Landscape Ontario - May 2014

May 2014 www.horttrades.com

LIGHT, SOCIAL TOUCH ENGAGES PROSPECTS Dean Maahs of Lakeridge Contracting empowers staff to connect with customers online Page 4

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PRESIDENT’s MESSAGE Customers for life

By Dave Braun LO president

M

anagement consultant Peter Drucker says that the purpose of business is to create and keep customers. Most companies spend much more on the first part — finding new customers, than they do on keeping the customers they already have. But if we spent as much time, energy and money on keeping the customers we already have, we’d be much further ahead.

Something happened a few weeks ago that highlighted the meaning of customer service. My aunt recently bought her son a made-to-measure suit from Harry Rosen.

They had his measurements on file and when my 6’7” cousin went to pick up his suit, it somehow didn’t fit.

My aunt called Harry Rosen’s head office to voice her displeasure. The very next day, she received a phone call from Harry Rosen himself, from his vacation

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May, 2014 • Volume 32, 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.

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home in Florida. Harry insisted that he HIMSELF would personally fit my cousin with a new suit the first Saturday he was back from Florida. My aunt explained that it wasn’t necessary, that my cousin be fitted by the founder himself, but Harry insisted, “I can’t afford to have an unhappy customer.”

The first Saturday after Mr. Rosen returned from Florida, the 83-year-old was, as promised, on his knees pinning my cousin’s pants in his Bloor Street store.

What is it that Harry Rosen understands about long-term customers? His philosophy reflects the book Sandler Management Solutions, Reference Book, 2008. First, the company knows that long-term customers tend to buy more products and services because they continue to learn about what the company has to offer. Second, longterm customers recommend a company more than new customers, because of the confidence they’ve built over time. Third, long-term customers also don’t require expensive marketing budgets. Lastly, as evidenced by my aunt, long-term customers let you know when they’re unhappy.

They have a stake in the partnership and they give a company an opportunity to win them back before they disappear.

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

All told, searching for new customers is expensive. Companies can get into a vicious and expensive spiral with high customer turnover.

Depending on how long (or short) the relationship lasted, the financial penalty for replacing your lost customer may be even greater than the profits the customer brought you in the first place. The ripple effect produced by dissatisfied customers can indeed be very costly, when you also consider that his negative experience is often shared with others.

Customers appreciate dealing with people who are polite. But it’s pretty hard to ask our employees to be polite to our customers, if we’re not ourselves polite to our staff. If we create an environment that makes work more enjoyable and reduces conflict, it’s going to improve how our staff treats our customers.

Not unlike Harry Rosen, I’m now selling to the children (and sometimes grandchildren) of a number of my grandfather’s customers. Obviously, our companies are not in the same ball-park as the $300-million retail giant, and I’m not nearly as welldressed, but we continue to do our best for the next generation.

My aunt’s anecdote provided me a wonderful reminder that no business can ever afford even one unhappy customer.

Successful businesses are built upon a history of positive interactions with our customers and we’re only as strong as our last interaction.

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

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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 2014, 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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Mike Pennington has created some very creative social media communication that displays the pride and talent of the industry.

His truck lets everyone know where Lakeridge messages may be found.

Lakeridge Contracting shows its pride through social media In the landscaping world, Lakeridge Contracting in Whitby leads the pack in social media with its creative, entertaining and educational tweets, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram postings.

Member of the Lakeridge crew, Mike Pennington says one of the main benefits of social media is to show the general public that those who work in this industry are proud, smart and skilled. “The public’s concept is that people who work in

4 LANDSCAPE ONTARIO MAY 2014

this industry can’t do anything else, so they must choose landscaping in which to make a living. We show them that that’s not the case. It takes talent and hard work to achieve what the top people in this industry produce.”

And show them they do, while having fun doing it, with tweets that send out messages such as, “Take time to think of the less fortunate, like people who work in offices.” Or, one that conveys the pride

of the trade, “The meek shall inherit the earth...perhaps...but only after we’re done building it.”

“We couldn’t do this unless Dean allowed it,” says Pennington. He’s referring to Dean Maahs, the president of Lakeridge Contracting.

“It’s been a positive phenomenon,” says Maahs, speaking about his crew and social media. “I’m proud of what they produce on the job, and how they reveal that work through social media.”

After graduating from University of Guelph in 1983 as a landscape architect, Maahs began his business in Ajax in 1999.

“My preference has always been construction, so it was a natural move to create Lakeridge Contracting,” says Maahs.

Today, Lakeridge’s client ratio is 80 per cent commercial projects to 20 per cent residential. “We deal with a lot of municipalities,” notes Maahs. He says residential projects are about 90 per cent hardscape and 10 per cent plants, while commercial jobs tend to include about 50-50 hardscape and plants.

Over the past few years the Lakeridge team has taken on some challenging projects. One in particular was the Peterborough Hospital, where Lakeridge completed an indoor garden in the hospital’s interior courtyard. “It meant we had to deal with moving materials in and out of an enclosed building, which required sealing off both the entrance area and the work site as part of infection control,” says Maahs.

“The scene at the hospital looked like something out of Dexter,” says Pennington. “Everything was covered in plastic and plywood.”

Maahs says his company provides a wide array of services to clients. Lakeridge offers everything from driveways, walkways and backyard patios to tree-planting, pergolas, fencing, retaining walls, pool renovations and more.

Online reviews show high marks from clients. One wrote, “The work was professionally done and there were no delays.”

Another review stated, “The installation crew (three) headed by Joe was just awesome. They arrived on time each day (five days), worked long 12-hour days, and seemed to leave just as happy as they arrived. Their workmanship was first class.”

Maahs uses images from Lakeridge’s

The Hardscape Brotherhood at Lakeridge Contracting.

Lakeridge Contracting sees about 50 per cent hardscaping in its residential projects.

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The Peterborough Hospital project presented some unique challenges to Lakeridge Contracting creating an interior garden in the hospital’s interior courtyard.

Lakeridge Contracting has created some beautiful and complex hardscape designs. In this project, the jack-o’-lanterns weren’t part of the design.

6 LANDSCAPE ONTARIO MAY 2014

Facebook page to show clients projects that the company has completed. “I use it to demonstrate to clients the high level of our work and to provide them with an idea of prices,” he says.

“I’m always interested to see what the guys send out next,” says Maahs. “Our guys work hard on the job and are proud of what they do,” he says. He agrees with Pennington that not only are crew members communicating their pride in the work they do, but by using social media they all have a strong feeling of involvement with the company.

One of the more popular methods of communication used by Lakeridge is YouTube. The crew members have done some great take-offs such as Breaking Bad and Gangnam Style, and a hilarious Christmas parody. The most popular YouTube broadcast to date is Hardscape Brotherhood. To check them out, go to the YouTube site and type in Lakeridge Contracting.

With some messages aimed at the trade members and others toward the public, the Lakeridge crew members have quickly made themselves known. “It was amazing walking around Congress this year, to meet so many people who knew us from social media,” says Pennington.

This spring some creative tweets aimed at the public include, “Life is too short for boring landscapes,” and “Life is better with landscaping,”always accompanied by beautiful shots of the company’s work.

Pennington says it’s funny how people think the Lakeridge crew members are techies. “We are not,” he strongly points out. “We only use our phones to show everyone the level of our pride in our work, and have fun doing it. We are hardscape guys, not computer guys.”

He feels strongly that, “The on-theground installers are the backbone of this industry and the most important ambassadors to the public as they have the constant day-to-day interaction.”

This year Pennington is bringing his enthusiasm and dedication to Landscape Ontario, moving onto the Durham Chapter board of directors. Both he and Maahs agree that it’s important to be involved in the association that represents the industry.

“You can’t stand on the sidelines and expect things to change,” says Maahs.

“You need to become involved to make positive difference in the industry.”

Maahs and his crew have already made a difference with positive communications that demonstrate the talent, creativity and hard work needed to succeed in their industry.

ASSOCIATION NEWS Golden Horseshoe Chapter expands meeting into trade show The Golden Horseshoe Chapter Spring Event with the Ministry of Transportation has become one of the most successful chapter events within Landscape Ontario.

In 2013, organizers were ecstatic over the success of the event when it reached capacity with over 120 landscape professionals in attendance. This year’s event more than doubled the attendance numbers, when 250 LO members and potential members arrived at the Ancaster Fairgrounds Building on Mar. 27.

Landscape Ontario members in attendance represented a variety of sectors including, garden centres, grounds management, growers, landscape contractors, lawn care, interiorscape, irrigation, lighting and snow and ice.

In response to the popularity of the event last year, the Golden Horseshoe Chapter Board, under the guidance of president Jeff Smith, introduced changes to accommodate the growing interest in the annual MTO meeting. Tim Rivard CLT chaired the newly-formed commit-

tee, which consisted of Fran MacKenzie, Andrew Barz and Chapter Coordinator Lee Rozon. This committee was responsible for implementing new and exciting ideas to transform what was already considered a great event into a Golden Horseshoe Chapter trade show that would be informative, educational and fun.

The change in dynamics of the event resulted in the outstanding success this year. In an effort to cross-promote and connect the Chapter sectors, a selection of over 25 vendors displayed and promoted products to a targeted audience of Golden Horseshoe members. “This was very well received by all in attendance,” says Rozon.

“Attendees were very interested in the morning presentation by MTO officer Ian Walters, who provided valuable insights on how to keep vehicles safe and prevent fines. The visual vehicle inspection was a highlight of the day and the members gained a great deal of valuable knowledge,” noted Rozon.

Dean Anderson of The Workplace Health and Safety Prevention Services captivated an afternoon audience with a presentation on the requirements of safety awareness in the workplace. He gave insights on how to prepare for upcoming audits, which begin July 1.

Also at the Mar. 27 event was the Golden Horseshoe Chapter’s Annual General Meeting. Fiore Zenone, past president, conducted the election with a majority of the present members remaining on the board, along with three new additions. The board members volunteer their time and talents to organize great events throughout the year and provide a valuable link between members and Landscape Ontario.

Members of the Golden Chapter Board of Directors are Jeff Smith, president; Tim Cruickshanks, provincial board rep.; Fran MacKenzie, first vice president; Andrew Barz, second vice president; Dan Grieve CLP, treasurer and secretary; and directors, John Bos CLT, Allard DeVries, Dan MacLean, Rob Mendonca, David Pierce, Tim Rivard CLT and Bruce Wilson.

Main event sponsor was Drivetec, with lunch sponsor, Galer Farm Equipment; refreshment sponsors were Lockwood Dodge Chrysler and Unilock. Attendees had the chance to win thousands of dollars in fabulous prizes, graciously donated by many of the vendors in attendance who were a huge part in making this a great day.

Over 250 LO members and potential members took advantage of the Golden Horseshoe event with Ministry of Transportation officer Ian Walters, who needed to speak from the back of truck for everyone to see him.

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ASSOCIATION NEWS Vendors included, Drivetec, Galer Equipment, Lockwood Dodge Chrysler, Unilock, Echo, Ike Vanderwoude Landscape, Natural Landscapes, Trackem Solutions, Miska Trailer Factory, Millgrove Perennials, Bay-Lynx Manufacturing, National Building Group, Nisco National Leasing, Kubota Canada, LS Training, Budget Environmental Disposal, Outdoor Supplies Stabila, Compass Creative Studio, Martek Supply, Promo Shan Corp., Windmill Power, Greenhorizons Sod Farm and Rittenhouse Since 1914.

LO states concerns for Invasive Species Act

Landscape Ontario has responded to the call by the provincial government for comments on Bill 167, Invasive Species Act, which passed first reading in the Ontario Legislature.

In the association’s response, Executive Director Tony DiGiovanni cited serious gaps in the Act that could severely and negatively impact the sustainability of the

nursery and landscape sector.

Compiled by Dr. Jeanine West, who represents Landscape Ontario on the Ontario Invasive Plant Council (OIPC), the response document states, “We support the fact that only species that are prescribed under the Act are to be regulated.”

LO also supports the two risk categories (significant and moderate), “particularly with respect to moderate threat species to be allowed to be grown, sold and planted in residential and municipal areas.” LO also supports the exclusion of the ‘safe list.’ LO also supports the decision making process for the development of serious-threat and moderate-threat invasive species, inclusion of economic impact evaluations, both for protection and environmental management costs, as well as the negative impacts on industry, and the use of science-based risk assessments.

Concerns raised by LO are that some organizations asking for restrictions on new plants that lack scientific assessments if MNR deems them a potential risk.

“The development of an ‘allowed’ species list discourages the discovery and investigation of new, potentially economically and environmentally rewarding species,” states LO’s response.

“While we support the management of invasive species, we stress that in both the discussion paper and the Invasive Species Act, 2014, serious gaps have been identified that could severely and negatively impact the sustainability of the nursery and landscape sector,” wrote LO Executive Director Tony DiGiovanni.

To view the entire response, go to http:// gfl.me/x27c.

Annual Industry Auction assists research and education

July 16 is the date set for this year’s Landscape Ontario Growers’ Group Industry Auction. This year’s event will be held at Winkelmolen Nursery in Lynden.

There is no admission fee, and this popular event is open to all members of the landscape trades. Proceeds will benefit horticultural research and scholarships.

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There will be skids full of the industry’s best offerings of deciduous shrubs, trees, perennials, ground covers and evergreens up for bid. Also available are hard goods and related supplies with skids full of fertilizer, pots, gardening tools, plant tags and labels. All products are donated

by LO’s generous members.

Wagon tours of the farm will begin at 10 a.m., while skids of the Growers’ Awards of Excellence submissions will be judged live near the bidding area from 9 a.m. until 12-noon. Award winners will be announced and auctioned off later that day.

Before the live bidding begins at 1 p.m., everyone is invited for lunch (11:45 to 12:45) and to preview the lots.

Attendees can sign up for a bid number, and winning bidders may pay by cash, cheque, Visa or Mastercard. Each winning bidder’s name will be entered into a draw for a special prize.

Plant material, hard goods and gift certificates are all welcome and appreciated for donation. There will be a silent auction table, as well. For more information, contact Kristen McIntyre at 1-800-265-5656, ext.321, auction@ landscapeontario.com.

London names its new board of directors

Members of the London Chapter Board of Directors are pleased with the attendance numbers at late winter Chapter meetings.

At the February and March meetings, the London Chapter attracted 50-plus people to each one.

The Feb. 11 meeting featured information from the Upper Thames Conservation Authority on how to identify the five major problem invasive species, and how to treat them. A free lunch was provided to attendees, thanks to generous sponsor London Audio, which was promoting a new line of outdoor lighting from Coastal Source. Meeting sponsor was The Permacon Group.

The Mar. 11 meeting was the Chapter’s annual Safety Day with the Ministry of Transportation, and Workplace Safety and Prevention Services. Again members were offered a free lunch, thanks to the generosity of sponsor Unilock. The meeting sponsor was LS Training, which was a good fit for the meeting’s topic.

Mountview Services from Woodstock was the member profile. The company shared its story on how it began its involvement with LO. Certificates were handed out to volunteers who helped with the Veterans

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ASSOCIATION NEWS

London Chapter member companies were honoured for their part in the Veterans Memorial Parkway Community Program.

Memorial Parkway Community Program (VMPCP). On hand at the Mar. 11 meeting was Joel Beatson CLP, Professional and Business Development Manager at CNLA, who presented the special plaque awarded to the VMPCP “for commitment to the betterment of a public green space.”

Barry Sandler, Executive Director of VMPCP, and Grant Harrison, Chapter president, accepted the Green for Life Community Award at the National Awards of Landscape Excellence on Jan. 29 in St. John’s, Nfld.

Also at the Mar. 11 meeting, a number of Chapter companies received recognition for the work with the VMPCP. They include, TLC Professional Landscaping, Tydan Landscaping, Coldstream Land Escape Company, Rural Roots Landscaping, Jay McKinnon Company, Escapes Outdoor Living Designs, Beamish Landscaping, Mountview Landscaping, Sifton Properties – River Bend Golf Community, MPH Hardscapes, Parkside Landscaping, PGS Landscaping, Stone in Style, Unilock and Kimmick Landscaping.

London Chapter members will take part in another planting on Oct. 4. As well, the installation of an LO Garden will also commence this summer. The Chapter will

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Elections were held at the March meeting. The Chapter welcomed the following new members to the board: Tyler Rancourt of Tydan Landscape Design, Mike Wardell of Rural Roots Landscaping, Matt Hart of MPH Hardscapes, Bill Beamish of Beamish Landscape Construction, Nick Graham of Sifton Properties, Kevin Marshall CLT of Turf Pro Landscaping and Bill DeGraaf of Permacon Group.

Remaining members of the board are Jarrett Woodard, Pete Vanderley CLP, Nicola Kamp, Paul Snyders, Derek Geddes, Grant Harrison CLT and Mike Martins.

The first meeting of the new board was held on Apr.1. The board members were voted on as follows, president, Pete Vanderley; past president, Jarrett Woodard; vice president, not filled; treasurer, Bill Beamish; provincial board representative, Grant Harrison; secretary, Matt Hart; directors of membership, Derek Geddes, Paul Snyders, Kevin Marshall; directors of education, Nicola Kamp and Tyler Rancourt; directors of chapter meetings, Mike Wardell and Jarrett Woodard; directors of golf, Mike Wardell, Nick Graham, Bill

DeGraaf and Matt Hart; directors of VMP, Mike Martin and Grant Harrison.

The next event will be the 9th annual golf tournament on Sept. 5 at a new location this year, Echo Valley Golf Course, 2738 Brigham Rd. London. Sponsorship opportunities are available, and more information will be sent out closer to the date. Contact Wendy Harry at wharry@ landscapeontario.com for more information.

The London board wishes everyone a great season, and looks forward to seeing you at the golf tournament, or fall and winter chapter meetings.

Terry Murphy enters ORCGA hall of fame

Former manager of human resource development at Landscape Ontario, Terry Murphy CLP, has been inducted in the Ontario Regional Common Ground Alliance (ORCGA) hall of fame.

The honour took place on Feb. 4 at the 2014 ORCGA annual symposium.

“As one of the most respected professionals in the landscape industry, Terry was recognized for his significant contribution to damage prevention in Ontario.

His work on reducing damages to underground infrastructure caused by members

of the landscape industry by 50 per cent over a short three year period is particularly outstanding,” said OCRGA Acting President and CEO Jim Douglas.

Murphy has been a member of the ORCGA board of directors since its inception in 2007. He has served each year since on the governance and nomination committee, as well as the audit, finance and review committee. Murphy writes a column that appears in this magazine; see page 28 “In 2014, Terry was instrumental in organizing a Dig Safe focused event at Landscape Congress. This was well received by the attendees and provided the ORCGA with an enhanced opportunity to promote their Dig Safe message,” recalls Douglas.

“ORCGA, the landscape industry and the damage prevention industry in general across Ontario are very fortunate to have a consummate professional such as Terry Murphy,” stated Douglas.

He added, “I consider myself very lucky to have had the opportunity to work with Terry over the last few years. I sincerely hope that he continues to contribute to the success of the ORCGA, and in doing so, the landscape industry, for years to come.”

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ASSOCIATION NEWS Guidelines for Property Managers inside this issue

A new document to assist property managers, created

by LO’s Grounds Management Sector Group, is mailing with this issue of Landscape Ontario magazine.

There is also an online version at www.landscapeontario.com/attach/1396878175.

Single_Pages.pdf.

Entitled Landscape Maintenance Guidelines for Property Managers, the new guide lists basic services with a complete menu of green options and extra services.

The Sector Group is asking LO members to promote new guidelines to property managers.

Garden and Floral Expo prepares for 15th anniversary

Garden and Floral Expo is preparing to celebrate its 15th anniversary on Oct. 22 and 23 at the Toronto Congress Centre.

The show continues to grow and evolve each year. This year that process continues, as the Garden Centre Sector Group has taken over administration of the show.

“The group in general focuses on providing education for our members, and an ability to meet under the same roof from time to time to collaborate and share experiences,” says Michael Van Dongen CHT, Chair of the sector group.

The committee says education and networking activities will take place at Expo, featuring dynamic speakers, workshops on business and marketing and the Awards of Excellence program. Expo attracts hundreds of brand-name vendors, and features the new products

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showcase and more. Announcements will be made once events and speakers have been confirmed.

Each year, top decision makers in the industry attend Expo. They come to explore new product offerings, meet vendors, learn about trends, socialize and share ideas with their peers and retail experts.

Expo began back in 2000, as an event to bring together vendors and buyers under one roof. The inaugural event, Garden Expo, attracted close to 2,000 attendees, to interact with 155 exhibitors.

Each year, the show has expanded to include such events as Florist Expo, offering fresh-cut flowers and tropical plants for floral retailers and interior plantscapers.

Additional information on Garden & Floral Expo can be found at www.loexpo.ca.

Ottawa team builds garden for Cottage and Backyard Show

Springtime in Ontario includes home shows. New this year, members of the Ottawa Chapter designed and built a 600 sq. ft. garden at the Cottage and Backyard Show.

The show took place at the EY Centre

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We welcome all Commercial and Residential Landscape Contractors In the photo from left are Mike Reid and Rob Garby, both of Hansen Lawn and Gardens, Michael Fulcher of Permacon and president of the Ottawa Chapter, Ed Hansen of Hansen Lawn and Gardens as they pose at the LO garden at the Ottawa Cottage and Back Yard Show.

in Ottawa from Apr. 11 to 13. The garden was designed by Sundaura Alford of A Cultivated Art, and built by Hansen Lawn and Garden, along with Permacon and 50 students from the Algonquin College Horticultural Industries Program, under the supervision of instructor Steve Neumann.

The students gained valuable garden and trade show build experience as they worked in two groups for three-hour shifts.

The garden, completed in seven hours, included garden beds with birch trees, Hydrangea macrophylla, dogwood shrubs, pyramidal junipers, flowering spring bulbs and Icicle pansies.

The generous support of the following Ottawa Chapter members made this garden build possible. Permacon generously donated the stone product for the build, while plant material came from GreenLife Wholesale Nursery and Algonquin College. Birch trees came from Manotick Tree Movers, and mulch from Artistic Landscape Design.

A thank you goes out to Ottawa Chapter directors Ed Hansen, Sundaura Alford CLD, Mike Fulcher, Sarah Johnston and Steve Neumann for all the work they accomplished to complete this project.

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The Grounds Guys, Orangeville, were featured on W Network’s series Be the Boss Canada.

The April 17 broadcast featured two employees from Landscape Ontario member The Grounds Guys, in head-to-head challenges for a life-changing job promotion. Participants take part in a week-long job interview for what each believes is a chance for a promotion, with enticing pay and perks. As those employees battle to be the best and out-perform each other, the winner gets handed the keys to run his very own franchise, making the jump from employee to business owner.

“We put them through challenges to see how they would apply our core values under difficult conditions,” said CEO Peter van Stralen, author of C.A.R.E. Leadership.

Since 1987, the ten van Stralen brothers have built The Grounds Guys to become one of Canada’s largest landscape management companies, with 40 locations in five provinces across Canada.

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ASSOCIATION NEWS

The Georgian Lakelands Chapter stepped up to help one of the local food banks. Volunteer members also had a great opportunity to connect with the community, creating great exposure for themselves and Landscape Ontario.

Georgian Lakelands Chapter helps local food bank

The Georgian Lakelands Chapter members stepped up to help its community with the annual Fill the Landscape Trailer food drive on Apr. 19 at the Beaver Valley Arena in Thornbury.

The food drive ran in conjunction with the Beaver Valley Outreach Easter Eggstravaganza.

“The food brought in by participants filled many of the empty cupboards for the Beaver Valley Outreach program,” said Chapter President Lexi Dearborn. Most of the food brought in were items desperately needed by the Outreach program.

The Chapter challenged member companies to bring their donations of non-per-

Proudly growing fine perennials

25

for over

ishable food items.

Chapter members once again were able to chat with numerous visitors giving great and positive exposure for LO in the community.

Fred Barnes won the $100 certificate for Ormsby’s Garden Centre in Meaford by bringing in a whopping 27 pounds of food.

Former LO president featured in news article Former Landscape Ontario president Tom Intven of Canadale Nurseries in St. Thomas, was featured in the London Free Press.

The article begins, “Starting from humble roots, Canadale Nurseries in St. Thomas has become a destination for avid gardeners in the region. The place is

bustling this day, hosting the 7th annual Spring Garden show, as the green thumb gang comes out of hibernation after a long, cold weather.”

The write-up continues, “Canadale president Tom Intven has just come off a term as head of Landscape Ontario, the leading industry association in the province. Canadale has grown to be a thriving garden centre, with a big wholesale business in shrubs and trees.”

Intven discusses how the industry needs to learn to sell to a younger generation. “The big challenge for our industry is relevance. The baby boomers were taught how to garden by their parents, they have a connection to the soil. Five years from now our challenge (is) to get Gen X and Gen Y into gardening,” Intven said.

To read the entire article, go to http://gfl.me/x27b.

New Guide helps improve profitability

A new guide to profitability for growers and garden centre owners is now available online. The Profit Improvement Guide is filled with information about sales, marketing, strategies and more. The Guide was prepared by SB Partners of Burlington, in partnership with Landscape Ontario.

There is an interactive spreadsheet on page 15 that members can use to run various scenarios. To access the booklet, go to http://gfl.me/x27a.

Garden Grove founder named Young Entrepreneur of the Year

David Lammers of Garden Grove Landscaping won the Burlington Chamber Business Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, handed out on April 10 at the Burlington Convention Centre.

The awards, in six categories, are

years

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14 LANDSCAPE ONTARIO MAY 2014

judged on overall business excellence, excellence in business leadership, community contributions, entrepreneurship, environment, employee welfare, innovation and market growth.

“The Chamber was faced with some very tough decisions to choose finalists and winners this year,” said chamber president Keith Hoey. “The task force received almost 70 nominations and the calibre of the companies seems to be getting better every year.”

Lammers started his company in 1990 with a single lawn mower. Garden Grove now includes landscape construction, lawn irrigation and snow plowing, as well as landscape maintenance. Adopting a reuse-recycle approach with garden waste and organic matter, he is developing compost for use in the company’s tree planting and landscape rejuvenation.

Founders David and Paul Lammers have grown Garden Grove Landscaping to become one of the largest landscape firms in the region. “Our family values run deep in our history as a company and we continue to provide the same personal caring touch of a small business today that we did when we first started. We founded our company on strong principles with a ‘customer first’ approach. This continues to be the foundation and the culture of who we are now, and will be in the future,” says Lammers.

Garden Grove has been a member of LO since 1997.

Fresh new plants and trees in stock

Clarification

Landscape Ontario magazine wishes to clarify the content of a Letter to the Editor, ‘Put your company’s best images forward,’ published in the April issue. The intent of the letter was to bring forward the issue of recognition for designers.

There was no intention by the magazine to place any one firm in a negative light. A photo that accompanied the letter contained the caption, ‘Designed by: Beth Edney CLD, Designs By the Yard.

Constructed by: Landscapes by Lucin.’

The photo was taken by Landscapes by Lucin and submitted as part of an Awards of Excellence entry. Landscapes by Lucin credited Designs By the Yard on its Awards of Excellence entry form. Landscape Ontario magazine apologizes if the letter left a negative impression. Use of the photo was not intended to cast a negative light on Landscapes by Lucin, which is an upstanding firm of the highest of reputation.

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Letter to the editor

A new business climate is needed in the Greenbelt

The harsh winter of 2013-’14 has added to the problems of Ontario growers, damaging many plants.

I was talking with a friend of mine the other day who owns a much larger nursery than ours, and he told me that for next year he was going to raise the prices in his catalogue by 20 per cent.

He, like many of us growers in the Greenbelt, was frustrated that the steadily declining prices for our products has created an increased pressure to move more and more volume just in order to balance the budget each year. He was right.

Although we might have one of the best growing climates in Ontario, if we want growers to continue to thrive in the future, we need to start changing the climate in which we do business.

For this reason, I think a serious reevaluation of grower pricing is overdue.

I realize that growers need to find better and more efficient ways for how they operate, but the scope of the current problem is much greater than the one or two per cent of savings that increased efficiencies usually yield. We need more, At for ovyour servic er 40 e years !

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because what’s happening in our industry is both unprecedented and unsustainable.

Since the crash in 2008, we have seen the minimum wage go up 40 per cent with another increase of 75 cents per hour coming the first of June this year. On our farm that translates into an additional $300,000 each year, just to do business. On top of this, our major competitors in the U.S. are all paying less than $7.50 per hour for a large portion of their work force. So the price of U.S. goods is set at a rate in which our rising minimum wage makes it increasingly difficult to compete with.

For the last five to six years, we have had to either maintain our prices or, in many cases, drop them simply to compete with the entire surplus inventory from the U.S. It’s a surplus created in part by the economic downturn. But this is just the start of the problem.

Although the strong Canadian dollar also helped growers be more competitive in an effort to offset the cheaper U.S. product, that advantage is now gone. In the long run, the weaker Canadian dollar will benefit Canadian growers, except for the next couple of years which will result in a substantial increase to our input costs. For our company, the weaker Canadian dollar will cost just under $100,000 this year, assuming the exchange rate remains relatively stable.

In addition to these financial realities, both of which are out of our control, growers in the Greenbelt also dealt with an incredibly cold winter. The extreme weather has had both a direct and indirect cost to running the farm. The direct costs are easy to understand and to quantify: the heating of our propagation greenhouse, perennial greenhouse, and our low heat cold frame polyhouses have cost us 25 per cent more than it would during the average winter.

The indirect costs, however, are much harder to quantify, but will have a profound impact on our bottom line. Some plant cultivars were damaged to the point where they cannot be shipped in a timely manner, while other plants can only be burned. In the current environment, such added costs from one harsh winter may be enough to push many growers to the brink. Yet this precarious position that many producers find themselves in should be a wake-up call that this is unsustainable.

Producers like Maple Leaf are not alone when it comes to facing the downside of rising operating costs. Higher charges for water, electricity, natural gas, petroleum, labour and taxes seriously erode the bottom line for garden centres and other retailers across the province. Fortunately for this community, some of the sting has been offset by the abundance of cheaply-priced surplus product, both from the U.S. and elsewhere in Canada, often sold at or very close to the cost of production. The prevalent use of deep discount programs forced upon many producers, in order to liquidate their product surpluses and to operate within the highly competitive nature of the business, further thins profit margins to even more inadequate levels.

Many of my peers find themselves in the unenviable position of “having to sell furniture to buy groceries.” This practice is never sustainable and fails to address the root causes that lie behind why so many of us find ourselves in this unhappy boat in the first place.

The green industry needs to turn away from the race to the bottom that has been our operating model for too many years now, and return to the principle of offering our products for sale at a fair and reasonable price that covers our costs today, while generating enough profit to invest meaningfully in labour and equipment for the future. Such investment is critical to our industry if we are to remain healthy and viable for the future.

Without a significant increase in pricing there will be a growing number of farms for sale, as we’ve been seeing in the past several years. If growers don’t start to face up to this, the Greenbelt might just be a little less green in the years to come.

— Ted Sikkema, CEO Maple Leaf Nurseries, Jordan Station

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VOLUNTEER PROFILE Chris Mace says volunteering at LO pays dividends Chris Mace, Landscape Operations Manager with Gelderman Landscape Services in Waterdown and chair of the Landscape Designers Sector Group, began his involvement with Landscape Ontario to accelerate his pace to learn about design and to build dream gardens.

“I joined the landscape industry having previously worked in the marketing and advertising industry,” recalls Mace. He studied business administration and marketing at university and did a post grad in business management.

“After university, I was working for a business consulting company and taking my professional certificates in marketing. It’s at this point I had an early ah-ha moment and realized I wasn’t enjoying my work.”

Mace says that once he recognized he wanted to design and build dream gardens, “I knew that I needed to learn as much as possible as fast as possible. This was another motivating reason for joining Landscape Ontario. The association

18 LANDSCAPE ONTARIO MAY 2014

offers so many direct and indirect learning opportunities.”

Immediate past president, Phil Charal encouraged Mace to join Landscape Ontario. “My first job in the landscaping industry was with Allweather Landscape (Phil’s company) and both Phil and Brian Clegg, Allweather’s project manager, promoted the benefits of getting involved with Landscape Ontario.”

While serving as current chair of the designers’ sector group, Mace also represents the group on the provincial board of directors and is chair of the Landscape Designers Conference Committee.

This year’s designers’ conference supplied Mace with some great memories of his time volunteering for the association. “Being able to bring Irish landscape designer and author Darmuid Gavin as the keynote speaker was a big thrill, especially since he is the person who inspired me to

join the landscape industry. I have to give a big thank you to Kristen McIntyre for facilitating this.”

Mace says he has found numerous benefits from volunteering. “The openness of communication and sharing of information is one of the greatest benefits I get.” He recounts that if he ever has an issue with a job, client, employee, etc., he knows that he can reach out to his associates and pick their brains for information and solutions.

“The wealth of knowledge and experience that I have access to is amazing. Whether my peers realize it or not, I am receiving free mentorship because of them. You can’t put a value on that kind of benefit. It’s industry-specific consulting for free.”

Asked what suggestions he has to improve the association, Mace says, “I genuinely believe that under the stewardship of Tony DiGiovanni and the Landscape Ontario staff, the association is in great hands. I think they have a great vision and leadership for moving the association forward.”

Chris Mace takes his volunteer work outside the association, regularly volunteering at his daughters’ school. “This past year I brought in a big dump truck and power tools to help with a clean-up of the school gardens. It was a great way to give back and to join other parents in rejuvenating the garden beds. The kids got to help with planting new perennials and installing mulch in the front entrance garden beds. The smiles on their faces as they ate popsicles and looked at their hard work, at the end of the day, are what make volunteering in this way worthwhile.”

NEW MEMBERS Durham

Golden Horseshoe

BP Contracting inc Robert Poposki 554 Rainy Day Dr, Pickering, ON L1V 5Z9 Tel: 416-881-5262 Membership Type: Active

Halton Autolease Inc Paul Pittaway 4100 Harvester Rd, Burlington, ON L7L 0C1 Tel: 905-681-2200 Membership Type: Associate

Enviroturf Incorporated Trevor Prenevost CLIA, CIT, CIC 3095 Ninth Concession Rd Ashburn, ON L0B 1A0 Tel: 905-649-1981 Membership Type: Active

Lakeside Landscape Inc Dave Heyink PO Box 150, Wainfleet, ON L0S 1V0 Tel: 905-899-2612 Membership Type: Active

TankTek Environmental Services Ltd Tom Burt 970 Third Concession Rd, RR 1 Pickering, ON L1V 2P9 Tel: 905-839-4400 Membership Type: Associate Wilson’s Fresh Blueberries Inc Michael Wilson 61 Settlement Rd Lindsay, ON K9V 4R5 Tel: 705-799-0315 Membership Type: Active

Georgian Lakelands Klossterman Heating Limited Allan Cameron 220 - 92 Caplan Ave Barrie, ON L4N 0Z7 Tel: 705-728-2042 Membership Type: Associate Blue Diamond Pools and Landscaping Mark Nunn PO Box 39, Barrie, ON L4M 4S9 Tel: 705-726-3403 Membership Type: Active Landscape Creations Rejean Lainey 154 McFadden Ave Sault Ste Marie, ON P6C 4T2 Tel: 705-253-9597 Membership Type: Active Lawn Care Plus Chris McCleary 165 Bain Dr, North Bay, ON P1C 1M4 Tel: 705-499-7243 Membership Type: Active MC Installation Anthony Ferlisi Victoria St, PO Box 865 Alliston, ON L9R 1W1 Tel: 705-627-3059 Membership Type: Active

MONDO Landscapes Inc. Carlo Raimondo 544 Locust St, Burlington, ON L7S 1V5 Tel: 905-599-9958 Membership Type: Active

London Kettle Creek Landscaping Limited Mike Goodwin 1 - 209 Main St, Port Stanley, ON N5L 1C4 Tel: 519-782-3259 Membership Type: Active Rock Solid Designs Elise Clayton 106 Culloden Rd, Ingersoll, ON N5C 3R1 Tel: 519-425-0108 Membership Type: Active

Ottawa Jonathan Robert Landscape + Design Jonathan Robert 2227 Descartes St, Ottawa, ON K4A 0W4 Tel: 613-299-8689 Membership Type: Active Leisure Pools GTA Colby Lyons 2295 County Rd 14, Enterprise, ON K0K 1Z0 Tel: 613-929-2653 Membership Type: Associate Olsen Home Exteriors Randi-lee Bell 3186 Carp Rd, PO Box 60 Carp, ON K0A 1L0 Tel: 613-839-7000 Membership Type: Associate PML Contracting Paul Lalonde 18 - 2350 Stevenage Dr Ottawa, ON K1B 3W3 Tel: 613-748-7870 Membership Type: Active

Toronto

Nutri-Lawn - Sudbury Michael House 8 - 1888 Kingsway Sudbury, ON P3B 4J8 Tel: 705-525-1294 Membership Type: Active

Acorn Landscape Supply Greg Richard 2063 Castlefield Cres Oakville, ON L6H 5B4 Tel: 905-808-7645 Membership Type: Associate

Tyler Speirs Design Build Tyler Speirs 175 Sixth St, Collingwood, ON L9Y 1Z1 Tel: 705-888-6792 Membership Type: Interim

BRAC International Inc Brad Harris 15423 Yonge St, Aurora, ON L4G 1P1 Tel: 707-644-0269 Membership Type: Associate

Wilton Sanitation Inc Doug Wilton 405549 Grey Rd 4, RR 5 Flesherton, ON N0C 1E0 Tel: 519-924-3356 Membership Type: Associate

BiView Building Service Ltd Randy Ly 26 - 5004 Timberlea Blvd Mississauga, ON L4W 5C5 Tel: 905-712-1831 Membership Type: Active

R & M Construction Harry Reinders 254 Main St N, Acton, ON L7J 1W9 Tel: 519-853-3966 Membership Type: Active

Bushman Canada Anne Martin 3 - 6185 Tomken Rd Mississauga, ON L5T 1X6 Tel: 905-565-1700 Membership Type: Associate CORE Outdoor Power Megan Smithberger 36235 Kerr Dam Rd Polson, MT 59860 Tel: 406-883-2673 Membership Type: Associate Eco-Green Ltd Curtis Hinds 7102 Salme Dr Mississauga, ON L5N 5C7 Tel: 905-824-7746 Membership Type: Active Everwood Landscaping Mikulas Lukac 2437 West Ham Rd Oakville, ON L6M 4P2 Tel: 416-997-4742 Membership Type: Active Flattery Design D’arcy Flattery 722 - 560 Front St W Toronto, ON M5V 1C1 Tel: 416-605-7751 Membership Type: Active Great Ponds & Gardens Inc David Specic 2219 Winding Woods Dr Oakville, ON L6H 5T9 Tel: 905-257-1047 Membership Type: Active Green Forever Green Jose Lemos 70007 - 1115 Lodestar Rd Bldg E Toronto, ON M3J 0H3 Tel: 800-585-5004 Membership Type: Active Greenscape Exterior Design Ltd Joe Natale 9 Duval Dr, Toronto, ON M6L 2J9 Tel: 416-249-4635 Membership Type: Active Hino Motors Canada Ltd Edith Gerodiaz 395 Ambassador Dr Mississauga, ON L5T 2J3 Tel: 905-670-3352-x233 Membership Type: Associate John Johnson Landscaping & Maintenance Ltd. John Johnson 63 Poplar Rd Toronto, ON M1E 1Z2 Tel: 416-464-1564 Membership Type: Active Lawns, Ponds & Patios Ltd Paul McAdam 4192 Treetop Cres Mississauga, ON L5L 2L9 Tel: 905-820-0052 Membership Type: Active

Seville Landscaping Inc Dave Collings 1140 Halliday Ave Mississauga, ON L5E 1P9 Tel: 905-624-0402 Membership Type: Active Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Luis Oliveira JG06 - 2075 Bayview Ave Torotno, ON M4N 3M5 Tel: 416-480-4555 Membership Type: Active TEKK Construction Group Limited Nick Cutone 8 - 51 Roysun Rd Vaughan, ON L4L 8P9 Tel: 905-856-9393 Membership Type: Interim The Garden Expert Ltd Maurizio Caccamo 4697 19th Ave, Markham, ON L6C 1M3 Tel: 905-887-7944 Membership Type: Active

Upper Canada Clermont Landscaping Mike Keirstead 1391 Midland Ave, Kingston, ON K7P 2W5 Tel: 613-384-4477-x290 Membership Type: Active

Waterloo Bellamy Contracting Services Derek Brunkard 8346 Wellington Rd 19 Fergus, ON N1M 2W4 Tel: 519-843-2058 Membership Type: Associate Hot Shots Mobile Wash Matthew Craig 811 Grey Alder Crt Waterloo, ON N2V 2P2 Tel: 519-590-2043 Membership Type: Associate Pauls Service & Sales Paul Geil 1080 Bisch St, Waterloo, ON N2J 3Z4 Tel: 519-725-3395 Membership Type: Associate Spectralis Haulage and Excavation Inc Don Schwartzentruber 7118 Wellington Rd 124 Guelph, ON N1H 6J3 Tel: 519-778-8795 Membership Type: Active

Windsor Landgraff Tree Service David Landgraff 5975 North Service Rd Windsor, ON N8T 3P2 Tel: 519-945-4385 Membership Type: Active SKZ Landscaping Inc John Skuza PO Box 421, Station A Windsor, ON N9A 6L7 Tel: 519-250-1664 Membership Type: Active

Matt’s Landscaping Matthew Ward 211 Mathewson St, Maple, ON L6A 1B8 Tel: 905-303-8183 Membership Type: Interim

WWW.HORTTRADES.COM 19

EVENTS

July 16

Industry Auction 2014

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

Winkelmolen Nursery, 148 Lynden Rd., Lynden Bid on top-quality plant material at below-wholesale prices, and tour Winkelmolen Nursery’s farms, while helping raise funds for industry research and scholarships. There is no admission fee or RSVP required.

Farm tours 10 to 11:30 a.m., lunch and refreshments are from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., and the live auction is from 1 to 4 p.m. Bring your staff and your trailer to bid on top quality plant material at below-wholesale prices and tour the production farm while helping raise funds for industry research and scholarships.

July 24

Toronto Chapter Golf Tournament

Learn drystone walling from Master Craftsmen.

May 24 - 25

May 31

Saugeen First Nation #29, Southampton Interested stone wallers, enthusiasts, landscape contractors and masons can learn the fundamentals of the craft over two days. Canada’s own dry stone wall Master Craftsman Dean McLellan and Great Britain’s Master Craftsman, and Chief Examiner for the Dry Stone Walling Association of Great Britain, Andrew Loudon will teach an introductory dry stone walling course on May 24 and 25. The course is located in the heart of Saugeen First Nation #29 just north of Southampton. For more information, contact Dean at 519-321-1586.

Zonta Park, Chatham Friends and family created a memorial garden in memory of pond pioneer Perry Molema. All are welcome to its dedication at 1 p.m. Funds are still needed to cover all bills for the memorial garden. Donations of any amount are gratefully accepted, or a paver can be purchased for $1,000 and engraved with either a business name or family name. If interested in purchasing an engraved paver, contact Sasha Hunter at shunter@aquascapeinc.com.

Dry stone walling course

Celebration of life for Perry Molema

Nobleton Lakes Golf Club, 125 Nobleton Lakes, Nobelton The Toronto Chapter Golf Tournament is booked. Are you coming?

The Chapter is happy to announce the 2014 golf tournament will again be held at Nobleton.

Stay tuned to the Toronto Chapter Enews and/ or the Toronto Chapter Event page on www. horttrades.com for more information on registration and sponsorship opportunities, or contact Myscha at myscha@landscapeontario.com, or call 1-800-265-5656, ext. 354.

August 17

Toronto Chapter Baseball Tournament 2014

Richmond Green, 1300 Elgin Mills Road East Richmond Hill The annual Toronto Chapter Baseball Tournament is a great opportunity for LO members to enjoy some great times on the ball field, a barbecue and good times in a relaxed setting. For more information on the event, contact Myscha at myscha@landscapeontario.com.

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INDUSTRY NEWS Vineland receives $26.5 million The governments of Canada and Ontario announced a $26.5 million investment in Vineland Research and Innovation Centre as part of the Growing Forward 2 program.

The announcement took place at the Centre in Vineland on Apr. 24. On hand were local MP David Sweet and MPP Ted McMeekin.

The funding will go towards assisting the horticulture industry through the five-year federal-provincial-territorial initiative.

“Horticulture is a key economic driver for our province. This investment allows us to continue work on 10 key research programs aimed at horticulture sector priorities,” said Dr. Jim Brandle, Vineland’s CEO. “We thank our key partners for their support and will continue to drive results for the industry through research, innovative solutions and commercialization programs.”

Some of the areas that will benefit from the funding include enhanced horticultural production systems, including natural and automated pest management systems for greenhouse and nursery operations; genetic research to create crops that are more resilient to Ontario conditions and more profitable to grow and consumer insights to support new products, including different varieties of vegetables, apples and wine.

“We are delighted with the continued confidence shown in Vineland,” said

John F. T. Scott, Vineland’s board chair.

“Through collaboration with a wide-range of industry partners, Vineland is working every day to increase competitiveness for the Canadian horticulture industry with ground-breaking research and innovation.”

Landscape Ontario has representation on the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre Advisory Committee.

Inspection blitzes and initiatives begin this month

The Ministry of Labour has begun its provincial safety blitz campaign.

This month, the ministry launched campaigns for the construction sector for excavation hazards and new and young workers in industrial sector.

In July, the ministry will begin a blitz campaign for fall protection hazards in the construction sector.

Inspectors began to focus on construction sites with excavation and trenching activities during a one-month safety blitz, that began on May 1. The Ministry of Labour inspectors are checking that employers are complying with requirements under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. This includes checking that employers are assessing and addressing hazards at sites with excavations and trenches.

The ministry says that hazards involving excavations can result in serious,

and even fatal, injuries to workers at construction sites. “If a worker is trapped in an excavation collapse, the soil’s weight may be so heavy a successful rescue may be impossible. A trapped worker may die before the rescue can begin.”

Between 2008 and 2012, a total of 12 workers died and 33 workers were critically injured in excavation and trenching incidents at construction projects in Ontario, according to Ministry of Labour statistics.

The ministry reports that workers involved in excavation activities are at risk of injury due to hazards such as falls into a trench or excavation, tripping over equipment, sudden collapse of unsupported excavation walls, excavated materials or other objects falling on workers, exposure to underground services or overhead electrical cables, unstable nearby structures such as other buildings, mishandled or poorly placed materials, hazardous atmospheres (noxious gases/lack of oxygen), toxic or flammable and explosive gases and incidents involving vehicles and other mobile equipment.

Ministry inspectors will visit sites across Ontario with excavation and trenching activities. In particular, they will visit employers with a high incidence of lost-time injuries involving excavation workers, not previously visited by the ministry, where complaints have been received and where there is a history of non-compliance.

The ministry’s enforcement blitz is operated through the Occupational Health and Safety Program. Findings are generally reported soon after completion.

The ministry tracks each sector to determine if there are long-lasting improvements in compliance and fewer injuries and fewer breaches of employment standards.

For more information on the ministry blitzes, go to http://gfl.me/x27f

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INDUSTRY NEWS LO public relations director named National Garden Day spokesperson

Landscape Ontario’s director of public relations Denis Flanagan has been named provincial spokesperson for Canada’s National Garden Day on June 13.

NDP Agriculture and Agri-Food Critic Malcolm Allen introduced a Private Member’s Bill on Apr. 8 to establish National Garden Day to be held the Friday before Father’s Day of each year.

“National Garden Day would be an opportunity for gardening enthusiasts, families and schools to share their knowledge and passion for gardening and the outdoors,” says Allen. “Canadians could enjoy their home gardens or favourite community garden, visit their local garden centre or travel to other communities.”

The event is supported by CNLA, Canada’s Garden Council and other stakeholder groups.

“As an MP from the beautiful Niagara region, I am proud to recognize Canada’s long-standing garden heritage,” said Allen.

Upon introducing Bill C-589, an act respecting a National Garden Day, in the House, Allen stated, “After the severe

winter we have all lived through in this country, I think we would all appreciate that one of the things to look forward to would be flowers. This would be a way for all of us who have lived through this harsh Canadian winter to look forward to something that is truly spring-like, that truly makes us feel good, and that is actually good for our environment.”

CNLA President Christene LeVatte said, “Recognizing a national day to celebrate gardens will not only support our industry, but also greatly benefit the Canadian public and economy. We look forward to seeing this bill come to fruition in the near future.

The Canadian Garden Council has set six goals in organizing Garden Days festivities. They goals include, celebrate our cultural garden offering, its history and innovations; counteract plant blindness syndrome by bringing awareness to the importance of public and home gardens, the values of home gardening and all the benefits related to gardens; interpret and develop our unique Canadian garden aesthetic; promote sustainable garden practices and communities; promote Canada’s numerous garden experiences; foster development of our national garden tourism sector.

Flanagan says all Ontario gardens, garden and horticultural organizations

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and garden-related businesses (garden centres, etc.) are invited to organize activities or events to celebrate public gardens and home gardening and to be included as part of the Garden Days program.

“It’s a great opportunity for Canadians to go outside in their own garden, visit or take part in their favourite garden experience or travel to a nearby garden destination to enjoy their favorite garden,” says Flanagan.

One of the major events already planned is the 50th anniversary celebration of the Guelph Arboretum. The event will start at 12:30 at the Conservatory and Water Garden.

The on-campus Garden Day celebrations on June 13 will be extra special to mark the University of Guelph’s 50th anniversary, the OAC’s 140th and the 65th anniversary of the OAC Class of 1949.

As part of Canada Garden Day, the university is providing free shuttle buses and tours of its Guelph Turfgrass Institute, Arboretum, Conservatory Gardens, newly-renovated Branion Plaza and Guelph Centre for Urban Organic Farming.

The program of activities and events will be featured on www.gardendays.ca.

New guide for container nursery crop fertilization

Scientists at Vineland Research and Innovation Centre are helping Ontario nursery growers save money and protect the environment through the identification of optimal fertilizer rates for commonly-grown nursery crops.

In collaboration with nursery growers in the Niagara Region and throughout Ontario, Dr. Youbin Zheng, Vineland’s Environmental Horticulture Chair and University of Guelph Associate Professor, Mary Jane Clark, Vineland’s Senior Research Technician, Environmental Horticulture; and Erin Agro, Vineland’s Graduate Student, Horticultural Production Systems, are discovering the best fertilization practices for container nursery crop production.

“Sheridan Nurseries is pleased to support Dr. Zheng’s research on actual real-life production conditions at Ontario nurseries. The results help us to refine our fertilizer applications, thus reducing the environmental impact and costs,” says Bart Brusse, container manager for Sheridan Nurseries in Georgetown.

The team has found that each nursery crop has its own preference for con-

Rose of Sharon

Garden centres may sign-up for recycling program

Spirea

Dwarf winged euonymus

Each nursery crop has its own preference for controlled-release fertilizer.

When the rate is increased, rose of Sharon shows a significant increase in growth, while spirea has moderately increased growth and dwarf winged euonymus does not respond to the increased fertilizer rate.

trolled-release fertilizer rate. When the rate is increased, some shrubs, such as rose of Sharon and Pee Gee hydrangea, show a significant increase in growth, others including spirea show moderately increased growth while some dwarf winged euonymus do not respond to fertilizer rate. Additional results can be found in a new comprehensive guide located on Vineland’s website at http://gfl.me/x27e.

“I’m very happy to have been involved in this research these past two years,” says Chris Pieper, owner of Pieper Nurseries in Dorchester. “A robust fertilization program means cost savings by using only minimal amount of fertilizers, while getting maximum results. It also helps promote a better environment.”

“From this project, we learned that additional research, including more fertilizer types, plant species, growing substrate and different climate regions, is needed to help growers optimize their fertilization strategies and minimize environmental impacts from nutrient runoff,” says Dr. Zheng.

Vineland’s industry-focused research creates positive results for the Canadian horticulture industry. For more information on this research program, please contact: Dr. Youbin Zheng at 905-562-0320, ext. 765, youbin.zheng@vinelandresearch.com.

Funding for this project has been provided by Growing Forward 2, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada through the Canadian Agricultural Adaptation Program (CAAP), Landscape Ontario, and Agrium Advanced Technologies.

Plans are well underway for the annual National Plastic Recycling Event. This year it will run from June 20 to July 1.

Ontario saw 26 garden centres take part last year. A total of 50 garden centres took part across Canada.

CNLA has created a map on its website to show all participating garden centres, so consumers can find where they may 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.

Garden centres wishing to take part in the program as a recycling drop-point, may contact Chelsea Ten Broeck at chelsea@cnla-acpp.ca.

MTO circle check required on commercial vehicles

The MTO requires that all owners of Commercial Motor Vehicles (CMV) complete a formal circle check of their vehicles (and attached trailers) every 24 hours.

The MTO defines a CMV as a truck or tractor with a registered gross weight or an ‘actual weight’ of more than 4,500 kg (9,920 lbs.). This means the weight of the truck or tractor only, which may include weight transferred to it by an attached trailer.

Details are set out in Regulation 575, which explains, “No person shall drive a CMV unless the person has inspected the CMV within the previous 24 hours.”

The purpose of daily vehicle inspection is to ensure the early identification of vehicle problems and defects before the vehi-

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Offer valid from April 1, 2014 until June 2, 2014. Offer valid from March 4, 2014 until July 31, 2014 0% APR purchase financing for 60 months on new John Deere 1 Series Sub-Compact Utility Tractors. Down payment may be required. Taxes, set-up, delivery, freight, preparation charges and a $50 documentation fee will apply. Representative Amount Financed: $10,000, at 0% APR, monthly payment is $166.67 for 60 months, total obligation is $10,000, cost of borrowing is $0. Monthly payments/cost of borrowing will vary depending on amount borrowed/down payment. MSRP cash price based on highest priced product in series: $14,696 (includes $50 documentation fee). Cost of borrowing based on Representative Amount Financed not MSRP cash price. Minimum finance amount may be required; representative amount does not guarantee offer applies. The charge for amounts past due is 24% per annum. Dealers are free to set individual prices. Additional dealer fees may apply. Financing on approved John Deere Financial credit only. See dealer for details. Limited time offer which may not be combined with other offers. Discounts or other incentives may be available for cash purchases. By selecting the purchase financing offer, consumers may be foregoing such discounts and incentives which may result in a higher effective interest rate. For purchases on your Multi-use Account for personal use. Offer is unconditionally interest free for the first 12 months. After the 12 month period, for eligible purchases of goods and services: 1) a minimum monthly payment of 2.5% of the original amount financed is required; and 2) finance charges will begin to accrue immediately on amount financed at 17.9% per annum. Minimum purchase amount may be required. A statement of account will be provided monthly.

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INDUSTRY NEWS cle is operated on the highway. “Inspections prevent the operation of a vehicle with conditions that are likely to cause or contribute to the severity of an accident,” states MTO. Upon completion of the inspection, the inspector must fill out a simple inspection report stating: • the motor vehicle make • the number plate or unit number of the truck, bus or tractor • the number plates or unit numbers of any trailers towed by the truck, bus or tractor • the date and time of the inspection • the name and signature of the person who carries out the inspection • a list of the items required to be inspected (defined in Schedules 1 and 2) • any safety defects of the items referred to in clause (f) disclosed by the inspection.

While the regulation states that the driver must forward the completed

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inspection report to the person responsible for the CMV, an MTO spokesperson advises that the completed inspection report be kept in the CMV. The trip inspection report must be produced upon demand if either the police or Ministry of Transportation inspectors stop the vehicle. At the end of the day, the completed inspection report can be removed from the vehicle and filed. Inspection reports are to be kept for three months.

If a CMV is used for personal errands during off hours, the driver is still required to fill out a trip inspection report, if one has not been completed during the past 24 hours.

For complete information about the rules and regulations covering trip inspections, contact your local Ministry of Transportation office. A Vehicle Inspection Report form may be found at http:// gfl.me/x27d.

World crop vegetable gardens hot new trend in Ontario

Vegetable gardening is a growing trend across Ontario. Gardeners of all ages inspired by the local food movement and a desire for healthy eating are using whatever space in their backyards, patios or balconies to create edible gardens.

As Ontario and the GTA become more ethnically diverse, new Canadians have brought tastes for world crops from Asia, Africa and Latin America. Instead of tomatoes, think tomatillos; instead of green beans, think yard long beans.

Combining these two trends at Canada Blooms this year was the popular Edible Gardens Go Global booth,

by Toronto Botanical Garden and the Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation.

Thousands of visitors filled the TBG booth over the 10-day show to get ideas for growing their own world crops this summer. Volunteers gave out 4,000 free packets of okra seeds to interested gardeners.

Among the locally-grown vegetables on display were okra from West Africa, hot peppers from China and Thailand, South Asian yard long beans, and varieties of eggplant from China and India.

A repeated question from visitors was, “Where can I pick up seeds to grow these myself?”

Garden centres throughout the region

can now expand offerings to include world seeds and seedlings to meet the diverse needs of their consumers.

Some suppliers already stock world crop seeds. These include William Dam Seed, Ontario Seed and McKenzie Seed Company.

Vineland Research and Innovation Centre is working to commercialize production of some world crops with local farmers. They hope to tap into the estimated $730 million market in the GTA alone — a figure that will increase as more immigrants make the region their home.

This movement to grow local, eat global started in the greenhouses of research centres and with organizations like TBG, and is now taking off among the general public, many of whom want to grow world crops themselves.

To learn more, visit www.greenbelt.ca/ worldcrops.

Grey to Green Conference set for this August

Organizers are preparing to host the second annual Grey to Green Conference from Aug. 25 – 26 at the Eaton Chelsea, 33 Gerrard Street West, Toronto.

Architects, planners, health professionals and developers, along with landscape architects and designers are expected to take part in the event.

The conference will focus on the economics of green infrastructure, practical solutions to the challenges of storm water and air pollution management, the urban heat island effect and increasing urban biodiversity will be addressed.

Keynote speakers include Bill Browning, one of the green building and real estate industry’s foremost thinkers and strategists, and Dr. John Howard, a professor of both Pediatrics and Medicine in the Schulich School of Medicine at the University of Western Ontario.

A panel will look at the opportunities and barriers to how the building and land-development community can adopt green infrastructure to create resilient communities. Using last year’s major flooding in Toronto, the panelists will look at how the city’s flood risk communities can be prepared to manage more frequent regulatory storm incidents.

The conference has also scheduled a long list of highly respected speakers at seminars during the conference.

Landscape Ontario is a sponsor of the event and will have a booth at the conference’s trade show.

EXECUTIVE DESK Enhancing quality of life through what you do for a living Tony DiGiovanni CHT LO executive director

A

fter this punishing and unrelenting winter, I am really hoping you don’t have time to read this article, because you are busy enhancing lives with your products, services, creativity, skill and caring attitude.

I have told this story many times, but I am moved to repeat it. Years ago, I heard the late Perry Molema say we are in the “business of enhancing lives.” That simple phrase has energized and inspired me ever since.

Perry’s caring attitude and positive perspective on life have inspired many others as well. It was not a surprise that the industry came together to build a garden in his memory. Please come join his family and friends in a celebration of his life and

legacy on Sat., May 31, starting at 1 p.m. at Zonta Park at the corner of King Street and William Street in Chatham.

Speaking of enhancing lives, I had an opportunity to read a thought-provoking book called Drive by Daniel Pink. The subtitle of the book is “The surprising truth about what motivates us.” The book was interesting because it seemed to explain a phenomenon that I have observed and been inspired by every day working in an association. What drives so many of our members to spend countless hours and huge resources (for no pay), happily volunteering in order to contribute to the lives and livelihood of fellow members? For that matter, I see this contribution ethic in our staff too. They go far beyond what is expected of them. What motivates this kind of behaviour?

The author observes there are basically two types of organizations, ‘for-profit’ and ‘non-profit.’ One makes money, the other does good. However, there are new business forms emerging. These businesses

exist to offer significant social benefits.

The author talks about “social businesses” where the profit-maximization principle is replaced by the social-benefit principle. He uses the term ‘for-benefit’ corporations and ‘for-purpose’ organizations. This purpose principle is what really drives, motivates and inspires. Participating in a greater purpose in order to leave a legacy of benefit is a huge motivator. In other words, participating in a common purpose to enhance lives is an inherent motivator for us, employees, customers and the public.

We are fortunate to be in business that provides economic, environmental, social, health, legacy, therapeutic, recreational and spiritual benefits. We have the answers to many of the issues affecting modern society. Our landscapes collect and filter storm water, provide oxygen, trap pollution and greenhouse gases, shade our homes, save energy costs, give us privacy, reduce exposure to the elements, provide the green infrastructure for outdoor exercise and recreation, reduce our stress, increase our property values and make us happy.

This is what you and your employees do for a living. This is what your customers enable. There is inherent motivation in this worthy cause and purpose. Your staff at Landscape Ontario wishes you a wonderful spring season enhancing lives.

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

Join the family and friends of the late Perry Molema for the official opening of the garden dedicated to his memory, on May 31 in Chatham.

WWW.HORTTRADES.COM 25

PUBLIC RELATIONS

Denis Flanagan and his team of Jane Leworthy, Myscha Burton, Rachel Cerelli and Grout plan a busy summer visiting member job sites.

A busy summer of planning, promotion and public relations

By Denis Flanagan CLD Director of Public Relations and Membership Services

Y

our membership department is in full swing right now, planning for many events this summer.

I would like to thank Rachel Cerrelli for all the hard work she did in training Myscha Burton to take on a contract role while Rachel is on maternity leave. Everyone at LO welcomes Myscha, and wishes Rachel all the best.

Our first order of business is to ensure all the Chapter events are properly promoted and supported by the staff at Milton. We have a full roster of golf tournaments, barbecues, family days and baseball tournaments.

It’s great to see the enthusiasm from our

26 LANDSCAPE ONTARIO MAY 2014

members at these events which feature some friendly competition, good food, networking and the occasional beverage. It’s all a winning formula. Look for results, articles and tell-tale photos in future editions of your Landscape Ontario magazine.

Hopefully, without bugging you too much during what promises to be a busy year, our goal is to have the dates, details and promotional timelines in place for the coming fall and winter chapter meetings.

As you can appreciate in your own businesses, planning in advance allows us to identify gaps and assist you in running successful meetings.

We will keep you up-to-date on our Chapter Challenge. The goal is achieve a five per cent increase in membership.

It’s a great opportunity for you to chat with non-members in coffee shops and landscape supply yards, share personal experiences of the benefits of membership. Growing our family of professional

businesses is good for your credibility and for the industry. Please encourage people interested in joining to apply online at www. horttrades.com. Our receptionist and administrative support superstar Jane Leworthy will make sure the applications are dealt with in a timely fashion.

We are also looking forward to continuing our popular member visits to job sites this summer. We found this a great opportunity to meet owners and crews doing what they do best, which is beautifying Ontario’s neighbourhoods. At the same time we will take the opportunity to thank the public for hiring a Landscape Ontario member.

In conjunction with our public relations company, we will feature community projects involving our members in the local media. Please contact us if you are involved in any projects that you would like profiled.

Your membership team and I are looking forward to visiting, listening, photographing and celebrating with as many members as possible this summer.

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

MEMBERSHIP Together we are stronger

A

s many of you may know, this will be my last article for the next few months. I will be on maternity leave, as of May 16.

Myscha Burton will take over my position for the next year.

She has already had a wonderful first few weeks meeting many of our board members, as well as getting to know the process we go through to ensure we support our local chapters, as well as maintain membership services.

Director of public relations Denis Flanagan and Myscha will start member vis-

its accompanied by Grout (our Landscape Ontario spokesgnome @lognome or facebook.com/LOGrout ). Should you be interested in having the LO membership team come out to see you and your crew on the job, please contact myscha@landscapeontraio.com.

There are some great topics planned for this coming season’s meetings. A glance into what some of your chapters are planning starts with Toronto coming up with a fun catch phrase, ‘What’s up with that?’

This fall, the Chapter will run a growers’ panel discussion on those cheap cedars we all see out there.

Durham Chapter plans to host a panel discussion on natural stone, similar to the Toronto Chapter’s very successful event this past April.

Waterloo Chapter will host an evening meeting geared towards connecting with

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A Growing Tradition

By Rachel Cerelli Membership and Chapter Coordinator

our youth to ensure the industry maintains a professional standard of excellence.

In the fall and winter, Georgian Lakelands Chapter hosts more than one educational meeting a month with topics such as Social Media — How to make it work for you — Septic Systems and Landscape Dos and Don’ts, not to mention the ever-popular Whine and Cheese meeting with roundtable whining/wining.

Social media is also a popular topic this year, with many of your chapters hosting social media sites. This allows the chapters to update what is happening in their community on a regular basis.

To see who your incoming chapter board members for the 2014/2015 season will be, which chapter hosts a social media site, or see any of the exciting chapter meetings planned for this fall, go to horttrades.com and select your chapter and the rest is easy. Click and read.

Congratulations to all of you who have decided to give back to your chapter and help coordinate local meetings, events and community events. You are our strength.

If you have questions, contact Myscha Burton by email myscha@landscapeontario. com, or call 1-800-265-5656, ext. 354.

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UNDERGROUND WORLD A decade of momentum continues

By Terry Murphy CLP

T

he Ontario Regional Common Ground Alliance (ORCGA) is now starting its second decade of efforts to save lives, reduce costs and further promote damage prevention of our underground utility assets in Ontario.

April, May and June are the key activity months for excavations, and the time when most underground accidents and utility strikes take place. We all need to take special precautions during this time.

To date we have some key accomplishments. They include, passage of Bill 8, ORCGA’s growth into a strong organization, the annual Dig Safe Month program, reduced landscape industry hits, the formation of a National Common Ground Alliance Association, creation of a best practices manual and a damage prevention technician program.

The passage of Bill 8 by the provincial government created strong regulations that will result in heavy fines for non-compliant companies. All utility asset owners must register with ON1CALL, by June 30, 2014.

This is one of the strongest pieces of legislation involving damage to underground utilities in North America. All utilities must participate in the damage prevention movement. The Bill simplifies the process to obtain locates.

The annual Dig Safe month of April has several key municipal promotions and private sector damage prevention activities. It’s been a great tool to promote safe practices.

Over the last four years, the landscape industry has reduced the number of hits per 1000 locates by 60 per cent.

These are all key accomplishments that are helping us save lives, reduce costs of damages and promote awareness.

There are some goals for the immediate future. These include increasing public awareness in getting locates and advertising ON1CALL, ensuring that all horticultural training programs have a Dig Safe component, having more utilities represented at Landscape Ontario’s Congress to promote Alternate Locate Agreements (ALAs) with landscape contractors, increasing memberships in the ORCGA and increasing sponsorships to solidify ORCGA’s financial stability.

Challenges

The responsibility of obtaining locates and digging safe is always a challenge. How-

Help is here

ever, do you fully understand what a locate provides and are you clear on what your call to ON1CALL will produce?

Your call will give you only locate markings of all utilities from the street into the property’s structure. It will not give you any marking information on any other utilities on the property. This has been a major source of utility strikes for landscapers.

If you are doing any excavating work, planting, fencing or grading in the backyard or side yard, then you need to call for additional private locates. You do not get them with your initial call to ON1CALL. I have already had a case where a contractor had to pay TSSA fines and administration fees, plus a gas line repair invoice. This occurred during a side yard grading project, where an unusually shallow gas line existed.

These fines and penalties can run you $2,500 to $3,000. Please make sure you call for separate private locates if any back or side yard work is being done on the property.

The ORCGA Board is committed to a continued effort to make sure that all excavating contractors and the public understand the risks involved in managing the underground utility infrastructure. We can all help by getting locates and digging safe.

The landscape industry has done a fine job in the last four years to improve our hits per 1,000 locates, so let’s keep it going by always calling ON1CALL, and being careful about back and side yard private property underground utilities.

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

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PROSPERITY PARTNERS Managing customer experience, Part 1

By Jacki Hart CLP Prosperity Partners Program Manager

W

ith spring being stubborn to emerge this year, every sector of our industry will operate at maximum capacity with the added stress from a shorter spring.

Typically in a spring like this, most homeowners don’t think of gardening and outdoor projects until they’ve ventured out and reminded themselves about the things they need or want to change. When that happens, then all of us will hear the phone start to ring off the hook. It all starts to come at you really, really fast.

A common thread across all of our industry sectors and business managers seems to be that by mid-May, the communication processes set up in each business between staff, customers and managers start to creak and groan at the seams. No matter how well prepared we try to be in anticipation of the peak season, our best laid plans seem to falter as spring marches on.

Attention to detail and an urgent/ timely response starts to unravel. Calls aren’t returned in a timely way. Callers aren’t screened properly for appropriate follow up. Inventory re-orders get missed. Hurried order pickers make mistakes. Plant care slips. Managers functioning on sleep deprivation and drive-thru diets become frazzled. Balls are dropped.

In this era of high expectation for communication response — whether through email, voice mail or texts — the pace is faster, and customers leverage mobile browsers to find the quickest response to THEIR problem or desire.

Didn’t return their call same day?

Most new customers, with whom you don’t yet have a rapport, will move on to the next business they can find. In many cases, a two- or three-hour delay in returning a voice mail or email may result in a prospective customer already hav-

ing arranged an appointment with a competitor, or found another retailer carrying what they want.

Some would argue these aren’t rightfit customers. I disagree. You never know who will be a right-fit until you speak with them and pre-qualify, or at least get a first impression when they walk into your store. We all spend a lot of money on marketing, and can’t afford to let countless prospects pass us by just because we weren’t on the ball when they first thought of doing business with our company.

So, what do you do to improve? It might be as simple as this, buy an inexpensive small spiral-bound notebook for everyone on your team who deals directly with customers. Have them start a fresh page every day with date at the top. Insist they write down everything that comes their way which requires a follow up; i.e. passing on a message generated from a question on an installation project, a phone message, or ordering stock that’s depleted, or an unanswered customer inquiry. At the end of every day (if not throughout the day), everyone takes a few minutes to review their notes and follows-up on their day’s loose ends in a summary of bullet points with the appropriate person, or with action items for themselves to complete.

The follow-up could be via voice mail, email or text, a note on a designated board or desk, etc. And, followup for one’s self could be as simple as jotting unfinished items onto the next

day’s page.

At the start of every day, there should be nothing in the previous pages that is not ticked-off or crossed-out as having been followed through.

When we are all rushed and pulled in numerous directions simultaneously, it’s hard to remember verbal messages or mental notes on a to-do list, which solely depends on memory. Write things down and follow-up on them. Even if you can’t book an appointment immediately, return a call or email, say so.

Most of us dislike being ignored, especially when we are a paying customer. So, I’m suggesting that you step back for a few moments, and make it a priority to set up a simple, uncomplicated communication plan with your team to proactively manage the intensity of the upcoming weeks. Meet briefly each day, or at least once weekly. It’s the BEST use of everyone’s time — as counterintuitive as that may seem. You will drop way fewer balls, and keep way more people happy (customers and staff) if you keep communication clear, timely and responsive this spring.

However you decide to deploy your communication strategy — with or without technology — do it consistently across the board with all staff, so the end result is that you have customers who feel important, and who will feel confident doing business with you.

Next month, watch for Part 2: Repairing the customer experience (picking up the dropped balls and owning communication failures).

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

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employment OPPORTUNITIES

CLASSIFIEDS employment OPPORTUNITIES

INTERNATIONAL LANDSCAPING INC Outstanding full-time and seasonal opportunities are available for qualified people to join our well established and award-winning landscape design, construction, and maintenance company located in north Oakville. We are currently hiring for: Landscape Maintenance Foreperson Requirements include: a high degree of horticultural skill and knowledge, demonstrated supervisory and communication skills, ability to physically participate in day to day planting and maintenance, a demonstrated knowledge of trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals, knowledge of turf related practices. Ability to identify insects, diseases and weeds, and to recommend effective treatments. A positive, friendly manner to ensure excellence in customer service and employee morale. A valid driver’s license (D class an asset). Year round employment.

Landscape Maintenance Technician Requirements include: strong horticultural skills, experience in all aspects of property maintenance,valid driver’s license (class D an asset). Year round employment.

Seasonal Planting Technician Requirements include: Physical fitness, excellent work ethic, working on Saturdays, love of the outdoors and seasonal planting, creative & enthusiastic, ability to work independently.

Year round employment.

Landscape Construction Technician Requirements include: Working knowledge of all aspects of landscape construction, including precast concrete pavers and walls, natural flagstone paving and walls, retaining wall construction, preparation of planting beds and installation of plant material, operation of skid steers, miniexcavators and loaders. Must have valid driver’s license (D class an asset). Carpentry skills an asset. Year round employment.

Compensation to commensurate with experience.

Start challenging yourself today in an environment that embraces diversity and rewards innovation.

While we appreciate all applications we receive, only those under consideration will be contacted.

Email your resume to: hr@intland.ca or fax to 905-876-0400 www.internationallandscaping.com WORK WITH AN INDUSTRY LEADER!

opportunities at davey tree Davey Tree is currently expanding operations and looking for experienced Arborists, Foremen, Climbers, and Groundspersons.

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

If you are interested in being part of our growing team, please email or fax resume to: John Arico Email: John.Arico@davey.com Fax: 905-304-7605 www.daveytree.ca

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

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

Our events provide the tools for your business to grow and prosper • Increase brand recognition • Discover new customers • Capitalize on new markets • Source new suppliers

Key

Connections Canada’s Premier Green Industry Trade Show and Conference January 6-8, 2015 Toronto Congress Centre locongress.com

Canada’s fall show for the floral and garden industry October 22-23, 2014 Toronto Congress Centre North Building, Toronto, Ontario loexpo.ca

30 LANDSCAPE ONTARIO MAY 2014

Canada’s Garden Festival March 13-22, 2015 Direct Energy Centre Toronto, Ontario canadablooms.com

For exhibitor or visitor information please call: 1-800-265-5656 x353

GreenTrade Expo Eastern Ontario’s Green Trade Show February 11, 2015 Capital Exhibition Centre Ottawa, Ontario greentrade.ca

2013

SNOWPOSIUM LANDSCAPE ONTARIO

SNOW AND ICE MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE AND EXPO

Conference and Expo September 16, 2014 Milton, Ontario

ADVERTISERS 404 Stone Ltd.

www.404stone.com

Amazing Gates of Canada Bot Aggregates Limited Connon Nurseries/CBV Holdings Inc. Dutchmaster Nurseries Ltd FSI Landscape Supply Greenlife - Ottawa Wholesale Nursery Gro-Bark (Ontario) Ltd. Hutchinson Farm Supply J. Lockwood Chrysler Ltd. John Deere Kobes Nurseries Inc.

Landscape Ontario Growers’ Group

905-887-3404

Page 11

www.amazinggatesofcanada.ca

855-484-2837

Page 17

www.botaggregates.ca

877-898-2688

Page 8

www.connon.ca

888-775-2687

Page 9

www.dutchmasternurseries.com

905-683-8211

Page 32

www.fsilandscapesupply.com

905-456-2435

Page 16

www.greenlifenursery.ca

613-692-3047

Page 15

www.gro-bark.com

905-846-1515

Page 27

www.hutchinsonfarmsupply.com

905-640-2692

Page 23

www.lockwoodchrysler.com

289-644-2250

Page 15

www.johndeere.ca www.kobesnurseries.com

905-263-8814

www.landscapestore.ca

905-336-3369

Page 20

www.putzernursery.com

905-878-7226

Page 13

Millgrove Perennials Inc.

www.millgroveperennials.ca

905-689-1749

Page 22

Newroads National Leasing

www.newroadsleasing.com

416-587-1021

Page 16

Sipkens Nurseries Ltd. Stam Nurseries The Investment Guild Uxbridge Nurseries Ltd. V. Kraus Nurseries Ltd.

No admission fee • Includes lunch All horticulture tradespeople are invited!

Page 2

Legends Landscape Supply Inc.

Potters Road Nursery Inc.

AUCTION

Page 18

M Putzer Nursery

Ontario Landscape Supply

INDUSTRY

www.ontariolandscapesupply.com 905-839-2099 Page 10 www.pottersroadnursery.com

519-688-0437

Page 24

www.sipkensnurseries.com

866-843-0438

Page 14

www.stamnurseries.com 519-424-3350 Page 17 www.hortprotect.com

800-459-8990

Page 12

www.uxbridgenurseries.com

877-655-3379

Page 21

www.krausnurseries.com

905-689-4022

Page 27

TRY AUCTION INDUS YO U

RO

F FI C

IO AT IA L I N VIT

N!

Wednesday, July 16

Winkelmolen Nursery 148 Lynden Rd, Lynden

Farm tours 10 to 11:30 a.m., Lunch 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.

Live auction from 1 to 4 p.m.

Contact Kristen McIntyre 1-800-265-5656, ext.321 or auction@landscapeontario.com.

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Communication packets and more: subscribe today! www.HortTrades.com/packets Call Angela at 1-800-265-5656

WWW.HORTTRADES.COM 31 Client: Landscape Ontario

Designer: HB

Output Device: Xerox

Special Instructions:

32 LANDSCAPE ONTARIO MAY 2014