Horticulture Connected Autumn Volume 2 Issue 1 by Horticulture Connected

HORTICULTURE CONNECTED

Spring 2015

News, Analysis and Trends in Landscape, Garden Retail & Edible Horticulture

Horticultural Wages

WE SHARE RESULTS FROM OUR RECENT NATIONAL SURVEY

GroMór

IRISH HORTICULTURE UNITES TO ENTHUSE A NEW GENERATION OF PLANT BUYERS

Growing Confidence MIKE NEARY SHARES POSITIVE DATA ON THE IRISH GARDENING MARKET

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EDITORS LETTER

ExPERIENCE AND ATTITUDE PAY

EDITOR BARRY LUPTON

hen it comes to securing work and good pay in horticulture, it boils down to a couple of simple things: attitude and experience. Those qualifications you treasure, or are working hard to complete, matter little in the eyes of potential employers when compared to your attitude toward work, people and commitment. Experience is also key, it is valued in horticulture more than almost anything else. And if you don't have any, but can prove your willingness to gain it through hard work, diligence and a positive attitude, you will do just fine. If you are seeking employment in horticulture, perhaps it’s time to focus less on the bits of paper and more on what motivates you, what you can bring to an employer and what sacrifices you are willing to make. It's not a matter of what you did, it's a matter of what you will do. When it comes to getting good employees, be prepared to pay fair wages, make investments in training, nurture and appreciate your employees and don't use government schemes as a way to avoid paying fairly.

HORTICULTURE CONNECTED

News, Analysis and Trends In Landscape & Amenity Horticulture

HORTICULTURE CONNECTED

Spring 2015

News, Analysis and Trends in Landscape, Garden Retail & Edible Horticulture

Horticultural Wages

WE SHARE RESULTS FROM OUR RECENT NATIONAL SURVEY

GroMór

IRISH HORTICULTURE UNITES TO ENTHUSE A NEW GENERATION OF PLANT BUYERS

Growing Confidence

MIKE NEARY SHARES POSITIVE DATA ON THE IRISH GARDENING MARKET

20 The Cutlers 33/34 Parliament St Dublin 2 Ireland +353 (0)87 921 2044 www.horticulture.ie

In our Spring issue of 2015, we're delighted to share the results of the first survey of horticultural wages in Ireland. A sincere thanks to all who took the time to complete it. It is a small step toward building a better understanding of our sector and we look forward to following it with additional surveys. We're also delighted to share much positive news; David Fitzsimons, CEO of Retail Excellence Ireland sets out the GroMór stall. It’s an initiative that will see the first truly collaborative attempts to target one of the biggest issues facing our industry: making plants attractive to a distracted generation. Mike Neary also shares some positive data in the form of results from last year's survey of the Irish garden market. Things are changing, but there are opportunities for all. In this issue's interview I speak with Marion Keogh, a force of horticultural positivity and someone to watch and follow. Also in this issue we bring you the latest news from the front lines of Bord Bia’s activity, insight into the current state of play in edibles research with Michael Gaff ney, and in Shop Talk retail consultant, Liam Kelly investigates the power of words in the retail environment. On the design front, renowned water garden

specialist, Gordon Ledbetter presents a review of the hugely successful GLDA seminar. In construction, Colm Kenny, landscape costing specialist and HC regular shares some insights into how profits can be made or lost in pricing for waste. Our own Joe Blair reports in from the recent IHNSA trolley fair, IPM Essen and the Irish Hardware Show, and landscape specialist Peter O'Toole shares his insights on the installation and maintenance of natural play surfaces. Having interviewed and talked with John Joe Costin many times over the years, I am pleased to be able to include an article on Irish attitudes to plants. When it comes to horticulture, attitude really is the most important thing. ✽

News Editor & Advertising: Joseph Blair 087 921 2044 joseph@horticulture.ie Subscriptions: subscriptions@horticulture.ie Creative Director: Tanya Gilsenan tanya@horticulture.ie Editorial Assistant: Koraley Northen Marketing Assistant: Aisling Kennedy Publishers: HortiTrends www.HortiTrends.ie joseph@hortitrends.ie Cover image: Andrey Gorshkov

See Hortitrends.ie for Daily News Updates Photos by Koraley Northen, Vincent McMonagle & Joseph Blair Printers: Turners Printing Earl Street, Longford. Distribution: Readership of 10,000 across Ireland from Businesses and Professionals in the following Sectors: Landscape / Architects / Garden Retail / Florists / Nurseries / Greenkeepers / Sports Surfaces / Local Authority’s & Parks Departments / Machinery / Education

Spring 2015 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

Horticulture.ie

Connecting Horticulture

HortiTrends.ie - Daily and Breaking News. Events and Tenders JobsInHorticulture.ie - Latest Amenity & Fresh Produce Jobs

PlantConnector.ie - Connecting Ornamental Plant Growers with Plant Retailers GardenGuide.ie - Consumer Website Promoting Horticulture Businesses FreshProduceNews.ie - Latest News for Edible Horticulture in Ireland

Social Media 4 Business Are you feeling like a Youtube or Twitter and not showing any Pinterest when it comes to Horticulture & Garden Retail Social Media? We don’t want to Wordpress you but you need to Facebook up to it now! At HortiTrends we have the expertise, passion and practical know-how, to connect and linkedin you with new audiences, sales opportunities and customers. Connect with HortiTrends Social Media 4 Business & Content Services by 087 921 2044 Facebook “f ” Logo

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Facebook “f ” Logo

CMYK / .eps

Business Suphort Services Branding Brochures Logos

Web design eCommerce Adwords

Social Media for Business

INprint

ONline

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To find out more about our specialist marketing, business support & development services contact Joseph on 087 921 2044 or joseph@horticulture.ie

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2015

CONTENTS

Contents NEWS 04

INSIGHT

HORTICULTURE NEWS

BORD BIA 08

Barry Lupton shares data from the recent survey carried out in conjunction with jobsinhorticulture.ie

Industry Updates

RETAIL 12

SHARED VISION,SHARED FUNDING,SHARED PROFITS

DESIGN 39

SPORTSTURF

NURSERY

IHNSA TROLLEY TALK Opinion and comments for the season ahead

PRIORITISING WITH A TIGHT BUDGET... SPORTS TURF MAINTENANCE On natural grass Landscape construction specialist Peter O’Toole provides details on how to maximise budget spend when calculating for the maintenance of natural grass surfaces

IN PICTURES 18

BEYOND STYLE Renowned designer, plantsman and water garden specialist, Gordon Ledbetter shares his thoughts on the recent GLDA design seminar

SHOP TALK Why words matter when training frontline garden centre staff by Liam Kelly

GROWING CONFIDENCE Mike Neary, Manager of Horticulture with Bord Bia, shares data from recent market research into the Irish garden market, and things are looking positive

David Fitzsimons, CEO of Retail Excellence Ireland, explains how GroMór, a shared industry promotion, is set to exploit Ireland’s untapped gardening opportunities

NATIONAL HORTICULTURE WAGE SURVEY

PHOTOS GLDA international seminar and othertrade events

EDIBLES INTERVIEW 22

BEYOND THE FRINGE

Dr Michael Gaffney, Entomologist and IPM researcher working in the Horticulture Department in Teagasc, provides over view and insight on Irish based research in edible horticulture

Barry Lupton Interviews Marion Keogh

CONSTRUCT 26

RESEARCH FOR THE FRESH PRODUCE SECTOR

WASTED PROFITS Landscape cost estimating specialist, Colm Kenny throws light on ”effective pricing for waste materials on landscape projects

LANDSCAPE 29

AN EVERGREEN PERSPECTIVE Renowned plantsman and retired nursery operator, John Joe Costin shares his perspective on our taste for the exotic and how we may be missing out on evergreen opportunities

Spring 2015 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

01 / NEWS

IN BRIEF ITB HORTICULTURE OPEN EVENING Those of you who have not seen the impressive new Education facilities at ITB will have another opportunity at their upcoming Open Evening. The new facility includes geodomes, polytunnels, workshops, welfare facilities as well as a range of outdoor practical work areas for fruit/vegetable production and sports turf management. To find out more visit the ITB campus on Thursday, 16th April. More at ITB.ie ✽

EVERRIS & SYNGENTA EDUCATION EVENT & TURF REWARDS 2015 LAUNCH There was a large turnout at the Aviva stadium for the launch of Instrata on the Irish market. The innovative multi-active fungicide from Syngenta now has full approval for use in Ireland. The product will be available through their dealer network from mid-April. Also demonstrated on the day for turf and amenity sprayer operators, was an instant calculator for precise product inclusion rates in spray tank mixes. The free Syngenta Turf TankCalc App for smartphones and tablets is available to download online. They also outlined the range of products available in Turf Rewards, including training and tools that assist green keepers to deliver outstanding playing surfaces. ✽

KELLYS NURSERY SUCCESSFUL OPEN DAY The Co Westmeath nursery recently held an open day event which was warmly received by garden retail buyers and landscapers alike. To be able to offer visitors a wider selection of plants they also invited Ravensberg, O'Dowd, and Bolands nurseries to display their ranges at the event. The team at Kellys hope to build on the success of the event with an even bigger range of plants on display next year. ✽

HORTICULTURE NEWS

GARDEN SHOW IRELAND RETURNS TO SERVE NORTHERN IRELANDS 1.8 MILLION POPULATION Antrim Castle Gardens will be filled with colour from 8th - 10th May 2015 as Allianz Garden Show Ireland returns to the venue for a three day festival of flowers, food and fun. Boasting a new title sponsor for 2015, this year’s event will be larger than ever before as it delivers a packed programme including appearances by a host of key names from the world of gardening and food, not least the return of a firm favourite, BBC's Monty Don. Commenting on the return of the Show to Antrim Castle, Director Claire Faulkner stated, “We are proud that after the success of the 2014 Show, Antrim Borough Council has invited Northern Ireland’s premier gardening event back to this magnificent venue for a second year. Antrim Castle Gardens is one of the most unique and historically intact gardens under public ownership in Ireland and is the perfect setting for this event. We are also thrilled that our long term supporter

Allianz has become our title sponsor and look forward to a great event in May.“ The 2015 Allianz Garden Show Ireland programme will focus on bringing the fun of ‘all things garden’ to as many people as possible. Sitting alongside the traditional array of plants, artisan food stalls, local craft and show gardens will be fun filled activities appealing to all age groups. Live music, a dedicated kids' zone, a garden cinema, a mind and spirit zone and much more. In essence, this event is about much more than simply gardening. In recognition of the growing importance of food provenance Allianz Garden Show Ireland has established a new partnership in 2015 with Food NI which will see an expanded food pavilion with numerous demonstrations by local chefs using local produce and a huge selection of local producers in attendance. The show will be open daily from 10am6pm. Businesses who want to target the 1.8 million population of Northern Ireland and are interested in exhibiting should visit gardenshowireland.com. ✽

CLONAKILTY GARDEN CENTRE ON THE MARKET A business opportunity for an aspiring garden retailer is to become available in the coming months. Clonakilty Garden centre was established in 2006 by Adrian Marshall and his daughter Holly Melton. Situated next to the Hardware Store at Lisavaird Co-op, the Garden Centre and the Co-Op have been increasing footfall for each other. They specialise in all of the usual gardening essentials, including plants, compost, ornaments and pots. There is also a real opportunity to further increase footfall and profit at the centre with plans for a riverside cafe. For more information call 023 88 36917. ✽

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2015

01 / NEWS €200,000 GROMOR CAMPAIGN AIMS TO GET THE COUNTRY GROWING GroMór is a new movement to get the country growing. An initiative of garden centres and nursery growers, GroMór is a nationwide campaign to promote growing to all ages, especially targeting younger families and first time buyers. GroMór is being managed by Retail Excellence Ireland. GroMór aims to make growing the new cooking... accessible to all and cool to do. Using social media, they want everyone to share their growing successes, and not so successful experiences. They will be recruiting well known ambassadors from all walks of life to share their growing experience too. The campaign will be launched over Easter 2015 with a series of radio commercials and a dedicated website to direct the public to one of the 65 GroMór garden centres near by. In the garden centres, there will be a GroMór brand area promoting Irish plants and to help you to get growing. An active PR and social

media effort is planned to gain traction with their core young target audience. GroMór is the first initiative of its kind in Ireland that sees retailers, nurseries and the government (via Bord Bia’s support) come together to promote growing to a national audience. It is expected that GroMór will grow in support and evolve into a national movement overtime. It has been inspired by Operation Transformation. GroMór has been jointly funded by garden centres, nurseries, Bord Bia, Bord na Mona and Westland. Funding is expected to continue for many years to come. More at gromór.ie. ✽

AWARD WINNING GRIFFINS ARE HIRING

LC PACKAGING AT IRISH FORESTRY SHOW 2015 LC Packaging is one of the many new businesses that will be exhibiting at the Irish Forestry, Woodlands & Bio Energy Show, Stradbally Co Laois on 9th & 10th May. They are there to showcase their range of self-manufactured net bags, plastic bags and bulk bags for fire logs and kindling. More at lcpackaging.ie ✽

Griffins is a destination garden centre started over 25 years ago from a green field site in scenic Dripsey, Co Cork It is now one of the most awarded and successful garden centres in the country, winning Garden Centre of the Year three times as well as Retail Excellence Ireland and Gael-Taca awards. Renowned for its customer service and top quality plants, 80% of which are grown on site, it is now looking to expand the team and are currently hiring for a Retail Horticulturist. Find out more at JobsInHorticulture.ie ✽

FULL CIRCLE COFFEE COMPANY *Just as important for any garden retailer offering good food, is the quality of the coffee on offer. The Full Circle Coffee Company has just launched and will be offering their own range of self roasted coffee’s. Brain Birdy based in Dublin has had a love affair with coffee for over 10 years as a professional working barista. He wants to talk to garden retailers or anyone else who is passionate about coffee. Find out more at twitter.com/full_cir_coffee. ✽

OVER 150 ATTEND LAUNCH OF MAJOR NEW BOOK ON IRISH GARDENS The Irish Garden by Jane Powers was officially launched at the National Botanic Gardens Glasnevin on 26 March by Dr Matthew Jebb, Director at the Gardens. Many well known horticultural personalities were in attendance as were several owners of the gardens featured in the book, including Lord Meath from Killruddery Gardens in Bray and Sophie Shellswell-White from Bantry House. A stunning photo of a foggy morning in Sophie’s garden is on the front cover. Gary Foran (Chairman of the GLDA), Carol Marks of Bord Bia, and gardening guru Dermot O’Neill were also there. This massive 400 page tome covering over 60 gardens was four and a half years in the making and involved travelling thousands of miles all over Ireland. Jane described the book-making process as ‘similar to having a baby’, which is a fitting description given that it weighs some six and a half pounds and that she cried when she held the first copy in her hands. The beautifully

atmospheric photographs throughout the book are by her husband, photographer Jonathan Hession. The book is laid out thematically, and takes you through a tour of gardens, from the grand old demesnes of the AngloIrish ascendancy to the intensely personal creations of passionate plants people and garden makers. Available now in all good book stores. More at franceslincoln.com ✽

Spring 2015 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

01 / NEWS SIMPLY GRASS OFFERING DISTRIBUTOR OPPORTUNITIES Simply Grass have recently added a new base in Dublin to support the increasing number of trade customers in the South of Ireland. Hailing from Saintfield, Co Down, the business is seeing rapid growth in sales direct to landscapers and garden centres and is currently celebrating 40 years in business. Simply Grass also supplies the “Shockpad” system which is installed underneath artificial grass to protect children and meets the critical fall height of 2.70 metres. Manufacturing their own ranges

EDGY LINE-UP FOR DUBLIN’S GREENEST FRINGE FESTIVAL BLOOM FRINGE - WHERE INSPIRATION GROWS This June Bank Holiday Weekend will see Dublin’s newest Festival again in 2015 – Bloom Fringe. They are announcing an Open Call for people to take part and hold an Event no matter how big or small. "Dublin City is our playground and we want to green it up for the weekend." Some events will run only on the Saturday 30th May and some will last all weekend. Event Directors Landscape Architect Esther Gerrard and Garden Designer Marion Keogh say “We want to encourage anyone with artistic vision and drive to participate and present something to suit everyone, of all ages and tastes. Our city lends itself to a multitude of uses and we want to show it off in all its glory!” Dublin has a huge creative community flourishing in the city. Bloom Fringe is the latest independent festival to hit the streets. A spin-off of the hugely successful Bloom it showcases Dublin’s ever growing creative capacity with fresh ideas, spontaneity and fun. The aim is to celebrate biodiversity and sustainability of Dublin’s City Centre by bringing together communities, artists, performers, professionals, enthusiasts and free thinkers in an explosion of garden-related creativity. Ever wondered about Urban Foraging? Want to try a Composting Bootcamp? Discover Dublin’s secret gardens? In 2014 Bloom Fringe literally took over the city, with the support of Dublin City Council, staging 60 Events in 30 locations with eclectic events staged in pop-up venues in parks, gardens, lane-ways and Dublin City Centre as well as established venues such as, cafés, shops and more. Inspired by other fringe events from the world of theatre and gardening, Tiger Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe and Chelsea Fringe, Bloom Fringe 2014 showcased works from the world of gardening, sustainability, architecture, food, fashion and much more. Bringing Bloom from the Park into the city, innovative workshops, exhibitions, garden installations and other experiences were hosted throughout the city on Saturday 31st May and inspired creativity, sustainability, green infrastructure and community involvement. DCC said “It is very exciting to see the development of a Bloom Fringe festival which provided the opportunity for communities to engage in new and creative ways with the already popular event. Dublin City Council is delighted to be associated with Bloom coming into the heart of the city.” Bloom Fringe 2014 highlighted Dublin's influential position as

of artificial grasses means they are now seeking distributors, retailers and installers across Ireland. Using the latest innovations in technology and only the highest quality artificial turf, the product offers a natural green realistic look, feel and touch. All products come with an 8 year “No Work.... Just Grass” guarantee and are UV resistant. There is no franchise fee or minimum order required. • Lush all year round Find out more at www.simply-grass.com • No More Mowing or call 01 6610081. ✽

• No More Watering/Feeding • Looks & Feels Like Real Grass • Child & Pet Friendly a creative, diverse and sustainable city. The aim is to encourage • No Muddy Paws or Feet and inspire people to use their moreSufferers and recognize the • Idealcity for Allergy enormous amount that it can give &back toClean us as individuals and • Durable Easy to • UV Resistant as a community. • Simple to Install Ever wondered about Urban Foraging? Want to try a • Unbeatable Prices

Composting Bootcamp? Discover Dublin’s secret gardens? In 2014 Bloom Fringe literallywww.simplygrass.com took over the city, with the support of Dublin City Council, staging 60• Events in 30 +353 (01) 6610081 02897 519810 locations with eclectic events staged in pop-up venues in parks, gardens, lane-ways and Dublin City Centre as well as established venues such as, cafés, shops and more. Inspired by other fringe events from the world of theatre and gardening, Tiger Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe and Chelsea Fringe, Bloom Fringe 2014 showcased works from the world of gardening, sustainability, architecture, food, fashion and much more. Bringing Bloom from the Park into the city, innovative workshops, exhibitions, garden installations and other experiences were hosted throughout the city on Saturday 31st May and inspired creativity, sustainability, green infrastructure and community involvement. Bloom Fringe festival will take place over the June Bank Holiday weekend (Fri 29th May to Mon 1st June 2015) with some programming on Saturday 30th May. As Events are confirmed over the coming weeks we will be posting them up on the website – www.bloomfringe.com

You can also stay up-to-date with all the latest Bloom Fringe & Bloom in the Park news at www.GardenGuide.ie ✽

GARDEN ❁

Expertise, Practical Know-How & Passion for your Garden

NEW Business to Consumer Directory Launching in 2015

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2015 HortiTrends is Launching a NEW Gardening & Horticulture Online Business Directory aimed at buyers of related products and services from Your Business. To compliment the online directory we are also launching a new Gardening Consumer Magazine to

GARDEN ❁

Expertise, Practical Know-How & Passion for your Garden

NEW Business to Consumer Directory Launching in 2015 HortiTrends is Launching a NEW Gardening & Horticulture Online Business Directory aimed at buyers of related products and services from Your Business. To compliment the online directory we are also launching a new Gardening Consumer Magazine to connect with Gardeners & GIY’ers across Ireland

PRO-ACTIVE MARKETING SOLUTIONS FOR YOUR BUSINESS CAN INCLUDE: •

ENHANCED LISTING IN OUR SUPPLIER/SERVICE GUIDE

•

INCLUSION IN THE GARDENGUIDE WEEKLY eNEWSLETTER

•

PROMOTION ON GARDENGUIDES SOCIAL MEDIA WEB ESTATE

•

BANNER & LEADERBOARD ADVERTS

•

FEATURED NEWS ARTICLES

•

COMPETITION PROMOTING YOUR PRODUCTS & SERVICES

•

NEWS SECTION SPONSORSHIP

•

SALES LEADS

•

PRINT ADVERTS IN NEW GARDENGUIDE MAGAZINE

PREMIUM SERVICE OPTIONS INCLUDE: •

GOOGLE ADWORDS CAMPAIGNS

•

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION

•

SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS

•

FACEBOOK COMPETITIONS

•

PRESS RELEASE TO OVER 400 MEDIA CONTACTS INTERESTED IN GARDEN/HORTICULTURE

Target Connect Influence Sell - INprint + ONline + SOcial ●

●

www.GardenGuide.ie To find out more about Prices, Advertising, Marketing & Promotion Opportunities call 087 9212044 or email: marketing@gardenguide.ie Learn more at www.GardenGuide.ie/directory

Spring 2015 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

02 / BORD BIA

eZine POTATO PROMOTION The consumption of potatoes has been in decline in recent years. From 2007 to 2014 the retail market for fresh potatoes declined by 19%. Bord Bia and the Irish Potato Industry are partnering with the British Potato Council in an application to the EU to secure matching funding to support a three year generic promotions of potatoes on the Ireland and GB markets from 2015 to 2018. The outcome of the application will be known in April 2015. If successful the promotional activity will commence in the second half of 2015. The value of the campaign in Ireland will be worth €1m over three years with the EU contribution matched with contributions from the Irish Potato Industry (IPF & IFA) and the Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine. ✽

BBQ

MARIN

UK AND IRELAND -‘JUST ADD MUSHROOMS’ PROMOTIONAL CAMPAIGN

ATED MUSHROOM KEB ABS

“My family’s summer treat. BBQ marinated mushroom kebabs. They’re so easy.

”

(serves 4 people)

Mix marinade ingredients together in a large bowl.

450g closed cup mushrooms, trimmed & wiped

500g chicken breast, diced 3 mixed peppers, cut into

Add mushrooms, chicken and peppers and stir until well coated. Cover and leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

large cubes

Marinade: 75ml olive oil 45ml balsamic vinegar 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped 2 tbsp freshly chopped parsley (optional) Salt & freshly ground black pepper

RIGHT: NATIONAL POTATO DAY 2014

Thread onto 8 skewers alternating the mushrooms, chicken and peppers. Cook on a sheet of foil on a medium hot barbecue (or under the grill) for about 6-7 minutes on each side.

NOT ONLY are mushrooms a natural source of vitamin B5 (helping to reduce tiredness and fatigue), they are also low in fat. Just 80g or about four mushrooms make up 1 of your 5 a day. For inspiration on how you can enjoy mushrooms as part of a balanced diet, please visit www.justaddmushrooms.com

The ’Just Add Mushrooms’ campaign is worth €2.7m over three years and is co-funded by the EU and producers and marketers in Ireland and the UK. The campaign commenced in July 2013. It is an information and promotional campaign in the UK and Ireland which uses the power of recommendation to communicate the nutritional and culinary benefits of mushrooms to women aged 25-45 years, and also to health professionals, mass caterers and children in educational establishments. The most effective means of reaching the target audience is by advertising online and in women’s magazines. An on-pack text-in competition, with three prizes of €1000, was a strong feature of the October burst in sales in Irish supermarkets. The strategy is to increase penetration and frequency of purchase among younger households in the UK and Ireland and is designed to take advantage of the progress made in the previous €2.4ml “More to Mushrooms” campaign. The campaign features celebrities promoting recipes that the general public will feel comfortable to try. For more details, go to www. justaddmushrooms.ie and visit the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/MoreToMushrooms ✽ LEFT: “JUST ADD MUSHROOMS” CAMPAIGN ADVERTISING

MUS01S0004_B3_Mushrooms_Press_NickyByrne_A4_MV2.indd 1

22/05/2014 09:40

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2015 CLIENT: MUSHROOMS MEDIA: PRESS AD PUB: -

JOB# : MUS01S0004 SIZE & %: 297X210MM NOTES:

VERSION: MV2 ROUTE: -

COLOURS: CMYK

02 / BORD BIA FOOD DUDES PROGRAMME The intake of fruit and vegetables in Ireland is below international guidelines. The Food Dudes programme sets out to change children’s eating habits through taste exposure, modelling and rewards. Food Dudes has successfully encouraged children to consume more fruit and vegetables which has impacted positively on the sales of fresh produce. The national roll-out of the Food Dudes Programme which commenced in 2007 was completed in 2014 and has seen over 3,100 national schools and 475,000 school children participate to date. In 2015 a Food Dudes

boost programme is being rolled out to a target of 800 schools and 160,000 school children. The implementation of the Food Dudes Programme in Ireland is managed by Bord Bia with funding being provided by the Department of Agriculture Food & the Marine and the EU School Fruit and Vegetables Scheme. ✽

EVERYTHING’S IN BLOOM - 28TH MAY TO 1ST JUNE 2015 Planning for Bloom 2015 is well under way for year nine of Bord Bia’s five day event in the Phoenix Park with exhibitors, designers and nurseries focusing on how best to maximise both the selling and promotional opportunities at the forthcoming show. Last year 106,000 visitors attended Bloom and media coverage reached an all time high with over 250 journalists attending from TV, radio, print and online platforms. In addition to highlighting the joys and benefits of amenity horticulture and the health benefits associated with fresh produce, €6.8m was spent on food, plants, fresh produce and gardening-related products. For others in landscape design and contracting new clients were inspired to commission valuable gardening-related work after the show. Improvements to the site and show in 2015 include an increase in both covered areas and hard standing for outdoor exhibitors with enhanced way-finding for newcomers to the show who have to navigate their way around an ever increasing array of exhibits and features spread over the 70 acre site. 2015 plans include 25 show gardens, the highly successful Food Village, Budding Bloomers (children’s) area, Bistro Bloom, the largest marquee in Ireland housing our Floral Pavilion and Grand Pavilion, the Garden Expert Stage, fashion shows, the

BLOOM 2014

conservation zone and numerous other features including a new artisan catering area. Many of the country’s favourite celebrity chefs are lined up for the Bord Bia Quality Kitchen stage and our top garden designers are finalising plans and sponsorship contracts to bring their latest ideas to fruition. The Plant Village, introduced in 2014 will be relocated to a more prominent position and wholesale nurseries and their retail partners are encouraged to explore this selling and promotional opportunity. While Bloom is an ideal promotional venue for the best of a wide range of Irish food and drink, horticulture remains centre stage with plants and edible horticulture produce placed in highly visible locations throughout the show. Horticulture companies interested in exhibiting at Bloom should start planning now. If you are a new exhibitor contact Bord Bia at your earliest convenience so that we can explore how best Bloom can be used to directly benefit your business. ✽

RETAIL MARKET FOR FRESH PRODUCE – VOLUME UP BUT VALUE DOWN

GRO MÓR GARDENING PROMOTION Bord Bia is supporting the REI Garden Centre Group to launch a gardening promotional campaign to Get Ireland Growing in 2015. With financial support from Bord Bia, along with the Garden Centers, nurseries and the wider industry, this campaign can be of great benefit to the industry. Turn to page 12 for detail. ✽

Recent research from Kantar Worldpanel indicates that the fruit and vegetable category continues to be the most important segment of the retail grocery market with a 14% value share. The fresh produce category is valued at €1.2bn per annum. This total includes fruit, vegetables and potatoes valued at €549m, €505m and €147m respectively. Research for the year ending September 2014 shows that

Spring 2015 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

EVENTS / JOBS

2015 EVENTS DIARY ✽ 16 APRIL

ITB HORTICULTURE OPEN DAY Come along to our CAO Open Evening on Thursday, 16th April 2015 between 5pm and 7pm Venue: Institute of Technology Blanchardstown, Blanchardstown Road North, D15 itb.ie/StudyatITB/horticulture.html ✽

✽ 09-10 MAY

TIMBER 2014 IRISH FORESTRY, WOODLAND & BIO ENERGY SHOW

Ireland's third national & largest specialist bi-annual forestry show with bio energy sector. Venue: Stradbally Hall Estate, Laois ifwshow.ie ✽

✽ 10 MAY

DON’T MISS!

✽ 8-10 MAY

GARDEN SHOW IRELAND

Be part of Northern Ireland’s premier gardening event, now in its 11th year, and returning in 2015 to it’s new surroundings in the historic gardens at Antrim Castle Gardens. Venue: Antrim Castle Gardens, Randalstown Rd, Antrim gardenshowireland.com ✽

AIRFIELD-THE RARE AND SPECIAL PLANT FAIR 2015

Over 40 specialist nurseries and associated businesses on site to offer a vast selection of rare and unusual plants, advice on care and planting and much more. Venue: Airfield Estate, Dundrum, D14 airfield.ie ✽

✽ 28 MAY-01JUN BLOOM Bloom 2015 showcasing 25 exquisite show gardens, from the very best of Ireland’s landscape gardeners and designers as well as over 120 Irish food producers. Venue: Phoenix Park, Dublin 7 bloominthepark.com ✽

✽ 31 MAY BLOOM FRINGE Back for its 2nd year, on the Edge Green, Guerrilla Gardening UrbanIntervention Event Dublin May June Bank Holiday with Installations | Workshops | Talks | Tours | Popups | Art for the whole family. Venue: Various locations in Dublin City bloomfringe.com ✽

FURTHER DETAILS and more event news, visit www.hortitrends.ie

JOBS NEWS CURRENTLY HIRING ✽ Arboretum - Plant Area Supervisor

✽ Yellow Furze Nurseries Ltd

NOW HIRING

HEAD OF OPERATIONS

NATIONAL ACCOUNT MANAGER

✽ Damian Costello Garden Design - Landscape Gardener

✽ Redlough Landscapes Ltd - Various Positions

- Nursery Salesperson & Production Horticulturalist

✽ Donnybrook Landscape CO - Various Vacancies

✽ Adrian Keane Landscape Services Limited - General Operative

✽ Luxury Landscapes - General Operative

✽ The Europe Hotel & Resort

- Sales position - Assistant Grower position - Yard/Delivery Operative

Send CV with Cover Letter to Michele_Ryan@Keelings.com

- Gardener

For more information please visit JobsInHorticulture.ie

✽ Noel Dempsey

✽ Griffins Garden Centre - Retail Horticulturist Landscaping LTD - Landscape Gardener

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2015

✽ GardenWorld Nurseries

All the latest jobs on www.jobsInHorticulture.ie

02 / BORD BIA the frequency of purchase for fresh produce is 151 times per year which is up 0.7% year on year. The trip volume is also up by 5% over the same period. Two possible reasons for this volume increase include an increasing awareness by consumers of the role fruit and vegetables play in a healthy balanced diet and the overall lower price per unit of produce on the retail shelf over the last year which was back by about 10%. In relation to the range of vegetables purchased the traditional favourites are still a key purchase choice for consumers (eg carrots, tomatoes, cabbage, cauliflower etc). However, more recently despite coming from a smaller base the sales of other alternative vegetable products are increasing (eg kale, spinach, beetroot, sweetcorn etc). Over the last year the value of prepared vegetable and fruit category has remained relatively static at €84m, indicating that convenience of format is still an important consideration for consumers buying fresh produce.

GARDENING MARkET IN 2014 Bord Bia has been carrying out a measure of the gardening market (consumer purchases) in Ireland every two years since 2001 with Ipsos MRBI. The most recent market measure was carried out during 2014.

NATIONAL SOFT FRUIT & PROTECTED VEGETABLE CENSUS The National Soft Fruit & Protected Vegetable Census was carried out by the Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine (DAFM) with analysis of the results carried out by Bord Bia and DAFM. The census was conducted in 2013 (relating to the 2012 season) among growers of soft fruit and protected vegetables. The census found that there were 137 growers of soft fruit and protected vegetables in Ireland, with a total production area of 523 hectares. The

production value of the sector was estimated to be €53m, of which €31m was from protected soft fruit, €21m was from protected vegetables and €1m was from outdoor soft fruit. The soft fruit and protected vegetable sector was found to be supporting 503 full-time jobs and 843 part-time jobs.

SOFT FRUIT The key trend found in the soft fruit sector was the increasing production value of soft fruit grown under protection. The value of soft fruit grown under protection in 2012 was €30.8m, representing a 17% increase since the last census (€26.3m in 2008) and a 57% increase since 2004 (€19.6m in 2004). The value of outdoor soft fruit production was €1.1m, bringing the overall value of the soft fruit sector (outdoor and protected) to €32m. Total soft fruit production area (outdoor and protected) in 2012 was 333 hectares (a 9% decrease since 2008), while the number of soft fruit growers in 2012 was 77 (a 10% increase since 2008). 76% of protected soft fruit production area was found to be under polythene structures and 24% was under glass.

PROTECTED VEGETABLES Protected vegetable production included vegetables such as tomatoes, lettuce, peppers and other vegetables grown under glass and polythene protected structures. Overall, production area in 2012 was 190 hectares, a 14% increase since the last census (166 hectares in 2008). Grower numbers had increased slightly, from 67 in 2008 to 73 in 2012. Production value of protected vegetables had, however, decreased 17% since the last census, from €25.2m in 2008 to €21m in 2012. 92% of protected vegetable production area was under glass and 8% was under polythene structures. 69% of protected vegetable production area was in county Dublin. ✽

SOFT FRUIT AND PROTECTED VEGETABLE PRODUCTION AREA IN IRELAND IN 2004, 2008 AND 2012 (HECTARES)

Spring 2015 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

03 / RETAIL

SHARED VISION, SHARED FUNDING, SHARED PROFITS David Fitzsimons, CEO of Retail Excellence Ireland, explains how GroMór, a shared industry promotion, is set to exploit Ireland’s untapped gardening opportunities

Keeping products and services relevant is a perennial issue for any business. Demographics, consumer trends and market conditions are in continuous flux, forcing companies to constantly evolve and adapt. The issue of relevance is no more apparent than in the gardening sector. Gardening has become an antimarketing term for an entire generation. It resonates with an ageing population but is rejected by a youthful market. In the mind of the uber trendy, busy and distracted 30-45 years old bracket, the word conjures dread, toil, labour, dirt and at its core, something that oldies do because they have nothing else to do. We know differently of course, but that doesn’t help the situation. One of the biggest issues facing the wider horticulture sector is relevance. How do we make gardening relevant, how do we create the next generation of plant buyers? “Gro Mór represents an excellent

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2015

opportunity for us to address some of the biggest issues facing the sector. The Irish Hardy Nursery Stock Association (IHNSA) is fully committed to realising its potential through financial support, collaborative working and new business practices. It’s an exciting time for the sector and we look forward to sharing the benefits with our colleagues”, says Val Farrell, the IHNSA’s Chairman, Enter Retail Excellence, Bord Bia and a group of experienced, dynamic and invested sector representatives. The new group will draw on the knowledge from growers, retailers, suppliers, Bord Bia, and of course the formidable insight and wider perspective we bring through REI. We intend to tackle many of the issues facing the garden market over the coming years, but our first target is relevance. Specifically, relevance to that important 30-45 years old category. We have an uphill battle. Our target market has little interest in gardening. Why should they? They have enough to be

03 / RETAIL doing, enough seductive distractions vying for their attention. But unlike previous attempts at addressing this issue, this is the first wholly collaborative and shared funded initiative. This is the first time the industry has really come together, taken the lead and been willing to contribute upfront financially to ensure success. It will be a success, I can assure you of that. “Bord Bia is delighted to be supporting this collaborative initiative with the garden centre group and the nurseries to grow the gardening market and develop partnerships that will create the opportunity for us to secure potential EU promotional funding in the future to further benefit the industry”, says Carol Marks, Development and Marketing Specialist at Bord Bia. The challenge ahead may be a tough one, but we’re not starting from zero. The last ten years have seen a wider interest in plants and green spaces. People with more time on their hands, fears about food safety, more information on the benefits of plants and a general sense that we’ve lost touch with our agrarian past, have all contributed to a rise in interest perhaps best represented in the GIY and community garden movements. And let’s not forget the huge success of Bloom in the Park. We’re not reinventing the wheel, but we are going to improve it. The core focus on the GroMór initiative is targeted promotion to the right audience at the right time of year: spring. In addition to a comprehensive suite of marketing

and public relations activities across the media landscape, GroMór will be communicated from grower to buyer. New labels will allow growers to buy in and stand out, while impactful point of sale merchandise will drive the message home The degree to which GroMór will be successful will not come down to the sole input of those already involved. It will come down to what YOU do. Don’t sit on the sidelines. We have all invested and we all stand to benefit. ✽

DAVID FITZSIMONS If you would like further information or would like to participate, please contact your sector Bord Bia representative or contact REI directly on +65 648 6927 or mail info@retailexcellence.ie

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Spring 2015 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

03 / RETAIL

SHOP TALk

Why words matter when training frontline garden centre staff

Words are powerful. They can lift your flagging spirits or bring them to their lowest point. They can excite every emotion from hatred to love, and they can hurt, heal or inspire. I often wonder if we take words and wording seriously enough in the world of selling (or at least outside of the mega-marketing, language-analysing, focus-group-reliant retailing giants) and especially where plants and garden related sales are concerned. It could be argued that we live in a PC-ified, boring world where bland information exchange is more important than emotion-driven emphatic speech, not helped by the rise of electronic unemotive communication where even if you can appreciate and understand the language, the emphasis, tone and emotion are lost. (Hence the need for emoticons in our electronic chatter of course!  Should we look at changing the actual words we use as a starting point to a revolution in how we get our message across in the garden retail sector? Perhaps it’s time that we changed not what we are trying to say, but how we say it, as the actual words and language we use are a crucial part of hiring, inspiring and training staff, and therefore reflect on how they in turn communicate and interact with customers. In most retail businesses the first impression that the customer has of your store is their initial contact with your workforce. This can be as simple as a greeting from a staff member, be customer-instigated when they enquire about a product or service you provide, or it can be a little more indirect, as it may be a customer’s interaction with a staff member’s product display that is their first tangible involvement with your store. Either way, frontline staff are heavily involved in your image and product sales, so they are one of the most important contact points in any business. Indeed it’s one that can either make or break your relationship with that customer for life. So obviously it’s important that training is carried out and that it’s presented in a way that engages and excites staff members – with the end result of stimulating sales. Quite often when standard employee training is completed it doesn’t motivate staff members in any meaningful way, as many of the titles and ideas that are trotted out are overused to the point of banality. I wonder have titles such as ‘Customer Care’ and ‘Horticultural Knowledge’, which are dropped into most CVs, job advertisements and job specs become sterile and almost meaningless to employers and employees and therefore become yawn-inducing when used in training? For example, look at the two words ‘Horticulturist’ and 'Plantsperson'. These two words are perhaps a good snapshot of what may be wrong with the hiring and training system currently in use in many stores. Think about those two words and the feelings, emotions and thoughts they

arouse. It isn’t hard to see which title is the more customerfriendly and approachable. You might think that I am being smart by picking those words, and perhaps I am, but if we consider adding to them and instead of saying, ‘Trained Horticulturist’ we say ‘Passionate Plantsperson’ then, if I were a retailer, I know who I’d prefer to have interacting with my customers, or for that matter who I would be more likely to employ if I saw it written on a CV. So perhaps you should instigate change by using words like these when advertising for staff ? We need to get clever with words and language. We all use tired, meaningless and just plain wrong words to communicate - and by extension to teach - in this sector. Frontline staff, who are the soldiers in the battle to educate and instil a passion for gardening in the general public, are often not given the verbal ammunition to deal with the task. As a kick-start to this better communication let’s consider four of the main attributes that retail employers require in their staff ; customer care; product knowledge; salesmanship and merchandising skills. These are all clear in their definitions to those of us in-the-know but what do we actually imply by these titles and can we translate them into something stronger, more meaningful and sexier? If we can reboot the actual meaning of these marketing/management titles when we look to hire and then train staff, then we can improve how they in turn communicate with and inspire customers who will spend more money with more confidence. Let’s look at them one by one…

CAN WE TURN HORTICULTURAL KNOWLEDGE INTO PLANT PASSION? As mentioned already, knowledge needs to be seen as the communication of a person’s passion for plants and the words used to hire, train and motivate your staff need to reflect this. So you hire passionate plantspeople, then train them how to convert that passion by communicating their love of gardening to the customer. Think of all those positive words that are connected to plants such as; fragrant; beautiful; colourful; gorgeous; fresh; bright; healthy; etc. The list is endless, so plant selling staff need to be taught to use these words on a regular basis with conviction, enthusiasm and honesty. Customers want to know the positive benefits of buying plants not be confused by Latin names, their origins and what not to do with a plant. For example we need to remember that a Vaccinium corymbosum is just a Blueberry and that it is not lime-hating but acid-loving - the meaning for the plant is similar but the connotation and language when emphasised to customers are different, one is positive and one is negative.

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2015

03 / RETAIL SHOULD WE THINK OF CUSTOMER CARE AS SYMPATHETIC PROBLEM SOLVING? So this is a more worthy – if wordy – meaning for customer care and is perhaps best looked at as needing to be on the same wavelength as the customer, so as to know their requirements and understand their requests - and also being better able to deal with their grievances if the need arises. Taken to a worse case scenario, empathising in a genuine way is one of the key methods to dissipate a customer complaint, as well as the less confrontational situation of how you relate to what a customer wants in order to fulfil their needs. We need to ask ourselves has the ethos of ‘customer care’ been lost due to those two words being overused by too many consultants, retail books and managers? I think that maybe it has and therefore the terminology needs to be changed to reinvigorate the basic concept. Empathy, listening, understanding and solutionfinding are better and more important words in my opinion, even if they are also clichéd to a degree.

IS SELLING THE PROMOTING OF PLANTS… & MORE? Making a sale should be looked at as advising the customer on the benefit of a specific plant – and plants in general - and the advantages of the all important add-on sale. It should be a profitable interaction for both the consumer and the business, erring on the side of honesty and the customer’s perceived needs. The customer needs to leave the establishment feeling that they have bought the right plants and care products they came in for – and maybe a little more - and to have gained knowledge in the process. They

should never feel they had anything ‘sold’ to them. It needs to be a positive experience. The word ‘selling’ does not conjure up this feeling, and so should be used minimally if at all when training staff. Promoters are always better than sellers in our plant orientated retail environment.

COULD WE TEACH MERCHANDISING AS BEING INSPIRATIONAL PLANT PRESENTATION? Merchandising is more than just stacking goods in a sellable display. Of course the products need to be shoppable but a display also needs to be inspirational, enticing and appealing. Again the words we use are important, as we want drama, entertainment, engagement and even interaction in our displays. We need to make employees think of displays as an almost theatrical production where – to illustrate the analogy - we find the right shop location (the theatre), then add the benching & props (the stage & scenery), incorporate signage (the show posters), display the product (the star of the show) and finally add the link sales (the concessions). Is this not an easier and more inspiring use of words and a way of teaching staff what merchandising should be? Of course employees need to be trained in other retail disciplines too but the focus should always be on the words, language and expressions that are used, in order to make gardening fun, interesting and pleasurable. Not everything can be taught, as the ability to communicate on a number of levels, the need to be flexible and open to change - perhaps even an instigator of change – are equally important to all of the above points. Indeed without

also having these traits it would be almost impossible to be a frontline staff member. This applies to other retail departments too from outdoor leisure products to food related goods. So perhaps it’s time we throw out some of the trite, banal and overused expressions we have trotted out for the last 20 or so years and look at changing the words we use to better motivate employees as to what you - as gardening retailers - are trying to achieve through them, your passionate plantspeople, green geniuses, gardening gurus or whatever term you fancy! Ironically many the words and phrases I use in this article are quite possibly redundant, meaningless and in need of change, as several of them fall into the same trap of over use. But that’s the point – we all need to change, and keep changing. Our vocabulary needs to be in a constant state of flux, regular revision and renewal is needed. My argument is as basic as changing new words for old ones, or perhaps more accurately to think about the words and terms that are currently used and see if they have lost their meaning and need to be replaced - on an on-going basis in order that words retain their power Of course there’s more to communication than just words, as body language, facial expressions and listening amongst other topics are just as important, but the starting point for change needs to be verbal communication – the actual language we use – then the rest will follow. If we can revolutionise the words we use then we are on the right track for bigger changes in how we interact with customers, we just need to think a little more about what we are trying to say… As I said at the start, words are important. ✽

LIAM KELLY was general manager of one of the largest garden centres in the country, where he was instrumental in transforming it into a large lifestyle store. He established Retail Services & Solutions in 2007 and has since worked with many garden centres, nurseries and hardware stores in Ireland. He has experienced every aspect of garden centre work from maintenance to sales, and purchasing to management. This combined with his problem solving ability; honesty and hands-on work ethic make him unique in his area. He can appreciate the nitty-gritty of the day-to-day running of a garden centre better than most, as he knows the products, mindset and ethos of the Irish garden retail sector. Liam Kelly, Retail Services & Solutions, 118 Dolmen Gardens, Pollerton, Carlow. 086 8221494 or 059 9130176 lksolutions@eircom.net, www.lksolutions.blogspot.com

Spring 2015 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

PHOTO JOSEPH BLAIR

04 / NURSERY

IHNSA TROLLEY TALk

PHOTOS: KORALEY NORTHEN

The IHNSA 2015 Trolley Fairs took place in Punchestown and in Schram plants recently. HC was there get a sense of where the indusry feels it is heading. There was lots of positivity around in general which comes across in the comments below from garden retailers and growers alike.

EAMONN WALL (ARBORETUM HOME & GARDEN HEAVEN)

VAL FARRELL (B&V NURSERIES & CHAIRMAN OF THE IHNSA

Growers need to stop giving consumers what the grower thinks they want. Instead start giving them what they really want which it to treat gardening like fashion i.e. its ever-changing and whatever is in vogue that is driving the consumers buying decisons.

Growers need to come together in ever more meaningful ways to get the support that we feel we need and deserve. The trolley fairs remain important events for us to guage demand from plant retailers and also give us the chance to discuss current issues facing the sector.

WILLIAM BLACKLEY (DERRYLEA TREES)

TIMMY O'MAHONY (KINSEALY GC)

The landscape side of business is really improving. The trolley fairs are also important for me because I do a lot of business with other growers at at these events.

Our customer base continues to be price and value conscious. In partnership with growers we must meet their expectation.

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2015

PHOTOS: KORALEY NORTHEN

04 / NURSERY

NIAMH TULLY (TULLY NURSERIES)

GERALDINE MC CONVILLE & MICHAEL DEVITT (NEWLANDS GARDEN CENTRE)

We are excited about expanding the Bella Bloom range in 2105. I also have a sense that as a sector, we are finally turning a corner after some very tough years.

With contstuction works almost completed on the overpass we will be doing a relaunch of the business. Our online and Click & Collect sales continue to improve.

PETER & STEPHEN MCGRANE (MCGRANE NURSERIES)

PAUL HARVEY (WINDYRIDGE NURSERIES & GARDEN CENTRE)

2015 for us will be about researching new plant trends. A lot of good ideas come from our exisiting customers, so we will continue to develop our range based on their needs.

I am quite optimistic as we are busy adding a 1000m2 covered area to the garden centre. A 'like to see' in 2015 would be Improved plant labelling from growers.

PJ PHELAN (MOUNT CONGREVE NURSERY)

ROSS MCMAHON (NAD)

Both our sales and technial team are focusing a lot of energy on the 'Sustainable Use Directive'. We are planning and facilitiating a number of training events throughout 2015

The Trolley Fairs have been important to Mount Congreve over the years and have provided invaluable networking opportunities with colleagues, where we can discuss problems and opportunities with garden retailers.

DAMIEN CONLON & LOUISE DEASY (HANLEY'S GARDEN CENTRE) JOE & JOSEPH YOUNG (YOUNG NURSERIES)

There is a lot of positivity around among growers and retailers and my one hope is that the weather is also going to deliver on that optimism.

We are increasing the interior floor space by 40% and have been taking on new staff. Visiting suppliers at home and abroad is an important use of our time, as we are always on the lookout for new plants and related products.

Spring 2015 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

PHOTOS: VINCENT MCMONAGLE

IN PICTURES

GLDA

SEMINAR The GLDA's 19th International Garden Design Seminar. was held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Northwood, on 7 February 2015. Close to 250 members of the design community turned up for an inspiring day of seminars & networking. Numbers at the event have being doubling year on year for the last 3 events which is evidence of the continued recovery and confidence in the landscape sector.

GORDON LEDBETTER AND TIM AUSTEN

RUTH LIDDLE (GARDENS SCULPTURES)

DAVID MILNER (LIVING WALLS)

DEIRDRE PRINCE & GARY FORAN

GLDA SEMINAR SPEAKERS - FRONT: THOMAS RAINER, VERNEY NAYLOR, PATRICK QUIBEL. AT REAR: KEITH WILEY AND SYLVIE QUIBEL

HAZEL WOODS, PAUL WOODS & PHILIP HOLLWEY

PETER STAM

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2015

THOMAS MANION, CARRIE PRESTON & ANNETTE MCCOY

SEAMUS BYRNE (ALL STONE)

BERNIE O'REILLY & MARY CONDON

IN PICTURES PHOTOS: JOSEPH BLAIR

ALLIANZ GARDEN SHOW IRELAND LAUNCH

At the launch of the Allianz Garden Show Ireland which is taking place from 8-10th of May at Antrim Castle Gardens, Claire Faulkner promised an even bigger and better show this year for exhibitors and designers taking part.

CELEBRATING THE RETURN OF NORTHERN IRELAND’S PREMIER GARDENING EVENT TO ANTRIM ARE MRS BUD FROM THEATRE WITHOUT WALLS AND EMILY CONNAUGHTY (2) FROM PORTGLENONE & MUMMY SARAH. JOHN FAYE (PRINCIPAL GREENMOUNT COLLEGE), CLAIRE FAULKNER (DIRECTOR OF GARDEN SHOW IRELAND), CLAIRE WOODS (LECTURER, GREENMOUNT COLLEGE)

TED MCKEEVER (HEAD GARDENER OF ANTRIM CASTLE)

BORD BIA

GARDEN INDUSTRY AWARDS

NOBLEWOOD LANDSCAPES

ARDCARNE PLANTPLUS GARDEN CENTRE

THE PAVILION

SAM FEENEY LANDSCAPING

TROLLEY FAIR NORTHERN IRELAND

MARY DORAN (DORAN NURSERIES), PAUL ROBBINS (GARDEN PLANTS IRELAND), WEIT RENTES (RENTES PLANTS), NIAMH TULLY (TULLY NURSERIES)

NEIL CUMMINGS (HTA) & DOUG THOMSON (IRISH GARDEN PLANTS)

PETER GLASS (ORCHARD COUNTY) & STEPHEN MCKENNA (JF MCKENNA)

Spring 2015 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

PHOTOS: JOSEPH BLAIR

IN PICTURES

RENTES

SPRING FAIR Rentes Spring Fair took place over 2 days in February. The Rentes family reported strong sales from garden retailers

and landscapers alike. Weit estimates that it takes staff over 100 working days in total to bring the event together.

MICHAEL O'SHAUGHNESSY & FERGAL DELANEY PADDY GLEESON, BRIAN KANAVAN(JNR), WEIT RENTES, (DELANEYS HARDWARE & GARDEN CENTRE) BRIAN KANAVAN(SNR), LIAM MC MAHON

ROY RENTES, PADDY GLEESON & DEREK WARREN

STEVE & EDEL NOONE (STEVE NOONE LANDSCAPING)

WEIT RENTES, BEVERLEY, ISABELLA ROSE & CHRISTOPHER GUNNING(CLONSHAUGH NURSERIES)

IRISH HARDWARE SHOW

JODY JUDGE (YELLOW FURZE NURSERIES)

HAI PRESIDENT, HUGH O’DONNELL & PAT KEVILLE (PLANT STORE)

ROISIN LAFFERTY & ROSEMARY FLANNERY

TOBY SMYTH, JONATHON FOX & PADRAIG TULLY

WEIT RENTES, TIM SCHRAM & ROBYN DORAN

Horticulture Connected exhibited at the Hardware Show held in CityWest on the 15th & 16th February. There is an increased interest in the potential for new business from the DIY/hardware sector in the garden retail segment.

DEIRDRE WARREN & COLM WARREN

DAVID CUSACK & JOHN JONES

COLLEGE OF AMENITY

HORTICULTURE OPEN DAY The Teagasc college at the Botanic Gardens had a house full of potential students at their recent event.

PRINCIPAL JOHN MULHERN ALONG WITH OTHER MEMBERS OF TEACHING STAFF AT THE COLLEGE WERE KEPT BUSY ANSWERING QUERIES ON COURSE OPTIONS AND CAREER PROGRESSION.

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2015

IPM ESSEN MR.PAT FITZGERALD - FITZGERALD NURSERIES, DR RUI MANG - SIARE MANDEL, DR AGBULLAH SARJEGH - FITZGERALD NURSERIES

STEPHEN MCKENNA, VAL FARRELL NUSERIES, MCKENNA, GARY LOUGHRAN

AIDAN CAMPION & THE BORD NA MONA TEAM

LARRY & MARY DORAN (DORAN NURSERIES)

Horticulture Connected attended IPM ESSEN, Germany in January of this year, although Irish exhibitors were thin on the ground, visitors from Ireland reported a renewed interest in the Irish market from International exhibitors.

DANNY ELLIOT & PAT MC DONNELL

PHOTOS: JOSEPH BLAIR

IN PICTURES

DAMIEN CONLON, LEON O'KEEFE (HANLEYS OF CORK GARDEN AND LIFESTYLE CENTRE

BIGGA TURF MANAGEMENT ExHIBITION NEC BIRMINGHAM

Horticulture Connected attended BIGGA, Birmingham on the 20th January 2015. The organisers reported a big increase in the number of Irish visitors to the event. The mood was generally positive with some green-keepers reporting slight to moderate improvements in their course management budgets.

COLMAN WARDE(EVERRIS) & GORDAN MOIR(ST ANDREWS LINKS TRUST)

TOP LEFT: PAT GALAVAN & JIM HOLDEN (TURFCARE) TOP RIGHT: PAUDIE GREALISH (LAHINCH GOLF COURSE), JIM KILLORRAN, & OLIVER SUTTON, BOTTOM RIGHT: DAMIEN MCLAVERTY, COLMAN WARDE(EVERRIS) & MICHAEL MCFEELY,

ANDY FRASER(COUNTY TURF),GEORGE MULLEN(SUPPORT IN SPORT), SAMUEL KINGSTON(KILCOCK GOLF CLUB HEAD GREENKEEPER), GRAHAME JONES(SIS PITCHES),

MICHEAL O'KEEFE(OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY), AUSTEN SUTTON(SYNGENTA) & COLMAN WARDE

Spring 2015 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

06 / INTERVIEW

BARRY LUPTON INTERVIEWS MARION kEOGH

BEYOND THE FRINGE

PHOTO: KORALEY NORTHEN

As is often the case, the recognition and celebration of such people often happens long after their departure. Irish people find it difficult to celebrate the works of the living. Poor Bono, you’ll be canonised upon your death. Personally I have no trouble celebrating contemporary doers and in the coming issues I will share their hopes, beliefs and actions. In this first issue I speak to a relative late comer to the domain of horticulture, Marion Keogh. Having spent her formative years studying the history of art and working in a number of galleries in both London and Dublin, Marion took leave to devote time to her new family. With her family finding their feet in school, she assessed her own educational opportunities and completed a couple of short horticulture courses, before committing to a two-year course in Dundrum. During her studies, Marion embraced the industry, participating and getting involved wherever opportunity presented. On graduation she quickly moved on from participating to creating new opportunities and has done much to tackle the most significant issue facing this sector: How sector: how to engage and educate a distracted and disinterested public on in the wonders of horticulture. Marion Keogh is a garden designer, horticulturist, passionate plantswoman and with Landscape Architect, Esther Gerrard is the energy, and the energy behind the Bloom Fringe. She is a doer. I was delighted to be able to talk to her recently about her drive, motivation and hopes for Irish horticulture.

t’s been said that real change only comes about as a result of the thoughts and actions of people unwilling to compromise on their passion and belief. For sure we live in an age of networking, collaboration and participation, but when such things are teased apart, you will find committed, persistent and driven individuals at the centre. The fragmented domain of horticulture needs such individuals to bring about change. It needs leaders, innovators, creatives and people willing to do more than simply talk. Horticulture needs doers. Trace back through the history of Irish horticulture, and the people you will read about were the doers. Planthunters, gardeners, researchers and in more recent times, the men of the last century who started our first nurseries, the designers who put Irish gardens on the international stage and in every front room through gardening media. I don’t have to say their names, you know them already. They were the doers.

B. You came to horticulture at a late stage. What prompted the shift from the arts? M. I had been at home with my small kids for about seven years after working in the arts, so for me it was time to go back to work. I loved gardening and decided to work in that realm rather than going back to the arts. B. Passionate people often trace their roots back to the influences of other passionate people. Were you inspired by other individuals and if so, what influence did they have? M. My grandmother was a keen gardener and my childhood weekends were spent in her house in the country running around fields with my cousins. We only went indoors for meals. I loved bringing my own small kids to Airfield to run around an urban farm and that’s where I did my first gardening course with then head gardener Jimi Blake. And so the love affair began, with gardening. A new world was opened to me discovering gardeners and designers like Helen

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2015

06 / INTERVIEW Dillon, Christopher Lloyd, Tom StuartSmith, Piet Oudulf, and Christopher Bradley Hole. Then I met Monica Alvarez and started studying garden design in Dundrum. B. What is your defining memory of your horticulture education? M. It was very exciting when Monica told us we were going to learn to be designers, but I’ll never forget the moment when she said we would become great gardeners too. I knew I had found the perfect course. For me, being a garden designer is all about knowing your plants. B. Students often leave college with knowledge, a qualification, and a heap of optimism, only to be deflated by the realities of the market. You have gone from strength to strength. What do you think you did differently to those who struggle? M. I think I have a positive attitude and I love what I do. Those are very infectious qualities – if you hear someone talking passionately about something they love, you can’t help but listen and if you’re not careful you’ll get hooked. But passion is only part of it. To really get somewhere you have to work hard. Tough graft, putting in the hours, getting on with the job and getting on with people will always help you get ahead. Seeing an opportunity and making your own luck is also part of it. It’s also a skill to get the best from people you work with. Word of mouth is king in this town so making sure you don’t muck up a client’s kitchen after a job can sometimes be the best reference. B. You split your time between various activities. Can you give me an insight into a typical day? M. You’ll always get pulled from one task to another, so it’s easy to get distracted and work in a disjointed way. But this can also be a very organic way to make things happen. To be honest, every day is different – a typical day for me is where every day is different from yesterday. Being organised in the supermarket and having a fantastic husband and support at home is really the key to it working.

B. Professional horticulture and design in Ireland are notorious for their poor levels of remuneration. Have you managed to overcome this perennial challenge, and if so, can you share your secret? M. I wish I had the secret to financial success but I don’t. One thing though I am learning fast is never to apologise for charging money for your services. I know what I know because I have spent a lot of time learning it. I’m always reading new stuff, observing other gardens, looking at other planting plans, critiquing other gardens, taking photographs. I’m living and breathing gardening and design. I have studied until 4am, dug gardens in the snow, planted in Bloom with rain dripping into my knickers! Why should I charge a tenner an hour for that? If you have confidence in your own abilities and don’t apologise for it, clients will pick up on that and won’t have a problem paying for your work. Anyway, they employed you in the first place for that reason, that you know what you’re talking about. B. Is there such thing as an Irish garden design style? And if so, what do you think defines it? M. Well, I’m not sure any country has its own defined style right now. Some Dutch designers have similar favourite plants but others have their own individual tastes, the Americans might cross over with hard materials but generally they do their own thing. Perhaps the Japanese garden makers are still true to traditional influences. In Ireland, we are not afraid of looking outward and embracing all that is happening on the global garden design stage and then using it here at home. And equally we are not afraid of looking inward and using our own native stone, plants, topography, culture, history, mythology when designing. It is eclectic but in a good way – Irish design is honest and soulful. B. For the uninitiated, could you give a brief insight into Park(ing) Day, your involvement and how people from across the country can get involved? M. Park(ing) Day started about five years ago in San Fransisco and encourages

“It was an itch I couldn’t stop scratching. Why is Bloom only in the Park?”

you to take the ‘ing’ out of Parking and turn a car parking space into a public park for the day. It’s a non-commercial way of showcasing the need for more green spaces in our cities and taking space away from the cars. It’s so easy to get involved – check out Park(ing) Day online and sign up. It’s great if you have a greening message you want to get across to people in a nice friendly way. It’s free and you’re encouraged not to spend too much money on your installation. I have done three parklets – one was a pop-up garden in Ranelagh in response to the market gardening that went on there at the turn of the 20th century, the second was to encourage people to grow flowers in their urban gardens/yards/balconies to get more honey bees in our cities so we can save the planet, and my third parklet was highlighting the Bloom Fringe. B. You’ve been involved with Bloom for many years. What advice would you give to designers gearing up for 2015? M. Clear the decks now – make sure your clients are all happy before you start in Bloom. You’ll have three weeks maximum to build and it’ll seem like a lot of time but it’s never enough. Make a build schedule and stick to it. Check it every day. Keep a close eye on your budget. But most of all you need to know every centimetre of that garden. I always walk around the garden in my head every night before I go to sleep in the lead up to Bloom. That way, when you’re in there and everyone’s firing questions at you and decisions need to be made quickly, you’re 100% on top of it. Be ready to talk about it at a moment’s notice – describe it in three words or three sentences. You never know when the press will appear. Always have it ready for photographing and always be ready to be photographed. And be prepared to not have a family life during the build and during the show. Oh, and make sure you have a good laugh. It is such an incredible experience. I still get goosebumps every time I drive through the gates of the Phoenix Park. The designers are like royalty during Bloom, the excitement is very special. B. You are perhaps most well recognised as being the driving force behind the Bloom Fringe. What is the

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06 / INTERVIEW Bloom Fringe and why did you decide it had to happen? M. It was an itch I couldn’t stop scratching. Why is Bloom only in the Park? It should be all over the city. I knew about the Chelsea Fringe and I heard Tim Richardson talk about it at the 2014 GLDA Seminar. I chatted to him afterwards and quickly realised this was the way to go about getting the Bloom vibe into the city – do a Bloom Fringe festival. So I talked to some friends, everyone said what a great idea and I just went for it.

MARION (FAR RIGHT) SAMPLES PASTA MADE BY ED HICK FROM FORAGED NETTLES IN HER POP UP GARDEN ON GEORGE’S STREET, DUBLIN

B. How do you see the Fringe developing over the coming years? M. So far we are getting phone calls from people saying they want to be involved in 2015. We are very actively pushing ahead with this year’s programme right now and it’s a real easy sell. We have photos to show everyone what it looked like in 2014, it’s a no-brainer, everyone wants to be part of it. We want it to be all over Dublin city, reaching out to the suburbs and eventually in other cities all over the country. At the moment, we are a team of four so we don’t have the resources yet to be nationwide but that will happen in time. B. How can people get involved? M. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and like us, share us, tweet us, Instagram us, whatever you’re having yourself. Our website is being update but will be up and running in March. Our email address is bloomfringe@gmail.com and we have a registration form ready for anyone who wants to do an event. B. Driving such initiatives requires huge commitment with no measureable financial reward. What keeps you going? M. That’s a hard one to answer. I guess I love what I’m doing, I love gardening. Having the support at home from my husband enables it to happen and to seem effortless. I’ve seen how people react to a bit of green grass or pretty flowers and I know that nature is good for the soul. How can you not want more of that? B. The Fringe, along with GIY, Parking Day and the wider allotments movement, are brilliant examples of grass roots horticultural activity, which provide trickle-up benefits for the whole sector. How do you think horticulture business owners could better support them? M. I think there is good support out there actually. Seed companies offer deals for allotmenteers, local councils are supportive of community gardens, nurseries are always supporting designer at Bloom, that sort of thing It might be

better if other companies got on board where they could do projects like maybe take out parking spaces and replace them with garden spaces for their employees to hang out in during lunchtime. Maybe there could be a grant scheme for companies to avail of, to encourage them to green their industrial estate or commercial park and use the services of the horticultural industry. B. A UK garden writer commented last year that professional garden design was being undermined by hobbyists. Specifically, older female practitioners who are depressing design fees as they can afford to work for the simple enjoyment of it. What are your thoughts on this? M. It’s a valid argument and opinion but I think it’s more prevalent in the UK than here in Ireland. We’ve been so badly hit by the recession that anyone still working in the industry should be congratulated and encouraged to stay in business. There are lots of sides to this story – landscapers who offer the full design and build package and don’t charge for a design can equally undermine the design process and fee structure. I think organisations like the GLDA, the ILI and ALCI who set standards and accreditations are where it’s at. They are the ones regulating the design industry. If I need my gas boiler fixed I’ll go to rgi.ie to find a qualified installer so I think that’s the way forward in Ireland. B. How do you think the garden design sector should evolve over the next decade? M. Garden design is a very exciting place to be in right now. Piet Oudulf and the Highline in New York, Nigel Dunnett and James Hitchmough and the pictorial meadow movement in the UK, urban green interventions and city acupuncture in major cities across the world – there is a seechange happening worldwide, and we here in Ireland and in Dublin are right in the middle of it. We need to have the conviction, and balls to go with it and not shy away from it. Money has very little to do with it. We need to be very aware of our planet’s sustainability and keep that as the central concept of why we’re doing this stuff in the first place. If we have that ecological focus as our starting and end point, we will design better gardens, better public spaces, make more community spaces, encourage kids to grow food in schools, treat our soil with more respect, love our trees and ultimately have a better place to live in. B. How do you see your own career evolving? M. Seriously? I haven’t a clue! If I can keep gardening and inspiring others to garden, then it doesn’t matter where my career goes. I want it to do just that, evolve. And evolving is something that always changes, never stops, goes through various phases organically, isn’t forced. B. What advice would you give someone considering a career in horticulture and design? M. Go for it. Keep your head up. Put a smile on people’s faces. Inspire someone every day to even just see a tree or a flower. Look around you, look up at the trees above you, below at the weeds, in other gardens and keep a critical eye. And have your morning coffee outside even if it’s cold out there. ✽

Spring 2015 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

WASTED

PROFITS

Landscape cost estimating specialist Colm Kenny, throws light on effective pricing for waste materials on landscape projects

aste has a cost. The true price tag of waste is not just the bill from a waste contractor to remove a skip from site, but a combination of expenses including material and labour. Contractors often underestimate the real cost of waste on a project as this is not an explicit one. By their very nature, the works carried out by landscape contractors generate large volumes of waste, both for construction projects and maintenance operations. The cost of discarded materials disposal is becoming more expensive as more stringent controls and tax levies are being placed on dwindling landfill sites. To remain competitive the landscape industry as a whole needs to seek ways of minimising waste. While the concept of waste management has been embraced by the wider construction industry, the landscape sector still lags behind when it comes to adapting to waste control techniques.

CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS Bill of Quantities are important documents on construction projects as they state what quantity of material is required for each element of the project. However, apart from the disposal of surplus excavated material, they do not inform you what waste will be generated. Take a simple patio construction project as an example. Apart from the cost of disposal of excessive

“Calculate accurate fuel costs by using sites such as the AA route planner”

materials, other added costs could include the price of surplus materials, additional delivery charges, and the labour required to firstly cut the paving slabs to the required size or shape. All these costs must be calculated in the contractor’s rates when building up a rate per square metre for the project. Experienced contractors will know that, depending on the design, they will often have to allow an additional 10-15% minimum to cover off-cuts, breakages, changes in levels or interfaces with other materials. I recently completed a project as project manager for a firm of architects in which landscape design included a semi-circular patio at the entrance to a hotel, which was constructed from 600 x 600 x 50mm limestone paving flags. The Bill of Quantities had the correct finished size of the patio measured, which the contractor priced. However, he failed to make any allowance for additional paving slabs to cut in order to form the required shape,

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2015

07 / CONSTRUCT

“Landscape designers have a massive role to play in terms of reducing waste within the industry” and in the end needed to purchase an additional 40% of materials at his own cost. Needless to say he wasn’t too happy at the end of the project. Landscape designers have a massive role to play in terms of reducing waste within the industry. Design and the specifications can contribute significantly to the amount of waste generated during the construction of a project, particularly when uneconomical design solutions are selected or when unsuitable materials are specified. Careful consideration and specification of material sizes can have an impact on reducing waste. Going back to the paving example, the size of paved areas can be designed to accommodate as many as the specified paviors as possible while minimising cuts. When tendering for a project, contractors must endeavour to estimate the cost of the waste that will be generated by each operation. Once that cost has been calculated, it often has the effect of getting contractors to focus on methods of reducing waste. Reducing the wastage of materials should result in a more competitive tender rates and an increase in profit for contractors. There are some simple ways in which contractors can reduce waste. For example, prior to placing orders for materials, ensure that the information used is up to date and accurate. From my experience, cost cutting exercises by the client, architects and main contractors always seem to involve the landscape scheme, so therefore the scope of works could have changed since the tender stage. Do a crosscheck on the key materials by measuring the quantities of materials required, and ensure that the drawings are available in digital format so that the information extracted is accurate and to scale. Lastly, carry out site measurements as quite often more accurate information can sometimes be produced if site measurements can be carried out. These are particularly useful when

drawn information is limited.

MAINTENANCE PROJECTS It’s a familiar sight during the maintenance season to see trailers of green waste on the move to the local green waste depot. This waste has a huge cost associated with it, both to the client and also to the contractor. It is also not an item that contractors can make a huge profit on as it is often hard to justify to clients the expense involved. They just see the maintenance works as the only cost and once the trailer is gone out the gate fully loaded it’s forgotten about. Quantifying the volume of waste produced from maintenance works is a difficult procedure, especially when you are tendering for a project on a site you are unfamiliar with. It will be the case that the outgoing contractors will have the advantage of knowing what waste is generated as they will have working knowledge of the site. However a calculation is required, even if it is only to be used as an allowance to be put into your tender bid. Lack of specification of maintenance works can also lead to a difference in price and standards between competing contractors as it comes down to perception of the required standard, but that’s another day’s work. Most local authorities have a green waste depot where they accept green waste from contractors. However, contractors need to include in their rates not just the cost of entering in to the landfill but also the transport cost associated with it. As it is a hidden cost, it can be overlooked by contractors when calculating their rates. With a number of websites, such as the AA route planner, capable of calculating fuel costs from point A to point B, it is important that this is calculated as accurately as possible and not contained in a contractor’s overheads and profit. While the cost of fuel has fallen in the last number of months, it won’t stay this low forever and so a provision for price fluctuation in the

future should be allowed. One way contractors can reduce the costs associated with generated waste on a regular maintenance contract is to an onsite compost facility if there is not one already. This doesn’t have to be anything complicated, a simple structure composing of railway sleepers and a surrounding screen will suffice. The benefits of having such a facility on site are three-fold to the contractor. Apart from the entrance fee, the transport and labour costs filling the trailer are eliminated. Also, time wasted on travelling to the depot is removed, allowing for increased productivity and a longer working time on site. The generated compost can then be used as mulch on the surrounding beds, further reducing your need to pay out money on such materials. In order for a client to accept such a proposal, it may be necessary to offer them a discount on the works. However once this discount is within reason, it will be beneficial to you, and pay dividends in the long run.

THE FUTURE By focusing on the way waste is generated and its associated costs, the participants in the process will be able to understand what their wastage is and then be able to take action to reduce it. This process needs to begin with the designers of landscape schemes and in turn educate contractors to the cost benefits of reducing the volume of waste generated. ✽

COLM KENNY, B Ag. Sc. (Land. Hort), M.Sc. Quantity Surveying. Colm is a landscape estimating specialist. He provides cost and implementation advice to landscape industry professionals, technical advisors, contractors and facility management companies. He can be contacted on 087 288 5016 or by email info@landscapeqs.ie

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EVERGREEN PERSPECTIVE Renowned plantsman and retired nursery operator, John Joe Costin shares his perspective on our taste for the exotic and how we may be missing out on evergreen opportunities

n my experience, the majority of Eastern European migrants who made Ireland their home share two obsessions. The first is to experience the drama of our western seaboard; the second, our range of broadleaf evergreen species. Before every return bus trip home to Cracow or Liv for holidays, there was one repeated question put to me: “would that grow in my country?”. The answer they most regularly got was a heartbreaking ‘no’. Our record winter temperature low was recorded in the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin on 12 January 1982 at -18.5oC. The deep freeze refrigerator that is the vast land mass of Siberia exerts its influence on the winters of all northern European countries that lie north and east of the Alps. It induces lows of -40oC and monumental snowfall where the Siberian air flow meets the moist Atlantic winds. In such extremes, plant diversity is reduced to extensive monocultures, such as pines, firs and birch. What we rather parochially call Scot’s pine (Pinus sylvestris), growing here at the western edge of its natural distribution, could more accurately be called Siberian pine, because its eastern distribution extends across the entire Eurasian land mass to Okhotsk on its eastern seaboard. Likewise, once you drive east from Berlin, virtually the sole roadside verge tree is birch. An acquaintance once advised that you would want to be very fond of those trees to endure the Transiberian railway journey, as they accompany you all the way to Vladivostock.

HOLLY AND IVY The yearning for broadleaved evergreens may be hereditary. New England was settled 300 years ago, but they still demand English holly for Christmas, even though it is not hardy enough to grow on the east coast. There are now 1500 acres of holly

orchards in Oregon, the berried produce of which is trucked across that continent in temperature controlled lorries to satisfy that holiday demand. When I went to the Nine Elms Market in London, the traders related that the bulk of their supplies were delivered as lorry loads of branches, broken by hand from hedgerow trees across Ireland by Irish itinerants. They could procure no other supply. There is now only one three-acre holly orchard in Ireland. Ubiquity can breed indifference. I had mine to ivy recalibrated by the rhapsodies of a Dutch visitor I was driving, who marvelled at the luxuriant growth, the glistening greenness and the freshness of ivy in our winter landscape. They do not have its equivalent in the Netherlands. While we are indifferent to it, because of its ubiquity, the Danish house plant industry responded to peoples’ needs for broadleaved evergreens by producing and exporting annually millions of ivy plants for the housewives of Europe, listing all its tolerances to low light, low temperatures, dust, shade and long periods of neglect, which makes it such a resilient houseplant. What grows in the open here, they have to produce in heated glasshouses. I drove across and visited five of the Iron Curtain’s eastern European countries in 1971. In Cracow, I learned of their angst. Hedera helix, considered endangered, was listed as a protected species, I could not offer sympathy. There was no endangerment. They were simply recording a geographic fact, that the eastern boundary of the natural distribution of ivy was retreating a little westward. It would be more scientific to ask where is the Polish border, because it has moved both further east and west as different powers held sway in central Europe. Plants do not recognise national boundaries. The Polish people’s concern could be more accurately termed neurotic

Spring 2015 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

08 / LANDSCAPE

nationalism or bad science. ‘Endangered’ is a trigger word to attract journalists’ antennae now, and seems to be indispensable to strengthen applications for research or film funding. It was painful for the Polish, only in the sense that so few broadleaves grow in their climate. I did not doubt their sincerity. ‘Discovery’ used to be the most exciting word in the lexicon of garden writers. Now, unfortunately ‘extinction’ seems to have displaced it. It is a precise, scientifi c term if used correctly to defi ne loss, but is a term, more often misused by propagandists, a sensationalism for those seeking news headlines. It should make us appreciate how blessed we are with the choice and range of evergreens we can grow. My Dutch guest could not understand why we had not selected

ivy as our national emblem. Graham Stuart Thomas (1) wrote that the Irish ivy “Hedera helix ‘Hibernica’ AGM is not only the finest ivy for ground cover but is one of the most reliable and useful of all cover plants for large areas. It will grow equally well in sun or shade and is not as prone as other self clingers to ascend trees or upright objects”. When we tire of weekly mowing and edge trimming or re-evaluate those activities as unsustainable practices, then we may see the beauty of and the wisdom in planting an Irish ivy lawn. Why we do not already have such an educational feature in at least one of our many state owned gardens or horticultural colleges is a mystery. Over the past 14 years the word ‘sustainable’ has been bandied about and much abused, with claims often made that are either invisible or unverifiable. An ivy lawn might be a self evident first. The Plant Finder 2006 lists 302 cultivars, 19 of which have received an AGM. ‘Dunloe Gap’, ‘Irish Lace’ and ‘Shamrock’ show there is some native appreciation, but it is minuscule compared to international acknowledgement in place names

“We like exotics in our gardens and demonstrate a loathing to allocate precious space to natives”

such as ‘Boskoop ‘(NL), ‘California’, ‘Chicago’, ‘Pittsburgh’ (USA),’Niagara Falls’ ( Canada), ‘Heise’ (Denmark). ‘Jerusalem’ (Palestine) and ‘Stuttgart’ (Germany). HHH is listed in only one Irish heritage garden: Fota. We show little appreciation in our landscape or gardens of the Zen Buddhist principle that less is more. We like exotics in our gardens and demonstrate a loathing to allocate precious space to natives. If we had the developed sensibilities of the Japanese, we would see enormous variety in shades of green and great diversity in our mosses, ivies, ferns and hollies. Accessing the prestige of owning a moss garden might be the easiest of all, simply by killing the little grass that is left in so many of our moss rich lawns. In what we might see as dull, the Japanese see food for the mind and balm for the soul. We have been conditioned to equate a great garden to a feast of colour. We have not yet acknowledged our own individuality or developed our own style. Making a statement that what a garden design is inspired by or based on is an admission that we must try harder. The Japanese are not alone in their appreciation of the aesthetics of green. Green is the emblem of salvation for Muslims and is doubly appreciated for its preciousness in a religion

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2015

that emerged from and flourished in the vast deserts and steppes of Western Asia. While supervising the development of a nursery in an oasis 500km north of Riyadh in 1980, I learned from a constant stream of nomadic Bedouin sheep herders, clad in black, of their need for greenery and the commitment they willingly made in order to enjoy the status of growing a tree. I explained to each that it was like another marriage. The trees would have to be watered daily for the rest to their lives. It phased no one. No one considered that a burden. Muslims are called to pray four times a day. To them a daily watering was just another form of prayer.

ARBUTUS UNEDO ‘RUBRA’ AGM Any system devised to evaluate the comparative value of ornamental plants should have a weighting favouring those that provide dividends in the leaner months of the year. Every day, for six weeks, flowers embroider the Arbutus crown and are always a therapeutic surpsise because the gloom of shortening days promises little. It is my favourite of available cultivars, because its clean glossy foliage is the perfect backdrop to enhance the conspicuousness of its pink-red flowers, that create such an unexpected eye-catching display

08 / LANDSCAPE

In Ireland the oldest specimens of the strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo) grow in wild native groves in Killarney. The tallest measured 10 x 1.01m girth in 2010. The Irish name is Caithne. Renowned for its beautiful wood, it is sought by sculptors and furniture makers as ‘Killarney wood’. Auction catalogues occasionally list pieces for eye popping prices. Given the amount of land and historic properties that are in state ownership and given the extraordinary allure forest parks now have for the public, it is opportune to plant a large plantation of Arbutus with each cultivar allocated a block of at least 2 hectares so that future generations can traverse the first broadleaved evergreen forest in Ireland along broad avenues. In the longer term this would ensure an unlimited supply of Killarney wood for our artists, sculptors and furniture makers. It would be a project with more credibility than a lot of the environmental guff that fills the airwaves. Society does not show much evidence that it is willing to pay the real cost of precious, slow growing hardwoods that we might make disposable products from. An enthusiastic gardener from the Gap of Dunloe in Kerry once offered me cain apples, a fruit unknown to me. It was the local name for the Arbutus berries. Derived from Cahina (which is how one pronounces ‘Caithne’), the Irish for Arbutus, it was a literal translation as the berry in Irish is called Caithne Ull, the strawberry tree apple. Arbutus has not given rise to many place names: Owenacahina, (river Arbutus), near Glengarriff; Ard na Caithne, the Irish for Smerwick, the infamous harbour near Dingle; Quin Co Clare is derived from a slightly different root, Cuinche. The most northerly placename is one of the many islands in Clew Bay, Co Mayo that is named Quinsheen. The limited number of place names does not suggest a former ubiquity. It is surprising that

Malahide Castle is the only one of 29 heritage gardens that list it. One would imagine that connoisseurship of exotics would be inclusive of the most exotic in our native flora.

COLONIAL ROOTS OF ExOTIC SPECIES Anthropologists analyse our actions to identify what influences our behaviour. In this case they might see the negative influence of colonialism. It was standard practice for colonialists to denigrate the native and exalt the superiority of their own as an enlightened justification for their presence. An oft quoted example was the reaction of friends when a lady arrived in a fetching new outfit. ‘I bet you did not buy that in Ireland’. This may explain how our best natives species are so under-represented in our best collections. Had I the power of compulsion, I should recommend that an Arbutus tree be planted in every garden. This bit of omnipotence was inspired by no less a character than Hitler. My mother had a saying that “there was bad in every good person and good in every bad person”. When I read that on coming to power in Germany, Hitler had ordered every landowner to plant a specified number of walnut trees on their land, I gave him the benefit of the doubt that he must have had some redemptive values.

OUTSIDE THE BOx When Napoleon was upbraided for taking such a quintessential Italian painting as the Mona Lisa back to Paris as war booty from his successful campaign, he patiently explained to the complaining pernickety official that all great artists irrespective of where they were born are Frenchmen. Based on that precedent, Buxus should be considered an honorary native Irish species, because it grows better here than most places. Buxus is perceived as a dense slow growing subject for a low hedge and many of us mistakenly identify the dwarf form used for that purpose, B. sempervirens ‘Suffruticosa’ as the species. We should therefore, be grateful to those among us who have the virtue of patience. The tallest box in the UK and Ireland, growing at Birr Castle, measures 11.5m or 37ft and 9 inches. This is a figure that many

gardeners will look at with incredulity. It is of course a small desirable evergreen tree. The weightier charge is that we have underused the gems, among the 93 cultivars of B. sempervirens listed by the Plant Finder. Betula s. ‘Pendula’ is without doubt one of the best evergreen small specimen trees gifted to us. It is elegant, with pendant branches that will eventually do justice to the name. While It is difficult to procure already formed, it is easy to train. B.s. ‘Handsworthiensis’ is a wonderful cultivar grown by Longleys Boxwood Nursery near Liss in Hampshire. Its distinctions are its foliage and growth habit. The high gloss large leaves measure 5x2cm. The dense pyramidal habit is topiary untouched by a shears. It measures 110cm at the base and tapers rocket-like to the tip. It’s height is 240cm. I ordered it in 1974 and it was delivered and labelled as B.s. ‘Myrtifolia’. This box is an excellent cultivar for formal assignments and for smaller spaces and for those who like an array of topiared pyramids but without the need for laser controlled trimming or the need to cope with the growth rate of Taxus baccata specimens. The roots of our obsession with exotics and non-natives may well be traced back to our colonial legacy, but our past does not have to dictate our future. Our inability to appreciate and capitalise on the aesthetics, appropriateness and intrinsic cultural and environmental benefits afforded by our range of native evergreens has cost us dearly. I urge the savvy among you to seize upon this for the benefit of all. ✽

JOHN JOE COSTIN has been involved with commercial horticulture for more than 50 years. He is viewed as one of the founders of the Irish nursery sector and played an instrumental role in it’s evolution. Recently retired, John Joe now travels extensively and continues to write on plant matters at home and abroad.

Spring 2015 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

PHOTO: KORALEY NORTHEN

in October-November. This cultivar is propagated by grafting. The species is readily raised from seed, but the provenance is crucial as the ornamental quality of the foliage varies greatly. Seed sourced from the Mediterranean countries is to be avoided as the foliage invariably has a hairy grey bearded scruffiness, a necessary modification that protects against the heat of warmer places.

NATIONAL HORTICULTURE WAGE SURVEY

Barry Lupton shares data from the recent survey carried out in conjunction with jobsinhorticulture.ie

e are a data poor sector. Historically, the information we have used to shape strategy, lobby the government and assist companies has largely been based on estimation and best guess. This has frustrated progress, undermined decision making and kept us in our between two stools position. Things are changing. The garden market review carried out in 2014, and shared here on page 36, steps closer to the level of data granularity necessary for effective use. The collaborative works under the direction of Retail Excellence Ireland will make huge strides in addressing our data poverty over the coming years. Also, the auditing and contracts works being undertaken by the Irish Association of Landscape Industries will throw light and solutions on the darker corners of the design and construction sectors. Things are changing for the better but as the data below illustrates, we have a long way to go.

THE SURVEY A sincere word of thanks to all in the industry who took the time to complete the wage survey. If we are to effectively address the data deficit, we all need to get involved. And more than anything, we need to let go of our cultural

PHOTO BY VIERDRIE

09 / INSIGHT

JUST SHORT OF 200 PEOPLE TOOk THE TIME TO COMPLETE THE SURVEY. THE RESPONDENT DEMOGRAPHICS WERE AS FOLLOWS: ✽ Leinister 53%  Ulster 7%  Munster 28% Connacht 12%

✽ 60% were employees and 40% employers ✽ 10% owned large businesses, 30% SME's and 60% small businesses

✽ 15% were female, 85% were male ✽ 85% were Irish. 15% were non-national

(including German, Dutch, Polish, British and Romanian)

✽ 55% were involved in landscape contracting,

10% in landscape architecture and design, 15% in amenity production, 15% in garden retailing, and 5% each for sports, arboriculture and edible production

✽ Of the age categories, which spanned from

25-74, it was the 35-44 year category which was the most significant with 35%

THERE ARE FEW SURPRISES IN THE DEMOGRAPHIC DATA, WHICH TENDS TO REFLECT GENERAL ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THE STRUCTURE OF THE INDUSTRY.

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2015

09 / INSIGHT tendency toward secrecy, especially when it comes to finance. The first horticultural wage survey was carried out in response to questions posed to me from all quarters. The economic tide is turning, employers want to hire, but no one is sure what a fair wage is. I certainly didn't. The results shared here are not intended to be definitive. Far from it. They represent a first step. A point of reflection and discussion. I hope you all engage with follow up work.

It would be valuable to extend this survey to test if this really reflects wage levels and to compare them to international rates. As the data stands, opportunities for increased earnings in this sector are extremely poor, and in my opinion, hardly reflective of the specialist knowledge, skills and commitment necessary for the job nor the wealth orientated domain they work in. One respondent noted that it is high time that greenkeepers came together to form a network/union.

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

GARDEN RETAILING

A graduate landscape architect can expect to receive between €20,000 and €30,000 per annum, which is in line with general expectations. A landscape architect with two years experience can expect to receive between €30-40,000 per annum, but this should be viewed in light of comments from three respondents, who stated that in reality wages for experienced LA’s remain below the €30,000 mark. One employer noted that they prefer to offer lower wages and higher holiday entitlements. This might reflect the general uncertainty of the sector and the challenges for employers to keep a consistent flow of work. The data revealed confusion around wages for chartered LA's with the range running from €40-70,000. Again this is reflective of the industry and potentially those in full time employment, self employment and the public sector. Perhaps it is time for the Irish Landscape Institute to tackle the thorny subject of wages and fees?

From the data it would appear that qualifications and experience do not factor in wage levels for garden centre sales assistants. Levels for those without experience or qualification all remain below €25,000. Take note, those of you pursuing greenkeeping qualifications. One respondent noted the seasonal, part time nature of such employment, giving their annual part time salary at €11,000. A manager of a small to medium sized centre should expect between €40-50,000 per annum, while a plant area manager in the region of €25-32,000. One garden centre owner stated that they were drawing no wage from their business. Another stated that they'd been managing small garden centres for years and our options did not reflect reality: they should be much lower. They added that intern placements were decimating wages, to the extent that they are now seeking employment elsewhere. It would be interesting to explore this harsh reality further. How many owners of SME’s in our sector are actually being paid? Perhaps the REI group will investigate in the coming months.

LANDSCAPE CONTRACTING A landscape operative with no experience will be employed at minimum, or just above minimum wage; and unlike other domains, comments centred on rates per hour rather than salary. New operatives should expect anywhere from €9.50 to €11 per hour. Perhaps surprisingly, location did not play into wage levels, with some rural based employers paying more than their urban counterparts. Experienced landscape operatives with more than three years experience should expect around €25,000 salary. Experienced landscape project managers can expect anything from €25-40,000 with 60% selecting the lower bracket and 40% the higher. A contractor with more than ten years experience can reasonably expect a salary in the region of €30-40,000. But it must be noted that 20% selected the €25-32,000 and €39-46,000 ranges. Again, there is uncertainty in the market. One respondent noted horticulture students have little applicable knowledge for contracting. This reflects a perennial problem in the landscape sector: it's hard to find a good plantsperson and builder in one. Maybe it's time for the educational institutions to reflect on what they are training people for? Many graduates are encouraged into the design/build sector and I would tend to agree with the respondent, many are ill prepared for their domains. I often receive calls from horticulturalists looking to train in building and design, and builders looking to build plant knowledge. There is an opportunity here.

GREENKEEPING AND SPORTS There were a limited number of respondents in this domain but they agree. Graduate greenkeepers can expect in the region of €20-25,000, those with experience may command €27-28,000 and head greenkeepers in the region of €30,000.

NURSERIES Unqualified nursery operatives should expect €18-23,000, while those with experience and qualification can command in the region of €25-30,000 or more. While these figures reflect the majority of respondent selections, it must be noted that two respondents commented €25,000 would be the maximum. A qualified and experienced nursery manager will command an annual salary of between €35-45,000. This is the same for a manager without qualification but with much experience. One employee with a qualification noted they are paid an annual salary of €16,000. An employer noted wages are low for qualified workers as they just don't have the skills to command more. Similar to the contracting sector, some employers feel graduates are not being equipped with the right skill set. An emergent question from this should be levelled at students, institutions and employers: what are you doing about the apparent disconnect between industry needs and curricula?

ARBORICULTURE A limited number of professionals responded to the survey from the domain of arboriculture. Based on the data, a graduate arborist can expect in the region of €25,000 while an experienced arborist should expect in the region of €35,000. I was asked during the survey why I did not include questions relating to unqualified arborists’ wages. I specifically left these out as the field demands a high degree of practical training, expertise and equipment. It is unfortunate for experienced and qualified arborists that their field is so undermined by cowboys and black marketeers.

Spring 2015 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

09 / INSIGHT While the domain does command marginally better wages, more needs to be done to protect and increase them by tackling the black market.

WAGES FOR CONTRACT WORkERS The seasonality of this sector requires contract workers. This is an economic necessity but one which is the root of many of the problems facing business owners and employees alike. It is not so much the pay rates and employment insecurity which cause problems, it is the restrictions, inflexibility, obligations and entitlements enshrined in our employment legislation which undermine the landscape. More people responded to this section than any other in the survey, unsurprisingly given our focus on annual salaries. The data showed little disparity of hourly wage rates between Dublin and the rest of the country. Contract workers should expect to be paid anywhere from €8.65

to €13 per hour depending on experience. It is somewhat interesting that the highest and lowest rates of pay were both recorded in Munster (where location was identified). One employer did note a rate of €15 per hour for a technician. Based on data spread, it is reasonable for a contract worker to achieve €11 per hour.

WHY EMPLOYERS HIRE From the data it would appear that qualifications are not a major factor in influencing decisions to hire or not when compared to other factors. Only 5% felt it important compared to 45% who listed experience, and 20% who listed personal qualities. 30% said that all three factors were important. Several respondents added comments including the importance of work ethics and how experience is more important than anything else. One noted that the 'knock on the door' was vital and that emailed CVs go straight to the bin.

BARRIERS TO HIRING AND POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS There would appear to be a wide range of factors limiting job offers. Below are the most frequently noted with potential solution from respondents mapped appropriately.

Barriers to employment

✽ Suggested solutions

Seasonality and fluctuation in levels of work

✽ Make it easier to hire and fire ✽ Apply employer PRSI annually rather than weekly ✽ Permit school goers to work in horticulture during the summer for below minimum wage as is done in Holland

Costs associated with training and compliance

✽ Reduce and simplify health and safety

Time and costs associated with employee related paperwork, PRSI, USC, TAX

✽ Development of a streamlined system ✽ Change the redundancy system ✽ Simplify the system of employing experienced

Long term obligations on employers

✽ Make it easier to hire and fire ✽ Change the redundancy system

Disincentive culture - easier for people to be unemployed

✽ Creation of an intermediary payment system

Poor levels of practical experience

✽ Link Jobsbridge to qualifications

Unwillingness of Irish people to make an investment in a career

✽ No suggestions

obligations

people of social welfare without impacting their status ✽ All employees should be self employed

which encourages people off welfare ✽ Government sponsored schemes to encourage people to gain experience ✽ Widen the gap between minimum wages and welfare entitlements ✽ Revenue inspectors to tackle the black market

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2015

09 / INSIGHT From the data we can infer that the seasonal and fluctuating nature of the sector is at odds with the inflexible and cumbersome employment legislation. One size does not fit all and it certainly doesn't fit horticulture. It would be very interesting to explore this area in more depth to understand how other countries such as Holland tackle the issue.

attitude, a commitment to work and learn, honesty about experience and qualification. Be prepared to work hard in tough conditions, be flexible and motivated and show up on time and well presented. One respondent noted they require a week’s trial and that the decision to employ is based on feedback from permanent staff members. Seems like an altogether sensible suggestion to me.

“Be prepared to work hard in tough conditions, be flexible and motivated and show up on time and well presented” WHAT EMPLOYEES SEEk

FINAL THOUGHTS FROM ALL SIDES

We offered employees three choices preferences: wages, quality and variety of work, and career progression. Wages were the most important at 40% but only marginally. Quality of work and progression came in at 28% and 32% respectively. One respondent added that relationships with other staff were very important.

For a career most follow because of their passion, there are a lot of unhappy people out there. From the comments, there appears to be extreme dissatisfaction with wage levels across the board. Employees, especially those who spent several years studying, feel let down, with many respondents having left or seeking to leave the sector altogether. Respondents feel undervalued and underappreciated. They feel their skills and knowledge are not recognised nationally. In terms of what we should be doing about it there is much consensus. We need government backed apprenticeship courses in all sectors of horticulture including design. We need to focus on the quality of the work we do. Increase it. We need greater connection between sub sectors to facilitate mobility and progress, for instance garden design to landscape architecture. We need more mediums for discussion. We need to pull horticulture away from the CE schemes and we need more part time training options so working people can up skill without giving up their jobs.

BARRIERS TO TAkING UP EMPLOYMENT Below are the most frequently cited barriers noted by employees and job seekers to taking up employment in horticulture • Limited availability of suitable jobs • Working in family run businesses • Limited avenues for progression • Limited opportunities required and accepted • Low standards of work • Extent of the black market • CE schemes, Jobsbridge and internships • Poor wages • Insecurity and unpredictability of work • Inflexibility of the welfare system - non recognition of seasonality • Limited recognition or acknowledgment nationally of the skills required • Better protection for self employed

ADVICE FROM EMPLOYEES TO EMPLOYERS • • • • • • •

Only employ qualified staff If you pay poor wages you will get poor workers More focus on planning, quality and work environment Improve the quality of work you demand Stop using Jobsbridge for cheap employees Invest more in training Ensure hours are fairly allocated in the seven day retail week

ADVICE FOR JOB SEEkERS Like the previous question this also attracted much attention. From the data, advice is crystal clear: if you are seeking employment in horticulture you need a positive, can do

“We need to pull horticulture away from the CE schemes” CONCLUSION This survey was limited by the number of respondents, the extent of questions, the survey duration and the general nature of analysis and dissemination. However, it does provide us with a starting point. A first step toward greater understanding of the factors undermining sustainable growth in our sector. It is clear that both employers and employees have difficulties with the current state of play. All are justified. All have merit. We have an opportunity here. An opportunity to foster a more open dialogue on wages and working conditions. Such communication will help us all make more informed decisions on the direction of our careers and businesses. A discussion relating to this topic will be taken up on the Linkedin group Horticulture Ireland. ✽

Spring 2015 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

09 / INSIGHT

Mike Neary, Manager of Horticulture with Bord Bia, shares data from recent market research into the Irish garden market, and things are looking positive

esearch into the gardening market in 2014 carried out by Ipsos MRBI on behalf of Bord Bia has show a significant increase in the value of the market by 22% when compared with similar research carried out two years ago. The overall gardening market is now valued at €631m. Bord Bia has been tracking the gardening market since 2001, and 2014 is showing the first levels of increase in the value of the market since the economic downturn six years ago. The data on the gardening market is collected in a continuous consumer survey among the adult population in Ireland whereby 1,000 representative adults are interviewed during 16 survey periods across the full year.

PHOTO: KORALEY NORTHEN

GROWING CONFIDENCE Mike Neary

increased numbers of cash buyers of properties. The research divided the gardening market into five distinct categories: ● Fresh cut flowers, foliage and wreaths ● Indoor potted plants ● Outdoor flowering plants ● Garden products ● Landscaping services The chart below illustrates how each of these categories contributes to the value of the overall gardening market of €631m. The outdoor and flowering plants category is now valued at €126m which makes up 35% of all the purchasing occasions and 22% of spend. In contrast, while the garden products category which contain many of the big spend gardening items makes up 48% of the spend, it makes up only a quarter of the purchasing occasions.

The reporting context of the 2014 research included: ● Population has grown by 20% since 2001. Currently, population is increasing only at a marginal rate, due to high levels of emigration (82,000 in 2014). The population is ageing considerably, and over 65’s could treble in the next 30 years, Gardening Market Size Summary -2014 according to the CSO. Purchase ● Unemployment now Occasions Value (€) stands at 10.6% from a low Market Size 14.1m €631m % €m % of 4% just ten years ago, 70m 11 but is down significantly 2 13m 3.9m 27 compared with 2013. Fresh Cut Flowers, Foliage and Wreaths ● New housing unit 20 126m 0.9m completions peaked in 7 Indoor Potting Plants Ireland in 2006, but only about 8,000 private 4.9m 35 Outdoor Flowering Plants houses were completed in 48 303m each of the last three years. ● Inflation (CPI) averaged less than 1.0% in 2014. 3.7m Garden Products 26 Consumer confidence is 19 118m 0.7m certainly on the rise, having 5 Landscape Services The amenity market is valued at €631m. Outdoor and flowering plants accounted for 35% of all been on an upward trend purchasing occasions and 20% of spend. Larger ticket items, such as hard landscaping products since the middle of 2013. This account for 48% of spend, but only a quarter of purchasing occasions is resulting in a release of cash by consumers, leading Growing the success of Irish food & Horticulture to increased car sales, and

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2015

09 / INSIGHT The chart below provides an overview of how the gardening market has performed over the period since the economic downturn. At the height of the boom the gardening market hit the €1bn value mark, following which the subsequent collapse

in the property market and consumer confidence saw it halved in value by 2012. However since then the market has started to recover with the research in 2014 confirming a growth in value of 22% since the last measure in the 2011/12 period.

Gardening Market - 2007/08 to 2014 Purchase Occasions Market size

2007/08 16.6m

Fresh Cut Flowers, Foliage and Wreaths

Indoor Potting Plants

1.1

5.7

Outdoor Flowering Plants

2009/10 14.2m

4.5

Landscape Services

0.7

2014 Vs 11/12 14.1m +12%

2007/08 €1,043

2009/10 €717

2011/12 € 516

2014 €631

Vs 11/12 +22%*

97 21

0.9

208

3.9

4.3 4.1

-5%

0.9

3.8 0.7

97 18

0.9

4.4

Garden Products

2011/12 12.6m

Value (€)

126

4.1

2.9 0.6

71 18 112

542

4.9 +20%

3.7

+28%

0.7

+17%

70 13 126

338

303

218 176

144

-1% -28% +13% +39%

118

+22%

*20% decline taking CPI into account

The market has rebounded by 22% in the last two years. The recovery is most noticeable in the garden products sector, though there has been a good increase in purchasing occasions of outdoor and flowering plants also.

Growing Growing the the success success of of Irish Irish food food & & Horticulture Horticulture

The gardening market is serviced by a range of channels with the key outlets being the independent garden centres and the DIY stores who have a 50% share of the overall market. But when one looks specifically at the market share for the outdoor and flowering plants category it highlights that the independent garden centres are the most important outlet with a 47% value share of the market and 33% of all purchase occasions. The DIY stores have an 18% value share and 23% of all purchase occasions.

Market Share by Channel for Outdoor & Flowering Plants Trends 2006 to 2014 Outdoor and Flower Plants Occasion

Value

% 14

11/12 30

09/10 33

% 07/08

11/12

Supermarket

DIY Stores

Independent Hardware Store

Local Convenience Storere

Market Stalls

Florist

Discounters

Co-op

n/a

Others

Independent Garden Centres

05/06

09/10

07/08

05/06

50 8

n/a

Spend on outdoor and flowering plants channelled through independent garden centres has held steady since the last measure, and share of purchases has actually recovered somewhat. Discounters have increased their share in the market - particularly in terms of occasions.

Growing the success of Irish food & Horticulture

Spring 2015 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

09 / INSIGHT SUMMARY HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE RESEARCH FOR EACH CATEGORY Outdoor and flowering plants summary The outdoor and flowering plants market is worth €126m. This is a 13% increase in value and 20% increase in purchasing occasions since the 2011/2012 measure. There has been long term sustained growth in value in two products – hanging baskets/pre-planted containers and herbs, fruit and vegetables for planting. In the shorter term, it is the other products such as bedding plants and bulbs and flower seeds which have enjoyed increased levels of spend. A combined spend on trees, shrubs and hedges had expanded significantly between 2005 and 2007. However, the market has declined since then, correlating with the sharp reduction in new housing completions and other economic changes. Nonetheless, a small recovery in this area also appears to be happening, primarily driven by increased purchasing occasions.

Indoor potted plants summary ● The value of the indoor potted plants

market is now €13m.

of the indoor potted plants market, just ahead of independent garden centres and DIY stores. ● A quarter of all purchases of indoor potted plants are gift or special occasion related.

demonstrating growth but per capita spend has not kept pace. ● The share of purchase occasions is unchanged when compared with 2011/12, with DIY stores dominating across certain products. Independent garden centres have a relatively higher share of purchasing occasions for garden treatments, peat/bark and soil products and paving and decking.

Fresh Cut Flowers & Wreaths

Landscaping Services

● Fresh cut flowers and wreaths are

● The landscaping market is worth

● Average spend per purchase has

declined since 2011/12. ● Supermarkets hold the largest share

worth €61m – the majority of which is comprised of fresh cut flowers (€50m). ● The value of cut flowers has held at €50m since the last measure in 2011/12, but purchasing occasions are back slightly. ● Discounters account for 31% share of all purchasing occasions for cut flowers (as do supermarkets) compared with only a quarter of purchases being channelled through florists.

Garden Products ● The total value of this category is €305m. ● Purchasing occasions are

€118m as measured by consumer spend. Spend is spread across maintenance and more specific design/makeover requirements, though 7 in 10 spend occasions related to maintenance. This research certainly provides evidence that slowly but surely consumer confidence is returning, and given the opportunity and encouragement consumers will spend money on gardening. Hopefully these are the real green shoots we have been hearing about. ✽

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10 / Design

BEYOND STYLE STYLE STYLE Renowned designer, plantsman and water garden specialist, Gordon Ledbetter shares his thoughts on the recent GLDA design seminar

he Garden and Landscape Designers Association (GLDA) held its 19th consecutive seminar on 7 February at the Crowne Plaza, Northwood, Dublin 9. By general consent it was one of the best seminars held in many years and one of the largest with more than 200 attendees, including at least eight from Holland and two who had travelled from as far afield as the United States; and with the speakers chosen from Ireland, England, France and the USA, the seminar was truly an international event. Not all events of this kind by any manner of means run to time or run smoothly. Chairman Gary Foran and Council, and Administrator Annette McCoy, are to be congratulated on their admirable efficiency. There was an upbeat feel to the event reflecting perhaps that the Irish economy is on the move again, besides which the chosen theme seemed of universal interest: ‘The New Perennial Movement: Transient Trend or Adaptable Style?’ Ideally you would

have four speakers each with their own distinctive take on the subject and that was exactly what we got. Verney Naylor, a founder member of the GLDA, is a well known and much admired designer of gardens large and small throughout Ireland. The title of her lecture was Horizons –finding inspiration from beyond the garden gate. She looked to her travels in order to garner ideas that might be used in garden design. She had images from several continents and contrasting terrains. Verney was emphatic that perennials are less successful on their own than with shrubs and trees. You need both and you need accents of height as well as spread. The Canadian prairies are the kind of thing to avoid, all flatness and no relief. Similarly Verney dislikes unrelieved concrete ribbons around houses with no planting – again height and spread should be sought. Bamboos she loves for their movement, ferns are nearly always incorporated in her planting schemes and she favours allowing wild plants within reason to

colonise available spaces and mingle with the set plants. Verney does not eschew common or garden plants, such as Alchemilla mollis and favours Myrtus communis subsp. tarentina for low hedging. While borrowed scenery is greatly admired by the Japanese, it is hardly exploited in Ireland, but Verney seeks it wherever possible and showed us fine examples of gardens where distant views were drawn into the scheme. Above all, perhaps what is outstanding about Verney’s designs is how natural they appear, the art that conceals art, the enviable ability of a designer who can make the natural garden look ‘as if it had always been there.’ From Normandy husband and wife team Patrick and Sylvie Quibel (with able translation by M. Tanguy de Toulgoët) brought us through the history of, and dramatic seasonal changes at their garden in Le Jardin Plume - Comment composer avec la Nature. Composing with nature yes, but with a rigorously formal, quintessentially

Spring 2015 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

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Memorabilia Antiques Donations

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Charity Antiques Auction

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THOMAS RAINER FEELS WE MUST MOVE BEYOND TREND TOWARD A GREATER APPRECIATION OF PLANTS, A RE-WILDING AND A BUILDING OF CONNECTION

French layout. Made from an old orchard, fruit trees now provide vertical accents in serried ranks the length of central section of the garden which consists of a closely mown crisscross of paths and 8m square panels of higher grass in which spring bulbs and perennials are displayed sequentially. At the house end, what might be describe as a box parterre with open middle sections, directs the eye towards a pond the same size as, and in line with the planting squares. A powerful focal point, in all seasons and moods the brimming water draws the big Normandy skies into the garden. In spring delightful apple blossom and dappled shade beneath are complemented by blue camassias followed by white. Nearest the house hot colours of red, orange and yellow perennials ‘erupt’ from the parterre. ‘Like a firework display,’ in the words of one visitor, ‘magic.’ The borders to the sides of the garden are planted with drifts of grasses and cooler perennials, including Fililpendula, Thalictrum, Aquilegia and the ethereal Sanguisorba tenuissima ‘Alba’. Varieties of Miscanthus and Calamagrostis feature prominently, including the ghostly white plumes of M. “Saturnia”, bred by the Quibels. These grasses give the garden its name Le Jardin Plume (Feather Garden, although it is much more than that). Asters, including Aster ericoides and Phlox provide colour in autumn. The effects the owners seek are not firm blocks of colour nor even just intermingling of plants, but rather sparkles of different colours akin to pointillist painting and with a palette equally elaborate. The Quibels save their own seed to sow as plugs, thus constantly replenishing and re-balancing the planting. A striking feature for all seasons is a perimeter box hedge on one side, cut meticulously into concave, curling waves of varying

sizes. This is a high maintenance garden of remarkable originality, kept to the highest standards. Keith Wiley’s lecture was well titled: ‘On the wild side – an experiment in new naturalism.’ As head gardener at The Garden House on the edge of Dartmoor, he developed it into a landmark site for naturalistic planting, then decided to go it alone in 2004 to create his own aptly named Wildside Nursery and Garden, near Yelverton, Devon. Beginning with a plain, slightly sloping site of four acres, Keith set about reshaping it, creating hills and miniature gorges, in the process turning, he reckons, the four acres into six. The site was transformed, providing new habitats and mini microclimates. All this suited his approach to gardening as ‘enhanced nature’, creating the illusion of a natural landscape. In introducing countless plants from his extensive travels, with a predilection for the Swiss Alps, Keith takes pains matching plants with the most suitable habitats, blending grasses and perennials to maximum natural effect. ‘I am a flower junkie’ he says with relish, being sensitive both to colour and architectural shapes. An unusual feature of Wildside is how he took the time and trouble to borrow not scenery but the sun! For 15 minutes the sun passes between trees and over rocky outcrops at specially created spots filled with grasses that become radiantly iridescent when backlit by the setting sun, a beautiful scene redolent of a carefully designed stage set.

examples, from among others, of the work of his former employer, the late James van Sweden, whose style of swathes of interlocking blocks of plants (the antithesis to Verney Naylor’s approach using groups sparingly) have given way to the current fashion for a more natural style of perennials and grasses intermingling. So where might the perennial movement go from here? Thomas offered a word of warning, quoting Michael King: “Now that the Dutch Wave has been renamed all we are left with is the look. New Perennial Planting has become pan-global with the same formula, using the same “new” plant assortment, being trotted out over and over again. Its success is fuelled by the sheer beauty of the plants it contains, but its integrity has been lost – leaving us with just another style of decorative planting.” An ironically amusing image of a ‘Yard of the Month’ - a piece of real estate advertising – showed how sterile urban landscaping can be and still be admired by some. But not as sterile as some urban conurbations illustrated with aerial photographs, which were seemingly devoid of all greenery. In an arresting phrase Thomas Rainer made a plea for ‘the re-wilding of America’ and by the same token for greater use of native species. That’s the only hope of maintaining and in so many instances re-establishing the relationship between flora and fauna. Ask the birds and bees – and ultimately ourselves. ✽

GORDON T. LEDBETTER

PATRICK AND SYLVIE QUIBEL’S LE JARDIN PLUME...A GARDEN OF EXPERIMENTATION, PASSION, DEDICATION AND JUST A LITTLE MAGIC

Landscape architect, writer and teacher from Washington DC, Thomas Rainer, in ‘The New Perennial Movement: Exhausted or Just Getting Good?’ took us through the development of the perennial movement. He went back as far as our own William Robinson, and showed

is one of Ireland’s most well known garden and landscape designers. In addition to designing theme parks in Ireland, England, Malaysia and Singapore, he is considered one of the country’s foremost experts on the use of water in landscapes. He is the author of five books, including two on water gardening and is a founder member of the IWLS: The International Water Lily and Aquatic Plant Society.

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11 / SPORTSTURF

PRIORITISING WITH A TIGHT BUDGET...

SPORTS TURF MAINTENANCE ON NATURAL GRASS Landscape construction specialist Peter O’Toole provides details on how to maximise budget spend when calculating for the maintenance of natural grass surfaces

he maintenance of sportsturf ranges in scale from the preparation required for having Croke Park surface ready on All Ireland Final Day to having the school open space ready for sports day (and everything in between). The position of any surface along this scale depends mainly on budgets. The priority of the grounds staff in stadiums such as Croke Park and Aviva is primarily to have them looking good for the cameras and spectators with the obvious hope that they can remain so for the duration of the game being played. Generous budgets will provide for the expert advice, equipment and material required to achieve this. These pitches also have the luxury or benefit of not having to suffer from over-use and are allowed time to recover. However, most sports surfaces are managed from a very different perspective with limiting constraints and it is these types which we will be discussing. The recommendations will not be specific to any type of sport but will cover the general maintenance principles for most sports. The key elements in the successful maintenance of any natural grass sportsturf are based on plant and soil science but are very basic horticultural principles. Apologies for stating the obvious but the most important task in sportsturf maintenance is cutting the grass regularly. I’m amazed how often I’ve seen school pitches left grow long over the summer months, not because of an absent groundsman, but

intentionally, in an attempt to encourage the grass sward to thicken up. Grass responds to cutting by growing horizontally and thickening up (tillering) and so the more frequent the cutting, the thicker the sward. That said, cutting grass is the most labour intensive element of a maintenance regime and with twice weekly cutting desirable at the height of the growing season for quality surfaces, this is often difficult to achieve. The pressure of over-use of a pitch (especially during wet conditions) has an enormous effect on its ability to regenerate and grow. This is becoming more of an issue with the ever increasing demand on local authority as well as college and club pitches, and has forced the move towards synthetic surfaces. An established surface has the ability to regenerate better than a relatively new one because, through the strength of its root system, it maintains the root zone in a stable condition and the grass intact, ready for regrowth. For this reason it is always worth working and improving an established surface rather than cultivating, grading and starting a new one when possible as it takes a considerable time to

“Grass responds to cutting by growing horizontally and thickening up (tillering) and so the more frequent the cutting, the thicker the sward”

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11 / SPORTSTURF

As the objective of sports pitch maintenance is to have the surfaces in as good a condition as possible and to cope with the demand, let’s look at the other components that need to be addressed (where budgets will allow):

AERATION After grass cutting, aeration would be considered to be the next most important maintenance operation. Carried out in various ways, aeration serves to break up surface compaction (preventing water logging) as well as getting air, water and nutrients down to the roots and encouraging the roots to establish at a deeper level in the soil. The method we have preferred over the years is using the ‘Shockwave’ or ‘Roto Knife’ type machine, which opens fissures through the soil though the action of blades rather than the more conventional spiking type machines, which can often just create sealed holes in heavy soils with smeared walls. Even where there isn’t the budget to cover full pitch surfaces, it is still worth carrying this operation out in localised areas of excessive wear such as down the centre of the pitch and goal mouths. The benefits of being able to aerate a pitch more than once annually are quite substantial.

SANDING To get the full benefit from aeration, it is desirable to follow that operation with an application and brushing-in of sand. This prevents the closing of the gaps created by the aeration operation and maintains air, water and nutrient flow down to the roots. The sand used is Wexford or Silica type sand and is spread evenly at a rate of approximately 100 tons per GAA pitch and 70 tons for soccer/rugby pitches. Notwithstanding budgets, the more often this operation is carried out the better the pitch will perform. Over time this will significantly transform the structure of a soil based pitch to a sandy or sandy loam type.

FERTILISER This is an area where a lot of research has been done over recent years and the advice is to have a soil test done on the pitch at the start of the season to establish what nutrients, if any, are required. Sometimes essential nutrients are present in the soil but are not available to the plants and the recommendation might be for an application of soil conditioner rather than a conventional fertiliser.

DRAINAGE The benefits of a drainage system for a pitch are generally accepted and justified for new pitch construction. However,

WEED CONTROL If a pitch is maintained in a healthy state and other maintenance operations as listed above are carried out, the tendency for weed infestation is low.

OVER-SEEDING This is generally unavoidable especially when there is excessive wear on the pitch and if not carried out, it tends to lead to weed infestation in the voids. A disc type seeder is preferable, sowing at about 15gm/m2 with a hard wearing ryegrass mix. ✽

GENERAL BUDGET COSTS FOR PITCH MAINTENANCE (7,000M2) ✽ Soil testing:

€ 130

✽ Cutting (30no. cuts per year):

€2,400

✽ Aeration (per application): ✽ Sanding: ✽ Over-seeding:

€500 - €600 €1,750 € 600

✽ Drainage: main drain and laterals:

€10,500

✽ Sand slits:

€6,300

PETER O’TOOLE Dip. Hort. (Kew) is the President of the Association of Landscape Contractors of Ireland, a director of Peter O’Brien and Sons (Landscaping) Ltd and a leading commentator on Ireland’s landscape contracting sector. He can be contacted at 01-845 2555 and peter@obrienlandscaping.com

PHOTO: KORALEY NORTHEN

achieve the balance of stability, structure and available nutrients in soil that has been broken down. That’s why it is generally advisable that any new grass surface is allowed at least one full growing season before it is subjected to sports activities.

retrospectively installing drainage to old pitches isn’t always financially possible. The full complement of drains to a pitch are sand slits at 1-2m centres carrying surplus water from the surface into lateral drains running at 90 degrees to the slits and at approximately 7m centres. The lateral drains are connected to a main drain running along the side of the pitch. A properly drained surface prevents surplus water lying on the surface and causing the structure to break down and compaction to occur. The success of a drainage system will depend on keeping the surface to the drains as open as possible and this is addressed by aeration.

12 / EDIBLES

RESEARCH FOR THE

FRESH PRODUCE SECTOR

Entomologist and IPM researcher, Dr Michael Gaffney, Entomologist and IPM researcher working in the Horticulture Department in Teagasc, provides over view and insight on Irish based research in edible horticulture

roduction of vegetable crops in Ireland is facing continuous downward price pressure while having to react to increasing legislation and customer demands for more sustainable production systems. While demand for Irish product is high, the return to growers does not necessarily match the input costs and the associated risks involved in growing such crops. Attempting to provide research to this sector with its diverse needs is challenging. Underpinning, protecting and improving the sustainability and profitability of this sector is the driving focus of my research.

IPM AND BIOCONTROL The plant protection chemistry available to growers is becoming more limited and more restrictive. A combination of European Directives in the area of pesticides and water protection will further reduce the number of active ingredients available to growers. In January 2014, the Sustainable Use of Pesticides Directive came into legislation in Ireland, requiring growers to grow in an IPM compliant

manner. While the development of biological and cultural pest and disease control techniques are well advanced under protection. The efficacy of these approaches outdoors is less well developed. It is predicted that by 2020 50% of the plant protection products available in the EU will be pathogens, predators, parasitoids, or natural extracts. It is essential that we gain a greater understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of using these approaches outdoors in Ireland. Preliminary studies at Kinsealy have identified that entomopathogenic (insect killing) nematodes, similar to those used to control vine weevil in soft fruit, can infect and kill cabbage root fly, a serious pest of field brassicas. However the injurious first generation, which usually arrives in May, coincides with relatively low soil temperatures. In general insect killing nematodes are not particularly effective below 120C. Collaborative work between Teagasc and NUI Maynooth has identified that storing these nematodes at low temperatures or ‘conditioning’ them for a number of weeks before application significantly increases their efficacy at temperatures between 8-120C. This effect was consistent

Spring 2015 / www.horticulture.ie / HORTICULTURECONNECTED

12 / EDIBLES across four different nematode species and indicates that nematode manufacturers may be able to increase the efficacy of their products, potentially making them a viable alternative to pesticides outdoors in north west Europe. Nematodes are potentially effective against a wide range of fly and caterpillar pests.

PLANT ExTRACTS In combination with biological methods, there is also the potential of using chemicals extracted from plants to control pest populations; however their effect may be more subtle than the traditional ‘knock down’ effect we see with more conventional pesticides. Using the vine weevil as a model pest, work in Teagasc has identified that an extract of the neem tree (azadirachtin) Azadirachta indica has significant potential to control pest populations. By feeding adult weevils with azadirachtin treated foliage we were able to reduce adult egg laying by over 95%, with the subsequent viability of any eggs laid reduced by a further 50%. There was no effect on overall adult weevil mortality and the levels of azadirachtin needed to cause this effect have been shown to have little or no significant effect on beneficial insect species. Using mathematical models of the vine weevil life history, we were able to estimate that by year three? populations of weevils on a nursery could be reduced to nearly zero. However, it is not only exotic plant species which contain chemicals with these interesting effects. Ongoing work in conjunction with the Dublin Institute of Technology has developed a rapid low cost detection method for such compounds and has subsequently identified several compounds from common Irish plants which may have potential as plant protection agents.

CREATING PEST SUPPRESSIVE SOILS Good soil husbandry is fundamental to sustainable long-term crop production and plant health and is a real focus of growers, both conventional and organic. We have been investigating the effect soil management and crop protection techniques have on soil biology and as a consequence on disease management in those crops. Using molecular techniques we were able to assess that organic soil management and organic pest control strategies had a beneficial effect and reduced the number of potential onion diseases found in the soil, when compared with conventionally managed crops. Also bacterial species associated with disease suppression (Lysobacter sp. and Actinomycetes) were recovered mainly from plots where organic pest control strategies were practiced. Overall the results indicated that organic soil management practices had a beneficial effect on soil health, microbial activity and diversity. A follow on collaborative study with the Scottish Rural College (SRUC), funded by Teagasc and the Horticultural Development Company in the UK, have indicated that brassica crops grown in organic plots were subjected to twice the rate of cabbage root fly egg laying than crops grown in conventionally managed plots. This study is ongoing and we are attempting to understand the mechanisms at play and also the contribution of beneficial insects and organisms, such as fungi and nematodes present in the soil and what role they play in

regulating the severity of pest outbreaks. The application of organic amendments can be critical to maintaining good soil health and subsequently, a healthy crop. Each year nearly 500,000 tonnes of brown bin or food waste is produced in Ireland. This material needs to go through a treatment process, usually composting. The resulting material can be inconsistent and through an Environmental Protection Agency funded project we are attempting to gain a better understanding of and develop methods to better predict the potential nutrient value of such materials. Our studies to date indicate that only 7-8% of the total nitrogen content of a composted food waste is readily plant available. Generally green waste composts display 0% nitrogen availability and indeed in many cases cause nitrogen immobilisation. Traditionally, characteristics such as C:N ratio have been used to predict nitrogen availability in homogenous materials such as spent mushroom compost. We have been able to establish that for heterogeneous materials such as food waste composts C:N is not an accurate predictor of nitrogen availability and that factors, such as the quality of the carbon available is a more important predictor of nitrogen release. Generally it is accepted that phosphorus release from composted wastes is 100% of total phosphorus. Our studies indicate that the level of availability is closer to 60%, which will have a major influence on achieving a balance between applying adequate phosphorus for optimal plant growth while minimising any detrimental environmental effect. A major conclusion of this study is that compost application to field crops should be based on the phosphorus content of the material and not the nitrogen content. Obviously, application of compost has other benefits, aside from supplying plants with nutrients. Composted food wastes have been found to be high in humic substances, which are important for soil health and carbon sequestration. Composts also provide a large community of beneficial microbiology, many of which have the ability to limit the severity of disease outbreaks. In conjunction with UCD we investigated the disease suppressive capabilities of 15 different composts. Pathogens such as Pythium sp. and Phytophthora sp. were largely suppressed by the addition of compost whereas Fusarium pathogens were not. Using dual culture techniques we were able to identify and isolate many isolates of the genus Trichoderma which are widely used as biological control agents. Our studies indicate that disease suppressive Trichoderma species can be inoculated into composted heaps and will survive and multiply during the composting process, creating consistent disease suppressive composts. This approach could help the Irish composting industry to produce consistent disease suppressive composts and provide growers with a new crop protection strategy to reduce the severity of soil borne diseases and improve general soil health.

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT Irish growers are constantly attempting to differentiate their products from imported produce. Through the Irish Phytochemical Food Network (www.ipfn.ie), we are attempting to identify vegetable varieties, agronomic methods and minimal processing techniques which Irish growers can use to add value to their produce. To date we

HORTICULTURECONNECTED / www.horticulture.ie / Spring 2015

12 / EDIBLES have been able to identify carrot varieties with high levels of naturally occurring polyacetylenes such as Falcarinol. Falcarinol has been shown in animal models to reduce the risk of cancerous tumours, as well as being anti-bacterial and antiinflammatory. Falcarinol itself also has a positive effect on the carrots as it protects them from fungal diseases. We have also investigated how to retain these beneficial chemicals through the minimal processing. Work at Teagasc has identified that carrots cut into batons or disks will retain significantly more of these beneficial compounds over 15 days than those that are shredded or cubed. Similar work on beneficial compounds in brassicas, known as glucosinolates, and quercitins in onions, has also been done.

internationally, real progress can be made, particularly where growers become actively involved and help direct research. For research capacity to significantly increase in Ireland it will most likely need direct investment from the industry to make it happen. It must be remembered that vegetables and fruit are the two largest fresh food categories, valued at approx. €1.2bn per year. As the Irish population grows, becomes more health aware and begins to dictate the production practices it wants (and doesn’t want), there is a real opportunity for Irish growers to react, adopt new technologies and begin to increase their market share. Good, grower focused production research will be central to achieving this. ✽

DR MICHAEL GAFFNEY

THE WAY FORWARD Given the structure and size of the Irish horticulture sector it is important for it to constantly differentiate itself from imported produce by maintaining its high sustainability credentials and also by being innovative. Sectors such as the dairy, beef and others have shown the real benefits of investing in research at the production level, but we must also remember the real input production research, at institutes like Teagasc, had in the early development of our mushroom and glasshouse sectors. Current research capacity in horticulture in Ireland is small, but with good coordination and cooperation, between institutes both nationally and

is an entomology and IPM researcher working in the Horticulture Department in Teagasc, having previously worked at the University of Wales, Swansea and UCD. He leads a diverse research group focusing on crop protection and crop quality issues. He can be contacted at Michael.Gaffney@Teagasc.ie

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