings on all fuel purchases with over 1,900 Esso locations throughout Canada! Detailed monthly invoicing, purchase restrictions and easy online access; saving money has never been easier!

CNLA has officially launched its partnership with Work Authority and our members now have the ability to save 15 percent off all regular priced merchandise.

Reduce your phone and internet bills

CNLA Newsbrief

Autumn 2014

Often, the cost of telecommunications is accepted as a non-negotiable item in your budget. It is seen as easier to stay with your current plan than dealing with the hassle of switching. Schooley Mitchell does not represent any telecom supplier or accept commissions from them. They will add security and increase efficiency, which works towards every business owner’s vision. Members that access the Schooley Mitchell Member Savings Program save approximately $2,600 per year. If that does not convince you to call Schooley Mitchell, then knowing that you will not be charged for accessing their services unless they save you money should. There is no risk, only reward. What have you got to lose? Call Neil Brady today! 1-855-572-7682

New discounted membership with CFIB CNLA has partnered with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) to extend the many benefits of CFIB to CNLA members. By working together, we are able to provide independent businesses in our sector access to business assistance, savings programs and a voice in all levels of government. Through this partnership, CNLA members will benefit from reduced CFIB membership fees, a savings that will directly affect our members already affiliated with the two associations. Some of the many benefits made available through CFIB are:

• • • • •

Group membership rate of $250 for the business plan, plus four dollars per full-time employee Additional proactive lobbying with all three levels of government Access to significant discounts for payroll processing, courier shipping, and more Online business training courses for both employers and employees Unlimited access to CFIB Business Counselors in every province

These are just a few examples of how CFIB can help you improve your business. At the same time, CFIB is working for

its 109,000 members and all small businesses to improve the entrepreneurial environment in Canada. CFIB lobbying has generated positive results from the federal government, such as: •

•

Establishing the Code of Conduct for the credit and debit card industry, which gives you leverage when dealing with your processor Helping all business owners plan for their retirement by fighting for and achieving the $750,000 capital gains exemption for small business Ensuring business owners keep more of their retained earnings by achieving lower small business corporate tax rates federally in every province

You spoke and we listened. With a high number of CNLA members already members of CFIB and the excellent synergies between the two associations, the partnership was a logical step. CFIB’s lobbying efforts and extensive business support resources benefit independent businesses across the country. For CNLA members who currently belong to CFIB – CFIB will contact you by phone to review the partnership and renew your CFIB membership at the usual time. For CNLA members who are not current CFIB members – here’s the next step: Connect with CFIB by visiting www.cfib.ca/ cnlamembers for more information and to join. If you have questions or would like further information, please contact CFIB’s Mike Kirwin at 416-222-8022 or 1-888-2342232.

CNLA continues to highly value its relationship with John Deere Canada ULC, who has been a strong industry supporter over the years. With the understanding that the John Deere program was highly utilized by members across the country, CNLA is currently reviewing new program opportunities for small agriculture and turf equipment. The John Deere Member Savings Program is now closed. For more information, please contact Christine Finn, Member Programs Coordinator at 1-888-446-3499, x.8655 or christine@cnla-acpp.ca

Redesigned membership directory up and running CNLA has partnered with the provincial associations to re-design the online Membership Directory. The updated look and functionality makes it easy to find CNLA members across the country. Members are searchable based on postal code, city or company name. To find a CNLA member near you, visit your provincial association website from your computer or smart device. The national directory is online at www.cnla-acpp.ca/ membershipdirectory. Check out the directory today to ensure that your information is listed correctly.

We are very excited about this new relationship and encourage all members to check it out!

CNLA John Deere program comes to an end Regrettably, after 10 years, the CNLA Member Savings Program with John Deere Canada ULC has come to an end. The ending of the program is the result of structural changes within the John Deere corporation internationally, making it no longer possible to offer a viable program to CNLA and its membership.

CNLA Newsbrief

Autumn 2014

Landscapers Corner Connecting the dots for Human Resources

public image of the industry. Developing partnerships with external groups will help others understand the benefits our industry can provide and help raise our profile. As each committee works toward their goals, we are starting to see everything come together and increasing the realization that our efforts will make an impact on the industry, which in the end is the ultimate benefit of being part of an association.

When you started in the landscape industry, did you see this as a career? What pulled you in? What kept you working in the industry? Human Resources is top of mind for CNLA, as members continually struggle to deal with a labour shortage. These are the types of questions that we should reflect on as we develop strategies to deal with our current and future labour force. At CNLA’s Human Resources Summit, held July 2014 in Toronto, industry leaders from all provinces and all sectors came together to discuss HR issues that the industry is facing and provide strategic direction for the HR committee. Discussions continued after the summit and the industry was broken down into the following categories of workers: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Owners/Managers Full time, permanent employees Full time, seasonal employees Youth – our future workforce

We have many resources that can support the first two categories. These employees can access full time work, education, training and benefits for a well-positioned career. Numerous programs are in place, such as Red Seal, Apprenticeship, Certification, On-the-Job Training, Diploma programs, etc. All of these support longterm employees who want to make the landscape industry their career. CNLA’s role is to ensure that employers are aware of these programs and see the value they can bring to their business. Strategies for accessing seasonal employees requires a different approach. These are the employees who generally work from April to November. They may consist of labourers, foreign workers, sod layers, cashiers, weeders, pruners, sprayers, lawn mowers, planters, clerks, etc. This group is our largest workforce and are vital to any business, yet they are increasingly becoming more difficult to find. To help members access these employees, CNLA is keeping up to date information on foreign worker programs and finding new ways to provide this group with fast, targeted training and giving members access to a number of

Get your new staff on track for success

resources that may entice these people to move into those full time, permanent positions. Youth have the power of determining the future of this industry. If we do not have new people looking for a career in landscaping, we will no longer have people aspiring for those full time, permanent positions. Landscaping is a viable career option and many of those in the industry are respected leaders. Therefore, we need to portray the right image to schools, guidance counsellors, parents and government. A positive public image will help industry become a “real job” that is recommended to students as they consider what they want to do when they grow up. On January 5-6, 2015, horticulture industry professionals, educators and government officials from across Canada will gather for the inaugural “Cultivate and Connect” conference. This event will act to strengthen the relationships between various stakeholders dedicated to connecting students to the green industry. Together, we are continuing to build pathways to attract youth to this sector. Human Resources ties into everything that CNLA does and many of the priorities that came out of the HR Summit in July are also top of mind for the Landscape Canada Committee. Landscape Canada is focusing on communicating professional development opportunities, career pathways and maintaining a positive

Do you remember your first day of work? You do not know the people, you do not know the routine; you are new to everything. Your new staff today might feel a bit out of the loop. They may just be wandering around because they are not sure where to go or what to do. How do you ensure that they pick up on everything quickly? A contractor in the United States developed a mentorship program that encourages experienced staff to look out for the newbies. New staff have a mentor assigned to them who can help them walk through their routine. The new people on crew are easy to spot on a job site because they have a different colour hard hat. This is not to single them out, but helps everyone keep an eye on them to first ensure that they are staying safe, and second to welcome them to the team. So what is the benefit of this? The sooner those new staff become comfortable with their job, the more likely they are to stick around. The training process can happen quicker with a mentor involved on the job site. Although it is unlikely it will be a 1:1 relationship, making your experienced staff responsible for a few people can help focus the training process. The On-the-Job Training (OJT) program is a great way to set up your staff to become mentors on site. This program teaches you how to train others – something that doesn’t always come easily when we don’t have a process in place. Master Trainers are available in every province. Contact your Provincial Association to inquire about a future OJT session near you.

CNLA Newsbrief

Autumn 2014

a National Landscaping Plan. The UK is developing a code of practice for water and flood management. Finland is working on plans for their next “Green Year”, which will take place in 2016. During that time, the association will be developing programs and increasing their lobbying efforts.

Networking in Luxembourg with ELCA In October 2014, representatives from CNLA’s Landscape Canada and Government Relations committees attended a Presidium Meeting with the European Landscape Contractor’s Association (ELCA), in Luxembourg. These meetings happen twice each year, and are a chance to get up to date on ELCA projects and hear reports from member countries. Listening to each country around the table, it is easy to see that we share a number of challenges with our European counterparts, including a declining labour force, seasonality issues and improving the public perception of the industry. A few countries have been successful in getting greening campaigns started and recognized. The Netherlands have created a “Living Garden” concept that allows contractors to advise their clients about creating a more sustainable garden. This was created in partnership with the ministry of economic affairs, which wants to promote biodiversity. France has worked with the Minister of Ecology to develop

The two-day excursion took a group of 75 people from around the world through Luxembourg. We visited the site of the only producer of rolled turf in Luxembourg, saw a private garden with many unique varieties of roses, and had dinner with the country’s Minister of Agriculture. The ELCA Excursions are a fantastic way to see landscape designs and installations, as well as take the time to hear from contractors in other countries about their experiences. If you are interested in participating in an ELCA Excursion, consider attending the next one in Paris, which will also coincide with their Green City Conference, from May 7-9, 2015. Information will be posted at www.elca.info and shared in CNLA communications when it is available.

Sample job descriptions are now available Job templates have been created so that you can easily adapt them within your business. They will also support your EI & ROE reporting so please feel free to use them (available for download at www.cnla-acpp.ca/ employment):

•

Nursery and Greenhouse Worker Landscaping and Ground Maintenance Labourer Landscape Designer Landscape and Horticulture Technician

• • •

CNLA also has an online Industry Job Board available to members. CNLA’s website is visited regularly by thousands of industry professionals, educators, students, home gardeners, and individuals interested in the green industry. Jobs are also posted on the association Facebook and Twitter pages. For more information, visit www.cnla-acpp.ca/ employment

Did you know? The primary environmental concerns that landscapers hear from their clients are:

• • • •

Follow the world of Landscape Design CNLA’s Landscape Design Subcommittee wants to share information with the landscape design community. We have started a Facebook Page where we will post information about upcoming events, and other items of interest. Like the page at www.facebook.com/ LandscapeDesignCanada

Applying principles of sustainability and conservation (42%) Limiting the use of pesticides and herbicides (28%) Water usage (22%) Contamination and spills (8%)

While survey respondents stated that they are following sustainable landscape techniques such as choosing a site specific plant selection, staying current with landscape horticulture industry product innovation, and investing in training and industry knowledge. However, 47% of respondents stated that they do not employ environmentally sound groundwater management, rain gardens, bio-swales, green roofs, etc. This information comes from the recent Landscape Canada survey. More results to be posted on the CNLA website.

CNLA Newsbrief

Autumn 2014

Growers Corner

BY RITA WEERDENBURG

Time to revisit Canada’s nursery stock standards

From left to right, front row: Dr. Rumen Conev, VRIC; Dr. Parminderjit Kaur, VRIC; Michel Touchette, Jeffries Nurseries. Back row: Rita Weerdenburg, CNLA; DeVonne Friesen, Van Belle Nurseries; Mike Byland, Bylands Nurseries; Rick Durand, Bylands Nurseries; Sylvie Deslauriers, Phytoclone; John Bakker, JC Bakker Nurseries.

Vineland hosts New Plant Development Committee CNLA’s New Plant Development Committee met at Vineland Research and Innovation Centre (VRIC) in early September as part of the rose breeding program’s annual evaluation process. The roses under evaluation are a result of the joint CNLA/ Vineland rose breeding program. The 50 top roses that survive this selection process will go on for further disease resistance and hardiness testing at a variety of locations across Canada, representing a wide diversity of geographic and climatic conditions. It is expected that the first of the “partnership roses” will be introduced in 2018.

New plant hardiness zone map Since the early 1960’s, the ornamental horticulture industry and their gardening customers across Canada have relied on the plant hardiness zone map developed by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada as an excellent guideline on where plants could be expected to survive relative to their climatic requirements. The zone map was developed using a wide range of climatic variables, including minimum and maximum temperatures, length of frost-free periods, precipitation data and maximum wind speed. The map was updated a number of times over the years to reflect changing climatic data and the most recent version was released in 2001.

With more dramatic climate changes and the improvement to climate interpolation techniques, the new 2014 hardiness zone map (now the responsibility of Ministry of Natural Resources Canadian Forest Services) reflects some significant changes. The new map indicates that the changes are more pronounced in western Canada. For those growers and gardeners concerned about the accuracy of the data that is reflected in the new hardiness zone map, MNR has also produced a map that shows plant hardiness zones based on the USDA’s extreme minimum temperature approach. To take even more advantage of new technologies, MNR will also attempt to develop range maps for individual species of plants by encouraging the public to provide species-specific information. Download a poster or standard letter size map at www.planthardiness.gc.ca

Congratulations to Winkelmolen Nurseries CNLA extends its sincere congratulations to Winkelmolen Nurseries on their receipt of the Award of Merit at the recent AIPH Grower of the Year Award ceremonies, held in Qingdoa, China. For the fourth consecutive year, a Canadian nursery has been shortlisted to represent Canada at this prestigious international event, once again demonstrating that Canada boasts some of the finest production nurseries in the world.

One of the most visited pages and downloaded documents on the CNLA website is the Canadian Standards for Nursery Stock. First published is 1967, the nursery stock standards provide an important minimum quality benchmark and the document is referenced by landscape architects and designers, developers and government agencies in landscape contract specifications. Especially in consideration of the changes to technology and production techniques since the publication of the most recent version (eighth edition) which was published in 2006, it is time to once again review and upgrade this important industry standard. Any grower or CNLA member wishing to participate on this working committee is requested to contact Rita Weerdenburg (rita@cnla-acpp.ca).

Canada hosts IPPS Eastern and Western region meetings It was once again Canada’s turn to shine on the international stage, as they played host to both the Eastern and Western region symposiums of the International Plant Propagators Society (IPPS). The Eastern Region symposium was held in the Niagara region of Ontario from September 20 – 24th, while the Western region meetings were held the first week of October in the Abbotsford area of BC. For both events, a great line-up of conference speakers was complemented by excellent nursery tours, thanks to the cooperation of CNLA member nurseries anxious to show off their production facilities to the international audience, highlighting their commitment to the IPPS motto “to seek and to share.”

CNLA Newsbrief

Autumn 2014

Coin de producteurs Vineland accueille le comité de développement des nouvelles plantes Le comité de développement des nouvelles plantes de l’ACPP s’est réuni au Vineland Research and Innovation Center (VRIC) au début de septembre dans le cadre du processus d’évaluation annuelle du programme de sélection des roses. Les roses évaluées sont le fruit du programme conjoint de sélection des roses de l’ACPP et de Vineland. Les 50 meilleures roses à survivre à ce processus de sélection subiront d’autres tests de résistance aux maladies et de rusticité à divers endroits au Canada, représentant une grande diversité de conditions géographiques et climatiques. Selon nos prévisions, la première de ces «roses en partenariat» devrait être présentée en 2018.

La nouvelle carte des zones de rusticité Depuis le début des années 1960, le secteur de l’horticulture ornementale et ses clients jardiniers de partout au Canada se fient à la carte des zones de rusticité élaborée par le ministère de l’Agriculture et de l’Agroalimentaire en tant qu’excellent outil de référence pour connaître les endroits où les plantes devraient survivre selon leurs besoins climatiques. La carte des zones a été créée à l’aide d’une vaste gamme de variables climatiques, y compris les températures minimales et maximales, le nombre de jours sans gelée, les données sur les précipitations et la vitesse maximales des vents. La carte a été mise à jour plusieurs fois au fil des années afin de refléter les données sur les changements climatiques et la plus récente version datait de 2001. En raison des changements climatiques plus radicaux et des améliorations des techniques d’interpolation climatique, la nouvelle carte des zones de rusticité (maintenant sous la responsabilité du Service canadien des forêts du ministère des Ressources naturelles Canada) reflète certains changements importants. La nouvelle carte indique que les changements sont plus prononcés dans l’Ouest canadien.

PAR RITA WEERDENBURG

Canada’s Plant Hardiness Zones Zones de rusticité des plantes au Canada

Resolute

Inuvik

Zone 0a 0b 1a

Cambridge Bay

YUKON WHITEHORSE

NORTHWEST TERRITORIES TERRITOIRES DU NORD-OUEST

1b 2a

N U N A V U T

IQALUIT

2b 3a

YELLOWKNIFE

Rankin Inlet Fort Nelson

Hay River Kuujjuaq

BRITISH COLUMBIA Prince George

COLOMBIEBRITANNIQUE

VICTORIA

Vancouver

Happy ValleyGoose Bay

Churchill

Fort McMurray

ALBERTA

NE W TE FOUN RR E-N DLAND EUV E-ETAND L -LA AB BR RA AD DO OR R

La Loche

4a 4b 5a

ST JOHN’S

EDMONTON

SASKATCHEWAN Calgary

MANITOBA

Chisasibi

REGINA

Q U E B E C WINNIPEG Brandon

Q U É B E C

Saskatoon

O N TAR I O

QUÉBEC

Kenora

For more information on plant hardiness zones in Canada, please go to:

Pour obtenir de plus amples informations sur les zones de rusticité des plantes au Canada, visitez :

www.planthardiness.gc.ca

www.rusticitedesplantes.gc.ca

Thunder Bay Sault Ste Marie

NB N-B

PEI Î-P-É

FREDERICTON HALIFAX

NOVA SCOTIA NOUVELLE-ÉCOSSE

Montréal

OTTAWA

TORONTO

6b CHARLOTTETOWN

kilometres 0

500 kilomètres

Scale 1:30 000 000 / Échelle 1/30 000 000 Lambert Conformal Conic Projection Projection conique conforme de Lambert

7a 7b 8a 8b 9a

© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Natural Resources Canada, 2014 © Sa Majesté la Reine du chef du Canada, représentée par le ministre de Ressources naturelles Canada, 2014

Si vous faites partie des producteurs et des jardiniers préoccupés par l’exactitude des données prises en compte dans la nouvelle carte des zones de rusticité, Ressources naturelles Canada a également élaboré une carte des zones de rusticité des plantes en fonction de l’approche des températures minimales extrêmes adoptée par le département de l’Agriculture américain. Afin de profiter davantage des nouvelles technologies, Ressources naturelles Canada essaiera aussi d’élaborer des cartes de répartition des espèces individuelles de plantes en incitant le public à lui fournir des renseignements par espèces. Pour en savoir plus, consultez le site www.planthardiness.gc.ca

Le Canada accueille les réunions régionales de l’Est et de l’Ouest de la Société internationale des propagateurs de plantes C’était à nouveau au tour du Canada de rayonner sur la scène internationale alors qu’il accueillait à la fois les symposiums de l’Est et de l’Ouest de la Société

internationale des propagateurs de plantes (IPPS). Le symposium de la région de l’Est a eu lieu dans la région de Niagara en Ontario du 20 au 24 septembre, alors que les réunions régionales de l’Ouest se sont tenues durant la première semaine d’octobre dans la région d’Abbotsford en Colombie-Britannique. Les deux événements présentaient une belle brochette de conférenciers ainsi que d’excellentes visites de pépinières, grâce à la collaboration de pépinières membres de l’ACPP impatientes de montrer leurs installations de production à un public international, soulignant ainsi leur engagement à l’égard de la devise de l’IPPS « chercher et partager ».

Félicitations à Winkelmolen Nurseries L’ACPP offre ses plus sincères félicitations à Winkelmolen Nurseries qui a reçu le prix du mérite lors des dernières cérémonies Grower of the year de l’AIPH qui ont eu lieu à Qingdoa, en Chine. Pour une quatrième année consécutive, une pépinière canadienne a été présélectionnée afin de représenter le Canada lors de ce prestigieux événement international. Encore une fois, le Canada compte quelques-unes des meilleures pépinières de production au monde.

CNLA Newsbrief

Autumn 2014

Garden Centres Corner What are you getting from your membership? Part Three: Community and Public Promotion The final article of a three part series will highlight the promotional activities you have access to through Garden Centres Canada. Garden centres are the face of the industry to the public. The more opportunities you have to work with your community, the better educated the public will be about the benefits gardening and landscaping can provide. Garden Centres Canada provides your business with access to a number of ways to connect with your community and promote your garden centre at the same time: Garden Centre of the Year Awards What would your customers think if you were named Garden Centre of the Year? The National Awards of Landscape

overlapping with the Canada Day long weekend. Running since 2009, there have been an average of 50 garden centres that participate each year, accepting plastic pots, trays and tags back at their stores for recycling. CNLA offers promotional materials and sends out press releases promoting the event. This event has drastically raised awareness of the need for recycling solutions for the industry and many municipalities have now come on board collecting plant pots in their curbside programs. National Tree Day Everyone can celebrate National Tree Day, which takes place in September each year. This event is run through Tree Canada and invites everyone to celebrate trees. In the past, garden centres have held sales on certain trees, held fall festivals and participated in planting events. Participants can download activity guides and access information on how to connect with schools and community groups. Another way CNLA encourages its members to participate is to partner with a local school or community group to lead a planting event. Think about how this type of event can encourage students to bring their parents to your garden centre to plant something in their own backyard.

List your business for free on consumer-targeted websites Canada’s Garden Route (www.canadasgardenroute.ca) and casaGURU (casaguru.com) The Orchard, in Ireland, proudly displays their 2013 Garden are offering CNLA members the Centre of the Year distinction on their staff shirts! opportunity to list their business Excellence offers garden centres an on their websites. Canada’s Garden Route opportunity to take advantage of being promotes garden destinations across named the best of the best in Canada. the country and includes garden centres, Garden centres can enter into the awards botanical gardens, parks, trails, and more. program in one or all of the seven CasaGURU is connected to HGTV and categories. There will be one overall winner, provides homeowners with access to a as well as category winners for those who listing of professionals across the country. excel at a specific area. We saw a great example of an award winner in Ireland You must opt-in to be part of these lists. during the International Garden Centre Please visit www.cnla-acpp.ca to sign up. Association Congress. All of the staff shirts let everyone know that this was the garden Garden Days centre of the year. All winners should get An initiative of the Canadian Garden creative and let their customers know their Council, Garden Days is now an annual achievements! event that takes place on Father’s Day weekend. You can set up an event at your National Plastic Recycling Event store, or partner with a community group This event runs annually for 10 days and celebrate gardening for the weekend.

Some stores offer contests, discounts, speakers, or children’s activities for Garden Days. Whatever you decide, you can register your activity at www.gardendays.ca. In the two years since this event started, it has garnered a lot of press and social media activity. It is a great way to connect with your community. This concludes our series of articles highlighting just a few of the things that Garden Centres Canada is working on to give you the most out of your membership. New projects and ideas are in the works, so stay tuned for new programs that will be available to you.

GCC prioritizes for the future Earlier this fall, Garden Centres Canada held a Strategic Planning session to determine the goals of the committee over the next three to five years. Participants came from BC, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland, which provided a national perspective on current issues for the industry. The group recognized specific challenges facing garden centres today. These include finding, developing and keeping qualified staff; getting the public to choose independents over box stores; and keeping up with technology. The main challenge for Garden Centres Canada, as an association, is how to best communicate what they do for their members. Over two days, the group determined the following priorities for Garden Centres Canada: 1. Apprenticeship and Certification 2. Identifying Garden Centres Canada to the industry and the public 3. Partnership with the edible side of horticulture to develop programs that support both groups 4. Improved communications to members 5. Provide members with training options for their seasonal workers The Garden Centres Canada Committee now has clear direction on where to focus their efforts and hopes that members across Canada will benefit from the initiatives they work on in the future.

CNLA Newsbrief

Autumn 2014

COMING SOON: National Gift Card Program Garden Centres Canada is happy to announce a national gift card program that will allow consumers to purchase gift cards that can be redeemed at any participating member garden centre. This mobile gift card program requires no additional hardware for the merchant and it is easy to participate. Why should you sign up? Why not? There is no cost to you to sign up. If you accept the gift card, you are giving customers another reason to come to your store and potentially spend more money than the value of the gift card. This program supports independent garden centres across Canada. How does it work? The program is administered through a mobile gifting company, PayWith. Participating garden centres must sign up with PayWith to be able to receive the gift cards. Signing up is easy. A website will soon be available for members to sign up for the program. Then, PayWith will contact you and go through the appropriate steps to put you on the program. Gift cards are purchased through an online portal. You can add this to your own website and even make the default option for the card to only be redeemable at your garden centre. The alternate option would be for the card to be redeemable at any member garden centre. You can also have your cashier enter in the information for customers. All that is needed is a mobile phone number and there is an option of sending it to an email address. The purchase of the gift card does not go through your garden centre. The cards are sent to the recipient’s mobile phone and/ or email address with a virtual gift card that operates through the MasterCard network. When a gift card is redeemed, the merchant enters in the card number, as if they were processing a MasterCard. There are no costs to sign up, but the merchant is charged a discounted fee that is lower than your regular MasterCard processing fee when a gift card is redeemed at their store. Promotional Materials CNLA is developing signage and other information for you to use at your store to

let customers know they can buy the gift cards, and that you accept them. Keep an eye out on the CNLA website, as well as the GCC E-news for the official launch.

Card Not Present transactions - are you aware of the risks? As a customer oriented business, you try to ensure that the customer experience is as easy as possible. This may include taking orders and accepting a credit card number for payment over the phone. It is important that you are aware that processing a credit card payment when the credit card is not present is considered a higher-risk transaction and may increase your processing costs as well as risk as a merchant. When accepting a payment when the credit card is not present, the merchant assumes the full risk of chargeback in the event of fraud, and holds the burden of proof in the event of dispute by a legitimate cardholder. Obtaining an authorization alone does not protect you from fraud related chargebacks. If a transaction is deemed fraudulent, the merchant is liable unless evidence can be provided to validate that the cardholder was engaged in the transaction. This evidence is difficult to provide when the card is not present for the transaction. In order to manage these risks, consider developing a policy to handle card-notpresent transactions. For the lowest risk level, this could mean that you do not process transactions unless a credit card is present. An alternate option, with slightly more risk, could involve providing a maximum dollar value to accept nonqualified transactions. This would allow you to offer some control over the amount of risk you are taking, while still enabling easy transactions by your customers. There are also tools available from Visa and MasterCard that can help mitigate your risk such as using Address Verification Service (AVS) to match the delivery address to the cardholder address, and verifying the CVV (three to four digit code) found on the card. As a member of Garden Centres Canada, you have access to preferred credit card

processing rates from Chase Paymentech. Chase Paymentech’s help desk has chargeback specialists that can assist any merchant with concerns they may have with a chargeback. Please contact your merchant processing provider if you have questions or are looking for any resources to help you with this issue.

New benefits available from the Retail Council of Canada The Retail Council of Canada is now offering our members access to three new programs. In addition to preferred rates with Chase Paymentech, access to webinars and online resources, you can now take advantage of the following discounts: Save 20% on Shopify: By selling your lawn and garden supplies online, you give your customers the ability to order any selection of products for direct delivery to their homes. The Shopify solutions help you setup, launch and operate a successful e-commerce garden supply store with all the right tools just a few clicks away. Sign up for a free 14 day trial at www.shopify. com/rcc and get 20% off of your Shopify plan. Preferred ground shipping rates with Canpar Courier: After setting up your online store, you may want to consider a shipping solution. Save anywhere from 30-60% regular ground rates. The more you ship, the more you save. Contact the CNLA Member Services team to put you in touch with a Canpar representative. 10% off Online Training with Graff Retail TV: Graff Retail TV is the industry leader in online retail training solutions. Receive unlimited attendance for your team, regardless of the number of employees you have. Members can receive 10% off the cost of “Get Managing!” and “Get Selling” training programs. Visit: www.retailcouncil.org/memberservices/ programs/graffretail Remember, membership to your provincial association includes your membership to the Retail Council of Canada. Be sure to visit www.retailcouncil.org to learn about upcoming webinars and events that are specifically designed for retailers in Canada.

CNLA Newsbrief

Autumn 2014

Industry events NORTH AMERICA December 3-5: The Buildings Show: Toronto, ON www.thebuildingsshow.com

Power and performance that pros like you need. STIHL’s complete family of dependable and fuel-efficient backpack blowers were developed for astute professionals. The BR 430 and BR 600 MAGNUM® include revolutionary and innovative technologies, making them ideal for long work days. The combination of comfort, performance and low-emissions are ideal features that make these blowers a solid investment. Solutions that are as reliable as you are.

STIHL’S BR 430

STIHL’S BR 600 MAGNUM®

• Innovative 2-stroke stratified scavenging engine - powerful and efficient • Outstanding performance and plenty of power • 20% reduction in fuel consumption and up to 70% fewer exhaust emissions • Automatic starting position and automatic choke reset • Low-vibrations make for comfortable operation • Reliable and user-friendly

• Advanced 4-MIXTM engine provides power and performance of a 4-stroke engine • Gives you 37% more power and uses 28% less fuel • Industry leading power-to-weight ratio with comfortable harness • Easy-grip throttle with cruise control • Clean burning for better fuel economy and 80% fewer emissions • Simplified starting procedure for maximum productivity

Displacement 63.3 cc

Weight 10.1 kg (22.3 lb)

Displacement 64.8 cc

Weight 9.8 kg (21.6 lb)

Power Output 2.9 kW

Sound Level 76 dB(A)

Power Output 3.0 kW

Sound Level 75 dB(A)

At nozzle end

†

Air Velocity† 323 km/h (201 mph) Air Volume† 712 cfm (1210 m3/h)

January 7-9: CENTS Marketplace: Columbus, OH www.centsmarketplace.com January 13-16: Sports Turf Managers Association 26th Annual Conference: Denver, CO www.stma.org January 14-16: Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show (MANTS): Baltimore, MA www.mants.com January 20-22: CNLA Winter Board of Directors Meeting: Toronto, ON February 3-5: Next Level: Ft. Lauderdale, FL www.yournextlevel.org

QUALITY AT WORK. For 88 years, STIHL has been a world-class innovator in outdoor power equipment. German engineered products featuring the latest pioneering technologies make STIHL the market leader. STIHL products are only available at independent STIHL Dealers who provide expert advice and on-site service. Thank you for supporting the leading team and for making STIHL the Number 1 Selling Brand in Canada.

January 5-6: Cultivate & Connect: Toronto, ON www.cultivateandconnect.ca January 6-8: Landscape Ontario Congress: Toronto, ON www.locongress.com

STIHL BR 430 & BR 600 MAGNUM ®

Air Velocity† 295 km/h (183 mph) Air Volume† 500 cfm (850 m3/h)

December 5: Poinsettia Research Open House: Vineland Station, ON www.vinelandresearch.com

February 9-10: Manitoba Green Show: Winnipeg, MB www.manitobagreenshow.com

February 25-27: iLandscape: Schaumburg, IL, www.ilandscapeshow.com

* “#1 Selling Brand in Canada” is based on an independent market share analysis of gasoline-powered handheld outdoor power equipment from 2013. Source: TraQline Canada.

INTERNATIONAL December 2-3: Breeders & Young Plant Producers Conference: Ratingen, DE www.fleuroselect.com STIHLCanada

JOIN THE CLUB that everyone is talking about! www.STIHLCLUB.ca

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January 27-30: IPM Essen: Essen, DE www.ipm-messe.de/en February 17-19: Salon du Végétal: Angers, FR www.salonduvegetal.com Printed on recycled paper using vegetable based inks by: Harmony Printing, 50 Woodbine Downs Boulevard, Toronto, ON M9W 5R2

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