Landscape Ontario - June 2014

June 2014 www.horttrades.com

A COMPANY

IS A TEAM Frank and Theresa DiMarco

Growers look at sustainability Plan for summer events Students shine at Skills Ontario

Celebrating 15 years with the floral and garden industry

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PRESIDENT’s MESSAGE So you’re leaving? Let’s chat

By Dave Braun LO president

A

young man who worked with us all spring came up to me and said, “I’m moving on. Thanks for the opportunity. Here’s my punch card.”

He’d been a hard worker who never missed a day, was always on time, and worked well with his crew. He has a mechanical engineering degree from McMaster, and worked steady hours with us to help pay off his credit card bills.

When he started, I was up-front that there was no promise of work throughout the summer, so he had been applying for positions in his field while working with us.

So there we were, across the counter from each other having an exit interview, two months after we’d met. His hands were tougher; his back was stronger, tested by those very cold, wet and windy days of April. I wanted to hear his fresh perspective on our company. I suggested we try out our new coffeemaker, so we sat down for what

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June, 2014 • Volume 32, No. 6 www.horttrades.com Landscape Ontario’s mandate is to be the leader in representing, promoting and fostering a favourable environment for the advancement of the horticultural industry in Ontario.

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turned out to be a very powerful half-hour conversation.

I asked him what he thought of the work, what he thought of the people, and for any suggestions he had about how we could create a happier, safer, and more productive workplace. What followed was the most productive coffee break I’d had a long time.

I told him how much we appreciated his hard work this season, and I congratulated him on finding a promising position in his field. I shared with him that one of the best ways that we could continue to elevate our company was to listen to our people.

I didn’t need to pay him a big consultant’s fee for this invaluable information, he felt valued that I would actually want to hear his opinion. I expressed that I was interested in hearing the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Luckily for me, constant physical labour gives a person a lot of time to think and he was ready to share.

The first thing the engineering grad told me about his job with us was it is a very hard job. He’d had physically demanding jobs that were fast-paced and involved heavy lifting, but he’d never worked such a difficult one. He shared how much he admired the work ethic of the rest of the people on his crew.

Publisher Lee Ann Knudsen CLP lak@landscapeontario.com, 416-848-7557 Editorial director Sarah Willis sarahw@landscapeontario.com, 647-723-5424 Editor Allan Dennis adennis@landscapeontario.com, 647-723-5345 Graphic designer Mike Wasilewski mikew@landscapeontario.com, 647-723-5343 Sales manager Steve Moyer stevemoyer@landscapeontario.com, 416-848-0708 Integrated solutions representative Greg Sumsion gsumsion@landscapeontario.com, 647-722-6977 Communications coordinator Angela Lindsay alindsay@landscapeontario.com, 647-723-5305 Accountant Joe Sabatino jsabatino@landscapeontario.com, 647-724-8585 LANDSCAPE ONTARIO STAFF Shawna Barrett, Darryl Bond, Kim Burton, Myscha Burton, Tony DiGiovanni CHT, Rob Ellidge, Denis Flanagan CLD, Sally Harvey CLT CLP, Jane Leworthy, Heather MacRae, Allie McInnes, Kristen McIntyre CHT, Kathy McLean, Linda Nodello, Kathleen Pugliese, Paul Ronan, Ian Service, Tom Somerville, Martha Walsh

People were generally very happy working all day at our company, he thought, and he was surprised by the friendliness of the crew. He told me about the little things that made him feel welcome. “The mechanic welcomed me to the company,” he said.

“The nursery manager knew and remembered my name.” Those tiny encouragements sustained him on those bitter, wet and miserable days.

I also learned that while we do say thank you, we don’t say, “We appreciate you,” as much as we probably should.

“How can we better do that?” I asked.

Though our tradition of coffee and donuts on Saturday mornings was enjoyed, it would be even more meaningful to have it on horrible weather days to perk up the crew. It’s amazing how an idea for such a seemingly simple gesture is so valuable when you haven’t thought of it yourself.

As our meeting closed, the future engineer shared his final pieces of valuable information. “I can’t believe, that in 2014, we are still doing so many things manually!”

As any good engineer would, while in the field, his mind had been contemplating various ways that we could automate a couple of our labour-intensive processes. If we could accomplish just a portion of his ideas, the company would certainly benefit.

The best part of my exit interview, however, was that it served as a reminder of how important these conversations can be.

You can learn a latte when you allow exiting employees to espresso themselves.

Dave Braun may be reached at dbraun@landscapeontario.com.

FEATURES 4 6 8 10 11 21 22 23 24 25 31 31

DiMarco Lighting Perfect Storm Horticulture Students SMART Irrigation

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DiMarco Landscape Lighting crew. From left, Laurie Barnes, Joe Willemse, Nick Brazier, Theresa DiMarco, Frank DiMarco, Stew Dunn, Wyatt Lambert and Kevin Mitchell.

After injury, Frank DiMarco brings more passion to his company Frank DiMarco of DiMarco Landscape Lighting in Mount Albert knows from firsthand experience about the true value of loyalty and friendship.

Over five years ago DiMarco fell from a ladder at his home, breaking his hip and elbow, which required three surgeries to repair. It was a long and painful recovery; he was only recently able to return to his business.

“My pride demanded that I couldn’t come back to work until I was fully recovered,” says DiMarco. He says that now that he’s back, he is even more passionate about the work. “I also have gained great appreciation for what I have.”

Increasing his passion for work says a lot, because DiMarco has always had a high level of emotion for the business that he began 25 years ago. An indication of his drive can be seen in introductory statement he used in 1989 when he began his business, “Give us one chance and you will see we are the best people for your company.”

Working for Ontario Hydro as an electrician, DiMarco decided it was time for

4 LANDSCAPE ONTARIO June 2014

him to go out on his own. “I wasn’t worried about succeeding,” he says. “I was very driven, and soon made contact with many landscapers.”

One of those landscapers was one of the founders of Landscape Ontario, Casey van Maris. “He was a real mentor to me,” says DiMarco. “He taught me how to service high-end clients.”

A short time after joining Landscape Ontario, DiMarco became involved with members such as Bill DeLuca and Bill Hewitt. With this experience and with the encouragement of LO’s executive director Tony DiGiovanni, DiMarco started the Landscape Lighting Commodity Group.

“It was great,” says DiMarco on his experience with sector group members. “You could talk to competitors, who soon became friends. We learned so much from each other.”

DiMarco brought his passion to the sector group, helping to design the Reference Guide to Landscape Lighting Specifications. After his absence of five years, DiMarco plans to return to the sector group.

During DiMarco’s absence, Joe Wil-

lemse, supervisor at DiMarco Lighting, sat on the Lighting Sector Group’s Board of Directors. He also took over the supervision duties when Frank DiMarco was injured.

“I’m so lucky to have Joe and the team members who stepped up and took over the running of the business,” says DiMarco.

“I was overwhelmed by the response.”

He noted that all the employees stayed on after his injury. “They maintained the level of quality and our reputation during the time I was away. As a matter of fact, it made our company stronger. Everyone had the opportunity to learn about the job of the guy ahead of them.

“The experience proved to me that employees truly are the backbone of the company,” said DiMarco. “The whole crew cares about the quality of the project as much as me.”

“The whole crew is happy Frank is back,” says Willemse. He added that DiMarco has passed his work ethic on to all the team members. “We are all proud of the high expectations of quality workmanship,” says Willemse.

Dimarco Lighting has eight employees. The company has won numerous Awards of Excellence over the years.

“As a matter of fact, Joe won two awards while I was laid-up,” says DiMarco. The

Frank DiMarco is proud of the quality and creative designs his company installs at the homes of his clients.

company also provides irrigation services, maintaining the same high standards it provides in lighting services.

Frank Dimarco is proud that landscape lighting systems from his company are installed by qualified and certified outdoor lighting specialists, including licensed electricians and master electricians with many years of experience. He also works hard to research the latest technology hitting the industry. “We are constantly seeing new high-tech lighting and more and more LED systems come on to the market, as well as continual changes in fixtures. The new LED lights for waterfalls have really expanded our ability to be even more creative in designs.”

Frank DiMarco saved extra praise for his wife Theresa, company co-owner and treasurer of DiMarco Landscape Lighting, who oversees all administration, daily reporting, monthly and year-end reports and human resources. “My wife took on the biggest load. As co-owner, she took on both her job and mine. If not for her, we wouldn’t have a company.”

Legendary football coach Vince Lombardi once said, “The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back. That’s real glory.” Frank DiMarco knows for certain that an important ingredient in the process of coming back is the continual loyalty of family and colleagues.

Joe Willemse, supervisor at DiMarco Lighting, not only took over the day-to-day operation of the company when owner Frank was injured, but also took his place on the Lighting Sector Group.

WWW.HORTTRADES.COM 5

Ontario growers are finding economic and environmental conditions are raising their costs to dangerous levels.

Growers fighting to survive perfect storm of costs and weather A letter to the editor in the May issue of Landscape Ontario magazine, by Ted Sikkema of Maple Leaf Nurseries, underlined the price crunch facing Ontario growers.

Sikkema stated that a serious re-evaluation of grower pricing is overdue. He cited weather, and increased costs for water, electricity, natural gas, petroleum, labour and taxes as all contributing to the problem.

Landscape Ontario magazine conducted an informal survey of growers on the state of the industry. Although the answers were quite varied, it did reveal that growers are feeling the crunch.

“It’s the perfect storm,” said Past President of LO, Tom Intven of Canadale Nurseries in St. Thomas. He cited increasing costs, and noted that the extreme winter increased heating costs to keep plants in polyhouses and greenhouses alive. “The cost of freight has gone up by 15 per cent, and the U.S. dollar to loonie is 10 cents higher than it was last fall. All of these combined to create the perfect storm, putting extreme pressure on growers’ margins.”

John Langendoen, of Willowbrook Nurseries in Fenwick, also agrees that the extreme winter combined with a “terrible, lousy spring” has had a combined negative effect on the sale of plant material.

Speaking as a seasoned industry member,

6 LANDSCAPE ONTARIO June 2014

he says this was his most difficult winter ever. “We spent so much time and money shoveling and blowing snow away from the polyhouses just to keep the place from collapsing. There was a lot of money spent on labour with no value added.”

Alice Klamer, of Blue Sky Nursery in Beamsville, said, “An extremely cold winter and late spring put everything behind about two weeks. The winter was very harmful plants. Spring shipping was delayed for about two two weeks, creating no cash flow. Growers spent money to secure their position, but with no cash flow coming in.

Many had to borrow money to hold themselves through the period.”

Leno Mori, president of Mori Nurseries, first began in the industry in the 1950s.

Mori said, “It has never been this difficult. The late spring is one problem, but the damage to the plants is unbelievable.

I don’t know why, but we’ve lost a lot of plants. On one farm, 80 to 90 per cent of our cherries are black. And, what the cold didn’t get, the rabbits did. We’ve had a little bit of damage done by rabbits in the past but again, we’ve never had this much damage before.” Mori explains the rabbits have killed thousands of apples and pears in the fields, and estimates that his Niagara-onthe-Lake farms have lost $1-million worth

of plants this spring.

The industry veteran continued, “Conditions are extremely difficult right now, with wages going up, along with heating, fuel and plastic costs. It is a real, real challenge.” Mori estimates the increase in minimum wage will cost the company $200,000 for off-shore worker salary increases alone, adding, “We purchase our small liners from the U.S., so the weakening Canadian dollar has cost us $100,000 so far this year.”

Willowbrook Nurseries grows containerized nursery stock, which was protected in heated polyhouses over the winter. John Langendoen said, “A few of our plants suffered a bit of damage, but we weren’t as hard hit as field growers.” However, he adds that increases in heating costs have taken a toll on the company’s bottom line.

Increases in many grower inputs have put a strain on resources. Langendoen notes fuel, propane and hydro have all gone up. “We are involved in buying groups to try and bring costs down, but some of the contracts are up, so prices are increasing. And any time the price of fuel goes up poly, plastics and fertilizer increase, too. I spend more time than ever in administration. I shop, shop and shop to reduce input costs wherever we can.”

On the issue of higher labour costs, with the minimum wage increase on June 1, most growers said they would be looking at improving production efficiency and possibly fewer employees.

“Minimum wage will raise everyone’s expectations for more income,” said Tom

Intven. He explained that all employees will expect to see higher wages if those in the lower income scale receive wage hikes.

Adding to the pressure, on June 1, over half of Willowbrook’s staff will get wage increases. Langendoen explains that his son, as the nursery’s production manager, is looking at production efficiencies to reduce labour costs.

How do you recoup wage hikes?

Alice Klamer spoke on the minimum wage, stating, “I have 14 Mexican workers. At a 75 cent per hour increase, the extra cost this year will amount to $30,000. How am I to recoup that cost? I must either make $30,000 less this year, or raise prices.”

On the issue of raising prices there was a wide variance of opinion on the process, timing and the level of increases.

Landscape Ontario president Dave Braun of Braun Nursery in Mount Hope said, “We need to be a partner in our customer’s success. We need to demonstrate how excellent quality and livability will actually increase their income. I find that we have the most success when we can talk to the owners themselves to show the overall value. We can then demonstrate reduced replacement costs and increased referral rates by choosing quality, If the purchasing agent is only interested in the initial purchase price — and not the overall value to the bottom line — we’re probably better off looking for companies who see the big picture. In the end, those are probably the companies who will be most successful, and will therefore make better partners in the long-term.”

Consumers decide prices

Intven feels that those in niche markets can more easily raise prices, but in the overall market, consumers decide prices.

“It’s possible that with the late spring, retailers will panic and start offering discounted prices. In the long-term, growers must raise prices. I would expect to see price jumps, but not until the fall. The question is will the market bear increased costs?”

Langendoen says weather and economic conditions have made the Ontario nursery market unsustainable. “During the recession, we knew prices were under pressure, but costs were manageable.

Now, all growers’ inputs costs have gone up, so plant prices will have to increase.”

He feels that growers may have no choice but to come out with smaller product lines, and smaller-sized perennials, shrubs and trees for the retail market if consumers are not willing to pay more for today’s production. “We are sitting on pins and needles,” notes Langendoen, adding the

The severe winter resulted in increased heating requirements, plant damage and increased labour costs.

company is putting more effort into analyzing credit risks and tightening its discounting. “We are spending more time than ever on the business side of operations.”

Klamer concludes that everyone agrees a price hike is needed. “It’s a matter of when.” She expects to include rationale for price hikes in her fall catalogue, as well as having a sales rep carry an explanation to talk with customers.

Leno Mori says, “For months people have been asking me how this winter would affect us, but I couldn’t tell until now. We’ll try to get a bit more for our plants, but there is no way we are going to recover by raising prices from this tremendous amount of loss. Making this up is going to be extremely difficult.”

Alice Klamer spoke to the value of plants. “It seems ridiculous that daylilies are being sold for $3.00. You can buy a cup of coffee for that. We have cut costs and staff to the point that it’s impossible to do any more,” she said The owner of Blue Sky Nursery continued, “I looked at one of my catalogues from ten years ago. I compared back then to now, and there have been very few price hikes. I also looked at my pay information as a teacher from 1976, when my pay was $10,300. We all know teachers are receiving much more than that today.”

Industry has changed

John Langendoen reflected on his recent travels. “I do a lot of travelling across Canada and the U.S., so I see that since the recession in the U.S., the size of the industry has changed. A lot of growers downsized or closed their doors, and there was a lot of product dumped on the market for years. I’ve seen acres of empty gravel fields on the U.S. west coast that used to be in container production, as well as the burn piles of Japanese maples there is no market for. However, now the industry and the amount of inventory south of the bor-

der have changed dramatically, and we are starting to see plant shortages in the U.S. Nurseries and re-wholesalers have started to raise their prices. We are seeing reductions in the size of plants but they are selling for the same price. U.S. growers are definitely getting bolder (with pricing).”

Cost of doing business increased

A recent article in American Nurseyman magazine reflects what Langendoen says: “Looking back at our industry’s experience since 2008, we see huge challenges and changes. In the grower and landscape segments, a number of (U.S.) industry members are no longer in business, and those that are still here are most likely operating very differently today than in 2008 or prior. The cost of doing business has certainly increased.”

Langendoen remembers two years ago, when Landscape Ontario brought in Greg Schaan from Imperial Nurseries in Connecticut (purchased by Monrovia Nurseries in 2013), who spoke to growers about the company’s production planning system that looks at price, production costs and ROI. Langendoen says the information provided was ‘phenomenal.’ In response he currently has a junior accountant on staff going through Willowbrook’s production to determine what is profitable to grow and which lines are costing the company money.

“The weather is our economy,” says Langendoen. “When the sun is shining, people will buy. After a winter like this, I believe people will be excited to get out there and buy a plant.”

Since the survey was conducted, the weather has improved, but it’s unknown if that resulted in consumers flocking to garden centres.

The federal government has a program, AgriStability, which was designed to protect producers from large declines in their farming income caused by production loss, increased costs or market conditions. To access the website go to http://gfl.me/x28r.

WWW.HORTTRADES.COM 7

Students in the horticulture program at Saltfleet High School have the fortunate advantage of having Jake Kurtz as their teacher, who shares his passion for his industry with every student with whom he comes into contact.

High school teacher sows seeds of success

By Jake Kurtz Saltfleet District High School

In the winter of 2012-2013, I attended a meeting at Landscape Ontario home office in Milton, where a plan was hatched to take high school students in the Specialist High Skills Major horticulture program and see if they could also earn their Horticulture Technician Apprenticeship - Level 1.

Looking at the training standard for Level 1, I balked. The number of classroom hours (some 360) and expectations seemed lofty for the students I normally teach in our horticulture program. Despite my reservations, and perhaps because I am a glutton for punishment, I decided we should at least try it before writing off these students as not ready, capable or mature enough for such a venture.

I regularly deal with students who might run up as many as 30 or more absences in a single semester, won’t submit written assignments without me standing over them and seem not able to do simple calculations like square foot-

age, volume and basic trigonometry.

The other participants in the meeting, representatives from Mohawk College, MTCU, OCOT and Landscape Ontario, seemed blissfully unaware of these challenges, and so I decided, why not? The semesters came and went and the planning proceeded.

In November of 2013, I had to figure out how to fill a minimum of 12 seats to run the program. I started recruiting from within my green industries classes, stopping former students in the hall to try to interest them, and even called a few students who had left school to let them know about this new opportunity.

By mid-December, I not only had my 12, but had managed to fill the class to its maximum size of 18.

At the same time, Mohawk College had yet to name an instructor for the program.

I still had no idea who I would be teaching with. I tried to visualize what a college instructor would make of my motley crew and wondered how he or she might manage the teenagers who I had grudgingly

become accustomed to. As luck would have it, a colleague and former student teacher of mine was looking for work, and so Adam Bonin came to be our instructor.

Reece Morgan, our OYAP consultant, worked tirelessly creating training agreements and even managed to get them all signed. We were off. What I discovered was something I knew all along, namely that attendance matters. Because these students were obligated to be in class — a requirement of the apprenticeship program — they didn’t miss class.

The students rose to the challenge, preparing their own plant ID cards, putting together turf management proposals, calculating square footages, volumes of base materials and linear feet of paver restraints and conducting their own plant science experiments.

All of a sudden the tests and assignments that I had developed over the past five years became not only relevant, but useful from an evaluation standpoint. Imagine being able to ask a student why we might want to use a high nitrogen fertilizer and getting an answer rather than a blank stare. The weeks progressed and to our collective consternation the weather, rather than improving, seemed to worsen. The students, and instructors, went stir crazy.

Adam and I scrambled. Rather than

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assessing the turf on our sports field, we conducted turf trials in our greenhouse.

We commandeered a back corner of the school’s construction shop, where the students pre-fabricated an arbor on the assumption that we would be able to install footings.

We called on our co-op employers to come in and speak to the students, and even arranged for the students to go out and build displays for trade shows, so they could lay pavers and build walls. As luck would have it, the weather did improve and we finally got out on the grounds.

My focus turned to co-op and the task of placing all these capable young people.

My initial attempts to contact new employers were met with the kind of skepticism I expected. Many of the employers had previous experience with high school co-op and found the experience somewhat lacking.

When I managed to speak for any length with an employer about what we were doing and the type of students, I met with tentative enthusiasm. I explained that this is an almost ideal situation for an employer. As a co-op employer, you get a trained young worker for two months for free and the school board even covers the WSIB premiums. As we all know, the truth

comes out on the jobsite when the rain, snow or heat comes and the clay is harder than concrete.

At the time of this writing, 15 students remain in the program, 13 will graduate with the full level 1 credit. Out of the 13 students who will achieve the full credit, I placed all but four. I have no doubt that I can find suitable placements for them.

My purpose in writing is to ask a question of industry employers. Why do I still have four students to place? When I think back to my time as a self-employed landscape contractor, I often wonder how I ended up as an educator and what might have been if I had stayed with it. Why did I leave the industry that I loved so much?

What was it that made me throw in the towel?

When I left, it wasn’t to go into a cushy teaching job. I actually jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. My students ask me the same question. After many years of reflection, the answer is clear. I loved the job. As most business owners know, once you own a business, the job is about running the business and not the mower or the stone saw. The real reason I left the industry was because I never found people I could rely on to run the jobs while I

attended to the business.

It is with that in mind that I write to tell you about what we are doing at Saltfleet High School and in other SHSM programs around the province. If I had known about such a program and understood what programs like this could offer me as a business owner, I would now be running a thriving business. In fact, if teaching doesn’t pan out, I might just try to make a comeback. I know exactly where I’m going to start.

Give our students a try by contacting a school in your area that has a landscaping program. If you don’t know of one, give Sally Harvey at LO a call. Make an appointment to talk to a class about what you do, who you want to hire, and how we can put the right people to work in our industry.

“It is every employer’s duty to create awareness about the amazing career opportunities that our industry offers and to engage youth with relevant on the job training. If we do that and manage our people strategically using tools such as the LO HR Toolkit, we will resolve some of the labour gap that challenges us,” says Harvey.

Jake Kurtz is a Niagara Parks graduate with horticultural industry experience.

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LO Sector Group wants to hear from contractors what they are doing to make a positive impact through efficient irrigation and water use

LO celebrates Smart Irrigation Month Landscape Ontario Irrigation Sector Group wants to hear from contractors about what they are doing to make a positive impact through efficient irrigation and water use.

The Sector Group is using this call to action to celebrate July as Smart Irrigation Month.

Smart Irrigation Month is the U.S.based Irrigation Association (IA) initiative to increase awareness of the value of water use and grow demand for water-

10 LANDSCAPE ONTARIO June 2014

saving products, practices and services.

“LO would like to hear what contractors are doing and invite them to share their efforts by submitting an entry to Landscape Ontario,” says Steve Macartney CIT, of Raintree Irrigation and Outdoor Systems, Brampton, chair of the Sector Group. “Basically, the intent is for contractors to tell us what they are doing big or small.”

The Sector Group will recognize each contractor’s effort by posting names and

some entries in a future edition of Landscape Ontario magazine, listing companies on the www.horttrades.com Sector Group website, LO e-news, a press release to consumer media, as well as announcements at the annual irrigation conference and Awards of Excellence gala at Congress 2015.

Whether your business is big or small, focused on agriculture, turf/landscape or golf applications, there are many ways to participate in the Smart Irrigation Month campaign.

First launched in 2005, Smart Irrigation Month is gaining traction as stakeholders recognize the July campaign provides a unified marketing platform designed to educate businesses, homeowners, growers, producers and other users about efficient water use.

“This year our group wants to put more energy into promoting Smart Irrigation Month,” says Macartney. “It’s a great opportunity to help promote the importance of water efficient products, practices and services in our community.” The campaign is also used to highlight new irrigation products and to promote rain sensors to customers.

Many of those who belong to the LO Sector Group are also members of the Irrigation Association, which calls itself the leading membership organization for irrigation companies and professionals. IA promotes efficient irrigation and long-term sustainability of water resources for future generations. It advocates sound water management, and works to grow demand for water-efficient products and services.

For more information, visit www.irrigation.org.

The LO Irrigation Sector Group contest began in response to growing demands on water resources everywhere. The industry encourages the promotion of water-saving products, the adoption of best practices and having companies educate customers about how to do more with less. Smart Irrigation Month is the time for the industry to promote a history of innovation and drive public awareness of the value of irrigation from crop production to functional green spaces.

All industry professionals and businesses are encouraged to find creative ways to participate in Smart Irrigation Month by promoting irrigation practices and technologies that can minimize peak water use, reduce demands on infrastructure and communicate the role that efficient irrigation plays in long-term sustainability of water resources.

To enter the contest, fill out the following form http://gfl.me/x28q and email it to smartirrigation@landscapeontario.com

ASSOCIATION NEWS

Competition was intense at the Skills Ontario event in Kitchener on May 6.

Horticulture and landscape students compete in provincial Skills Top students from both college and secondary school horticulture programs had the opportunity to test their skills in the annual Skills Canada — Ontario competition at at RIM Park in Waterloo.

The Ontario event is the largest in Skills Canada with over 1,900 competitors from across the province in more than than 60 contests in the skilled trades and technologies. Over 30,000 spectators attended the event from May 5 to 7.

Competitions included horticulture– landscape and design.

Landscape Ontario staff once again supported the Skills Ontario competition, including workshops this year. Six classes of grade 8 students had the

opportunity to try their hand at the trade.

Students learned about plants, horticulture, and Landscape Ontario.

In addition, LO supported the technical committees of post-secondary and secondary horticulture and landscape competitions. The association provided a career booth.

It was David Tsubouchi’s, registrar and CEO of the Ontario College of Trades, first time to attend the competition. “I was genuinely blown away by what I saw.

The level of skill and expertise that was on display at RIM Park in Waterloo was phenomenal and it’s clear that some of Ontario’s best and brightest young minds have wholeheartedly embraced skilled,

technology-based trades.”

He went on to say, “There is an enormous demand for skilled trades professionals in Ontario. For those with the right skills and the right work ethic, there is a big, bright future in this industry.”

In the horticulture-landscape competition teams of two were tested by building a garden based on a common set of criteria and drawings. Registered skills included creating walls from precast paving units, laying paving stones, plant selection and placement of landscape rocks.

In the post-secondary level, the team from St. Clair College, Shaun St. Pierre and Zac Hertel, took home gold, while Lucas Kennedy and Matthew Silvaggio of Humber College won silver. Another St. Clair College team brought home a medal when Simon Van Raay and Mark Hecnar received bronze. In order of placement, other teams included Alastair Hugli and Chris Thompson of Humber College and Ryan Daley and Carson Clugston of Durham College.

In the Secondary School competition, gold went to Cole Mackey and Ryan Campbell of Bluewater District School Board in the Owen Sound area. Silver medal winners were Mathew Fernandes and Blake Betts of Waterloo Region District School Board and bronze went to Sujeththan Ravichandran and Caleb Gryfe of Toronto District School Board South West.

In order of finish, the remaining secondary school teams included Bryanna Ross and Brett Corkum of Thames Valley District School Board, Griffin Yacnynuk and Hannes Oberholzer of Halton District School Board, Eric Furlong and Liam Flynn of Waterloo Catholic District School Board, Tyler Marcantoino and Tom Bennett of Halton Catholic District School Board, Sean Bruno Teves and Jason Ali of Toronto Catholic District School Board, Paolo Sottile and Kyle Dube of Niagara Catholic District School Board, Matthew Bedell and Zakary Jagdeo of Peel District School Board, and Dmytro Korol and Nick Roberto of Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board.

The Landscape Design competition saw Ismail Edun of Peel District School Board take gold, while Jael Matthew of Bluewater District School Board won silver.

Medal winners are eligible to go to the national competition taking place from June 4-7, in The International Centre, 6900 Airport Road, Mississauga. From there the World Skills competition will be held in 2015 in Brazil.

WWW.HORTTRADES.COM 11

ASSOCIATION NEWS Time to enter Garden Centre Awards

Retail stores come in all shapes and sizes — family run, second or third generation, newly-owned, room for 20 flats or 2,000 flats — each with its own unique appeal.

We welcome you all to enter Landscape Ontario’s Garden Centre Awards of Excellence program in 2014. The retail program is open for entry from July 1 to 31; then closed again until 2015.

Categories were created by members of LO’s Garden Centre Sector Group, giving retailers the best opportunity to showcase their stores and provide an additional tool for marketing to their customers.

Categories include Outstanding Display of Plant Material, Outstanding Display of Goods, Other Merchandising Techniques and Permanent Display Gardens. Full details may be found at www.loawards.com, or watch for the bro-

12 LANDSCAPE ONTARIO June 2014

chure included in this issue of Landscape Ontario magazine.

To enter the Garden Centre Awards of Excellence, include photographs of your store. Look at the categories open for entry (there are 14 to choose from) and determine what your photographs should include. Also required is a project summary that explains what the photographs are showing and what you were trying to achieve (ie. “This display of hard goods was placed at the front of the store beside the bulb stock because …”). And, of course there is the fee. It is $75 per entry and is open to members only. Nonmember entries will not be considered.

Winners will be announced at the Garden Centre Luncheon on Thurs., Oct. 23 at Garden & Floral Expo. We welcome your feedback any time, including suggestions for improvement to kristen@ landscapeontario.com.

First Landscape Industry Certified exams in August

A new schedule for Landscape Industry Certified exams is ready to go, beginning this August.

Landscape Ontario home office in Milton hosts two days of exams, with written tests on Aug. 12, and practical testing on Aug. 13.

A company that has certified employees on staff, means they have made significant commitment to education, safety, craftsmanship and customer service. All individuals must first prove their knowledge and skills through a series of written and hands on tests. A high level of excellence is required to pass each section of the exam.

It is recommended that individuals thinking of testing themselves should have a minimum of 2,000 hours (one year) experience before taking the exam.

At each station, those taking the test are required to perform specific tasks within a specified period of time in the presence of a qualified industry judge.

Depending on the industry sector, up to 11 stations must be completed successfully. Skills tests include chainsaw, leaf blower operation, pruning, tree planting,

plant and pest identification, and sod and paver installation. A minimum grade of 70 per cent is required on each of the written and hands-on exam problems before certification status can be obtained.

Following the August tests, the next opportunity to take the exam is on Sept.

25 and 26 at Kemptville College, followed by tests at Ridgetown College on Oct. 24 and 25. Written tests will also take place at Expo on Oct. 23.

Although attendance for the orientation is not mandatory, it is highly recommended to any new candidates. The orientation will answer questions regarding the testing process. Scheduled orientation days are July 30 at LO home office, Sept. 13 at Kemptville and Oct. 3 at Ridgetown.

Judges are also needed for test days.

Anyone interested in becoming involved, may contact Allie at amcinnes@landscapeontario.com. Judges applications are available at http://gfl.me/h28w.

To registration for Landscape Industry Certified exam, go to http://gfl.me/h1sA Study manual order forms are available at http://gfl.me/h1sO

Pledge sustains industry’s future Bob and Ruby Allen of R.W. Allen Horticultural Services in St. Thomas pledged $10,000 to the Ontario Horticultural Trades Foundation. Allen is a past president of Landscape Ontario and a safety advocate. He is shown on right, with Foundation Chair John Wright.

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ASSOCIATION NEWS

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Students at John William Boich Public School enjoyed the annual Arbor Day Tree Planting on April 30, thanks to the Golden Horseshoe Chapter.

Golden Horseshoe Chapter continued its tradition of celebrating Arbor Day. This year the Chapter provided 10 native trees on April 30 to John William Boich Public School in Burlington.

Over 800 students at the school were joined by dignitaries from the Halton District School Board and the city.

After the children presented songs and skits to commemorate the day, the assembly witnessed the trees planted on the school site.

Fiore Zenone, Past President of Landscape Ontario Golden Horseshoe Chapter, spoke to the students on the value of tree cover and benefits of trees.

Rick Lipsitt, Burlington City Arborist, thanked Landscape Ontario for the past 34 years of support for the Burlington Arbor Day programs. “The City is fortunate to have support from environmentally conscious organizations like Landscape Ontario,” said Lipsitt.

The graduating grade 8 class planted another tree, which will be the first of many trees that will be planted in future by the graduating classes, in hope of continuing the tree planting ceremony for

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generations to come.

Said Zenone, “The students and members from the public enjoyed the events and promised to care for the new trees.”

Garden Grove contest promotes brand

Garden Grove Landscaping in Waterdown is running a unique contest The Landscape Ontario member requires you to snap a photograph of a Garden Grove Landscaping vehicle sporting its corporate logo. The vehicle may be located anywhere in the Greater Toronto Area.

The entries are sent via Twitter or Instagram, containing both the hashtag #spotourbrand and the @gardengroveland address. Each month, Garden Grove makes two random draws of all the submissions.

Two winning entries each receive a $25 Starbucks gift card. The contest will end July 1.

The company wanted to create a unique contest to promote its brand. A spokesperson for Garden Grove said that we wanted something different. So far, the company’s Twitter and Facebook page has seen increased traffic. “We’re happy with the results.”

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ASSOCIATION NEWS

Crews return to prepare St. James Park for spring

Members of Landscape Ontario returned to St. James Park in downtown Toronto on Apr. 26, along with many members of the local community. The crew cleaned up all the debris that remained after a long winter. The lawns in the park were aerated reseeded, fertilized and there was even time to redo most of the tree beds. In 2011, Landscape Ontario volunteers converged on St. James Park to refurbish the park after it was trampled by Occupy Toronto protesters. Alan White, owner of Turf Systems in Burlington and Lawn Care Sector Group Provincial Board Representative, said of the Apr. 26 event, “The only negative of the whole event was that the Gardiner Expressway was closed all day, along with Lakeshore Road, so getting in and out of downtown was a treat for all involved.”

Industry auction in July not to be missed

LO members were joined by the local community on Apr. 26 to clean up the grounds of St. James Park in Toronto.

Readers of this month’s Landscape Ontario magazine will find a full-colour brochure inserted with this issue, featuring the annual Industry Auction.

The 2014 Auction will be held on Wed., July 16 at Winkelmolen Nursery in Lynden, 148 Lynden Rd. This event is a fund-raising initiative of our Growers Sector group, with proceeds used for industry research and scholarships. Attendees can bid on top-quality plant material at below wholesale prices.

Donations of plant material, hard goods and gift certificates for bidding at

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the auction are welcome. A donation form can be found in the brochure, download it at www.industryauction.ca. Any questions, contact Kristen McIntyre at auction@landscapeontario.com, or 1-800-265-5656, ext. 321.

Kemptville College receives good news

The Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU) announced $2 million in one-time funding to support the full cost of 10 additional trades programs at the campus in 2014/2015.

One of the trade programs includes Horticulture Apprenticeship Level I and ll.

The other good news is the Kemptville College Renewal Task Force heard formal expressions of interest from potential partners interested in providing post-secondary education and research services at Kemptville College. Brian Carré, chair of the Kemptville College Renewal Task Force, says, “A number of public and private sector groups have come forward with proposals.”

“We are pleased that apprenticeship and trades programming can continue at the campus while a longer-term strategy is developed by the province,” said Patricia Remillard, associate director for business development and skills training at Kemptville Campus.

Students applying to these programs are encouraged to do so as soon as possible, and no later than June 30, 2014.

The Task Force is focused on local solutions for Kemptville College that respond to the needs of the agriculture and agrifood industries along with skilled trades while providing reason-

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ASSOCIATION NEWS able access to relevant and affordable post-secondary education.

The Kemptville College Renewal Task Force was established following the University of Guelph’s announcement to close the Kemptville Campus. Members of the Task Force include representatives from the Kemptville College Foundation, alumni, agricultural community and municipal governments.

Vendors prepare early for Expo 2014

When sluggish sales, belt tightening and nasty weather threaten business growth and sales potential, what actions can independent retailers take?

Industry suppliers, some having exhibited at Garden & Floral Expo for 15 years, have already started planning for the show.

“Expo is an absolutely fantastic green show and that’s why we’ve been there since it was launched in 2000. All of our major customers attend, as it’s important

to both us and them to see the plants, flowers and trees displayed in their natural form in full leaf,” says Paul Droppert, of J.C. Bakker & Sons in St. Catharines.

“The show’s networking opportunities, new product launches, informational presentations and timing, all combine to create a sense of excitement and urgency during the fall booking season.”

Cameron Gerber, of Pinebush Home and Garden in Elmira, adds, “Expo is an important buying show and a great place to introduce new product lines to our customers for their immediate feedback and orders. At a time when it’s critical for companies to maintain current relationships and reach out to potential new customers, Expo remains a key component of our yearly marketing initiatives.”

“Our virtual trade show, found at www. loexpo.ca/suppliers, gives you access now if you need to replenish inventory, order new product you missed last October, take advantage of spring specials and

just-in-time shipments,” says Director of Events and Trade Shows for Landscape Ontario, Heather MacRae. Expo 2014 provides an online interactive floor plan and list of exhibitors. Already, more than 65 companies have registered.

To keep your business thriving, it is beneficial to be aware, keep an open mind and capitalize on random opportunities that can lead to your growth. Allow time in your schedule, as a business owner, to scan the horizon for more than weather conditions.

Ask yourself which trends, plants, and products are coming into the market place that would stimulate new sales? What product categories are growing? Which ones have reached maturity and need to be cleared out of inventory? If competitors are saturating your market with a particular product, decide if it can be eliminated from your inventory, repositioned or repurposed.

Shop your competition for its strengths and weaknesses. Use that competitive intelligence to improve your own business and build your confidence.

“All businesses need to develop a proactive plan in response to volatile change and uncontrollable elements in the market place.” says MacRae. “You are not alone when you are a member of the LO

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family. Sector group committee members, staff, suppliers and other members are available for support and, and if asked, can offer valuable advice on how to thrive.”

Expo is proud of the loyalty of suppliers, like Connon Nurseries, NVK Holdings; Eco Wood Products; Horticultural Marketing; MCP Manufacturing; Pacific Rim Brackets; Paridon Horticulture (1979); Pefferlaw Peat Products; Sheridan Nurseries; Vanhof and Blokker and Willowbrook Nurseries, for their 15 year commitment to developing new product and innovations that help independent garden centre owners and florists increase their sales.

MacRae adds, “You are invited to start shopping Garden & Floral Expo today.

You might outperform your competition with this pro-active approach or discover an innovative product, service or supplier that will define your future. Be sure to call us at 1-800-265-5656, ext. 323, if there is a vendor you don’t see on our list, but would like to meet at the show.”

Nothing surpasses face-to-face engagement. Plan to visit Garden & Floral Expo, on Oct. 22 and 23.

For timely information on the show, visit www.loexpo.ca.

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LO has full schedule of summer activities It seems just a few weeks ago most of us were complaining about the terrible winter and unusually cold and wet spring, yet now we’re thinking about all the great LO golf, baseball and barbecue events this summer.

We have compiled the exciting line-up of events that our dedicated volunteers and chapter staff have put together.

July Toronto Golf Tournament, Thurs., July 24 at Nobelton Lakes Golf Club in Nobelton Waterloo Golf Tournament, Wed., July 23 at Rebel Creek Golf Course, Wilmot August Toronto Baseball Tournament, Sun., Aug. 17 at Richmond Greens Sports Centre and Park Golden Horseshoe Golf tournament, Wed., Aug. 20 at Willow Valley Golf Club, Mount Hope Ottawa Golf Tournament, Wed., Aug. 20 at the Canadian Golf and Country Club in Ashton Durham Chapter Annual Barbecue, Thurs., Aug. 21 at Armtech, Brooklin

20  LANDSCAPE ONTARIO June 2014

Georgian Lakelands Barbecue and Sector Updates, Thurs., Aug. 21 at Clearview Nursery, Stayner Upper Canada Golf tournament, Fri., Aug. 22 at Trillium Woods Golf Club, Corbyville September London Golf Tournament, Fri., Sept. 5, Echo Valley Golf Course, 2738 Brigham Rd., London Waterloo Ball Tournament and Family Picnic, Sun., Sept. 7, Breslau Ball Diamonds Golden Horseshoe Chicken Roast, Thurs., Sept. 11, location to be announced Georgian Lakelands Putting Challenge, Doing the right thing and helping others inspires James Solecki Thurs., Sept. 11, Blue Mountain Resort For more information about any of these events, please go to www.horttrades.com/comingevents, or keep your eyes peeled for the weekly e-news, LO This Week. If you would like your staff added to our e-news mailing list, all you need to do is ask.

All events have a range of sponsorship options available, so check out the website or contact Myscha at 1-800-265-5656, ext. 354, or mburton@landscapeontario.com.

VOLUNTEER PROFILE Doing the right thing and helping others inspires James Solecki James Solecki has a long and impressive record of working to improve his industry.

The owner of Integra Bespoke Lighting Systems in Port Sydney became a Landscape Ontario member in 2006. He currently serves as chair of the Lighting Sector Group and sits on the provincial board of directors. He has also participated in some capacity at all of the Lighting Sector’s annual symposia.

“In the future, I am looking forward to expanding the Lighting Sector’s involvement in other Landscape Ontario programs, such as Congress, Canada Blooms and hopefully a large volunteer effort to bring great outdoor lighting to a public space.

“I was attracted by the possibility to further network with other industry professionals and to become more engaged in the green industry in Ontario. I was also attracted by the many industry partnerships and continuing education opportunities,” says Solecki.

One of Solecki’s favourite memories surrounds his LO volunteer experiences.

“It comes from one of the early, formative meetings of the Lighting Sector

Group. It was very inspiring to see so many people, all passionate about the outdoor lighting industry, gather together and form a group focused on taking action to protect our livelihoods. There was a very real sense of camaraderie in the room. It wasn’t a competitive environment, but rather one of shared interests and goals.”

Solecki says that his volunteer efforts at LO and elsewhere help to keep him connected to the industry, and provide a sense of satisfaction. “That sense of doing the right thing and helping others

to learn, succeed and prosper is very important to me.” He says he has been been fortunate to receive a lot of advice, direction and help along my path. “I think it is important to take some time and give that back to others.”

There are many other areas in which Solecki takes his volunteerism throughout his community. He has been involved in the Lions Club, Chambers of Commerce, school parents’ councils, Muskoka Futures and some YWCA programs. He also provides free light pollution education programs to other service clubs and “groups who are interested in learning.”

Past chair and provincial board rep on the Lighting Sector Group, John Higo of Turf Products Canada, says, “If I had to think of a single word to describe James, it would be passionate. I have known James since 1999, and in that time, I can honestly say, I have never met an individual more committed to his industry, his company, and his clients.

James demands the best, and strives every minute to provide it. James has managed to be a mentor to many, an educator to some, a provider for his family, and a pillar in his community, both locally, and professionally.”

Solecki says that LO has done a fantastic job at growing and supporting its membership. “Moving forward, I would like to see additional resources put towards promoting the association and its members to the public. It would be nice to have our clients asking if we are LO members, while they are considering project proposals.”

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NEW MEMBERS Durham Down2Earth Landscape Design Joanne Shaw 1899 Brookshire Sq, Pickering, ON L1V 6L2 Tel: 905-839-1597 Membership Type: Active Van Camp Contracting Ltd Bill Van camp 70 Scugog Line 6, PO Box 48, Port Perry, ON L9L 1A2 Tel: 905-852-1515 Membership Type: Active

Georgian Lakelands Botde Orchards Ltd Marius Botden 67205 4 Sideroad, Thornbury, ON N0H 2P0 Tel: 519-599-7474 Membership Type: Active Turfmaster Inc Neil Parks 1 - 4920 25th Sideroad, Thornton, ON L0L 2N0 Tel: 705-458-8800 Membership Type: Active

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Four Seasons Landscape and Snow Removal Bettina Arsenault 30 Newlove St, Binbrook, ON L0R 1C0 Tel: 289-286-0722 Membership Type: Active

Toronto A & J Landscaping Andrew Romanin 39 Ascot Ave, Brampton, ON L6T 2P3 Tel: 416-706-5751 Membership Type: Active A Greener Oasis Landscape Design & Construction Corp Curtis Green 3 Venetian Terrace, Brampton, ON L7A 3M5 Tel: 416-454-9030 Membership Type: Active

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J.G. Landscaping & Snow Removal Inc Joe Goncalo 5051 Trafalgar Rd N, Georgetown, ON L7G 4S4 Tel: 905-873-8911 Membership Type: Active Land Decor Jim Ruscica 78 Hillhurst Blvd, Toronto, ON M5N 1N6 Tel: 416-485-5263 Membership Type: Active Moonstruck Lighting Ltd Craig Hastings 1889 Hwy 7 W, Concord, ON L4K 1V4 Tel: 905-761-7720-x24 Membership Type: Active RNB Landscaping Services Natalie Botelho 14097 Sixth Line, Limehouse, ON L0P 1H0 Tel: 416-893-1694 Membership Type: Active Sherscape Design & Build Paul Gugliemin 6 - 84 Malmo Crt, Maple, ON L6A 1R4 Tel: 905-832-3247 Membership Type: Active The Foundry/Cookstoves Canada Gordon Flagler 410 Richardson Rd, Orangeville, ON L9W 4W8 Tel: 800-269-1620 Membership Type: Associate

Waterloo Green & Clean Property Maintenance Ltd Jamie Hurst 22 Elizabeth Cres, Orton, ON L0N 1N0 Tel: 519-942-6708 Membership Type: Active In My Element James Millar 498 Ottawa St S, Kitchener, ON N2M 3P5 Tel: 519-208-4755 Membership Type: Interim

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EVENTS

a relaxed setting. For more information on the event, contact Myscha at myscha@landscapeontario.com.

Bookmark www.horttrades.com/comingevents for up-to-date event information.

July 16

Industry Auction 2014

Winkelmolen Nursery, 148 Lynden Rd., Lynden Bid on top-quality plant material at below-wholesale prices, and tour Winkelmolen Nursery’s farms, while helping raise funds for industry research and scholarships. There is no admission fee or RSVP required. Farm tours 10 to 11:30 a.m., lunch and refreshments are from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., and the live auction is from 1 to 4 p.m. Bring your staff and your trailer.

July 23

Waterloo Chapter Golf Tournament

Rebel Creek Golf Course, Wilmot The annual golf tournament starts at 11:30 a.m.

Proceeds of the tournament will be donated to KidsAbility, as well as the Waterloo Chapter’s school greening projects and scholarship fund. Early bird rate of $150 ends June 30, plus there’s a chance to win a draw with a prize of a golf foursome at Rebel Creek. Single golfer cost is $175 after June 30. Not a golfer? No problem!

Join us for dinner for only $55. For more information please contact Sean Jordan at jordan. agronomics@rogers.com, or Myscha Burton at myscha@landscapeontario.com.

August 17

Toronto Chapter Baseball Tournament 2014 Richmond Green, 1300 Elgin Mills Road East, Richmond Hill The annual Toronto Chapter Baseball Tournament is a great opportunity for LO members to enjoy some great times on the ball field, a barbecue and good times in

August 21

Durham Chapter Barbecue

Armtec/Brooklin Concrete, 6760 Baldwin St. North, Brooklin You won’t want to miss this year’s event. For more information on the event,contact Myscha at myscha@landscapeontario.com.

August 21

Georgian Lakelands Chapter Barbecue

8257 County Road 91, Stayner The inaugural Georgian Lakelands Barbecue will start at 4 p.m. at Clearview Nursery. There will be a panel to discuss issue facing landscape contractors, designers and growers.

July 24

Toronto Chapter Golf Tournament 2014

Nobleton Lakes Golf Club, 125 Nobleton Lakes, Nobelton Registration for the Toronto Chapter Golf Tournament is open. A single round of golf is $240, which includes one round of golf, lunch and dinner. Sponsorship opportunities are available at http://gfl.me/x28G. For more information contact Chapter Coordinator Myscha at myscha@ landscapeontario.com, or call 1-800-265-5656, ext. 354.

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INDUSTRY NEWS

Left to right: Gary Lacy, Executive Director NCC; John Cary, Chief Executive MLF; Dr. Mark Kristmanson, Chief Executive Officer NCC; Tony DiGiovanni, Executive Director Landscape Ontario; Ken Jewett, founder MLF; James Jewett, Director MLF; Marc Corriveau, Director Urban Lands and Transportation; Mike Rosen, President Tree Canada.

Group wants native maples in Ottawa On May 14, LO executive director Tony DiGiovanni joined Maple Leaves Forever (MLF) founder Ken Jewett in Ottawa to meet with the National Capital Commission (NCC) to make a request that “If a maple tree is to be planted in the Ottawa region it must be a native Canadian maple.”

According to Jewett, the presentation to the NCC was favourably received with the next step being MLF making a formal request to the NCC Board at the end of June.

Jewett had posted an open letter in the Ottawa Citizen on Mar. 4. The full letter can be found online at http://gfl.me/x28C .

In the letter, Jewitt writes, “We have travelled many times to Ottawa and met Manderley-LO-Carp Depot Ad.pdf 1 22/05/2014

with the NCC’s senior staff. We were received kindly but had no success with our proclamation.” He feels this time there may some progress made.

The letter also states, “MLF is appealing to all the parties to join together and make this happen. We think that our Governor General’s reputation for common sense would help our cause. We wonder if his honour David Johnson could participate or steer us in facilitating this proposal? Finally we ask the NCC, who can make this happen, to kindly make it happen.”

Jewett says there are 10 maple trees that are native to Canada. The list is available online at http://gfl.me/x28C 9:28:54 AM

Still time to be involved in plastic recycling

From June 20 to July 2, garden centres in Ontario may become drop-off depots for used garden plastics.

Garden Centres Canada, in partnership with CNLA’s Environment Committee, has created a National Plastic Recycling Event.

Member garden centres are invited to act as drop-off points for garden plastics.

Over the years, Landscape Ontario members have saved thousands of pounds of plastic from going into landfills.

Over the past four years, Dianne Lang of Divert Recycling has been working with garden centres taking part in the event.

Receiving plastics from the public requires a bit of effort, however, disposing of those plastics afterwards can be a challenge.

Lang says, “Four years ago, I discovered there was a huge need to help dispose of all the plastics generated by the horticultural industry.

Most of these growers are fourth and fifth generation, and are very aware of doing the right thing for their families that are following in their footsteps. They really do not want to send plastic to landfills, nor do they want the costs associated with doing so.

They have a very keen sense of corporate responsibility, and they are looking for alternate solutions.”

There is an online tool kit with a variety of resources for garden centres, as well as a map to showcase those participating across Canada. Simply go to http://gfl. me/x28B and obtain printout signs, banners and posters. To join others in Ontario as a recycling drop-point during the event, email Chelsea Ten Broeck at chelsea@cnla-acpp.ca.

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EXECUTIVE DESK Race to the bottom vs. selling value and benefit Tony DiGiovanni CHT LO executive director

D

uring the economic crisis in 2007 and 2008, sales of smart phones and tablets skyrocketed. It is not unusual for families of modest means to have three or four televisions and a tablet, computer and phone for each child.

Why are some people willing to spend $100,000 plus for a car when $10,000 will purchase a vehicle that will get them to the same place in the same amount of time? Why will people spend hundreds of dollars on a restaurant meal or thousands of dollars on a vacation? Why do so many people find ways to afford what they want even in times of scarcity? Why does a tree or shrub cost so little when it

LO continues to put the message out to media about the benefits of plants, gardens, landscapes and green infrastructure, as well as the professionalism, creativity, expertise and character of our membership.

takes years to grow and provides a lifetime of pleasure and benefit? The same can be said for landscaping in general.

In the May issue of Landscape Ontario magazine, Ted Sikkema wrote an excellent letter to the editor about the race to the bottom. He makes the case that increased input costs and increased competition necessitates the raising of prices in order to remain sustainable.

Whether in the company of growers, landscape professionals, irrigation companies, lawn care firms, interiorscapers or retailers, I hear the same argument: Pricing pressure is real. Too many members are working too hard for too little even as they provide products and services that enhance the lives of their customers in so many wonderful ways. Pricing pressure is the reason employers find it difficult to pay their employees more. It is the reason that sometimes corners are cut and quality is sacrificed.

The issue of pricing is very complex.

At the core, pricing must be based on input costs plus a sustainable margin.

Every company has a slightly different input cost based on efficiency, experience, volume, equipment, management, profit expectation and overheads. Therefore, the best that a company can do to deal with pricing pressure is to know its own costs in detail before pricing products or services. This simple idea to ‘know your costs’ is necessary, but it is just the beginning. A better way to deal with the pricing issue is to sell value.

Just about every other industry is better at selling value than we are. I can’t think of many industries that provide a lifetime of pleasure, benefit and value.

Our industry does. Some might say we are a luxury item and that plants and landscapes are not necessary. We know better. Our products and services make people happy, while providing economic, environmental, recreational, aesthetic, health and spiritual benefits, as well as community pride.

Owning many tablets and televisions is not a necessity, yet many families do.

Going on expensive vacations is not a necessity, yet many people do. Eating

at expensive restaurants is not a necessity, yet many people do. The necessity argument is fairly easy to refute.

Although pricing pressure is real, I believe our focus (the association and everyone in the industry) should be on learning to sell value. We need to be clear on why the public should utilize our products and services and communicate the ‘why’ in every action, activity and message. Focusing on pricing is too limiting. Focusing on value is limitless. If we look at every transaction from the perspective of providing true value and benefit, pricing becomes less relevant.

From an association perspective, our public focus has been on raising awareness for the benefits of plants, gardens, landscapes and green infrastructure, as well as the professionalism, creativity, expertise and character of our membership.

Our resident public relations expert Denis Flanagan is a tireless promoter of our industry and membership. So are many of our garden media friends such as Mark Cullen, Frank Ferragine, Ed Lawrence and Lorraine Flanigan. We try to support events, activities and institutions that educate the public about the value of plants, landscapes and green infrastructure. We participate in Canada Blooms, distribute how-to sheets, maintain an excellent public education resource at Landscapeontario.com, publish Garden Inspiration magazine and provide content for members to use in their own messaging through our information packet service.

Our Green for Life branding is meant to be used by members as a co-brand to let the public know that our members are a green force for beauty ready to green their lives. Our public relations company is constantly sending out information.

We regularly communicate with property managers, building owners and other procurement professionals about the benefits of maintaining their properties and the value of using professionals to perform the work. We support the Green Infrastructure Coalition and Trees for Life alliance. Our chapters are involved in community projects that demonstrate the value of our products and services and the contribution ethic of our membership.

We do a lot. But we need to be doing a lot more. You do, too. The more we learn to communicate value and benefit, the less pricing matters.

Tony DiGiovanni may be contacted at tony@landscapeontario.com, or at 1-800-265-5656, ext. 304.

WWW.HORTTRADES.COM 25

SAFETY AND TRAINING Now is time to consider apprenticeship

By Sally Harvey CLT, CLP Manager Education and Labour Development

A

pprenticeship training is a great opportunity to educate your employees, build their pride. And, if that isn’t enough of a benefit, the provincial government pays 85 per cent of program’s cost.

As the season progresses, employers and supervisors will identify the shining stars on their crews. You should consider how to retain these great workers who have the potential to produce profits with the appropriate training.

The apprenticeship program subsidizes training of staff members who wish to become Landscape Horticulturists. It is truly a gift to employees who want to achieve this competency based designation that is recognized across Canada.

There is no other program in Ontario that subsidizes training to this level and that provides training during the winter months to align with the needs of the industry.

The process for apprenticeship registration has changed in Ontario. Apprenticeship in Ontario is now a partnership between the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU) and Ontario College of Trades (College).

A defined description of a landscape horticulturist, says, “Landscape horticulturists survey and assess landscape, draw sketches and interpret plans. They construct and maintain gardens, parks, golf courses and other landscape environments. In addition, they advise clients on issues related to horticulture and landscape construction. Landscape horticulturists also propagate, cultivate and study plants, and treat injured and diseased trees and plants. They are employed by landscape designers, architects and contractors, lawn service and tree care establishments, recreation facilities, golf courses, parks, nurseries, greenhouses, and municipal,

26 LANDSCAPE ONTARIO June 2014

provincial and federal governments. They may also be self-employed.

Landscape horticulturists work with machinery and equipment ranging from simple hand tools to heavy equipment.

They may be responsible for the routine maintenance of tools and equipment.

Landscape horticulturists also work with a variety of chemicals such as pesticides, fertilizers and fuels and must be aware of their safe use and government regulations.

Some landscape horticulturists specialize in areas such as landscape design, construction and maintenance, and greenhouse, sod and nursery production. They may work independently or with other professionals such as architects, engineers and municipal planners.

An apprenticeship candidate must complete an application form, submit Grade 12 transcripts, be a resident of Ontario, and employed in the horticultural sector. Employers should register their promising employees in the apprenticeship program now. The candidate and employer contact their local MTCU Apprenticeship Office to sign a Registered Training Agreement (RTA) with MTCU. For a full listing of the offices go to http://gfl.me/x28x.

Representative from the MTCU may meet with you, or send you an online RTA application to complete and submit.

The MTCU will ensure that the employer has the ability to train and educate the employee, and that the employee will make a serious commitment to the program.

Once the application is submitted, encourage your apprentice to check the mail for a membership package from the Ontario College of Trades, which should be received within two weeks of signing the RTA. Remind your apprentice to complete, sign and submit the membership application form and associated payment of $67.80 to OCOT. If they neglect to complete the OCOT membership, they will not be offered a seat in the in-school training session.

To verify the membership, check the public registry to verify the status of your

apprentice as an active member of the Ontario College of Trades – Find a Member at www.collegeoftrades.ca. Once this is completed, a college that offers the program nearest to the apprentice, who should contact him offering a seat in the in-school training session, which is typically in the fall months. A seat in the inschool training is not confirmed until the $600 tuition fee has been paid in full to the college and a receipt provided.

Once the candidate is enrolled into the program, the candidate commits to the following: 1. Training with the employers for 4,000 to 6,000 hours 2. Completing a 12-week in-school training session at a community college 3. Completing a 12-week (advanced) inschool training session at a community college 4. Completing a skills sign-off Training Standard Book of required skills Colleges in Ontario offering programs include Fanshawe College, Humber College, Loyalist College, Mohawk College and the University of Guelph Campus at Kemptville.

After registration and the successful completion of the on-the-job training and the classroom training Level 1 and 2, the candidate is granted a Certificate of Apprenticeship. The apprentice is then able to write the government exam involving a multiple-choice system of 125 questions.

The passing mark is 70 per cent and the successful candidate obtains a Certificate of Qualification as a Red Seal certified journey person.

Employers win as they gain back their more skilled and experienced apprentices after the in-school training and are also eligible to apply for the Apprenticeship Job Creation Tax Credit. For more information about employer incentives go to www.horttrades.com/employees.

Apprentices qualify for incentives, such as the Apprentice Incentive Grant that is claimed after each training period for $1,000, and then the completion grant provides $2,000 upon completion of the C of Q exam. New this year is the apprentice loan that enables an apprentice to borrow up to $4,000 interest-free per in-school training period.

Apprenticeship makes sense! Get registered now!

I welcome your comments.

Contact Sally Harvey at sharvey@landscapeontario.com.

PUBLIC RELATIONS

Peter Cantley announced that his assistant Sonya Palermo will be taking over the reins from him at Loblaw.

A legend set to retire

By Denis Flanagan CLD Director of Public Relations and Membership Services

P

eter Cantley, vice president of Floral and Garden for the Loblaw Companies, has announced he will retire this year.

Peter has over 46 years’ experience in the business with the last 28 at Loblaw, where he achieved many milestones in the horticulture marketing arena, including the development of the indoor floral business across Canada. He built a national network of exceptional growers and introduced countless exclusive lines.

He has travelled the world searching for the latest in lawn and garden products. This also included putting together a team of

growers and meeting with breeders to help determine what will grow best in the Canadian climate.

Peter’s many achievements, over close to half-a-century in the business, include the development of the Lawn and Garden Insider’s Report, creating a national program Loblaw stores to accept used plastic pots and flats which were not accepted by municipal recycling programs, being an active member on the board of Toronto Botanical Garden (TBG) and playing an instrumental part in Loblaw’s major sponsorship of Canada Blooms. This involved working closely with renowned landscape architect Janet Rosenberg to design and build spectacular feature gardens at the show.

In true form, Peter recently hosted another successful product launch at the TBG which showcased the new plant line-up for 2014. Media members in attendance were able to talk with many Landscape Ontario growers who had dis-

plays at the show.

These included Bradford Greenhouses, founded in 1961 by Francis Ferragine and sons. This wholesale and retail business supplies a full line of root liners and plugs to independent greenhouses across Canada, as well as a large selection of annuals and specialty mixed hanging baskets.

Brookdale Treeland Nursery is one of the largest growers of nursery stock and perennials in the country. It also supplies a unique line of Florida-grown tropical plants for Loblaw.

Martin Farms, based in the Niagara Peninsula, is a family-owned business in tune with the demands of the Canadian customer. It has recognized the need for premium individual vegetable plants and has created a demand for tomato plants in patio containers.

Sheridan Nurseries celebrated over 100 years in business in 2013. It has developed a thriving wholesale and retail company and has been responsible for several plant introductions. The company had many hardy shrubs and perennials on display at the launch.

Peter Cantley announced that his very able assistant Sonya Palermo will be taking over the reins at Loblaw. He will continue to be a sought-after speaker at garden industry events in Canada and the U.S., and will in fact be giving a presentation at the Landscape Ontario Garden and Floral Expo this October. It will be a not-to-be missed event.

Denis Flanagan may be contacted at dflanagan@landscapeontario.com.

On left, Peter Cantley, vice president of Floral and Garden for the Loblaw Companies, spoke at Toronto Botanical Garden, with help from Rob Naraj CHT, vice president of nursery sales at Sheridan Nurseries.

WWW.HORTTRADES.COM 27

MEMBERSHIP Getting into the swing of things

By Myscha Burton Membership and Chapter Coordinator

I

will take this opportunity to introduce myself as the contract membership and chapter coordinator while Rachel is on maternity leave.

I am a graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University’s Combined Honours B.A. program, having studied sociology and women and gender studies. My spare time is spent at horse shows competing and playing the role of photographer, or judge.

These experiences have provided me the opportunity to see firsthand the value of membership to organizations dedicated to maintaining an industry standard and furthering education. Though it may seem farfetched, there are a lot of similarities to the world of equines and the world of horticulture — beyond the value of excellent lawn care.

As part of my introduction to Landscape Ontario, I have had the opportunity to attend various events, including the Zoom into Workplace Career Day with Denis Flanagan and Rob Tester of TNT Property Maintenance (and of course, Grout was there). The career day allowed high school students to engage with representatives from a variety of industries which provided background information for students. Rob and Denis showcased the realities of an active, diverse and growing industry, and fostered students’ exploration of careers in horticulture.

Rob’s involvement in this event demonstrated the immeasurable value of our members who volunteer countless hours for their association. During our member visits this summer we hope to see more of our hard working members at their respective job sites. No, we’re not checking up on you. On the contrary, we want to see your incredible work and show our appreciation for all that you do to maintain a high standard of excellence for the association.

These visits also give us a chance to thank your clients for having their property beautified by a LO member.

Landscape Ontario president Dave

28 LANDSCAPE ONTARIO June 2014

Braun’s goal is embodied through these visits: “We’re only as strong as our last interaction.” The strength of our association comes from happy customers and the dedication of our members.

The first member visits for the 2014 season included a stop at Gelderman Landscape Services, Garden Wizard, Fern Ridge Landscaping, V. Kraus Nurseries and The Escarpment Company. Pictures of these visits can be found at facebook.com/ LOGrout. Want a visit? Let the membership team know.

In addition to member visits, we have a

full calendar of upcoming summer events in all chapters. The LO golf season begins with the Toronto Chapter on July 24, and we are in full swing by August (pun intended) with Ottawa on the 20th, Golden Horseshoe on the 20th, Upper Canada on the 22nd, as well as London’s golf tournament and Georgian Lakelands’ Putting Challenge in September.

Should you run out of argyle to wear golfing, the Toronto Chapter will host its annual baseball tournament on Aug. 17, and the Durham and Georgian Lakelands Chapter barbecues are both on Aug. 21.

Wouldn’t these events be a great way to introduce potential members in light of our chapter challenge? Hint, hint!

Visit hortrades.com and check your e-news for more information and registration details.

Please feel free to give me a call at 1-800-265-5656, ext. 354, or email myscha@landscapeontario.com.

Grout visits members

The Escarpment Company (Mark Fisher and crew) go over the design plan with the help of Grout.

Ben Buchmuller, Kathleen Phillips, Sean James and Stephanie Brodie of Fern Ridge Landscaping.

UNDERGROUND WORLD The solution to utility locate problems

By Terry Murphy CLP

H

ere we are well into another spring start-up season. Already we are hearing about landscapers who can’t obtain utility locates on time in order to start excavation on their project.

The standard time for obtaining locates according to Bill 8, the Ontario One Call Act, is five days, yet some reports indicate it is currently taking 10 to 15 working days. It may take a couple of months to work out the kinks, but a five-day locate standard will happen in Ontario.

In the past there was no real process for registering formal complaints and getting results on tardy locates. Complaints came to either the utility, the locate company or Ontario One Call. Everything was measured on an established target of five days. The problem was that the system was not set up to correct deficiencies, nor to assign responsibilities and accountabilities and penalize offenders. Well, things have changed.

It took seven years of lobbying by the Ontario Regional Common Ground Alliance (ORCGA), many meetings, along with Conservative and NDP politicians sponsoring Bill 8, for our damage prevention industry to obtain passage of this Bill in the Provincial Legislature. The recent set of provincial regulations were completed and approved in March of this year to establish ground rules of operation for this standard system of five days.

It is not only cast in concrete, but Ontario One Call has been given enforcement responsibility under the law, whereby offenders can receive a $100 to $10,000 fine for each individual ticket violation. In other words, if the contractor doesn’t get his locate in five days from when it is called in, someone has broken the law and can be subject to a major penalty. This is now serious business, and no other province in Canada has this mandatory legislation.

If you are finding a problem after submitting your paperwork, whereby your locate request is not marked on the ground in five days, then the the law has been broken. You should call Steve Waugh at Ontario One Call, 519-265-8006, ext. 8808 with the ticket number. Steve is the enforcement officer for this important law.

The Investigations and Compliance Department at Ontario One Call is committed to researching your complaint and getting back to you with a quick response. If in fact, Ontario One Call finds that a utility or locate company is at fault, it will be corrected immediately.

If Ontario One Call feels that there are an unusually large number of locates that are not in compliance of the five-day standard, fines can be levied per individual locate ticket. The execution of this regulatory enforcement will be independent from political or other influence.

This new system will have transparency, accountability and responsibility. All are clearly defined. As regulations proposed under the Ontario Underground Infrastructure Notification System Act 2012 move closer to becoming a reality, it’s vital for members to ensure that all buried infrastructure is registered with Ontario One Call by June 19, 2014. This also carries penalties for firms who do not register.

Remember, we had a very prolonged and extra cold winter start-

ing last January, which has delayed the industry start-up by a couple of weeks. Now there is a large influx of locate requests. Everyone is reacting to this peak volume and it might take a short while for all firms to get caught up. Everyone has limited staff. You can assist the whole process by getting your locate requests into Ontario One Call as early as possible, and by giving the date that you are targeting your excavation start up. This will greatly assist the process.

We have come a long way in establishing this new system of consistent five-day locates. Registration by all infrastructure owners must take place by the end of June, 2014. All stakeholders, including locate companies and utilities, have been part of the legislation and regulation development and every industry stakeholder has committed to achieve this five-day locate standard. If it doesn’t happen, the follow-up tools are there to quickly get action, so that your excavating jobs will not be delayed. Enforcement will provide the industry with assurance of success.

It has been a pleasure for this writer to represent the landscape and fencing industry throughout this process, as a member of the ORCGA Board.

Contact Terry Murphy at tvmurphy@ca.inter.net with your questions, comments and suggestions.

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PROSPERITY PARTNERS Managing customer experience, Part 2

By Jacki Hart CLP Prosperity Partners Program Manager

L

ast month in Part 1, I predicted that the communication processes set up in each business among staff, customers and managers would be coming apart at the seams by now.

Many of you are probably scrambling to keep on top of the sense of urgency that every client creates for his project, order or property needs. Communication at all levels is unravelling. You ask yourself why you and your staff never seem to get it all pulled together when it really counts.

Years ago my friend and mentor, Jean Paul Lamarche, gave me this sage advice.

He told me that in order to become a better captain of the ship, I needed uncharted waters to hone my skills. At the time, I thought he was just offering a bit of friendly lip service to get my spirits back up in an impossibly busy and complex spring. In June of that year, the combination of a messy marital breakdown and intensive business challenges drove me to my knees.

The year 2006 was my ‘make or break Jacki’ year. I’m still here, and I truly believe I am a better captain of my ship as a result.

JPL was very right.

What I now know for sure is, when you’re in the thick of it and it’s completely

counter intuitive to stop dead in your tracks and take the time to think and communicate clearly, is the time when you need to do it most. Let me give you an example.

My new business partner Karen is a VERY smart lady. She is focused, passionate about success, and very capable — and right now, she’s managing like I did 10 years ago. She and I are like two halves of the same brain. Just like many people in our industry, right now, Water’s Edge is in the thick of it, and Karen is running 90-plus hours a week connecting dots; herding details; receiving, sorting and shipping plants; hiring; firing and answering phones.

You can add to this list I’m sure. I can’t drink enough coffee to keep up with her.

I watched her in action this morning, thinking about this article, and, thinking about you. I have met so many readers of this column through Prosperity Partners, and at this time of year I always wonder if what I write here makes a difference.

Here’s what happened today: Two growers showed up with large deliveries in our yard at 7:30 a.m. They were an hour late.

We discovered we’d had a break-in on the weekend and plants were stolen for projects scheduled this week. Two people called in sick and three new employees were starting and needed paperwork, uniforms, etc.

Our weekly lead hand meeting was jammed with tons of questions. We realized we forgot to book a barge. The Internet was down (again), and our schedule, etc. is in the cloud. Maybe this sounds like the start to one of your recent weeks.

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With the utmost respect, I watched Karen on this particular morning run up and down the office stairs seven times in 10 minutes. She was juggling so many things that she wasn’t able to do any of them to her best ability. She was making more work for herself, and was wound-up tighter than an eight-day clock. When the crews were all out of the gate, I convinced her to sit down and create a deliveries schedule for the week, juggling hundreds of plants, yards of this and that, people and places in an orderly efficient way. What she thought she didn’t have the time to do, ended up being the most effective 10 minutes she spent all morning. Instead of being jostled about in the chaos of more moving parts than one person could possibly manage, she took time out to literally get her bearings, chart a course, and could then move on with priorities and a plan.

Ten minutes later, I went out to the nursery, and there she was calmly sorting and blocking-out plants for delivery later that day, and the rest of the week. She was busy, but un-frazzled and focused. Imagine that.

So, guess what I’m doing. It’s counterintuitive, but by reading this, I’m getting you to do what this column is all about – SLOW DOWN. Take a breath. Shift your mind from the rough waters. Give yourself some mental space, squeeze out of the vice, and sit with me for a moment. Listen carefully.

In the most stressful, busy, jam-packed time of the year, I promise that if you slow down long enough to look at the rough seas around you, and take stock of your current position, you can re-set a course toward less chaos. Right now, you need to slow down to go faster. I promise.

When you’re feeling like your head is jammed in the company vice and if you let up, it will trigger a switch and blow everything up — please take this advice to constantly force yourself to take stock, chart a course, set priorities, delegate, communicate, connect dots and keep the balls in the air. You should do this for at least 10 minutes every day; preferably every morning, AND again in the afternoon. No phones, no email, no texts. Check your notebook for loose ends (see last month’s article), and manage your day so that you can manage the communication and resources within your business to the best of your ability.

Jacki Hart may be contacted at prosperity@landscapeontario.com.

CLASSIFIEDS All classified ads must be pre-paid by credit card. Rates: $50.85 (HST included) per column inch Min. order $50.85. 15% discount on ads run for entire calendar year. Box Numbers: Additional $10.

Confidentiality ensured. Deadlines: 20th day of the month prior to issue date. (eg: June issue deadline is May 20th). January deadline is Dec. 10. Space is limited to a first come, first served basis.

To advertise: E-mail your name, phone number and ad to Robert at classifieds@landscapeontario. com or fax to (905) 875-0183. Online advertising: Website only ads are available for $67.80 (HST included) for Associaton members and $90.40 HST included for non-members. Website ads are posted for 31 days. View ads online at www.horttrades.com/classifieds

employment OPPORTUNITIES

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

RETAIL SALES STAFF REQUIRED Grand River Natural Stone requires full and part time retail friendly front counter sales staff. Knowledge in brick, natural stone and landscape products an asset.

Send resume to domenic@grandriverstone.com

ESTABLISHED MUSKOKA LANDSCAPE MAINTENANCE COMPANY FOR SALE Successful, respected company, locally owned and operated, is looking for a professional and dedicated purchaser. Well-maintained fleet of trucks and equipment. Dependable staff, loyal customer base. Year-round operation.

For serious inquiries only, please reply in confidence by email to: MuskokaOpportunity@gmail.com

Gelderman Landscape Services – Waterdown Branch Water Mangement Technician You will be responsible for all aspects of maintaining and repairing commercial and residential irrigation systems. In addition to having a minimum of 5 years’ experience, the exceptional candidate will: • Have hands-on working knowledge of irrigation systems and installation • Be responsible for ensuring systems function efficiently • Be responsible for repairing, maintaining, and troubleshooting systems • Be able to work independently and in a team environment • Have a valid ‘G’ driver’s license • Have excellent problem solving skills We offer competitive wages based on experience and qualifications. This could turn into a fulltime year round employment relationship.

Interested individuals can email resumes to lhand@gelderman.com We thank all applicants for their interest however only those selected for an interview will be contacted. opportunities at davey tree Davey Tree is currently expanding operations and looking for experienced Arborists, Foremen, Climbers, and Groundspersons.

We are the largest employee-owned company in the green industry, and Canada’s trusted source for complete plant health care. Our roots extend back to 1880, and we have branches from Ontario to British Columbia. Davey provides: • Excellent training • Career advancement • Company benefits • Employee ownership • Opportunities in all aspects of arboriculture • Solid industry compensation bases and incentive programs.

If you are interested in being part of our growing team, please email or fax resume to: John Arico.

Email: John.Arico@davey.com Fax: 905-304-7605. www.daveytree.ca

THRIVING GARDEN CENTRE FOR SALE Well established, turnkey opportunity, serving area for 30 years. Located midway between Toronto and Kingston. High repeat clientele.

Visit website below for details and contact information. www.businesssellcanada.com/ 33107002.htm

SEVICES & SUPPLIES AUCTION SALE SAT. JUNE. 21 @ 10:00 am For ONTARIO LANDSCAPING LTD. 25331 Woodbine Ave., Keswick ½ mi. North of Old Homestead Rd. on Woodbine Ave. (watch for signs).

Zetor 7340 4wd tractor w/cab 2779hrs. (new clutch and fully serviced spring 2014), 3 pth.

Brillian seeder GLP-643, 2004 3pth. BMS 90 HD roto tiller, Salford 3pth. 2 furrow plough, Kongskille 5 & 7 shank sub soilers, 3pth. tree & shrub planters, tree containers (15 - 25 gal), 8 skids of Sholdice brick/stone.

Various Trees (50mm -60mm) to include Sugar Maples, Lindens, Sunburst Locusts, Colorado blue spruce, Dwarf lilacs, Spruce, etc.

NOTE: All equipment in excellent condition, stored inside. An excellent opportunity to start your spring planting. Plus more inclusions coming.

Watch web site for more details. Tractor selling to low reserve.

Auctioneer nor owner, will be held responsible for accidents or property loss.

Terms: Cash, Cheque, Visa, MC, Interac POLLARDS AUCTIONS & APPRAISAL SERVICES 905-722-3112 SUTTON 905-476-5160 www.pollardsauctions.com *Over 45 yrs. experience, certified personal property appraisers*

ADVERTISERS 404 Stone Ltd. www.404stone.com 905-887-3404 Page 12 Amazing Gates of Canada www.amazinggatesofcanada.ca 855-484-2837 Page 18 Bot Aggregates Ltd. www.botaggregates.ca 877-898-2688 Page 9 Braun Nursery Ltd. www.braungroup.com 800-246-6984 Page 22 Coivic Contracting Ltd. www.coivic.com 905-878-9101 Page 16 Connon Nurseries/CBV Holdings Inc. www.connon.ca 888-775-2687 Page 15 Connon Nurseries/NVK Holdings Inc. www.connonnurseries.com 905-628-0112 Page 32 G & L Group (Earthco) www.gandlgroup.com 905-669-3538 Page 23 Greenlife - Ottawa Wholesale Nursery www.greenlifenursery.ca 613-692-3047 Page 19 Gro-Bark (Ontario) Ltd. www.gro-bark.com 905-846-1515 Page 17 Hutchinson Farm Supply www.hutchinsonfarmsupply.com 905-640-2692 Page 14 J. Lockwood Chrysler Ltd. www.lockwoodchrysler.com 905-845-6653 Page 19 Kobes Nurseries Inc. www.kobesnurseries.com 905-263-8814 Page 20 Legends Landscape Supply Inc. www.landscapestore.ca 905-336-3369 Page 21 M Putzer Nursery www.putzernursery.com 905-878-7226 Page 17S Manderley Turf Products Inc. www.manderley.com 888-225-3885 Page 24 Millgrove Perennials Inc. www.millgroveperennials.ca 905-689-1749 Page 22 Newroads National Leasing www.newroadsleasing.com 416-587-1021 Page 15 Ontario Landscape Supply www.ontariolandscapesupply.com 905-839-2099 Page 13 Potters Road Nursery Inc. www.pottersroadnursery.com 519-688-0437 Page 22 Sipkens Nurseries Ltd. www.sipkensnurseries.com 866-843-0438 Page 23 Stam Nurseries www.stamnurseries.com 519-424-3350 Page 18 Timm Enterprises Ltd. www.timmenterprises.com 905-878-4244 Page 19 Uxbridge Nurseries Ltd. www.uxbridgenurseries.com 877-655-3379 Page 8 V. Kraus Nurseries Ltd. www.krausnurseries.com 905-689-4022 Page 14

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32 LANDSCAPE ONTARIO June 2014