Plant sales are about more than the funds raised

Valuable business and life skills are learned

Westminister High School plant sale

lants sales raise much-needed funds for school programs. But for students in Landscape Career Pathways programs, P the benefits go beyond simple fundraising. At schools across Colorado, plants sales are a learning opportunity, allowing students to gain not only knowledge about horticulture, but important skills including retail sales and customer service.

Westminster High School

For the plant sale at Westminster High School, benefitting the FFA program, students propagate from mother plants in the school greenhouse or transplant and care for plugs the school receives. Students rotate among sections of the greenhouse, caring for their assigned section one month at a time.

“Our students show tremendous growth throughout the year as they work towards the plant sale. Normally students know basic plants (roses and sunflowers) when we start the year.” explains Westminster horticulture instructor and FFA advisor Heather Crabtree. “By the end they have seen over 100 different plants and can identify when we have a pest infestation.” They also learn about soil and about the green industry in general.

In preparing for the sale, students also learn budgeting and retail sales skills. At West

minster, where the sale has run for more than 40 years, prices are set and adjusted as necessary. But students do learn in class how pricing is set. They talk about cost vs. sale price and learn how a sale can turn a profi t.

St. Vrain Valley Schools

At St. Vrain Valley Schools, students are responsible for more than just growing the plants and designing patio planters. “They have to fi ll out an application and be interviewed in order to be able to work as ‘employees’ in the greenhouse,” explains horticulture and landscape instructor Angie McGreavy. “Second-year students (of the Greenhouse II course) can grow a crop in the greenhouse and sell it as part of their SAE (Supervised Agri

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culture Experience) that all Ag students are required to have.”

On the day of the sale, McGreavy’s students assist customers and learn retail sales and service skills. They also sell annual bedding plants, hanging baskets, patio planters, and vegetable starts at the Career Development Center in Longmont.

Pickens Technical College

At Pickens Technical College, Aurora, planning and staffi ng the plant sale is coursework. Students can take a one-credit course in which they learn about all aspects of the annual sale, from creating a budget to proper merchandising.

“Students run the event, set the budget, and decide on fees for a reasonable return,” says Mike Fedison. They research what other plant sales and garden centers charge and why, then think about how their products are different and how they can be priced competitively yet still return a profi t.

While volunteers handle the registers, Pickens students identify the plants and draft a bill with correct pricing and totals for each guest. Students also help customers fi nd and choose plants.

Of course, proceeds from the sale are still an important reason for the sale. One major cost to the Pickens program is procuring insects for their Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program. The IPM program supports plants grown in campus greenhouses. Students order and receive the insects weekly, costing about $1,000 each year. The plant sale helps support that program fi nancially.

Creative add-ons benefi t more than hort students

As Westminster High School learned, the sales can also provide an opportunity for students in more than just horticulture to gain real-world experience. This year, Westminster High offered a lawn mower tune-up service led by students taking an agricultural mechanics course. Both the course and the tune-up service are new for 2019. Customers were invited to drop off their mowers on the fi rst day of the sale, April 27. With instructor supervision, students worked in pairs to perform mower tune-ups during class over a two-week period. Mowers were then available for pickup on the second day of the sale on May 11. | CG

Photo courtesy Enviromental Designs, Inc.

SLM Colorado sponsors

SLM Colorado Initiative is gaining momentum

Since the program was announced at ProGreen EXPO, the architects of the Sustainable Landscape Management Colorado initiative have been hard at work finalizing the manual of sustainable landscape maintenance practices. Next, a curriculum is being developed, and a certificate course is planned for fall 2019. For the latest information on SLM Colorado, availability of manuals and scheduled course dates, visit www.alcc.com.

ALCC is excited to announce that CPS Distributors and Hunter Industries/FX Luminaire have demonstrated their support of sustainable landscapes by becoming SLM Colorado Publication Sponsors.

Additionally, ALCC has been working with organizations around the state to get feedback on the content of the manual and has secured endorsements from several organizations.

“With their endorsements, these organizations have established themselves as the foundation of this initiative,” says ALCC CEO John McMahon. “We hope their support will influence landscape companies, municipalities, and community leaders to recognize the importance of making sustainability part of our daily living when it comes to the built environment.”

Why SLM Colorado?

According to ALCC, SLM’s foundation is simple—apply the right maintenance practices at the right time — but the payoff is huge. The manual establishes higher level of quality workmanship and knowledge which will conserve, protect, and maintain materials and resources that landscape professionals use every day. The manual applies validated research findings as they apply to the landscape contracting business and generates a more sustainable built environment. This supports the primary goal of SLM: to help address Colorado’s rapid growth and imminent future demands on our water resources.

Projected benefits of the SLM Certificate Program are also substantial. It will not simply certify public and private employees in SLM practices. It will position certificate-holding individuals and their employers as innovators and stewards of the urban landscape who seek to be part of the sustainability solution. By establishing

Photo courtesy Designs By Sundown

Organizations endorsing SLM Colorado

Arrowhead Landscape Services, Inc. Bloom Floralscapes, LLC BrightView Landscape Services City of Greeley CoCal Landscape Services, Inc. Colorado Community Association

Management Denver Parks & Recreation Designscapes Colorado, Inc. Diggable Designs Landscape

Construction LLC Green Landscape Solutions Hiner Outdoor Living Lifescape Colorado Northern Colorado Water

Conservancy District Zak George Landscaping

“The support of these businesses is further evidence of their commitment to water conservation in Colorado landscapes,” says Melissa Emdin, ALCC program director.

a common set of standards, the program will level the playing fi eld for landscape contractors big and small.

It also demonstrates that responsible maintenance is part of the water conservation solution, not the problem, and will educate the public on what proper maintenance looks like.

The program is also expected to help make landscape industry careers more attractive, helping attract new talent and increasing consumer interest in ALCC member companies that hold the SLM certifi cate. | CG

SLM Colorado will: • Set the standard for landscape maintenance in Colorado

• Create a blueprint for all professionals who maintain landscapes • Increase water conservation and reduce plant loss • Raise the level of professionalism in the Colorado green industry

“With their endorsements, these organizations have established themselves as the foundation of this initiative,” says ALCC CEO John McMahon. “We hope their support will infl uence landscape companies, municipalities, and community leaders to recognize the importance of making sustainability part of our daily living when it comes to the built environment.”

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