May 2013
www.horttrades.com CH L GEO AP AK R TE EL G I R of AN AN the D MO S NT H
Thanks for the
LEADERSHIP Gord Shuttleworth honoured for a lifetime of service Page 4
For over 25 years, Hillen Nursery Inc. has remained dedicated and passionate about the nursery industry.
2  LANDSCAPE ONTARIO May, 2013
Mark Endicott General Manager
23078 Adelaide Rd. Mount Brydges, ON N0L 1W0
Cell: 647.923.5182 • Fax: 519.264.1337 mark@hillennursery.com
hillennursery.com
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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE More than passion needed to retain employees By Phil Charal LO president
M
ost people prefer rewarding and stimulating jobs, and are willing to make less money in order to work at something they enjoy. Thank goodness a career in horticulture offers people a high level of job satisfaction! The opportunity to create, improve and transform outdoor spaces into beautiful landscapes is very rewarding. Working outdoors in a healthy environment is a great bonus. So much of what we do is art. People who enjoy horticulture, whether it’s growing plant material, designing and building landscapes, or maintaining them, feel blessed that they can make a living doing something they enjoy so much. Horticulture is a fast-growing industry, with many employment opportunities in all industry sectors. For a number of years there have have been far more positions available in our industry than people to fill
Formerly Horticulture Review
May, 2013 • Volume 31, No. 5 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. ISSN 1928-9553 Publications Mail Agreement No. PM40013519
Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: Circulation Department Landscape Ontario 7856 Fifth Line South, Milton, ON L9T 2X8 Canada
them. The demand for our products and our services continues to remain high, regardless of the state of the economy. I think we all can attest to the rewards and benefits of being in this great industry. What a great opportunity we have to transform outdoor spaces into beautiful and functional landscapes that enrich people’s lives. Regardless of how passionate workers are about horticulture, they often are forced out of the industry and into other trades that offer them far more money. It is extremely difficult to compete with hourly rates up in the $40 range, with 10 per cent vacation pay, full medical benefits and time-and-a-half time work over 40 hours. This is why an employee retention plan is just as important as a customer retention plan. It may not be possible to match union construction wages, but there are a number of rewards and benefits available in the horticulture industry. Some of the ways you can create incentives to retain employees are: • Offer a competitive benefit package that includes health, life insurance and a retirement plan. • If possible, provide flexible working hours, or working from home offices.
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 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, Rachel Cerelli, Tony DiGiovanni CHT, Rob Ellidge, Denis Flanagan CLD, Sally Harvey CLT CLP, Helen Hassard, Jane Leworthy, Heather MacRae, Kristen McIntyre CHT, Kathy McLean, Linda Nodello, Kathleen Pugliese, Paul Ronan, Ian Service, Tom Somerville, Martha Walsh
• Stage company barbecues, golf days, morning coffee and bagels. • Conduct personal reviews with employees at least twice a year to provide them with a better understanding of their place in your company. • Whenever possible promote employees from within. When we hire new employees, we do our best to hire someone who we feel has long-term potential growth. In our industry, someone who is dedicated, reliable and a fast learner can advance quickly. • Offer training programs from within your company (on-the-job training) and provide employees with paid seminars and educational programs (Landscape Ontario winter workshops). • Institute profit sharing, financial awards and incentive programs for employees who meet performance goals and who agree to stay with the company for a predetermined time period. • It is important that employees have a clear and precise job description and know what is expected of them. • Probably one of the most important incentives to employees is to express to them their importance to your business. Good employees are the lifeline of a successful business. Treat them with utmost respect and you will get the same in return. By using some of these guidelines, we can offer many benefits besides passion. Phil Charal may be reached at pcharal@landscapeontario.com.
Looking back 15 years since LO celebrated its 25th anniversary Page 20 4 8 16 17 18 19 22 26 31
FEATURES ASSOCIATION NEWS VOLUNTEER PROFILe CHAPTER OF THE MONTH NEW MEMBERS EVENTS Industry NEWS COLUMNS Classifieds Ad Index
Views expressed are those of the writer concerned. Landscape Ontario assumes no responsibility for the validity or correctness of any opinions or references made by the author. Copyright 2013, reproduction or the use of whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited. Published 12x per year. Rates and deadlines are available on request. Subscription price: $43.51 per year (HST included). For subscription and address changes, please e-mail subscriptions@landscapeontario.com
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Association recognizes Gord Shuttleworth, industry pioneer, innovator and inventor
Recycling had nothing to do with environmental concerns back in the day, it was a good business move. In this case, food cans from local hospitals became the first containers in the nursery industry.
Gord Shuttleworth received one of the highest honours with the presentation of the Landscape Ontario Honorary Life Membership at Congress 2013. The event was emotional for the nearly 70-year-old Shuttleworth, as he looked back over a lifetime spent in the horticulture world. Shuttleworth is an industry pioneer, past president of Landscape Ontario, innovator, inventor, and to many who know him, a good guy. The honour was presented by another life member and past president (1979) Karl Stensson. “Gord is one of a long line of leaders who have influenced others through their principles, values, ethics and activities,” said Stensson. Tony DiGiovanni, executive director of Landscape Ontario, says, “There is a saying, ‘We can see further because we stand on the shoulders of giants.’ Gord is one of those giants. He has been instru-
4 LANDSCAPE ONTARIO May, 2013
mental in the success of our association. He was one of the master masons who laid a solid and stable foundation that we still enjoy.” Gord Shuttleworth has vivid memories of his time when he began working in the industry. He was literally born into it, while his mother and father Gladys and Ted Shuttleworth began their year-round business, Little Tree Farm Garden Centre in London, back in 1952. They raised a family of five children, while operating the growing business. It was the first indoor garden centre for Canada, and grew into one of the largest in the country. It was soon followed by Cullen Gardens. “Back in those days, people didn’t decorate the outside of their homes like today,” says Shuttleworth. “Everyone from across Canada came to see our garden centre.” Although Little Tree Farm no longer
exists, a couple of years ago Shuttleworth preserved the memory of his parents, and the history of the store that was a London institution for more than half a century. A plaque and a tree now honour that memory at the new medical building on Springbank Drive, where the Little Tree Farm once called home. At the age of 16 he worked as a driver for his father. After completing one year at the University of Western Ontario, Shuttleworth began working full-time for his parents. In 1968, Gord and his brother David bought Little Tree Farm from their parents. “During that year, I also began Delaware Nursery with my mom and dad. It was a growing operation of 56 acres, where we supplied container grown plant material for garden centres and landscape contractors.” At this time, growing in containers was
a major innovation for the nursery industry. Gord found that hospitals used five gallon metal cans that contained puréed food. He would go around to area hospitals and retrieve the empty containers, which proved ideal for the first containergrown nursery stock. Drain holes would be punched into the cans. Later, tarpaper was rolled and stapled to create another type of container. “We would cover them with sawdust in the winter, as we didn’t have polyhouses in those days,” says Shuttleworth. Another first that the family developed was concrete patio stones. “We began the production of the slabs to give our employees work throughout the winter,” says Shuttleworth. It soon took off, and Little Tree Farm was shipping patio stones all over south-western Ontario. “This was long before interlock stones.” From this, the concrete business saw expansion when the family began Dial-A-Mix Concrete Service. It grew into Ready Mixed Mortar Division of Dial-A-Mix. A first for Canada, this system provided delayed setting mortar. The concrete business was sold in 1998.
mentor to me, and someone whose opinion I greatly admired,” says Shuttleworth. “Gord was both a good friend personally and professionally,” says Vanderkruk, himself a past president of Landscape Ontario. “He really helped our industry, and together we were involved in a number of projects.” When Vanderkruk bought the first unit, Gord Shuttleworth knew he had a winner. Neil Vanderkruk thought so much of the device that he purchased the rights to the
aging me to attend. I thought it was a past presidents’ event to mark the association’s 40th anniversary.” Bob Allen, another former president of LO (1985), was responsible to ensure Gord Shuttleworth attended the awards ceremony, but did not know he was to take centre stage. “We managed to convince him to attend. When his name was called, he was completely surprised.” Allen says the honour for Gord Shuttleworth is well-deserved. “He contributed a lot to both the industry and the association.” Shuttleworth knew the real reason he had been encouraged to attend the award event, when his name was announced to the 600plus in attendance, “Landscape Ontario is proud to recognize Gord Shuttleworth for a lifetime of service and contribution to the nursery and landscape industry.” On stage was Karl Stenssen, president of Sheridan Nurseries, who presented the special plaque to LO’s newest honorary life member and Tony DiGiovanni.
Lifetime of service
Shuttleworth’s lifetime service encompasses both Landscape Ontario and the Canadian Nursery Landscape Association. His father Built and sold was president of CNLA (forShuttlePotter merly Canadian Nursery The list of accomplishTrades Association) from ments of the inventive 1959-1960. family includes an autoFirst appointed to the promated potting machine vincial board of Landscape for the nursery industry. Ontario in 1974, ShuttleIn 1988, Shuttleworth worth was named chair of and his father developed Congress in 1975. In 1976 the ShuttlePotter. “This he was elected as the fourth device allowed nurserpresident of LO, and conGord Shuttleworth is proud of his honorary life membership from Landscape Ontario. ies to reduce staff and tinued the position when he improve production potwas re-elected for another ting time up to 400 per cent,” says Shutterm in 1978. He became president of the machine in 2008. tleworth. London Chapter in 1982. “It’s an excellent system, we use it The centre drum of the potting Karl Stennson shared a great story at Connon, and find it a very efficient machine is filled with the soil mix, which is about Gord Shuttleworth during the 25th machine,” says Vanderkruk. Connon then fed into the pots on a rotating base. anniversary year of Congress. Nurseries/NVK continues to manufacture The machine can handle pots ranging in “During our past presidents’ meeting, and sell the ShuttlePotter. size from one to 10 gallons, with up to Gord came with about 15 full-head masks Long list of association service four people handling the entire operation. of an ‘old man’ (photograph in the 25th Back in January, Gord Shuttleworth was Twenty-five machines were built by anniversary yearbook). taken by surprise at Congress awards Gord Shuttleworth and sold across Can“All the past presidents donned them night when his name was called to ada and to the U.S. One of those cusat one time or another and interrupted receive the life membership award. “I had tomers was Neil Vanderkruk at Connon various events during the show. Because no idea that’s why everyone was encourNurseries/NVK in Waterdown. “Neil was a there were so many of us showing up WWW.HORTTRADES.COM 5
at different times and places, nobody could figure out who the ‘person’ was. For instance, at one point everyone said it was Casey van Maris, so at the next event we made sure Casey was not in the mask but near the masked person. “At the annual banquet at the end of the Congress, one by one we all came out from behind curtains, every door into the ballroom, etc. We all made our way to the stage through the crowd (in those days about 500 attended the banquet) and then took them off. It was hilarious and a prank which lasted for the full three days without anyone getting caught.” Following his term of office with LO provincial board in 1980, Gord Shuttleworth moved on to the board of directors of the Canadian Nursery Trades Association. He was elected president of the
national association in 1993, serving a two-year term. After 22 years of volunteer service with the provincial and national associations, Gord Shuttleworth stepped away to focus on his business, Delaware Nursery. He closed the nursery in 2011, trying his hand at semi-retirement. “I have about 20 hoop houses in use today — down from a one-time 120 — where I grow mostly boxwood. I sell to about 20 of my long-term wholesalers. It’s a self-serve system, they come in, pick up their plants, write the bill and leave it in the office.” Shuttleworth says it’s fun going back full circle to working with his hands, just like it was back in the late ‘60s. “I’m enjoying life, caring for the remaining nursery inventory, trimming, weeding, fertilizing and shipping. With less stress, I’m taking
time for my grandchildren.” Gord Shuttleworth continues to be actively involved in Landscape Ontario attending London Chapter meetings and helping the Chapter with governance issues. “He is a person that others listen to. He will still send an email or make a phone call when he has something to contribute,” says DiGiovanni. Gord Shuttleworth gives credit to his family, staff and the dedicated board of directors. “Their support meant everything to me over the years.”
Shuttleworth’s Delaware Nurseries near London. Top right photo, the ShuttlePotter was designed and built by Gord Shuttleworth and his father Ted to speed up the planting process for nursery growers. Manufacturing rights are now owned by Connon Nurseries/NVK.
6 LANDSCAPE ONTARIO May, 2013
Kyle Tobin took time to teach his nephews about raking the right way; at right, Paul Grotier and his spreader never seemed to stop moving.
Spring clean-up preserves St. James legacy The most massive good-news story in Canadian green industry history happened in December 2011, when Landscape Ontario member volunteers revitalized St. James Park in Toronto’s core. Occupy movement campers had left the park in mud, so horticulture industry companies led by Alan White and Kyle Tobin brought in flatbeds of material and an army of volunteers to re-green St. James. The sodding, pruning and mulching made a huge impact on local residents. But
beyond the renovation, the project has fostered a warm, respectful and enduring relationship between green industry volunteers and the local community. Tobin and White, committed to sound horticultural practices, have followed up by providing maintenance for the project, to protect the huge volunteer investment. They organized their second annual St. James spring clean-up on Apr. 20. Participants were invited to a Panc-Rake Breakfast, organized by the St. Lawrence Market
Friendly leadership from Alan White (green jacket) promoted efficiency.
Neighbourhood Business Improvement Area. Even though the morning started with flurries and snow cover, volunteers pulled off a successful event. The city block-sized park was raked, aerated, fertilized and mulched with a mix of professional and amateur volunteer labour. Tobin, of LawnSavers Plant Health Care in Concord, brought in his own equipment as well as his nephews, who earned some community service hours as they learned about their uncle’s business. Paul Grotier of Direct Solutions, a division of Agrium Advanced Technologies, tirelessly spread fertilizer. His company donated the fertilizer this year. A consistent St. James volunteer, Grotier explained by saying, “I live and breathe turf.” Alan White noted the St. James turf had suffered a bit because of heavy leaf cover. Since Toronto city budgets are not funding leaf removal, chances are White would welcome some industry help coming forward for next fall. He operates Turf Systems of Burlington. Tobin and White work closely with their community counterpart, Bob Kemp. Kemp serves as streetscape coordinator for the St. Lawrence Market BIA. He says, “I am pretty proud of this park. I work my little butt off, but it’s fun.” Along with The Friends of St. James Park, The St. Lawrence Market Neighbourhood BIA’s park stewardship was recently recognized nationally with CNLA’s inaugural Green for Life Community Award. City parks are often home to men who have lost families and careers – Kemp has given several a second chance by hiring them to help care for the park. On clean-up day, green industry professionals, neighbourhood moms, community leaders and newly sober men worked shoulder to shoulder, with shared pride.
BIA volunteer Alan MacDonald teamed up with his daughter.
WWW.HORTTRADES.COM 7
ASSOCIATION NEWS Golden Horseshoe MTO meeting attracts over 120 This year’s Golden Horseshoe Chapter MTO Spring Event was a huge success with over 120 in attendance. Hosted by Cap Brick Building Products in Burlington, Ministry of Transportation officers, Ian Walters and Mark Bonner, held an interactive presentation on road safety, and shared their insights on MTO regulations for commercial vehicles.
“This event was made possible through the generosity of our host Cap Brick and their sponsors,” said Chapter coordinator Lee Rozon. She pointed out that attendees arrived from across the region, ranging from Ancaster to Welland and in-between. Of the 126 who attended the event, over half were LO members and employees, with about 10 per cent of those
Over 120 industry professionals took part in the annual Golden Horseshoe Chapter MTO Spring Event.
8 LANDSCAPE ONTARIO May, 2013
attending being non-members. “Those non-members in attendance will hopefully be convinced of the benefits to becoming LO members,” she said. Along with Cap Brick, other sponsors were Techo-Bloc, Unilock, Permacon, Dutchman Landscape and BonRoy Services.
Research continues on management of boxwood blight
University of Guelph researchers Tom Hsiang and Sarah Healy are attempting to understand the biology of Cylindrocladium buxicola, or boxwood blight. Research on the fungus, the cycle of the disease, and ways to improve management is funded by Landscape Ontario with the assistance of Ontario nurseries. A new fungus, C. buxicola, causes
Figure 1
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Figure 2
Figure 3 Symptoms of box blight include dark or light brown spots on leaves with dark borders, black streaks on stems, and bronzed foliage as well as severe defoliation (Figure 1). Signs of the fungus include sporulation under high humidity. This results in fuzzy spore masses forming on the underside of leaves (Figure 2) or over the plant surface (Figure 3).
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ASSOCIATION NEWS severe disease on boxwood plants and has created great concern for nursery growers in Ontario. The disease seriously affects the appearance and aesthetics of boxwood, causing the entire foliage to become blighted, making the plants unusable, and resulting in major economic losses. Box blight has been observed to occur on many boxwood varieties from several geographic locations, including cultivars commonly grown in Ontario (Green Gem, Green Velvet, Green Mountain, and Green Mound). The cultural management methods for box blight include obtaining clean (pathogen-free) material, avoiding overhead irrigation, initiating sound sanitation methods, conducting weekly inspections and removing and destroying infected plants. Previous studies have demonstrated that box blight is difficult to control with fungicides, and attempts at fungicide control should be complemented with cultural management methods. Fungicides registered for emergency use in Ontario, B.C., and Quebec include Switch 62.5WG, and Daconil 2787 until December 31, 2013. In April of 2012, we received two infected Green Mountain boxwood from a nursery in Southern Ontario, and we isolated C. buxicola from these infected samples. The fungus was identified based on DNA tests. Healthy boxwood and pachysandra leaves were inoculated with the fungus to determine if Pachysandra terminalis could be a potential host for box blight and to assess the susceptibilities of young versus old leaves, along with the susceptibilities of the different boxwood cultivars. So far, we have discovered that C. buxicola can be isolated from inoculated symptomatic pachysandra leaves, which suggests that pachysandra may be a potential host for box blight. We also observed that after one week, inoculated young leaves become severely infected, while inoculated older leaves show no signs of infection. We also conducted a temperature growth experiment to determine the optimal temperature for the growth of C. buxicola.
Figure 4
Figure 5
Figure 6
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Several fungal isolates from different regions were incubated at 4, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30°C and we found that the optimal temperature for growth is 20°C, while there was little or no fungal growth at 4 or 30°C. Analysis of the infection process on detached boxwood leaves revealed that the infection cycle of C. buxicola can be completed in less than three days. Detached Green Mountain leaves were inoculated with a spore suspension and incubated for up to seven days at 23°C. The the lower leaf surface was peeled back and dyed with a stain, called trypan blue, to observe the fungal infection process every two hours until sporulation was observed. The infection process revealed that spore germination occurred three hours after inoculation (Figure 4) and penetration into the plant occurred by 21 hours (Figure 5). Spore production generally started sometime between 72 hours and 120 hours after inoculation (Figure 6). The importance of these results for the nursery industry is confirmation that this disease is present in Ontario and therefore poses a threat to nurseries selling or growing boxwood. This research also provides more information on the basic biology and optimal growing conditions of C. buxicola, highlighting how rapidly the infection cycle can be completed if the disease becomes established in a nursery setting. — Sarah Healy and Tom Hsiang, University of Guelph
Located only minutes from Toronto and Hamilton
Childs ready to improve Expo and Congress
New chair of the LO Trade Show Committee Terry Childs, says, “We need to continually work to make both Expo and Congress the best shows they can be.” Childs has been a consistent volunteer at Landscape Ontario since 2004. When recently named the chair, he said, “When Phil (Charal, LO president) called and asked if I would take on the position, I did need to think about, as the committee is comprised of a great group of people who are really committed to LO. I needed to make sure I could be worthy of the position. It is too much of an honour to turn down. RealTerry Childs izing I could make an impact and work within this group, as well as with all of the show staff, helped with the decision.” He operates Nature’s Way Landscaping in Gananoque. Childs will take over the chair from Beth Edney CLD, who served the position for the past two years. The committee looks after Expo, this year on Oct. 23 to 24, and Congress 2014, Jan. 7 to 9; both back in the Toronto Congress Centre. Childs says he would like to see Expo expand into more of a garden centre, growers and designers’ show. “We want to look at bringing in outdoor furniture suppliers and other new trends. Most importantly, our goal is to have the garden centres and growers look at Expo as their show. We want to try to get more of their input into strategic directions.” For more than a decade, leading growers and nurseries have introduced new bulbs, seeds, plants, favourites, shrubs and trees, along with all the home and garden décor, gift, and soils, fertilizers, organics, and tools to be found in a garden centre. In-
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ASSOCIATION NEWS store boutique items such as cutflowers, indoor tropical plants, foliage and fauna can also be sourced at the show. The new show committee chair says that for Congress he sees a need to continue to push new products and innovation. “I would like to see Congress be the place that ideas are finally realized and shown to the industry, both in respect to tools and equipment and ideas and ways of doing business.” Childs says he would like to develop an area in Con-
gress where our exhibitors can book time to demonstrate their products, or even techniques, and why they are innovative and special. In discussing his ideas for the organization of the shows, Childs says, “I would like to develop a few subcommittees within the show committee and bring in new members to learn about the shows and how we work, while concentrating on more specific areas of the show with some of the more experienced mem-
Letter to the editor Dear Sir, I am writing to you regarding the front cover of the April 2013 issue of Landscape Ontario magazine. The gentleman on the cover is pictured performing a procedure that is done regularly within the trade on many job sites. The picture portrays the exact opposite of the message Landscape Ontario has been preaching for years. “WE DO IT SAFELY.” The picture was most likely staged, showing the exact opposite of proper safety procedures. This picture presented an ideal opportunity to show the full level that Landscape Ontario and its members put into safety. Again, this picture was most disappointing in what it DID NOT show. Thank you, Bob Allen, past president Landscape Ontario
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bers providing leadership. I think this is a great way to get new members involved without the traditional time commitments for meetings and the shows.” He continued, “This will also allow the committee members to enjoy a little more of the show. As a member of the committee it can be very hard to see all of the show even though we are on site for all of the days.” Childs promises that attending the show this year will contribute to your business goals and prosperity. “Networking, first and foremost this is the best way for our members to grow their business. Then we add the extras — seminars, workshops, supplier and social events. “Newer and sometimes smaller member companies gain the ability to look at how to set their sights high and achieve their business goals, as well as how to develop a professional company.” concludes Childs. “Expo provides the opportunity to meet many suppliers under one roof and discuss upcoming needs and desires. Most importantly the positive attitude we give is often reflected in the positive attitude we see.” Garden and Floral Expo all comes together on October 23 – 24, 2013. Visit the new website at www.loexpo.ca for updates on events and registration.
This year’s auction part of Sheridan’s 100th celebration
Landscape Ontario’s Growers Group will hold its annual Industry Auction on Aug. 14. This year’s event will be hosted at Sheridan’s Georgetown location, 12266
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10th Line, in celebration of the company’s 100th anniversary. For many people the auction has become an event where you can expect to see anything horticulture related on a skid — and buy it. Typically skids are full of the industry’s best offerings of deciduous shrubs, trees, perennials, ground covers and evergreens. Also available are hard goods and related supplies such as fertilizer, pots, gardening tools, plant tags and labels. There is no admission fee. The day gets underway at 10 a.m. with wagon tours of the farm, while the Growers Awards of Excellence submissions will be judged near the bidding area from 9 a.m. until 12-noon. Winners will be announced at the end of the bidding, and then those winning skids will go up for auction. Before the bidding begins, everyone has the opportunity to have lunch and preview the lots. Attendees can sign up for a bidder number, and winning bidders may pay by cash, cheque, Visa or Mastercard. Each person who succesfully bids on a lot at the auction will have their name entered into a draw for a special prize. Last year, a lucky attendee won a TV. The lunch menu features food that has been locally grown and produced, and attendees are in for treat — summer barbecue at its best. This popular event is open to all landscape trades people, and proceeds benefit horticultural research and scholarships. If you want the opportunity to purchase plant material at below-wholesale prices, then bring your staff (and your trailer). All items are ready for pick-
Chapter shows LO colours at Thornbury
Tyler Speirs created this design for the centre stage garden at the Thornbury Home and Garden Show.
Members of the Georgian Lakelands Chapter proudly had the name Landscape Ontario displayed to the public attending the Thornbury Home and Garden Show on Apr. 13 and 14. “I was very impressed with the number of people who knew about Landscape Ontario, and some had even worked with Georgian Lakelands members,” said Lexi Dearborn of Dearborn Designs in Barrie. Members of the Georgian Lakelands team built displays at the show. To view the show’s website, go to www.thornburyhomeshow.info/index.htm.
Georgian Lakelands Chapter members involved were, stone suppliers Maxwell’s Landscape and Masonry Supplies and Unilock, Barrie; build team, Lee’s Landscaping, Hackson Landscaping and Tyler Speirs, plant materials, Botanix, Barrie’s Garden Centre and Clearview Nurseries; volunteers and speakers, Lexi Dearborn, Dearborn Designs and Associates, Barrie, Teresa Matamoros, Garden Holitics, Thornbury, and Lynne Barnes, Gordon J Leece Landscapes, Thornbury.
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ASSOCIATION NEWS up immediately after bidding. Plant material, hard goods and gift certificates are all welcome and appreciated for donation. Contact Kristen McIntyre at 1-800-265-5656, ext. 321, or auction@landscapeontario.com.
Seferian Design Group wins small business award
Seferian Design Group was recognized with a Small Business Excellence Award during the City of Burlington Chamber of Commerce gala on April 11. Over 425 people attended this year’s event held at the Burlington Convention Centre. “It is a big achievement for this office, and we are very proud,” said Haig Seferian CLD. Other good news for the company was placing second for the Durham College project at its Whitby campus. There were 62 submissions, including all the big landscape architect names in Toronto
14 LANDSCAPE ONTARIO May, 2013
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and the GTA. “We got shortlisted to the final four and were given an interview. We came second to Janet Rosenberg. I still consider this a win, since there were no other landscape architect firms that beat us,” said Seferian. Seferian Design Group was also featured in a video case study (in conjunction with the Molinaro Group) for positive development initiatives within Hamilton as part of the Renew Hamilton Project. The video was presented at the Art Gallery of Hamilton and can be viewed here http://bit.ly/XQXjR3.
students and teachers work to build new greenhouse
High Skills Major Landscape Horticulture students and teachers at Craig Kielburger Secondary School in Milton have taken on an ambitious project to convince the Halton Board of Education to build a new greenhouse at the school.
LO member and teacher at the school Wendy Peters explains, “The absence of a greenhouse creates limitations to program delivery and therefore limits the growth of this program. During the winter months, practical skill development is limited. The program consequently focuses on more sedentary components of green industries (landscape design) as the students do not have the space to complete practical activities in landscape construction and plant production.” The program was featured in the January issue of Landscape Ontario magazine. Peters says the addition of a greenhouse at CKSS will allow the continued development of the general interest and SHSM Green Industries programs. A number of presentations have been made at the board office and with trustees. “It is looking promising that the board will support us and also possibly fund a good portion of the project. We have not formally initiated fundraising, as I have been holding off to see what the board will fund,” says Peters. The students have created a video promoting the new greenhouse. It may be viewed at www.youtube.com/ watch?v=7Vgm8VGBFoo.
11-11-08 1:10 PM
Plans progressing for Backyard Glam Tour
Plans are coming together for The Backyard Glam Tour taking place in Georgian Lakelands on July 6 and 7, and in Waterloo region on July 5 and 6. The tour will feature 12 gardens created by Landscape Ontario members from Georgian Lakelands and Waterloo Chapters. A portion of the proceeds will go towards two local projects selected by the Chapters and a donation will be made to two charities, Beaver Valley Outreach and Hanover Hospital Foundation. The one-of-a-kind event is being described as an opportunity to view glamorous and professionally designed backyards in the Georgian Bay and Waterloo areas. The Backyard Glam Tour is being organized and promoted by Georgian Lakelands Chapter coordinator Deborah Lalonde through her company Blu Venue and and former LO trade show manager Paul Day. LO director of public relations Denis Flanagan will be the tour speaker. For more information go to www.backyardglamtour.com.
Sudbury LandscapING appreciates Esso benefits
The Esso Fleet Card Program is one of the most popular among the many business products and services offered in Landscape Ontario’s Endorsed Supplier Program. Over 300 members are currently using the program. Arthur Gutsch CIT of Sudbury Landscaping has been a customer of Esso for years. “Esso’s 24-hour service keeps my fleet of equipment, plus vehicles, operational year-round. I take advantage of Esso plus Landscape Ontario discounts to remain competitive,” says Gutsch. Each LO member can take advantage of 2.9 cents off per litre from the posted pump price, receive detailed monthly invoicing, Esso Speedpass, Aeroplan card program and much more. Members interested in applying for the program may find all the information at www.horttrades.com/endorsedsuppliers, as well all the other great discounts offered in the Endorsed Supplier Program. Esso program coordinator is Tim Jones, tim.jones@sympatico.ca.
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VOLUNTEER PROFILE Bruce Morton says it’s common sense to join LO For Bruce Morton CIT, CLP of the Ottawa Chapter, being a member of Landscape Ontario only makes sense. “It makes me wonder how for less than $500 per year, a small business person can afford to not take advantage of being a LO member.” A member since 1988, Morton remembers when he first learned about the association. “In December of 1985 my boss took me to the Ottawa Chapter Christmas party. There I had an opportunity to socialize with a number of peers, and other contractors who I had worked with during the season. I also won the big Christmas door prize, a commercial gas trimmer. Winning the prize was great (my father got the biggest present he’d ever received from me that Christmas), but I was most impressed by what I learned by talking with some of the more experienced industry people I met.” He remembers thinking at the time that he had very cleverly found a secret way to get help to be better at his job. “I now know I had simply discovered the value of networking,” he says. “I continued to use my new-found source of savvy coaching advice. When I started GreenScape. ca, two years later, I applied for membership right away in order to keep in contact
with my valuable network of mentors and friends.” He says if he was allowed to choose a legacy he would like to leave in LO, it would be to be remembered as the person who created the compelling marketing statement that LO uses in future membership drives. “That statement would explain very simply, for all the members and potential-members who ‘don’t get it,’ that the absolutely priceless, invaluable benefit one gains from membership in LO is the wisdom, coaching, guidance, mentorship, advice, examples, and help with any problem (you only have to just ask) you will get from the peers and industry professionals who you will get to know, just because you got involved as a volunteer,” says Morton. He concludes the thought with, “I do want to figure out how to make that message simpler.” Morton serves as Ottawa’s representative on LO’s provincial board and as chair of Ottawa’s GreenTrade Expo. “I serve with a really great team on the Ottawa Chapter board.” He also helps on the Chapter Relevance Committee and with the Ottawa Chapter coordinator Martha Walsh. Asked to recall his favourite memory
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during his time volunteering for the association, Morton responded, “Wow, that’s like asking me to pick out my favourite star in the night sky.” He related how that with everyone of his LO volunteer projects, he had a great experience with the people around him. “Our board meetings are certainly always fun.” He did manage to recall a couple of events back in the early nineties. “I was up in Toronto helping at Congress, and a number of us were ‘relaxing’ at a pub, after a long day. We were telling stories and laughing, and I remember one of the older members (I won’t risk calling him more mature), laughed at a joke, and then said, ‘Ahhh, we may be poor, but we see life!’ I can remember at the time thinking it was a cool expression. As I got older, I realized how much of a life message is buried inside that simple statement. I still remember it, and use it.” A humorous memory for Morton is a time when the Ottawa Chapter was quite involved in doing feature gardens with the Ottawa Home Show. “For years I helped out Tim Kearney, who chaired those projects. Each year Tim would ask his young son if he wanted to go along on setup days and help. The response was, ‘Is Bruce going?’ ‘Why?’ ‘Because, he always stops to eat. If he isn’t going, I’m not going, cause you never stop.’ I’ve always enjoyed the food part of volunteering.” Morton feels Landscape Ontario is in a challenging phase. “But, it’s in the most exciting stage of its growth and development since I’ve been involved.” He says that what makes LO stand out above all the other professional associations in North America is that “we never sit still; failure is not an option, and we have leaders who are always looking for a better way to strengthen our association’s ability to serve our members and our industry. LO does this by always challenging the status quo.” He offers as an example, the chapter relevance initiative, that he feels will revolutionize how LO manages and governs its affairs. “It will create a stronger, united chapter system, improve communication between chapters and head office, bridge gaps between the regions, ensure continuity of our initiatives and strategic plans, and ensure that every member, no matter how far from Milton, feels like he’s connected to something bigger. All the time. That’s cool!” Along with his LO volunteer time, over the years Bruce Morton has helped coach various sports and activities involving his daughter. “That’s probably my favourite job.”
CHAPTER OF THE MONTH Georgian Lakelands Chapter looks at ambitious agenda The Georgian Lakelands Chapter has joined the town of Wasaga Beach as a platinum sponsor for the brand new community garden being launched this spring. The garden will feature 50 plots for the local community residents to rent, as well as five plots to grow food in support of the local food bank and five plots for the Community Help Centre, which will use the plots to assist low income families in the community. The town is constructing the garden. Plans call for it be to launched on the May long weekend with an official opening ceremony in June. In addition to the Chapter’s support, several local LO members are also involved with this important cause.
Easter food drive
The Georgian Lakelands Chapter once again joined the Beaver Valley Outreach Easter Eggstravaganza for the ‘Fill The Landscape Trailer’ food drive. Over 260 pounds of food was collected and 50 Garden Inspiration magazines given out to participants. A prize of a $100 gift certificate from LO member nursery Ormsby’s Garden Centre was given to Betty Ross who brought in 14 pounds of food. The Easter Food Drive has become traditional part of the Eggstravaganza. The Chapter has set a goal of 500 pounds for next year’s event.
Harnessing new technology
Georgian Lakelands Chapter has already started planning for its September meeting. This event will be held in conjunction with National Tree Day on Sept. 25 and feature information on Landscape Ontario member benefits, as well as how to access those benefits online. Georgian Lakelands Chapter has been struggling to reach all of its members. New ideas are being looked at how to engage Chapter members to attend meetings without asking them to drive for 10 hours. For those unaware of the vast geographical size of Georgian Lakelands Chapter, it runs up to the Manitoba border, and includes members in Thunder
Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, North Bay and Manitoulin Island. The Chapter board is planning to broadcast the member benefit presentation online with a board member stationed at a chat computer to field questions from those calling in across Northern Ontario. Details on how to get involved will be posted on horttrades.com this summer, along with a detailed guide to assist in connecting with the event. If this meeting is successful, than we will attempt to broadcast future meetings in an effort to bring greater engagement province wide
successful event? • Communications — the who, what, when, where and how of an event; the advertising and promoting of the event. • A successful event comes together when it is advertised and promoted at least three months in advance. • Good organization.
Georgian Lakelands apprenticeship committee
The Georgian Lakelands Chapter Apprenticeship Committee, led by Gabe Matamoros and Lexi Dearborn, has been progressive in its efforts to secure local apprenticeship training to support the projected future growth of the industry and this geographic region. All green industry members are asked to help show support for this valuable educational initiative. To register your support, download a form letter at http://bit.ly/ZgBpYI, fill out the required information and email, fax or mail the letter to Sally Harvey at Landscape Ontario, sharvey@ landscapeontario.com, or fax 905-875-3942.
Questions to members
Members were asked to answer the three Georgian Lakelands questions below. We included some of Chapter snapshot the answers from Georgian Lakelands Number of members: 165 members. Number of active members: 114 What is working in your Chapter? Chapter Board • Chapter events where there is a Jeff Lee, President great speaker, some food and an Gary MacPhail, Treasurer/Provincial Board Rep. opportunity to socialize. Lynne Barnes, Secretary • Meetings like the ones with MTO that Michael LaPorte, Past President are held at the same time of the year Andrew Beattie, Director Earle Graham, Director and staff/employees attend. Kevin Hackson, Director • Moving the meeting around to make them available to more members. How do you attract and retain members to events? • Members come to events when they are asked by other members to attend (the old tap them on the shoulder route). • Members come when invited to come with other members — they feel welcome. • GOOD food and a venue where members can have a drink during/after the meeting while socializing. What do you feel is Lynne Barnes of Gordon J Leece Landscapes, Thornbury, is joined by an critical to running a area resident after he donated food to the Chapter’s food drive in Barrie. WWW.HORTTRADES.COM 17
NEW MEMBERS Timberline Landscape Contractors Inc Thomas Duggan 1153 Cream St, Fenwick, ON L0S 1C0 Tel: 905-892-5223 Membership Type: Active
Durham B&D Tractor Services Ben Nieuwenhuis 2587 Taunton Rd, Bowmanville, ON L1C 3K6 Tel: 905-263-2159 Membership Type: Active
London
Gama Landscaping Alex Gama 242 Elizabeth St, Oshawa, ON L1J 5S4 Tel: 905-404-3277 Membership Type: Active
Fisher’s Landscape Depot Tammy Fisher 258 Exeter Rd, London, ON N6L 1A3 Tel: 519-652-6752 Membership Type: Associate
Groff Landscaping Mark Groff 15800 Hwy 12, Port Perry, ON L9L 1B2 Tel: 905-985-4261 Membership Type: Active
St Williams Nursery & Ecology Centre David Turnbull 885 Hwy 24, St. Williams, ON N0E 1P0 Tel: 519-586-9116 Membership Type: Active
Howes Your Yard Chris Howes 1257 7th Line, Port Hope, ON L1A 3V5 Tel: 905-396-5330 Membership Type: Active
Stevens Irrigation Devern Chmarney 57101 Eden Line, Eden, ON N0J 1H0 Tel: 519-842-9583 Membership Type: Interim
S Mcpherson Lawn & Snow Service Inc Sean Mcpherson 120 - 2377 Hwy 2, Suite 443, Bowmanville, ON L1C 5H2 Tel: 416-726-6021 Membership Type: Active
Ottawa
Georgian Lakelands Muskoka Stonescape Inc Collin Dunnett 122 Hwy 141, Utterson, ON P0B 1M0 Tel: 705-783-5741 Membership Type: Active
Leonard St. Clair Ottawa, ON Membership Type: Horticultural Bruce Sales Inc. Derrick Mayhew 2588 Del Zotto Ave, Ottawa, ON K1T 3V7 Tel: 613-822-2154 Membership Type: Associate Hortiplan Outaouais Inc Gilles Pelletier 615 Montée St-Amour, Gatineau, QC J8R 0B6 Tel: 819-790-0385 Membership Type: Active
Natural Stonescapes Inc Mark Higginson 317107 3rd Line, RR 4, Meaford, ON N4L 1W7 Tel: 705-441-2174 Membership Type: Active
M & M Concrete Inc Martin Meloche 2216 Canaan Rd, Sarsfield, ON K0A 3E0 Tel: 613-229-2965 Membership Type: Active
Golden Horseshoe Paradise Decks and Landscape Design Inc Adrian Simunovic 10 Knollwood Crt, Dundas, ON L9H 7A4 Tel: 905-574-1773 Membership Type: Active
McGee Fencing Ltd Paul Mcgee 4775 Bank St, Ottawa, ON K1T 3W7 Tel: 613-822-2224 Membership Type: Associate
Skyway Lawn Equipment Ltd Glenn Burgess 154 Hwy 20 S, Stoney Creek, ON L8J 2T7 Tel: 905-662-2663 Membership Type: Chapter Associate
Professional Landscaping Robert Herault 601 Witt Rd, Pembroke, ON K8A 6W8 Tel: 613-732-7022 Membership Type: Active The Sam Group Ltd Steve Maher 111 Colonade Rd, Ottawa, ON K2E 7M3 Tel: 613-727-0446 Membership Type: Chapter Associate Universal Snow Removal Scott Macdonald 700 Whaley Ridge, Ottawa, ON K4A 0P9 Tel: 613-261-6767 Membership Type: Associate Winter/Summer Solutions Travis Hogan PO Box 154, Petawawa , ON K8H 2X2 Tel: 613-687-0444 Membership Type: Active Yves Landscaping Yves Desrosiers 2108 Route 600 W, St. Albert, ON K0A 3C0 Tel: 613-978-3565 Membership Type: Active
Toronto Baker Forestry Services Bob Baker 5001 9th Line, RR 5, Georgetown, ON L7G 4S8 Tel: 905-877-9390 Membership Type: Active Cedar Transportation Inc Ralph Cardicco PO Box 615, Bolton, ON L7E 5T5 Tel: 905-936-1008 Membership Type: Associate Lana Korb North York, ON Membership Type: Horticultural Green Bean Landscape Design Nicolette Linton 371 Beresford Ave, Toronto, ON M6S 3B6 Tel: 416-769-6886 Membership Type: Active Groundhog Landscaping Ltd Kyle King 2 - 369 Bering Ave, Toronto, ON M8Z 3B1 Tel: 647-818-3116 Membership Type: Active Historic Lumber Allan Bousfield 12478 Sixth Line, Acton, ON L7J 2L7 Tel: 519-853-0008 Membership Type: Associate
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LaRues Haulage Fred LaRue PO Box 222, Stn Main, Keswick, ON L4P 3E2 Tel: 905-478-4988 Membership Type: Associate
Kingsway Landscapes and Gardens Kevin Gunton 51 Bathgate Dr, Guelph, ON N1L 1B1 Tel: 647-828-9505 Membership Type: Active
Lionsgate Tree Care Inc Jay Horner 26 - 113 Lakeshore Rd W, Mississauga, ON L5H 1E9 Tel: 416-726-7944 Membership Type: Active
Neerhof’s Landscaping Arnold Neerhof RR 1, Hanover, ON N4N 3B8 Tel: 519-364-7699 Membership Type: Active
Pallotta Construction Ltd Paul Pallotta 269 Tower Dr, Toronto, ON M1R 3R3 Tel: 416-242-2562 Membership Type: Active Piques & Valleys Gardening Robert Cinquemani 171 Twin Hills Cres, Woodbridge, ON L4H 0G3 Tel: 905-553-8590 Membership Type: Active Nick Evans Newmarket, ON Membership Type: Horticultural Lorne Simpson Newmarket, ON Membership Type: Horticultural V&F Landscape Ltd Frank Di Franco 92 North Carson St, Etobicoke, ON M8W 4C5 Tel: 416-688-6104 Membership Type: Active
Bookmark www.horttrades.com/comingevents for up-to-date event information. May 21 - 22
June 22 - 23
Evergreen Brick Works, Toronto Green Roofs for Healthy Cities is organizing the Grey to Green Conference from May 21 to 22 at Evergreen Brick Works in Toronto. For more information, go to www.greytogreenconference.org.
Maxwell Stone Supply Yard, 9257 Beechwood Rd., Collingwood Some of the finest wallers and workers of stone in the world will be in Collingwood to teach the course. For more information about the course, and to sign up please contact Dean McLellan at 519-321-1586 or hlmasonry@ehtel.ca.
Grey to Green Conference
The Backyard Glam Tour
Georgian Lakelands The Backyard Glam Tour tour will be a one-ofa-kind opportunity to gain VIP access to 12 professionally decorated backyards in the Georgian Bay and Southern Grey County regions. Visit www.backyardglamtour.com for full details.
Waterloo
HortiCraft Landscaping Inc John Verhoeven 48 Bretz Ave, Cambridge, ON N3C 2W9 Tel: 519-220-1300 Membership Type: Active
Dry stone walling course
July 5 - 7
Tyler Marshall Lawn Care & Property Maintenance Tyler Marshall 420 Westgate Crt, Kingston, ON K7P 0E4 Tel: 613-561-5296 Membership Type: Active
Green Ventures Landscape Care Sean Hebel 38 McDougall Rd, Waterloo, ON N2L 2W5 Tel: 519-577-3632 Membership Type: Interim
Lar-Nick Lawn & Snow Services Ltd Nicole Brown 63 Madera Cres, Chatham, ON N7M 5Z6 Tel: 519-355-1019 Membership Type: Active
EVENTS
Upper Canada
Folmer Landscaping & Garden Centre Brian Folmer RR 3, Walkerton, ON N0G 2V0 Tel: 519-881-3300 Membership Type: Active
Windsor
June 15 - 17
Dry stone walling course and certification day
LO home office, 7856 Fifth Line South, Milton Landscape Ontario and Dean McLellan Stonework present the inaugural dry stone walling course and certification day at the LO Home Office, with two master craftsmen from the Dry Stone Walling Association of Great Britain. For more information, or to register, go to www. horttrades.com/dry-stone-walling-course-milton.
July 25
Toronto Chapter’s Annual Golf Tournament
Nobelton Lakes Golf Club, 125 Nobleton Lakes Drive, Nobleton The Toronto Chapter will host its annual golf tournament. The shotgun-start begins with registration and lunch at 11 a.m. and tee-off at 1 p.m. For more information, or to register, contact Helen Hassard at 1-800-265-5656, ext. 354, or helen@landscapeontario.com.
WWW.HORTTRADES.COM 19
1.
3.
4.
1. Horticulture technician and landscape design students participated in a spring campus clean-up at London’s Fanshawe College. Over 90 students gathered 754 pounds of garbage during the April event. 2. Landscape Ontario’s Garden Expo brought together three shows under one roof of the Toronto
Congress Centre. The former shows were Garden Expo, Florist Expo and National Hardware Show. In photo are members from Mori Nurseries who won the best booth award for over 200 sq. ft. 3. Connon Nurseries celebrated its 100th anniversary. Three generations of the Vanderkruk family are in this photo from 2006. From left, Mark, Rick, Case and Neil Vanderkruk. 4. Seven teams competed in the 2006 Waterloo Chapter annual baseball tournament. In photo are the members of Clintar Grounds Maintenance who won the championship for the third consecutive year. 5. Windsor Chapter and St. Clair College held the first Winter Blooms Show on Mar. 4. Guest speakers were David Tarrant, left, and Denis Flanagan. They are joined by St. Clair graduate Sue Larson.
Landscape Ontario celebrates 40 years
2006
This year is a time of special pride, as your association celebrates its 40th year. Landscape Ontario magazine has searched its archives to publish nostal-
20 LANDSCAPE ONTARIO May, 2013
gic items since the association’s last big celebration in 1998. LO’s first 25 years were documented in a special yearbook, available at www.horttrades.com/yearbook. This month’s feature on the events of 2006 will end the series of looking back over LO’s past 15 years. We hope you have enjoyed the feature.
pest managers busy containing hostile species
More than 10,000 trees were impacted by a mass spawning of gypsy moths in 2006. The gypsy moth is a notoriously hungry population, capable of complete, fast defoliation of infested trees. City staff estimated
2.
5. that the cost of pruning and/or removal of the infected Mississauga trees cost about $5 million. The city had been monitoring the state of gypsy moth for several years, noting the exponential annual increases to the pest’s population. It wouldn’t be a stretch of the imagination for more than 600,000 caterpillars to emerge from just one, heavily infested tree. To treat the trees, city staff recommended two Integrated Pest Management approaches. The first request went out to all Mississauga residents living in affected areas, who were encouraged to destroy all egg masses within reach. Eggs masses outside of reach were to be eliminated by two to three aerial applications of Bacillus thuringiensis var. kustakim (Btk) in the
spring via a twin-engine helipcopter. Another risk posed to Ontario trees grew as more sightings of the emerald ash borer were reported. Though it may not be possible to completely eradicate the EAB, Canadian Food Inspection Agency forestry specialist Ken Marchant said the spread of EAB can be slowed down. “This is generating interest and concern across Canada,” Marchant said. “City officials in Winnipeg estimate there are 300,000 ash trees lining city streets. To lose this many trees would be devastating,” he continued. The CFIA removed more than 50,000 trees in Chatham-Kent Country in 2005. “Of those trees, 81 were found to be infested with EAB. What’s troubling is that some of the trees were heavily infested, but showed no outward signs of infestation,” said Marchant. “The biggest limitation to controlling EAB is that we can’t find it at low levels of infestation. By the time the damage is noticed, we’ve missed the leading edge by 30 to 40 kilometres.” Late in 2006, the EAB was spotted in two trees in a residential neighbourhood in London.
Industry embarks on trade mission to China
LO members fuming over 407 tolls
Connon Nurseries celebrates 100th anniversary
Landscape Ontario members using Hwy. 407 voiced their displeasure when a noticeable trend of ridiculously expensive bills arrived in company mailboxes. There were many instances in 2006 where companies were repeatedly overcharged, because a 407 transponder registered a truck, but a trailer attached to that truck would get charged as a second, nontransponder vehicle. Catherine Kemley from Bruce Wilson Landscaping shared some advice to Horticulture Review readers about how to avoid 407 toll overruns driving a truck with an attached trailer. Kemley recommends assigning each truck a separate transponder and always leaving it there, and to make sure that the 407 has all current plate numbers, including all trailer plate numbers. “Be specific by listing the trailer plates and label them as such,” she said. “It is also helpful for the drivers to mark down when they enter and exit the 407.” If a double charge still occurs, Kemley recommends faxing a copy of the charge, along with the transponder serial number that the trailer was attached to that day, to the 407 administration asking that the charge be reversed. “I have had no problems with this method.”
A booming economy created a substantial demand for landscape products and architectural services in major cities in China. That newfound economic prosperity compelled the Ontario government to organize a trade mission to China, where travelers had an opportunity to be introduced to potential customers and the chance to penetrate a brand new market. The first stop on the trip was to the sixmonth-long 2006 International Horticultural Expo in Shenyang, featuring a 246-hectare area which included four major architectures, 8.1 million trees and more than 20 million flowers. Shenyang, the capital city of Northeast China’s Liaoning province, was in the midst of ridding itself of the reputation of being one of the world’s top 10 most polluted cities. The Shenyang expo came on the heels of a $2.5 billion investment by the Chinese government to increase and expand Shenyang’s public green spaces, as well as to shut down more than 600 heavy-polluting factories and plants.
One of the driving forces in the Canadian horticulture industry celebrated its 100th birthday. The company began as The Connon Floral Co. Ltd., with offices and greenhouses in Hamilton. The owner, John Connon, expanded his business by purchasing a 126-acre farm in Stoney Creek in 1911. Upon Major John Connon’s return from his service in World War I, he continued to grow his company as fast as the economic climate would permit. In the spring of 1952, as the post-World War II boom began to take hold, Connon hired a Dutch immigrant with an impressive horticultural background named Cornelius Vanderkruk. Within five years, Cornelius was general manager of the nursery and purchased a 50 per cent interest in the Connon Nurseries. When next generation of Vanderkruk sons had children of their own interested in the family business, Neil, Art and Cor decided in 1986 to divide Connon Nurseries into three separate businesses: AVK Nursery Holdings, CB Vanderkruk Holdings Ltd., and Neil Vanderkruk Holdings Inc.
WWW.HORTTRADES.COM 21
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INDUSTRY NEWS Wireless soil moisture sensors a good option for pot-in-pot system Irrigation is one of the most important elements for the success of container nursery production. Too much water will cause drought stress, while over-watering wastes water and fertilizer, and leads to root zone oxygen deficiency and pathogen proliferation, lowered crop productivity, and negative environmental impacts. Currently, most nursery operations base irrigation schedules on non-scientific methods, such as touching or visual inspection. These methods will work under certain circumstances, however, it is critical that the one in charge of watering is very experienced and diligent. Pot-in-pot production technology is becoming popular in caliper tree productions in nursery operations. When the pots are small, growers can lift them up to check the growing substrate water content in order to decide when and how much to water. However, most of the pots used in caliper tree productions are too heavy to lift and assess the growing substrate moisture content (SMC). Without technology to accurately assess the SMC, it is difficult to make the right decisions regarding when and how much to water. To address the above issues, we have introduced a sensor-based automated irrigation system (www.wirelessirrigation. com) to the nursery industry. There were a few unanswered scientific questions related to a plant’s response to SMC and variation of the SMC with time. Therefore, we designed a research project to systematically study these uncertainties in order to develop better strategies for irrigating pot-in-pot trees. The objectives of this research were evaluate the feasibility of using wireless soil moisture sensor-based automated irrigation technology (SMAIT) for nursery plant irrigation; investigate the responses of pot-in-pot Acer rubrum (red maple) trees to different growing SMCs; and develop recommendations for using SMAIT in pot-in-pot tree productions. An on-farm trial was conducted at Connon Nurseries/CBV from May 2011 to Oct. 2012, covering two growing sea-
sons. Acer rubrum trees were used as the testing species based on the fact that they will rapidly display visual signs when placed under stressful situations, or will alternately display vitality when placed under optimum conditions. This tree is very well represented in Ontario nursery operations. Two-year bare root trees (~2.5 cm caliper size) were potted in 62-litre (15-gallon) pots with growing substrate (Gro-Bark Tree Mix; the laboratorymeasured container capacity was 78 per cent and the actual container capacity measured using a sensor in the field was 50 per cent) at the beginning of the 2011 growing season and irrigated at five different regimens (treatments). The five treatments included a control and four automated irrigation regimens. For the control, the timing and amount of water that each tree received was determined at the grower’s discretion. This represents the current common practice in the majority of nurseries. For the automated irrigation regimens, trees were irrigated automatically whenever the SMC reached 36 per cent, 29 per cent, 22 per cent, or 15 per cent. The automated irrigation system used FreeLink Wireless Smart Central, which was installed in the office at Connon Nurseries to provide the wireless communication from the field to the office for irrigation control and reporting; three FreeLink Wireless 8 channel Valve and Sensor Controllers in combination with DC Latching Solenoids and Decagon EC-5 moisture sensors; two FreeLink Wireless Flow Sensors to monitor the irrigation in the control and test areas independently and two FreeLink Wireless Flow Sensors to monitor the irrigation in the control and test areas independently. Also, one FreeLink Wireless 8 channel Environmental Sensor Controller was used to monitor both the ground temperature and moisture content in the control plots. A soil moisture sensor was buried in the centre of each pot and the SMC was read and sent to a computer once every 10 minutes. These SMC readings were
22 per cent to save irrigation water and prevent over- or under-watering. The wireless soil automated system worked reliably and controlled the SMC in the designed levels. The Decagon soil moisture sensors can be left in the pots in container production over the winter. The sensor-based irrigation system needs homogeneous growing substrate and plant size. If the plant size variation is too big, it may cause the smaller plants to receive too much water, while the larger ones do not receive enough water. Also, when inserting the sensor in to the substrate, it is very important to avoid large chunks, such as pine bark or large roots around the sensors, and to make sure the sensors Experimental layout at Connon Nurseries/CBV. Soil moisture sensors are inserted to the centre of the potting are inserted where most of the roots substrate. A computer was located in an office, 1 km from this site for recording and displaying growing are located. It is important to ensure substrate moisture levels in the pot, and for wireless control of irrigation. the pump, plumbing lines, and emitters are working properly, so that the used to trigger irrigation events for the automated irrigation treatautomated system delivers the required amount of water. ments. When the substrate reached the targeted moisture conBased on our research, we strongly suggest growers adopt tent, irrigation was delivered through two emitters (NetaFim’s some of the sensor and control technologies to guide their dayPlum PCNL Single-direction spray stakes provided 3.2 gph) per to-day irrigation practices. pot over three cycles. A time of 90 minutes was left between each For pot-in-pot Acer rubrum trees, the suggested minimum irrigation cycle to deliver a total amount of water equal to the SMC used to trigger the irrigation events was about 22 per cent. amount the pot could hold between the target SMC (e.g. 22 per cent) and 50 per cent (field measured container capacity) in order to reduce or eliminate leachate from the bottom of the pots. The irrigation system and tree performance were checked daily. Tree caliper, circumference, height, and visual appearance were measured or assessed regularly during the growing seasons. Soil moisture sensors remained in the pots and left in the field to overwinter with the trees to test whether the sensors 350 varieties of shade trees and shrubs could withstand harsh Canadian winters. 150 varieties of fruit trees on hardy rootstock Measurements at the middle and end of the growing season in 2011 indicated that the caliper, circumference, height and Wire-basket visual appearance of the trees were not affected by the irrigation treatments. There were also no differences in leaf colour Containerized and the amount of leaves that remained on the trees on Oct. Bare-root selection 4, 2011 (end of the 2011 growing season). Temporary wilting events were observed for some of the trees in the 15 per cent Satisfaction guaranteed treatment during the growing season. Trees in the 22 per cent treatment were not significantly different in performance (caliper, circumference, height, and visual appearance) from trees in the control, 29 per cent, and 36 per cent treatments, but used 55 per cent less water than the control. Final measurements at the end of the 2012 growing season showed that trees did not differ in performance (circumference and height, visual appearance, leaf colour, and the amount of leaves remaining on the trees on Sept. 28, 2012), however, the SMCs were more consistent and well-controlled by using the sensor-based automated irrigation system than by using a grower’s judgement. Without using sensors, it is difficult, if not impossible, to judge the water content of the growing substrate, and this can therefore lead to either over- or under-watering. Phone : 905 689 - 4022 | Fax : 905 689 - 8080 Results suggest that pot-in-pot Acer rubrum caliper trees E-mail : sales@krausnurseries.com can be irrigated using a sensor-based automated irrigation sysWeb : www.krausnurseries.com tem, and irrigation events can be triggered at a SMC as low as WWW.HORTTRADES.COM  23
INDUSTRY NEWS More research is needed to determine optimal irrigation schedules for other crops and production systems, especially container shrubs and perennials, which commonly use overhead irrigation. The sensor-based automated system has great potential to save water, reduce root diseases, and improve crop production. When there is no available information on the irrigation schedule for your specific crop, substrate, and irrigation combination, it is recommended that a soil moisture sensor be used to check the SMC before irrigating. For example, several experienced personnel in charge of irrigation on a specific nursery can get together to come up with a conclusion on when to water, based on their experiences and observations. A sensor can be inserted into a pot to measure the SMC at the point when the growers would decide to irrigate. From there, everyone can use this moisture content as a guide to decide when to water in the future. Substrate container capacity can be measured to calculate how much water needs to be added to reach container capacity from the irrigation triggering point. This project was financially supported by Landscape Ontario, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Growing Forward Program and the Agricultural Adaptation Council. We thank FreeLink Wireless Irrigation Systems for providing sensors and wireless automated irrigation systems and providing other necessary material and technical supports. We also thank Connon Nurseries/CBV for providing plumbing, land, plant materials and technical support; and Rob Vanderkruk’s valuable inputs during the entire process. Finally, thanks to Linping
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Wang for her technical support. For more information contact Dr. Youbin Zheng (yzheng@uoguelph.ca), an associate professor of the University of Guelph, and the Environmental Horticulture Chair for both University of Guelph and the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre. — Dr. Youbin Zheng, Katherine Vinson, Cody Thompson, School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph; Janice Carmichael, Connon Nurseries - CBV
Asian long-horned beetle eradicated
In early April, Pierre Lemieux, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture, on behalf of Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver, announced that the Asian long-horned beetle (ALHB) has been successfully eradicated in Canada. As a result, the Ministries of Agriculture and Natural Resources announce that tree materials, including nursery stock, trees, logs, lumber, wood, and wood and bark chips from tree species that are susceptible to the Asian longhorned beetle, may once again be freely moved out of, or through, the areas formerly regulated for ALHB. The Asian long-horned beetle is not native to Canada and was first detected in the cities of Vaughan and Toronto in 2003. Following the detection, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) conducted visual surveys to determine how widely the pest had spread, and the extent of the damage it had caused to many broadleaf trees, such as maple,
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TIMM ENTERPRISES LTD. Mail: P.O. Box 157, Oakville, ON L6K 0A4 Office & Warehouse: 5204 Trafalgar Rd., Milton, ON L0P 1E0 Phone 905-878-4244 Fax 905-878-7888 Sales 1-888-769-TIMM (8466) www.timmenterprises.com sales@timmenterprises.com
24 LANDSCAPE ONTARIO May, 2013
We have your potting solutions: Lift-Eze Containers with proper handles Pot Supports to keep them standing COCODISC® for weed control
birch, elm, poplar and willow. A Ministerial Order — the Asian LongHorned Beetle Infested Place Order was established by the CFIA around the southern part of the City of Vaughan and the north east part of the City of Toronto to prevent further spread. As part of the eradication effort, nearly 30,000 trees were also removed from the area. The Ministerial Order has now been repealed. ALHB was last detected inside the regulated area in December 2007. It has never been detected elsewhere in Canada. The ALHB has no natural controls, and the only way to eradicate the insect was to remove all susceptible trees within a defined area. In September 2003, when CFIA confirmed the detection of ALHB, all infested and susceptible trees were removed within a 200 or 400 metre radius to eliminate the spread of the beetle to uninfected trees.
Heat stress is concern for industry
Although April temperatures seemed more like early March, the Weather Network is predicting above normal temperatures across most of southern and eastern Ontario and the southeastern corner of northeastern Ontario, as well with near normal temperatures in northcentral and northwestern Ontario. For the landscape industry, heat requires precautions. When heat is combined with other stresses such as hard physical work, loss of fluids, fatigue or some medical conditions, illness, disability and even death amy occur. Direct sunlight is usually the main source of heat, but humidity also contributes to heat stress. It is recommended that outdoor workers develop a workplace heat stress prevention plan. Heat stress can take many forms, depending on the severity of external and internal factors and the condition of the individual. A worker expending large amounts of physical energy in a hot and humid environment, without regular rest or water breaks, may eventually experience heat exhaustion, fainting, heat stroke or heart attack. The five symptoms of heat stress are heat rash; fainting; muscle spasms in stomach, legs, arms; heat exhaustion, which resembles shock (feeling of faintness/nauseated; low blood pressure, skin may be hot and red, victim may have a fever) and the body overheating, causing the victim mental confusion and needing immediate medical attention. It takes seven to 14 days of continu-
ous exposure to heat for the body to adjust to high temperatures. Because extended periods of extreme temperatures are usually brief in Ontario, many workers don’t have enough time to acclimatize. A number of methods may be used by workplaces to ensure staff is healthy and safe from heat stress, including: • Develop, communicate and implement a heat stress plan. • Have a first-aid response system and trained first-aid providers in place. • Policies for the recording and reporting of incidents should be developed and made available. • Provide air-conditioned rest areas, or put up shade barriers to block sun heat. • Increase the frequency and length of rest breaks. • Provide cool drinking water near workers and remind them to drink a cup every 20 minutes or so. • Consider the types of clothing employees wear and if adjustments can be made in hot weather. • Set-up a thermometer and humidity meter. • Measure and monitor the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT). The WBGT is a composite temperature used to estimate the effect of temperature, humidity, wind speed and solar radiation on humans. • Workers on medication or with preexisting medical conditions may be more susceptible to heat stress, impairing the body’s response to heat. Workers on such medications should speak to their physician about working in hot environments. Drinking water is essential to help avoid heat stress. Do not to wait until you’re thirsty, because by that point you’re already dehydrated. Workers should drink water on a regular basis, even if they don’t feel thirsty. The common assumption is people with lots of risk factors are going to succumb first. In fact, it is usually young males, the least suspected, who end up ignoring their body’s signals. Workers need to listen to their own bodies and take precautions. Employers have a duty under section 25(2) (h) of the Occupational Health and Safety Act to take every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of a worker. This includes developing hot environment policies and procedures to protect workers from hot weather. The Ministry of Labour has a great deal of information on heat stress. It may be found at http://bit.ly/XWML3.
Garden centres can sign-up for recycling program
Plans are well underway for the annual National Plastic Recycling Event. This year it will run from June 21 to July 1. Last year over 91,000 lbs. of horticultural plastic was kept from entering landfills across Canada. Just over 50 garden centres took part in the event. To confirm that your garden centre will host a recycling drop point during the event, contact Julia Ricottone, CNLA’s landscape and garden centres priorities manager, at julia@cnla-acpp.ca. CNLA will post a map on the its website to show all participating garden centres, so consumers can find where they can recycle their plastic. Each business taking part in the program may use a toolkit created for the event. The toolkit includes posters and flyers to promote the event. To find more information, or obtain the toolkit, go to http://bit.ly/ZN8E24.
Last year over 91,000 lbs. of horticultural plastic was recycled.
Safety case study: Cindy takes a tumble
Cindy had been working for a new plant nursery and retail outlet for the last month since getting out of college for the summer. She had a great interest in plants and had taken courses at college which qualified her to work in the nursery part of the operation. She loved her work, potting plants, pruning, diagnosing diseases and best of all, nobody really bothered her much. She often worked alone. In fact supervision was almost non-existent, since she seemed to know what she was doing. Besides it was spring and very busy. Today, Cindy was needed in the retail outlet. One of the employees there had called in sick and the other one had a
death in the family. The owner was desperate and he figured Cindy could handle it. She was shown how to operate the cash register and told to help the customers as best as she could. After all, she knew plants. One of the first customers of the day was admiring the colourful hanging baskets and had chosen one she wanted to purchase. Normally, the cashiers would use a long handled tool with a hook on the end to reach and lower the baskets. Cindy didn’t know it existed. The pots were just high enough to be beyond her reach. Looking around, the simplest solution was to grab the stool behind the cash register and stand on it. That particular pot had somehow snagged itself in the suspension wire it was hanging from and wouldn’t come easily. As Cindy tried to free it, her weight shifted on the stool and she fell striking her arm on a display of plants on her way towards the concrete below. How could this have been prevented? The firm did not have an orientation and training program in place. It is the employer’s legal responsibility to ensure that workers are aware of hazards and trained on how to safely do each specific task. The lax attitude towards supervision demonstrates poor management and a shirking of responsibilities under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, which requires employers to ensure workers are supervised and trained properly. The broken arm required a call to the Ministry of Labour; critical injuries require ministry notification. Because of the lack of training, records, and supervision, the company will most likely be charged and taken to court. The fine could be substantial. The firm should have anticipated that having only one first aid person could be a problem. They should have assessed their needs and trained an appropriate number of first aiders. Want help making sure you have the right pieces in place to protect your employees? Contact Landscape Ontario’s partner for health and safety advice and assistance, Workplace Safety and Prevention Services at 1-877-494-9777, ext. 0, or visit the website at www.wsps. ca. Also, stay on top of the latest news by connecting with WSPS on Twitter at twitter.com/wsps_news. — Steve Zronik consultant, Workplace Safety and Prevention Services
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OMAFRA NURSERY Airblast sprayer start-up tips By Dr. Jason S.T. Deveau OMAFRA application technology specialist
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ou should plan for half-a-day per sprayer for your start-up routine. It may not take that long, but pressure gauges snap off, fittings crack, and bearings seize, so have a plan for getting replacement parts. Here are a few tips to consider as you get your sprayers rolling for the 2013 season. Perform a visual inspection, general cleaning and lubrication. Do an operational check of the sight gauge (it should not be opaque), regulator and valves. Inspect the frame for corrosion or broken welds. Test the hitch integrity, safety chains and the tank mount, too. Clean and inspect the fan blades, housing, screen and trash guard. Be sure to clean and lubricate the power take-off telescoping shafts and the shields. Wheel bearings and tire pressure should be inspected. One of the most common causes for faulty pump performance is gumming or corrosion inside the pump. You should get into the habit of flushing the pump and the entire system with a solution that will chemically neutralize what you sprayed that day.
This will dissolve most residues remaining in the pump and leave the inside of the pump clean for the next use. Pump manufacturer, Hypro recommends changing oil after 40 hours of breakin operation and every 500 hours after that. Diaphragms should be replaced every 500 hours and check valves should be replaced every 1,000 hours. Generally speaking, EPDM (black diaphragms) are a better choice for airblast sprayers while the Desmopan (amber diaphragms) are a better choice for lawn care sprayers. Corrosion is the biggest concern. When you winterized your sprayer, you should have cleaned it and flushed it with a 50 per cent solution of permanent-type automobile antifreeze (Prestone, Zerex, etc.) containing a rust inhibitor. Alternately, you could have filled the pump with Fluid Film and then drained and saved the excess for the next application. The ports should be plugged to keep out air during storage. Flush the lines. If they aren’t already off, remove the nozzles, strainers and filters. Run a few tanks of clean water through the system with the agitation running. This is when rust, scale, anti-freeze and whoknows-what breaks free of the sprayer tank and lines. Run them until the discharge is
CONTRACTORS’ COLUMN Association provides important networking opportunities By Arthur Skolnik
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brought one of my crew members with me to Congress (seems so long ago) in January. I was amazed how many people with whom we talked shop. It was not only vendors we talked to, but fellow contractors and other guests at the show. There were people from all across Canada and the U.S. By the end of our first day, we
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hadn’t even walked one-third of the floor. I was amazed at how much networking we had done. The number of names, products, websites, etc., was almost overwhelming. At the end of February, I brought several of my crew members to the Lecture Series at the Latvian Centre. Here too, we all networked. Conversations included tools, techniques, problem solving tips, etc. In addition to the two informative lectures, the
clear, then clean and replace the nozzles, strainers and filters. Search for leaks. With the tank full, check it for leaks. If the agitator shaft is leaking a little, tighten the packing. If it has bottomed-out, re-pack it. Get the sprayer up to pressure and look for wet areas on all hoses and connections. Check your strainers and filters. If you don’t already have three levels of filtration (including the tank-opening basket) then consider slotted (not mesh) strainers behind the nozzles in the nozzle body. If you don’t use them because they plug up, then look to your agitation system. If there is sludge at the bottom of your tank when it’s empty, then your pesticide is not mixed or staying suspended properly. That leads to clogged strainers and nozzles. It may also be your sprayer hygiene. You should wash nozzles and strainers after each spray day. Are you sure your pressure gauges are accurate? The relief valve should always be in the by-pass position during sprayer start up. If you get a pressure spike during start-up and the needle buries, then the gauge will always read high and must be replaced. An opaque, leaking, or otherwise old gauge should be replaced. Consider purchasing a really good gauge rather than a $20 dollar version. New or old, test your gauge for accuracy. A tool to do this can be found at http://bit.ly/10dKmgR. Always consult your sprayer manufacturer’s manual. There’s also a checklist at the end of Factsheet 10-047 Calibrating Airblast Sprayers at http://bit.ly/15MaHKY. Consider printing and laminating a copy for use with a dry-erase marker again and again.
after-meeting conversations were surprisingly full of information. And then in March, along comes Canada Blooms. Walking the floor and hearing about the triumphs and disasters of indoor garden building put a smile on my face, as I realized how we all try to reach for the same things: beauty, perfection and longevity in the design and construction of our work that is completed in a smooth and safe manner with a prosperous end result. I believe strongly that networking and making connections through our trade association are made by getting involved (at least attending events). It can help owners and employees see more clearly and work more thoroughly. Get involved by telling me about a light bulb that turned on for you, or something interesting you learned from an unlikely source. I can be reached at arthur@shibui.ca.
MEMBERSHIP Member excellence policy By Helen Hassard Membership coordinator
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t this time of year, the activity level at the home office in Milton starts to quiet down. Our members are all out working, seminars are wrapped up and chapters don’t meet again until the summer events begin. Unfortunately, this time of year is also when we tend to hear from consumers, and even fellow members, who lodge complaints against current members. Just a quick aside, there are not many complaints each year, but
for obvious reasons spring is when they increase. Our complaint process is very straightforward. It’s available online at www. landscapeontario.com/complaint-process. It basically says that Landscape Ontario will work to facilitate communication between the two opposing parties. The way it works is the consumer, or person filing the complaint must send written correspondence to our membership department explaining their grievance in detail. First thing we do is check that the company is actually a member. Unfortunately in this day of technology it’s not hard to steal a logo from a website. We have a separate process in place for connecting with non-members who try to use our logo. I encourage you to let me
UNDERGROUND WORLD Utility hits remain stable By Terry Murphy CLP
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tatistics show that the landscape sector is constant in the number of utility hits over the last couple of years. For the last three years, the number sits at around at 360. One must be very careful of statistics. They can be manipulated and slanted to achieve whatever position someone is trying to support. My measurement criteria are absolute utility hits. How many did the landscape industry have compared to last year? The hits increased in 2012 over 2011 by only one per cent. This is not really significant. But, it does tell us one thing. We are not making any major improvements, unless we can see data that says there
know if you see someone falsely claiming to be a member of Landscape Ontario. Once membership is confirmed, we forward the complaint on to the member, along with our own letter. A copy is made of everything for our complaints file. If a member receives three complaints against them in one calendar year, his membership can go before the provincial board of directors. Any response the member sends back to us is then forwarded back to the original person who filed the complaint. The hope is that this correspondence will act as a catalyst to stimulate further communication. The complaint process is offered strictly as a service to both the consumer and members. LO listens to consumer complaints and provides members with the feedback. We do not advise, we merely listen and relay. Feel free to give me a call at 1-800-265-5656, ext. 354, or by email to helen@landscapeontario.com, or tweet me about it at my address. I would like to hear your thoughts and feedback on the project.
farming and landscaping and a new category, waterway improvements. The current fine and repair bill for a residential gas line hit is now about $3,000; a commercial hit can cost more. If an excavator has had several previous hits without obtaining locates, prosecution under the criminal code is a real possibility. The system is tired of repeat offenders. You could not only lose your business, but one could also see jail time. Please share the word with all your employees and include the subject of locates in your safety training and tailgate sessions, because obtaining locates is just smart business for everyone.
were more locate requests in 2012 over 2011. At this time I don’t have this data, but I have requested it from Ontario One Call. There are some special considerations in the 2012 data. Some of the key points in analyzing the data are contractors/developers accounting for 60 per cent of damages Contact Terry Murphy at and homeowners making up for 34 per tvmurphy@ca.inter.net with any comments cent of all green industry damage. Another or suggestions on this article. interesting statistic is that 66 per cent of all natural gas hits are from those Green industry utility hits digging without locates. Year Agriculture Fencing Irrigation Landscaping Total Note, near 2012 1 389 4 364 758 misses and 2011 0 320 5 360 685 false alarms 2010 0 353 3 360 716 are not con2009 2 365 5 542 914 sidered in 2008 0 339 3 393 735 the data. The 2007 1 422 3 386 812 green industry 2006 11 366 3 317 697 includes irrigaTotal 15 2554 26 2722 5317 tion, fencing,
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PUBLIC RELATIONS Come grow with us By Denis Flanagan CLD Director of public relations and membership services
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The best part of it all was that afterwards all parties were able to sit and enjoy a tasty green salad, and agree that what makes the world of gardening so appealing is that there are many opinions and styles of gardens. At the end of the day, it’s each individual homeowner’s decision on which direction to choose. As part of the breakout sessions, I represented members of Landscape Ontario with an update on greenroofs and biowalls with information compiled by Kim Burton from Landscape Trades magazine, statistics from Steven Peck from the Green Roofs for Healthy Cities and on projects created at Canada Blooms by Janet Ennamorato of Creative Garden Designs and Jason Rokosh of Vertical Landscape Architects. Saturday sessions concluded with an informative and fun presentation by Martin Galloway from Chalk Lake Greenhouses on finding a balance with nature. This was followed by the first-ever Master Gardeners Awards of Excellence ceremony. Jane Beck, president of Master Gardeners of Ontario, said, “The Awards of Excellence were a highlight of the conference; I congratulate each and every group for the projects you have submitted.” The
Ontario president continued, “Master Gardeners and our communities are the focus of all we do — your projects remind us of just how much does happen across the province. Your work stands as the model of who we are and what we do.” The winners and categories are as follows: • Etobicoke Master Gardeners for the Target Audience project, ‘Connecting People with Plants.’ The award was donated by Vineland Research and Innovation Centre. • Thunder Bay Master Gardeners for the Innovative project ‘Insects and Diseases of Thunder Bay District.’ The award was donated by the Canadian Nursery and Landscape Association. • Toronto Master Gardeners for the Workshops and Presentations category, its webinar presentation project, ‘Getting your Community Garden Project off the Ground.’ It was awarded by Liz Klose, Honourary Master Gardener and director of Memorial University’s Botanical Garden. • London Middlesex Master Gardeners for the Community Service project, ‘From Seeds to Your Table.’ It was donated by Landscape Ontario. The conference was a resounding success and I am sure the partnership between Landscape Ontario and Master Gardeners will continue to grow and flourish in the future
ome grow with us was the theme of the first National Canadian Master Gardeners Conference, held from Apr. 5 to 7 at Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville. This major garden event was attended by over 250 delegates from across Ontario and some members from Nova Scotia, Manitoba and Michigan. The opening speaker on the Friday evening was the ever-energetic Paul Zammit from Toronto Botanical Garden. He delivered a presentation that challenged gardeners to rethink how they garden. This gave rise to many points of discussion throughout the weekend. Professor Spencer C. H. Barrett from the University of Toronto gave the keynote session on Saturday with a fascinating Denis Flanagan may be contacted at insight into the botanical research carried dflanagan@landscapeontario.com. out by Charles Darwin. Professor Barrett focused on experiments he conducted on plant reproduction and pollination. He was inspired to head-up his own studies on the complex sex lives of plants. As a consequence, his team has provided valuable information to the plant breeding and biotechnology industries. Professor Barrett also wowed the audience with stunning photos of plants taken on his trips that followed in the footsteps of Darwin to South America and Africa. Bio-diversity was often referenced during the weekend, but I also thought that the diversity of gardeners was evident with breakout sessions offered in one room by Dr. Michael Brownridge from Vineland Research and Innovation Centre on the latest research into lawn care, while in another room a presentation, entitled ‘What Are Lawns Good For: It’s Time to Stop the Madness,’ was led by Dianne and Gary Westlake from The London Middlesex Master Gardeners’ community service project ‘From Seeds to Your Table’ Peterborough.
received the Landscape Ontario Award, presented by LO’s public relations director Denis Flanagan.
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PROSPERITY PARTNERS Balancing business with volunteering: A success story By Jacki Hart CLP Prosperity Partners program manager
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ere we are once again. We are right in the thick of it. It’s May, and no matter what part of the industry you work in (unless of course you’re LO staff – LOL) you’re SWAMPED this month. The late start to our season this year from Mother Nature (relative to 2012) will have many of us in every sector thrown into an intense and quick ramp-up from 0 to 100 kph in just a few short weeks. It’s a true test of your systems, recruiting, staff retention, training, salesmanship culture and ability to shoot from the hip when your business navigates this type of intense change so quickly. This month, I’ve interviewed a Prosperity Partner member whose business has thrived as a result of spending lots of down time contemplating how to better manage May, and the other busy months of the season. Mark Fisher, owner of the Escarpment Company in Milton, came onboard with the Prosperity Partners when we first piloted the program. Since then, I’ve watched Mark successfully navigate huge challenges. I am grateful for his spirit of volunteerism towards his industry and peers. Mark has assisted delivering numerous Prosperity seminars, and is a loyal and valued contributor at Mark Fisher our Prosperity Committee meeting. Here’s how Mark responded to my questions about how the Prosperity Partners language and business concept has helped his business over the past five or
six years: Jacki How has prosperity language helped you be intentional about how you run your business? Mark The Prosperity language has helped identify gaps in my business. The program’s models and best practices are my navigation tools to fill in the gaps in my business and continue to improve every day. Jacki Can you give me an example of the type of questions you ask yourself as a result of the Prosperity Partners tools? Mark The biggest question I ask is, “Is this the best thing strategically I can be doing with my time?” Our roles and actions within our business are relative to where our business is in terms of development. As the number one rule, I want to make sure that I am working on the business more than I am working in the business. Jacki How does what you’ve learned through the Prosperity Partners program help to rejuvenate your interest and passion, and keep you engaged? Mark The Prosperity Partners program challenges you to think differently about your business. By changing my thoughts, I always find there are exciting opportunities for improvement. I think when we connect with the community of like-minded individuals, it helps reinforce the premise that I am fundamentally doing what I am doing, because I love it. I am reminded that there are challenges on the way, but there is support in our Prosperity Partners’ community. Jacki I understand that you’re involved in committee work at Landscape Ontario. Congratulations! I am wondering, what is it about being involved with a committee as a volunteer that helps you in your business and /or maintaining a healthy work-life balance?
Mark I am involved with the Prosperity Partnership Committee and work on bringing the best solutions and new ideas to our members. This is my fourth year on the committee and I am always thinking of ideas and relevant information that I can pass back from the field to the committee. Jacki What specifically has the Prosperity Partners program done most recently to help you with your business and work-life balance? Mark Most recently Prosperity Partners enabled me to focus on the Financial Pillar and prompted and led me to spend the winter studying financials in depth. I first attended all of the financial seminars that I could at Congress and from there worked towards learning and applying the information. Jacki What specifically has being involved in governance at Landscape Ontario done to enhance your industry relationships with peers, or access to knowledge, experience, information that you’ve used recently? Mark Governance has helped me appreciate all of the different facets of Landscape Ontario and the enormous amount of dedication that is given from staff and volunteers. Jacki Can you give me an example? Mark I have had the opportunity to make long lasting friendships with many people in the industry over the years. We often call each other up and relate our work experiences, ask for guidance from each other or send leads back and forth. Jacki If you could start your business all over again, would you include the Prosperity Partners program in your learning and business development plan? Mark Yes, 100 per cent. Prosperity Partners has made all the difference in the world for me. It has allowed me — right from the start — to be reflective and strategic about my business. I have taken the course many times over the years and get value out of it every time I attend. Jacki Going forward, will you continue to engage in the Landscape Ontario community, and if so, why? Mark Yes, most definitely. As we work together, we improve our industry for everyone involved. Jacki Hart may be reached at prosperity@landscapeontario.com.
WWW.HORTTRADES.COM 29
EXECUTIVE DESK
nity focused on enhancing lives and leaving a positive legacy.
Correction
The future of Canada Blooms Tony DiGiovanni CHT LO executive director
C
anada Blooms is a subject that stimulates discussion and generates varied opinions. Toronto Gardens bloggers Sarah and Helen Battersby recently started a wonderful discussion about the past and future of Canada Blooms. Thirty-two people responded. You can find the posting at http://bit.ly/ Zw06vJ. I could not resist adding my own historical views to the conversation. Landscape Ontario was one of the founding members with our wonderful partners, the Garden Club of Toronto (GCT). When Kathy Dembroski (from GCT) came into the LO office almost 20 years ago with the idea of starting a world class flower and garden show, the vision for the event was to showcase our passion for horticulture, gardens, floriculture and design at the very highest levels. Kathy and I went down to the Philadelphia Flower and Garden Show and spent a day with the show manager who generously revealed their entire process including budgets. Philadelphia was the model. Both LO and GCT agreed on the following principles and goals. Canada Blooms was to be owned by the entire horticultural community. It had to remain a non-profit event. It had to be a celebration of our passion for plants and gardens in order to inspire, educate and stimulate the public. It had to stretch the imagination. It had to provide a welcome respite from our long winters. It had to provide positive emotional experiences that would be remembered for a lifetime. It had to be volunteer driven. Proceeds from the show had to be used for community-related horticultural projects that would magnify and enhance the principles and goals. Canada Blooms had to raise awareness for the societal benefits of plants, gardens and green space. I still remember Kathy saying that Canada Blooms must be a gift to Toronto and Canada.
30 LANDSCAPE ONTARIO May, 2013
Fast forward 20 years. Canada Blooms has touched millions of people. It has contributed over $600,000 to community-related horticultural projects across Ontario. It has stimulated ideas that have been replicated in gardens and communities across Canada and North America. It has educated thousands about the benefits of plants and green spaces. The Canada Blooms experience has had a small part in enhancing many lives. I am always amazed and inspired by the strong opinions about Canada Blooms. Garden enthusiasts care about their Canada Blooms. The community ownership feeling is very strong. I am also touched by how many new visitors to Canada Blooms still experience the ‘wow’ that we jaded enthusiasts used to feel. I spent 10 days observing many smiles as visitors walked the festival. Canada Blooms makes many people happy.
What is the future?
The main challenge faced by Canada Blooms is financial. It takes a great deal of money and energy to keep the show at the level we all want. The present business model does not make sense, but if we focus on only the business model, the festival is compromised. Many of the comments in the blog tell me that the future of Canada Blooms must be guided by the principles and purpose that were laid out in the beginning. Canada Blooms must raise awareness for the economic, environmental, lifestyle, therapeutic, recreational, spiritual, tourism, health, wellness and community benefits of plants, gardens and green space. Canada Blooms must mobilize people across Canada to green their communities and leave a positive legacy for the future. Canada Blooms must remain volunteer-driven. It must inspire all visitors with a desire to contribute to their community and environment. As my friend Tim Kearney often says, “Money comes in different ways.” I am convinced that we must clearly articulate the original purpose and vision of Canada Blooms in order to attract the sponsorship support (all of us included) required to keep the festival at an inspirational level. Canada Blooms must be fueled by a passionate, contribution-oriented horticultural commu-
Occasionally my articles for this magazine are too long for the space available and the editors are forced to eliminate some words. Most of the time, they succeed in making my articles much better. Sometimes the editing process changes my meaning and leaves out important information. This is what happened in last month’s article. In my article about the Landscape Ontario Canada Blooms build, I wanted to specifically give special recognition to Paul Doornbos and his contribution to the Landscape Ontario garden. I also wanted to highlight how illogical it is for members who have no hope of personal gain to make huge contributions because of their passion and dedication to the industry and LO community. Instead, the editing process eliminated the most important point and changed the meaning. Here is what was printed in the magazine: “During the building process, I was struck how illogical it all was. There were hundreds of individuals working 15-hour days in the midst of dust and diesel fumes while creating amazing displays, only to take them down ten days later.” Here is what should have been printed: “I was struck at how illogical the Landscape Ontario garden build was. As an example one of the Project Managers Paul Doornbos is from the Upper Canada chapter far from most potential clients. Many of the other team members were in the same boat. Clearly their motivation for subjecting themselves to such an intense project was fuelled by their deep care, pride, enthusiasm and passion for the industry, association and community.”
Important suppliers
Last month I also neglected to mention and thank two very important suppliers to the Landscape Ontario garden at Canada Blooms and to Canada Blooms in general. These two suppliers are so fundamental to the success of Canada Blooms that without them, the show could not be staged. Thank you to Gro-bark for its incredible contribution over the last 16 years. The bark mulch frames the beauty and creativity of the gardens and gives the show a finished look. Thank you to Dufferin Aggregates for the sand that acts as the foundation for each display. Tony DiGiovanni may be reached at tonydigiovanni@landscapeontario.com.
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32 LANDSCAPE ONTARIO May, 2013