Landscape Trades - October 2022

to the max, extremely rugged and ergonomically

the MSA 300 has earned its reputation as the world’s most powerful cordless chain saw. With a chain speed of up to 30 m/s and three operating modes for felling, delimbing, and cutting to length or building with timber, it can handle any job while keeping noise to a minimum. Its slim design and anti-vibration system make it the perfect solution for keeping everything under control – regardless of wind or weather thanks to professional ergonomics and weatherproof design. The MSA 300 realizes its full potential in combination with the new AP 500 S, our professional battery that’s the first of its kind, and guarantees maximum endurance, service life and performance to meet any challenge.

PRO-FLEET COMMERCIAL LANDSCAPE

8 NEW PLANTS FOR 2023

Stunning new cultivars are headed to Canadian nurseries and garden centres next spring. We’ve got your sneak peak at the most exciting introductions.

22 CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS

University of Guelph and CNLA researchers develop a Clean Air Calculator.

26 PHOTOGRAPHER SPOTLIGHT

Landscape Trades zooms in on lifestyle and garden photographer Stacy Bass.

ABOUT THE COVER

Stacy Bass’s passion for capturing colour, light and the essence of place manifests itself in her images.

BY DR. SARA STRICKER AND DR. ERIC LYONS

LANDSCAPE

GROUNDS MANAGEMENT ISSUE

COLUMNS

GREEN PENCIL Turfgrass provides enormous environmental and recreational benefits.

BY SCOTT BARBER

YOUR BUSINESS

opporunities in crisis: It’s time to evaluate your clients and raise prices.

NATHAN HELDER

ART OF GARDENING

a new column focused on the Canadian garden centre industry.

ART VANDEN ENDEN

MATTERS

documents in

and

ROB KENNALEY

world.

MAKE

ONE MACHINE. MANY TALENTS.

GO FROM JOB TO JOB, DAY AFTER DAY, SEASON AFTER SEASON.

If you have the will to reinvent the way you work, we have the way. The Toolcat UW56 is a master of all trades, and it’s ready to get after it.

ADVANTAGE FARM EQUIPMENT Wyoming 1-866-713-6656

BOBCAT OF BARRIE Barrie 705-726-2228 www.OakenEquipment.ca

BOBCAT OF BRANTFORD, INC. Brantford 519-752-7900 www.BobcatofBrantford.com

BOBCAT OF DURHAM EAST, LTD. Courtice 905-404-9990 www.BobcatofDurhamEast.com

BOBCAT OF GREY BRUCE Owen Sound 519-372-9100 www.BobcatofTC.com

BOBCAT OF HAMILTON, LTD. Stoney Creek 905-643-3177 www.BobcatofHamilton.com

BOBCAT OF HURON Walton 877-887-6365

BOBCAT OF LONDON, LTD. London 519-455-4900 www.BobcatofLondon.ca

BOBCAT OF MUSKOKA Muskoka 249-390-7000 www.OakenEquipment.ca

BOBCAT OF PARRY SOUND Nobel 705-342-1717 www.BobcatofParrySound.com

BOBCAT OF PETERBOROUGH Peterborough 705-748-9199 www.BobcatofPeterborough.com

BOBCAT OF SAULT STE. MARIE Sault Ste. Marie 705-949-7379 www.Bobcat-ssm.com

BOBCAT OF STRATFORD Stratford 519-393-6040 www.BobcatofStratford.ca

BOBCAT OF THE TRI-CITIES, LTD. Kitchener 519-579-9100 www.BobcatofTC.com

BOBCAT OF WINDSOR Windsor 844-807-0120 www.OakenEquipment.ca

BOBCAT OF TORONTO Brampton 416-679-4172 Scarborough 416-679-4171 www.OakenEquipment.ca Equipment World Inc. Thunder bay 807-623-9561 www.Bobcat-tbay.com

KUCERA GROUP CHATHAM Chatham 519-351-4300

JOHN'S EQUIPMENT SALES & SERVICE, LTD. Frankford 613-398-6522 www.JohnsEquipmentSales.com

Bobcat ®, the Bobcat logo and the colors of the Bobcat machine are registered trademarks of Bobcat Company in the United States and various other countries. ©2022 Bobcat Company. All rights reserved. | 1535

Bobcat ®, the Bobcat logo and the colors of the Bobcat machine are registered trademarks of Bobcat Company in the United States and various other countries. ©2022 Bobcat Company. All rights reserved.

GREENPENCIL

Lawn haters can kiss my grass

BY SCOTT BARBER

LAWNS ARE AN OUTDATED cultural norm. Let’s lose them — before we lose the pollinators.

That was the title of an article that ran this summer in Canada’s largest circulation newspaper, The Toronto Star.

The author Colleen Cirillo, a “rewilding communities campaigner” at the David Suzuki Foundation writes: “In Canada, there are about 6.2 million lawns. If one of those is yours, count yourself part of a long history rooted in wealth and status. But what once stood as a symbol of being rich enough to hold land and not farm it is today an outdated cultural norm — one that’s doing a disservice to us and the species that support us.”

Try telling my 10-year-old daughter that by kicking a soccer ball around on our lawn that she’s part of a “long history rooted in wealth and status.”

I’ll admit the hypocrisy - look up DSF cofounder David Suzuki’s carbon footprint, for instance - and self-righteousness gets under my skin. However, it is far less important than the substance of their fallacious argument: “Turfgrass is doing a disservice to us.”

I couldn’t disagree more.

The recreational benefits of turfgrass are obvious. That is something you could ask my daughter about. Where do you go when you want to play soccer or toss a frisbee around with your friends? A backyard lawn or a park. And that’s exactly the type of outdoor play kids need to be active and healthy.

Then, there are the enormous environmental benefits of turfgrass. The U.S. Parks Service lists some of the most important on its website.

CARBON SEQUESTRATION:

“Stands of healthy turfgrass play an important role in carbon sequestration or removal of carbon from the atmosphere. During photosynthesis, carbon dioxide is converted into plant biomass allowing for long-term storage of carbon below the ground within roots.”

CLEANING THE AIR WE BREATHE:

“Plants take up carbon dioxide and release oxygen into the atmosphere and grass is no exception. Dust and other airborne allergens are also trapped within a dense stand of turf.”

COOLING OUR CITIES:

“The process of transpiration has a cooling effect that lowers the temperature of the air around the turfgrass plant. Studies have shown that the amount of heat given off by bare soil or poorly maintained turf is substantially more than that of a healthy well-maintained stand of turfgrass.”

Turfgrass also prevents erosion, reduces runoff and promotes bioremediation.

Yet attacks on grass keep coming.

Is it time to decolonize your lawn? It’s time we reconsider our obsession with lawns

The case for leaving the perfectly manicured lawn behind

These are all titles of recent opinion articles in The Globe and Mail, Edmonton Sun, and CBC, respectively.

Do we need more biodiversity in our gardens including native plants to support pollinators? Absolutely. Should we take all the steps we can to ensure maintaining lawns is as environmentally friendly as possible? Absolutely. Should we get rid of lawns? No! Don’t fight grass. Fight concrete jungles.

On page 22 of this issue, Dr. Sara Stricker and Dr. Eric Lyons from the Guelph Turfgrass Institute detail research undertaken by the University of Guelph in partnership with the Canadian Nursery Landscape Association to calculate the carbon sequestration and clean air impact of plants.

The “Clean Air Calculator inputs the management practices of mowing, fertilization, and irrigation for the total area covered by lawns, trees, and shrubs to calculate net carbon sequestration… An interesting finding was that turfgrass, trees and shrubs all fall within a similar range for carbon sequestration.”

The Clean Air Calculator will be launched on the Green Cities Foundation website (gcfoundation.ca) later this year. The hope is that landscape and horticulture professionals will share it with colleagues and clients to spread the knowledge that plants, including turfgrass, play a critical role in climate change mitigation.

In the meantime, I hope you have a great autumn. Get outside and enjoy your backyard lawn or a neighbourhood park before the snow starts flying!

Scott Barber is the publisher and editor of Landscape Trades. He can be reached at sbarber@landscapetrades.com.

maybe it’s chance, maybe it’s meant to bee™

Step aside small fry, here comes the biggest and best new Agastache in recent memory. These substantial landscape perennials top out at 3’ tall and are proven cold hardy to Zone 5. All this on top of the heat tolerance and pollinator pop contained in the genus.

Find product or a grower near you

Exclusive Home of Proven Winners® Perennials

New and exciting for

Each fall, Landscape Trades provides readers with a sneak peak at the most exciting new plants headed to garden centres the following spring. This year, we worked with University of Guelph Trial Garden Manager Rodger Tschanz to get even deeper insights into what makes this latest crop of cultivars interesting and unique.

For more new plant content, including additional cultivars and videos with Rodger on the 2022 trial garden season, visit our website: LandscapeTrades.com/New-Plants-for-2023

Gaillardia

This series can quickly fill bare areas in landscape beds, creating a blanket of flowers.

Hula is currently available in four bloom colours: Red, Blush, Pink and Bicolour Red White.

PanAmerican Seed

This new double impatiens series with beautiful rose-like blooms is highly resistant to Impatiens Downy Mildew. These plants make fabulous, durable hanging baskets for shade and low-light gardens. It launches for the spring of 2023 in seven colours.

Ball FloraPlant

August Sun is a new colour in this series of tender, zone seven, summer flowering plants. The semi-double blooms deepen in colour as they age. They grow beautifully in large containers for showpiece displays, or make a tall, backborder cottage garden feature.

Ball Ingenuity

These plants have high vigour, matched with exceptional bloom performance. The textured blooms of these durable plants are outstanding for commercial landscape use.

Dummen Orange

This semi-trailing verbena has been trialed and selected for powdery mildew tolerance, continuous cycling of colour and holding colour in the summer heat.

Danziger

This series is a new genetic line in Benary’s breeding program and has created an improved growth habit, branching and earliness to bloom. This series will bloom up to 10 days earlier than the current Cats series. All five colours have the distinctive “whiskers” pattern.

Benary

An expansion of the Sky petunia family, adding a berry hue speckled with the popular sky pattern. The Headliner series is a medium-vigour, mounded variety with early flowering and is perfect for hanging baskets or premium mixed combos.

Selecta One

The new Mantra interspecific geranium series is unique in the combination of the best in interspecific bloom performance with dark green foliage, excellent branching, and a vigorous upright growth habit.

Syngenta Flowers

Begonia Hula series

Impatiens Glimmer series

Verbena VANESSA Optik Grape

Rudbeckia August Sun

Viola Cats Plus series

Impatiens MegaGuinea Orange

Petunia Headliner Strawberry Sky

Pelargonium Mantra series

Flamma celosia is a new plumosa type grown from seed that has exceptional heat tolerance in the field. The older inflorescence or plumes will not fade. It is available in five colours.

Sakata

The ColorRush series is the most vigorous line of petunias available from Ball FloraPlant. Pink Star is the newest cultivar in the series for 2023, adding an exciting novelty pink-and-white pattern.

Ball FloraPlant

This coleus has thick gold foliage with a burgundy splash. It is late to flower and has medium vigour, making it versatile for a range of container sizes.

Dummen Orange

This petunia has a large and distinct RIM outlining each bloom. It has a mounding and trailing habit making it a great choice for premium baskets and combinations.

Danziger

Smartunia is the world’s first TMV-resisitant petunia collection. Within this series are Smartunia Windmills, which have moderately vigorous growth with well-branched and semi-upright habits.

Dummen Orange

With increased bloom longevity, this series has excellent disease resistance partnered with heat and drought tolerance, providing superior seasonlong garden performance.

Syngenta Flowers

Celosia Flamma series

Petunia ColorRush Pink Star

Coleus Stained Glasswork Pineapple Express

Petunia RIMarkable

Zinnia Zydeco series

Petunia Smartunia Windmill Red

Primula Dania series

The Dania series is ideal for the early flowering market. It has a natural compact habit, a range of eight colours and good uniformity in growth making it eye-catching on the retail bench. This series works well in both pots and the landscape.

Sakata

Verbena Lascar Orange Lava

With an appearance some have likened to lava oozing along the ground, it won’t fail to draw attention. Lascar is early-blooming and widebranching, making it a good choice for hanging baskets and combos.

Selecta One

This is the next stunning, novel bicolour from seed in the Graffiti 20/20 series. It is fast flowering with strong landscape performance. This is a great colour for mixed containers.

Benary

Dianthus Falling in Love Rosie

Falling in Love Rosie fills out its containers quickly and features beautiful bright pink blooms that cascade. It offers repeat blooming from spring through summer for a lasting stream of colour.

Ball Ingenuity

Salvia Sallyfun Blue Lagoon

This mealycup sage produces early and uniform bloom. It blooms consistently through the summer producing strong radial branching and large bloom spikes. Great for pollinator plantings.

Danziger

Impatiens Solarscape series

Solarscape is a new interspecific impatiens series propagated from seed that provides unbeatable colour in full-sun landscapes and containers, performing just like vegetative varieties but with the flexibility of seed. The professional landscape market will appreciate this non-branded option for mass plantings and garden design needs. This series is available in four colours plus one XL variety.

PanAmerican Seed

Pentas Graffiti 20/20 Appleblossom

This is a pure white addition to the AMORE series of bleeding hearts. It blooms

May through September and performs extraordinarily well in high heat. (Zone 5)

Terra Nova Nurseries

This premium seed item produces long slender plumes in intense shades of red, pink, carmine, and cream. The plants can reach heights of 85 cm and are great additions to the shady landscape. (Zone 4) Benary

Skyward offers a high flower count on a dense, upright habit and boasts continuous blooming. This durable plant has great handling characteristics and is available in pink and blue colours. It is also pollinator friendly and powdery mildew resistant. (Zone 4)

Ball - Darwin Perennials

The latest addition to the Artisan Collection of seed propogated echinacea. It offers consistency of plant structure for highly branched, full plants and uniformity of flowering dates. (Zone 4) Ball - Kieft Seed

This sedum has red stems with deep green, serrated leaves and clusters of bright yellow, star-shaped flowers. It is perfect for uses in hot, dry areas in the garden or as a filler in mixed containers. (Zones 3-9)

Proven Winners | Walters Gardens

Its first-year flowering produces spikes of lavender-blue flowers. That and the compact upright nature of Jelena also makes it ideal in summer combination containers. (Zone 4)

Dummen Orange

Panama Red blooms from spring to fall and has vibrant red flowers that transition to a burnt orange as they begin to age. The multiple layers of new flowers mixed with old adds depth and richness to the plant. This is the first URC Echinacea on the market. (Zone 5)

ThinkPlants | Danziger

A curved, frond-like foliage with an attractive geometric pattern throughout. It produces light lilac-blue-toned flowers mid summer and is tolerant of both sun and shade. (Zone 4)

Terra Nova Nurseries

Dicentra AMORE Titanium

Astilbe Rhapsody

Perovskia Jelena

Veronica Skyward

Echinacea Panama Red Polemonium Hurricane Ridge

Sedum ROCK ‘N ROUND ‘Bright Idea’

Echinacea Artisan Yellow Ombre

ILEX GLABRA

over,

Bergenia VINTAGE Blush

VINTAGE Blush showcases blush-pink flowers with deep rose-coloured eyes. This cultivar grows most actively in the spring, featuring a multitude of flowering stems in a cascading flower truss style with long-lasting flowers held upright like an orchid. (Zone 4)

Terra Nova Nurseries

This native ornamental grass appears like a miscanthus in the landscape with arching foliage, but with the added powder blue colour characteristic of switchgrass. (Zone 4)

Proven Winners | Walters Gardens

This muhly grass is densely tufted, clump-forming with glossy green foliage, and has a reddish pink inflorescence that floats above the foliage. Tolerates heat and drought, even producing more inflorescences in warm temperatures. (Zone 5)

Rudbeckia Goldblitz

Goldblitz is a first-year-flowering perennial that will flower fully as an annual crop if sown in early spring under natural conditions and summer provides a minimum of 14.5 hours daylength. It is a recent Fleuroselect Gold Medal winner. (Zone 3) Ball - Kieft Seed

Lithodora Tidepool Sky Blue

Tidepool Sky Blue is the first colour released in this new series of lithodora. It has a true-blue colour and tidy but full habit and flowers evenly throughout the plant. (Zone 5)

ThinkPlants | Syngenta Flowers

Panicum PRAIRIE WINDS ‘Niagara Falls’

Benary

Muhlenbergia Rosy

Back to Back in the Battle Against Weeds

Lawn

Gusto has first year flowering without vernalization, with new blooms covering the old ones. The series has a very uniform mounded growth habit. (Zone 4) ThinkPlants | Danziger

One of three new colours added to this compact form of the Sombrero series of coneflower. The Sombrero Poco series is characterized by producing sturdy plants that are covered in richly coloured blooms. (Zone 4) Ball - Darwin Perennials

This Shasta daisy is an All-American-Selection Perennial Winner for 2021. Sweet Daisy Birdy is a first-year flowering perennial with a long bloom period of 12-18 weeks. (Zone 3) Dummen Orange

Bluesette’s compact habit works well at the front of the garden design, in a single premium patio container, or in mixed combination with other sun-loving plants. (Zone 4) Ball - Kieft Seed

Vespers Blue features lovely blue flowers that bloom and bloom! Combines well with the pink cultivar, Aspire. Works best as an edging plant in sun-drenched garden beds and borders. (Zone 4)

ThinkPlants | Terra Nova Nurseries

This selection of Jacob’s ladder adds show stopping colour to shade designs with its exciting golden variegated foliage. Its bluish-purple flowers in late spring are a bonus. (Zone 5) Ball - Darwin Perennials

Gaillardia GUSTO series

Echinacea Sombrero Poco Hot Pink Leucanthemum Sweet Daisy Birdy

Perovskia Bluesette

Polemonium ‘Golden Feathers’

Veronica Vespers Blue

COLOURS

SCAN THE QR CODE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ARLINGTON

GREY MIX NIGHTFALL

SUMMER MISTCOLORADO GREY

This hardy panicle hydrangea has the earliest flowering of its type that we’ve seen, leading the race through late spring with creamy blooms atop superior upright form. (Zone 5)

Bloomin’ Easy | Van Belle Nursery

This mountain hydrangea produces vibrant, hot pink flowers that rebloom over silky black foliage. Its compact size and bold contrast make this unique new selection ideal for patio containers, walkways, or garden beds. (Zone 5)

Bloomin’ Easy | Van Belle Nursery

This paniculata dazzles with an abundance of bright white blooms on dense and compact, non-flopping stems. Soft pink will appear on the large flower panicles as early as July and blooms will age beautifully to an antique dark pink. Star Roses and Plants

Beautiful white blooms in spring, and orange fall colour make this compact shrub a multi-season wonder in cool and moderate climates. (Zone 3)

Bailey Nurseries

Firefly’s bright gold and orange foliage contrasts vibrantly against darker plants. Electric yellow flowers appear in late spring to really spark things up. This native plant is very attractive to pollinators. (Zone 4) Plants Nouveau | Van Belle Nursery

A heavier bloomer than other varieties on the market, this tree flushes with semi-double dark pink flowers every spring and presents dark burgundy foliage that reliably retains its colour. Great in containers or the landscape. (Zone 5)

Star Roses and Plants

This dawn redwood has golden needles that can take full sun and be as colourful as if grown in part shade. It can be used as an accent in a mixed border or a focal specimen in any garden space to provide months of colour and a gorgeous backdrop to flowering shrubs. (Zone 4)

Plants Nouveau

Pop Star Hydrangea is a lacecap cultivar that has strong bud hardiness, reliable rebloom, and doesn’t need pruning to keep its size. Dark green leaves with blue or pink blooms provide year-after-year colour and interest. (Zone 4)

Bailey Nurseries

Hydrangea Torch

Hydrangea Pink Dynamo

Prunus Ruby Ruffle Patio Peach

Hydrangea Sweet Starlight

Metasequoia ‘Soul Fire’

Hydrangea Endless Summer Pop Star

Diervilla Firefly

Physocarpus FirstEditions Lucky Devil

Jolene Jolene puts on the flower show you expect from a beautybush, but at half the conventional size so you can fit it into a modern residential landscape. It is very adaptable and can make an excellent flowering hedge, foundation plant, or be used as an all-purpose landscape plant. (Zone 4)

Proven Winners | Spring Meadow Nursery

This large-leaved hydrangea boasts three months of bloom with unique double colouring and a reblooming habit. Its strong stems and firm flowers are great for the patio and garden. Winner of a Gold Medal KVBC Spring Challenge 2020. (Zone 5)

ThinkPlants | Creekside Greenhouses

Vinho Verde is characterized by lime green leaves set off with a bold, black margin. A light crop of red-pink flowers appears in late spring, but the foliage — coupled with an irresistibly neat habit — is the primary reason to grow this beauty. (Zone 5)

Proven Winners | Spring Meadow Nursery

Go

ECOCERT

Kolkwitzia JOLENE JOLENE

Hydrangea Bloom Champion Mysterious Pink & Blue Weigela Vinho Verde

Buttercream Drift is a new colour addition to this series. Blooms start light yellow to cream colored and finish pure white. The variety has been a consistent performer in trials across the country. (Zone 4)

Star Roses and Plants

The Serbian breeding team focused their efforts for this series on colour, fragrance, petal count, and flower power. Coral, cream and pink colours are available. (Zone 4)

Proven Winners | Spring Meadow Nursery

Top Cream is a white hybrid tea rose with very large and fully double flowers. Depending on the season and climate, the flowers may sometimes be suffused with light pink. (Zone 5)

Rise Up series are called “mini climbers,” as they keep a neat, dense habit and can be grown as a climber or a shrub rose. They are vigorous, healthy and rebloom in colours of pure yellow, yellow with a red eye and light purple. (Zone 4)

Proven Winners | Spring Meadow Nursery

This compact, early, and continuous blooming rose is reminiscent of warm sunlight set against beautiful dark green glossy foliage. It is low-maintenance, resistant to black spot and powdery mildew and winter hardy to -35 C.

Vineland Research and Innovation Centre

This rose selection brings a cheerful presence to the garden, with bright yellow stamen surrounded by a distinctive wine-stained eye. It is also very hardy, with glossy foliage that exhibits excellent black spot resistance. (Zone 4)

SAVES TIME AND YOUR BACK.

Simplify your daily operations and ease manpower with a Side Discharge Bucket from HLA.

Spread material to the left or right with no hydraulic setup changes, less machine settings means more time to get the job done. 519.291.4162 www.hlaattachments.com

Rosa Buttercream Drift

Rosa Rise Up series

Rosa Reminiscent series

Rosa Yukon Sun

Star Roses and Plants

Proven Winners | Spring Meadow Nursery

Rosa Top Cream

Rosa Ringo Double Pink

CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS

Researchers develop a Clean Air Calculator

BY DR. SARA STRICKER AND DR. ERIC LYONS

Plants in urban settings offer many benefits. The temperature difference when walking on a grassy field is noticeable when compared to a concrete parking lot on a hot sunny day. Urban plants also reduce noise, trap dust, and improve aesthetics. Plants play a vital role in producing oxygen. However, the other side of the photosynthesis equation is often overlooked.

CARBON DIOXIDE + WATER = SUGAR + OXYGEN

For every molecule of oxygen produced, a molecule of carbon dioxide is fixed into a solid state such as sugar. This sugar is used by the plant to create new roots, shoots, and leaves.

Carbon dioxide, along with methane, nitrous oxide, and water vapour, contribute to the “greenhouse effect.” A healthy layer of these gases in the atmosphere will trap heat from the sun and maintain an optimal temperature on our planet.

Unfortunately, we are seeing too much of this good thing.

It is estimated that atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide have increased by 40 per cent since the industrial revolution in the 18th century due to the burning of fossil

fuels. This increase contributes to climate change.

Trapping or “sequestering” carbon is an inherent ability of all plants. Trees and shrubs grow larger each year and the new limbs are tangible proof of the trapped carbon. However, there is another (and less noticeable) plant working diligently to trap carbon dioxide right below your feet: turfgrass.

In a natural setting like the countryside, trees and turfgrass sequester carbon into the soil at similar rates. Storing carbon in the soil adds to the soil organic carbon (SOC). Soils with high SOC can absorb and hold moisture to support beneficial microbes to improve plant health. Urban trees store most of their carbon in the above ground trunk and branches, while turfgrasses store carbon primarily below ground as thatch and roots. In fact, urban trees rarely add to soil organic carbon since fallen leaves and branches are removed. This leads to the question: Which is better, turf or trees?

It can be difficult to calculate the exact amount of carbon trapped by plants in urban settings due to the hidden “carbon costs” of maintaining those plants. Practices that promote plant health, minimize pests, and improve aesthetics can release carbon dioxide and negate the carbon trapping

efforts. This includes: mowing, trimming, fertilization, and transportation of goods.

Turfgrass can be found as: lawns, sports fields, parks, golf courses, and cemeteries.

Depending on the amount of maintenance, these grassy areas could actually be a source of carbon dioxide. For a plant to be considered a net benefit to the atmosphere, the hidden carbon costs should not exceed

the carbon sequestered.

Researchers at the University of Guelph and the Canadian Nursery Landscape Association have put their heads together to tackle this complicated calculation. The result is a Clean Air Calculator which inputs the management practices of mowing, fertilization, and irrigation for the total area covered by lawns, trees, and shrubs

to calculate net carbon sequestration.

The Clean Air Calculator will soon be available to homeowners and the green industry through a partnership with the Green Cities Foundation.

An interesting finding was that turfgrass, trees and shrubs all fall within a similar range for carbon sequestration. If the canopy area is the same, the species of plant did not really matter. Carbon trapping can be maximized when trees are planted with turf below, instead of surrounded by wood mulch.

One of the important conclusions of the study was that returning the clippings to the turfgrass system plays an important role in soil organic carbon. Collecting grass clippings removes a significant amount of carbon that could otherwise increase carbon sequestration by 11 to 59 per cent. Thoroughly mulching fallen tree leaves with a mower in autumn will further add to the SOC. Increased SOC contributes to soil structure, absorption of stormwater, degradation of pollutants, and reduced nutrient leaching. The more soil carbon the better.

The Clean Air Calculator is in the process of being added to the Green Cities Foundation website and is expected to be ready for use later this year. We hope you will share it with colleagues and clients to spread the knowledge that plants, including turfgrass, play a critical role in climate change mitigation. LT

Dr. Sara Stricker is the Communications and Outreach Coordinator of the Guelph Turfgrass Institute.

Dr. Eric Lyons is the Acting Chair, Plant Agriculture at the University of Guelph and the Director of the Guelph Turfgrass Institute.

PHOTOGRAPHER SPOTLIGHT

: @STACYBASSPHOTO

Stacy Bass is a New York and Connecticutbased professional photographer who specializes in shooting architecture, interiors, lifestyle and gardens. Her passion for capturing light, colour and the essence of place manifests itself in her images. You can see more of Stacy’s work at stacybassphotography.com and in her books, In the Garden and Gardens at First Light.

Portrait by Pamela Einarsen

How did you get interested in garden photography?

It really happened by chance. After a long hiatus from photography (including time spent at law school), my interests then were primarily on architecture and design, so I imagined that shooting interiors for magazines would be my dream job — combining my passion for photography with my magazine obsession. I launched a website and never dreamed that within a few days, I would get a note from an art director essentially saying, “You’ve got something here. I don’t have an assignment to offer you, but I think someday soon I will.”

In the meantime, I continued to shoot whatever I could… and mid-winter, spent a fair amount of time shooting the flower arrangements that my husband sent me.

One such image really struck me and I decided to print and send it to that same

art director (the talented creative director Amy Vischio) in hopes she would think of me when an appropriate assignment came along. It worked and I was eventually assigned to shoot a garden on Sasco Hill Road in Southport for Westport Magazine

This particular shoot was a great starting point — a spectacular location with an inspiring view and some incredible gardens. And really, on that very first day, I was hooked.

I loved the serenity of shooting on my own, without an assistant or teams of editors/art directors. And I loved the challenge of finding that perfect shot, the right angle, and a different way to show a subject that is familiar to everyone — to make a memorable image of something people might otherwise take for granted.

My initial interest in architectural abstracts was driven by a love of colour and light and how the interplay of the two can have magical

results. I found, in particular with the close up botanicals that soon became my signature — that creating stunning and beautiful compositions with flowers, offered all that and the promise of the opportunity to see some magnificent places along the way.

Do you have any tips or tricks you can share?

Yes, a few helpful tips. 1: Shoot at dawn or dusk — and leave the midday sun to sun bathing. Shadows in the middle of the day make a proper exposure really challenging. 2: Use a tripod. Having the extra control and stability of a tripod allows you to shoot in lower light areas and still capture your subject perfectly. 3: Look for something to anchor your image. A garden feature or structure can help train the eye to just the right place from which to begin exploring. And last, but surely not least: 4: Before you depress the shutter, take an extra split second to look at each of the four

SO HOT RIGHT NOW.

corners of the frame and adjust accordingly. This simple step will save you a lot of time after the fact (in Photoshop or otherwise) and can improve your overall composition considerably.

What catches your eye when you’re photographing a garden?

I am most drawn to pattern and colour. I love to be able to witness the thoughtfulness that went into composing the garden and the choices that were made in how certain textures and tones interrelate. Gardens that are planned and organized with balance and symmetry in mind are always very compelling, though more than once, a chaotic or wild garden has been mesmerizingly beautiful.

What are some of your favourite gardens you have photographed? Are there any you would like the chance to shoot?

With a few exceptions, most of the gardens I have shot are privately owned, so listing their names wouldn’t be too helpful. I was lucky enough to photograph the Philip Johnson Glass House and gardens in New Canaan, Conn. Because that iconic place has been photographed by many, it was a particular challenge to find a fresh way to capture it and I really loved that opportunity (and succeeded, too)! As far as ones I’d like to shoot: so many of the private gardens around the coast of Lake Como, Italy, or in France have been on my wish list for some time.

What is your favourite camera gear for shooting gardens?

I shoot with a Nikon D4 Professional DLSR and a suite of lenses and a (heavy but hearty) Bogen tripod, which I have had for more than 30 years.

Introducing Little Hottie ®

A grower favorite, this new panicle hydrangea introduction is a compact, well-branched shrub with brilliant white blooms. After multiple years of testing, Little Hottie® has proven its genetically compact size, both in production and the landscape, as well as amazing heat tolerance where it doesn’t burn in warm-climate heat.

GET TO KNOW ALL OUR HARDWORKING SHRUBS AND TREES AT

Find opportunities in crisis

It’s time to evaluate your clients and raise prices

BY NATHAN HELDER

Growing Your Business is a new Landscape Trades column featuring business management experts writing on the topics that matter to landscape and horticulture professionals.

ALBERT EINSTEIN coined the phrase, “In the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity.” There is no question we are in the midst of a crisis. The word crisis comes from the Greek “to separate, to sift,” which means to pass judgment and to keep only what is worthwhile. There is an opportunity in every crisis and the deeper the crisis, the better the opportunity can be. However, the big question is, “Can you see the opportunity and are you taking advantage of it?”

Currently, the grounds management industry is experiencing a shift. For many years, contractors have struggled to raise prices because they feared losing clients. I hear many contractors complain about factors they cannot control, such as: fuel, weather, inflation, insurance costs, labour issues — the list goes on. However, what are things you can control? Why not shift your focus and exert your energy on what you can impact?

Adjust your attitude

As a person, you should be in control of your attitude and behaviour. Are you a “cup half full” or a “cup half empty” person? Do you allow yourself to be caught up in the media and negative press? Don’t be surprised, positive press doesn’t sell! But positivity can be infectious, and your team will benefit from your positivity.

Respond with agility

Stay calm and think quickly, then move to collaborating with your team. Collaboration is great, but collaborating without constraint is even better. Allow yourself the willingness to adapt. And finally, act and implement new ideas. It may not be perfect the first time, so continue the process of making it better by going through these steps again and again.

Evaluate each client/property type

Each type of client/property creates its own challenges and opportunities. What type of property lends itself best for your company? Clearly define who your client is from all angles.

• Profitability: Complete job costing for each client. Are you hitting your desired margins for each property? Do you need to improve your accounting and bookkeeping?

• Serviceability: If you struggle to find staff, then why are you quoting condominiums with individual stairs and steps? Focus on the types of clients that fit the equipment and staffing of your company. Is there an advantage to having a 12-month client or just a seasonal client?

• Geography: Can you service a new property without adding drivetime and unproductive time? Can you improve the market density within your existing areas?

• Growth: Setting growth goals will help direct your energy. The quickest way to increase overall revenue is to increase the pricing on all your clients. Then start adding properties to your existing routes to create dense pockets of clients.

• Extras to contract (ETC): Is the client open to improving their property by spending revenue on extras? These extras can be very profitable, especially when you can use existing full-time staff during dry months.

• Referrals: Does your client give you referrals,testimonials or five-star Google Reviews? Would they if you asked them to?

• Maintenance: Is your client a “time vampire” that sucks the energy out of you and your staff? Are they never happy? Do they never allow you to make a profit?

Update pricing and contracts

With inflation over eight per cent, contractors should take full advantage by increasing their prices. In this climate, all industries have increased pricing. You should too. Ensure your contracts are not restrictive and include terms related to “cost of living.” The standard two to three per cent increases will not be enough. Be prepared to walk away from clients that will not accept price increases.

Use equipment to the max

• Invest in the right piece of equipment for the right task.

- Consider renting first to see if the investment would benefit your crew.

• Use your equipment properly.

C LA SS I C S TRUC T URE S TH A T S AV E

Complete projects faster. Structures that are handcrafted o -site, delivered on-time and installed in a day.

- Perform regular service on your equipment.

- Teach your teams how to know when oil and filters need to be changed.

- Keep equipment blades sharp.

• Skipping regular needed maintenance saves you in the short term, but it can really cost you with breakdowns and force you to replace equipment earlier.

• Challenge the status quo: Do you really need to have a mechanic? Or can you replace equipment sooner and teach staff to perform regular maintenance?

Double down on culture and recruiting

• Take time to enjoy life: Staff barbecues, company picnics, golf days, paintball, etc.

• Always be hiring: Never stop actively looking to bring on new and better talent. Focus on grit and tenacity.

• Focus on creating utility players: These are staff members that have multiple skill sets and can be available for not only lawn maintenance, but also for performing landscape construction and other services.

• Just because you may be short a staff member, don’t fall into the trap and accept mediocrity. Part ways with “bad apples” who don’t share the company’s core values.

Types of services

When did you last revise your contracts? How many services have crept into your contract that you are currently doing but not getting paid for? I bet it’s more than you think. Now is the time to clearly redefine your services and attach the true cost of each service or stop performing the free services. These could be simple things such as picking up pinecones, pruning personal plants, salting driveways in a condo, cutting grass beyond the property lines, etc.

Increase the ETCs per property:

• Set a minimum goal of 20 per cent and create a plan. For example, a $20,000 maintenance contract should provide at least $4,000 of ETCs.

• ETCs include annual plantings, turf improvements, new gardens, tree and plant replacements, irrigation, mulch, retaining walls, and much more.

• Use existing staff during the season to complete the ETCs.

Too often I hear of companies that struggle to be flexible or agile in their business. They have structured and built their company on a set of assumptions from five years ago. Today’s climate is very different. Share these ideas with your team to engage and involve them. The future looks bright when you have the right focus. LT

NATHAN HELDER is CEO of Gelderman Landscape Service, President of Southbook Accounting Services for skilled trades and Principal Consultant at Southbrook Consulting, each based in Waterdown, Ont.

I loved my garden centre career

BY ART VANDEN ENDEN

I WOULD LIKE TO INTRODUCE MYSELF and share my goal for providing valuable and timely information with Landscape Trades readers as a new regular columnist.

My name is Art Vanden Enden, and I have recently been appointed as the chair of Landscape Ontario’s Garden Centre Sector Group. Earlier this year, I retired from Sheridan Nurseries, where I served as the vice president of garden centre operations. Before joining Sheridan, I spent 25 years with Weall and Cullen Nurseries. My time with both organizations was thoroughly rewarding, and I can honestly say that I loved my career right up until the moment I left.

While I am proud to say I had a 44-year career in retail, my love for plants and horticulture started many years before. My dad and uncle built and operated a greenhouse business in Ontario’s Durham Region. Our only product was hot house tomatoes. Generally, we grew two crops per year.

This was a pure family business. My parents, uncle and aunt, as well as seven siblings and four cousins performed all the work. I was in the greenhouse working in some capacity when I was in my early years of school. We were convinced

it was fun. It was probably a combination of helping and parental supervision.

There were many activities performed by the kids. Four times per week, either before or after school, we would pick tomatoes. Assembling the boxes for packing was made into a game to see who could make their 50 or 100 boxes the fastest. Packing tomatoes after school or on a Saturday morning was always a job that lasted a few hours. Sorting tomatoes by size and grade, weighing, packing, and labelling the boxes was also part of the fun.

We would finish by loading the truck around 8 p.m. If it was not a school night, one of us was allowed to go with my uncle to the food terminal the next morning at 3 a.m. to deliver and unload the truck. When I went, I was rewarded with a honeyglazed doughnut for my efforts.

When my brothers and sisters and I each turned 10, we were given a watch for our birthday. The next day, we were each put on water duty for the irrigation system, which meant we had to manually switch the zones in the greenhouse that were next for irrigation. It also meant the

Valerie Stensson, Karl Stensson, Art Vanden Enden, Mark Cullen, Bill Stensson and Colin Cruji.

Buckle Up!

And be blown away by the all-new Husqvarna 580 Backpack Blower!

Weighing less than 28 pounds, this lightweight blower packs a powerful punch with 1,000 CFM of blowing force and air speeds of up to 220 mph. And you’ll stay comfortable all day long with the ergonomic harness and adjustable hip belt. Learn more at Husqvarna.com

Husqvarna 580 Backpack Blower

person on duty was not allowed to leave the property in case something happened. There were up to 72,000 plants in each crop — a huge responsibility for a 10-year-old! There was no single person who would dare to make a mistake or take an easy way out.

My siblings, my cousins, and I have very fond memories of this when we get together and share stories and laugh. I think one of the most important things I learned from this is a sense of responsibility, accountability and knowing that work does not always follow a clock. You work until the job is done, and the job can only be done right. No exceptions.

Being from a large family meant there were always many hands to share the work. I was surprised when I was allowed to find a job outside of the family business when I was only 15 years old. I ended up working at a nearby Weall and Cullen Garden Centre on Hwy. 2 in Whitby while still in high school. Very quickly, I was able to transfer many of the skills I had learned at home to make myself a valuable team member. Within a year, I was working a few hours before school as well as after school during peak season.

I loved being at the garden centre. It is important to share that while I feel blessed with how my beginnings in this industry started, by no means was it a requirement to being successful. I have seen many people join the garden centre as a new, inexperienced employee and develop into a successful leader for their operation.

I also fondly remember a pivotal moment early in my career which played a big role on my path in the business. When

working for Weall and Cullen Nursery, I asked to speak to Mark Cullen personally about some questions I had. I wanted to know if it was reasonable to think there could be a career in working in garden centres. Like many people, I had personal aspirations of raising a family and owning a home. I was just not sure if I could achieve those things doing what I loved, which was working in a garden centre. While Mark was honest and wise in his answer, he did tell me about other people several years older than me who were achieving those dreams. There are no promises in life, however, if you work hard and really show that you care, there can be a career for you.

Retail is not for everyone, but I can honestly say I have come across hundreds of people in the profession who are doing just that — sharing their passion for gardening, inspiring homeowners to expand their horticultural knowledge, and teaching new and engaged young people to help ensure the future is bright. Yes, you can make a career out of this. But remember, do not wait in line for handouts. You need to own your destiny; you need to manage your lifestyle.

For many years I have been given an opportunity to address a group of new employees at spring training orientation sessions. I always wonder who in the crowd may be there for the long haul. Some may only last a few weeks, some a few months or even a few years. Whoever you are in that audience, I am confident your time in a garden centre will provide you with life skills, horticultural knowledge and hopefully a lifelong passion for gardening.

I look forward to sharing more stories and really digging into the garden centre business in future columns. LT

ART VANDEN ENDEN

Art loved every minute of his 44-year garden centre career with Weall and Cullen and Sheridan Nurseries. In retirement, Art enjoys giving back to the profession with Landscape Ontario’s Garden Centre Sector Group, and sharing his experience with Landscape Trades readers in the Art of Gardening column.

INDUSTRY LEADING SEMINARS FOR GREEN INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS

SESSIONS INCLUDE:

Turning Landscape Designs into

a Winning

Team Up for

Strategy for a Great

The Ultimate Guide to Hiring Rockstar Teams

or

– Does this Affect How You Approach Business?

• Sustainability – Buzz Word or Buzz Kill?

• Mindfulness & the Art of Service

Some sessions earn CEUs. See complete conference guide online.

The Vanden Enden family tomato greenhouses.

The world’s most advanced breathing machine

Introducing Trees. This once-in-a-million-year innovation doesn’t just clean the air we breathe, it has powerful Earth-cooling abilities and can improve our mental health. But in so many places, nature’s inventory is quickly running out.

You can help turn things around. Donate now and join us in increasing the tree canopy in communities across Canada at TreesForLife.ca

Thank you to our sponsors and supporters.

LEGALMATTERS

Managing documents in a digital world

BY ROB KENNALEY

APPLE RECENTLY ANNOUNCED

that users who send texts to other Apple devices with the same operating software will have 15 minutes to either delete or edit the text messages on both devices. This has caused us to revisit the importance of risk management in relation to “documents” in an ever-changing digital world.

Internal record keeping practices are important toward managing future risk. In addition, parties need to keep in mind that what staff and management write today may be read by an adverse party or Court at a later date. Avoiding unnecessarily culpatory or confusing language, as a practice, can be important. Similarly, construction litigation is largely document driven: contract documents, change orders, site reports and notes, meeting minutes and business records make up the relevant evidence in the vast majority of cases. Accordingly, well organized file management and storage systems can save time and money in the event of a dispute.

If a dispute escalates to litigation, all parties will most likely have an obligation to secure and produce all relevant documents. More importantly, in the event of a dispute, parties will want a documentary record capable of supporting their position available. Strategically, participants in construction should consider a number of steps to better ensure they will be able to meet their disclosure obligations and have evidence available to make their case in litigation. It is in this context that the new Apple software changes are potentially significant.

First, parties should attempt wherever possible to not allow important communications to be made by text message or other digital media (such as WhatsApp, etc.). This is because such data may be

difficult to recreate or rely on. Even without the new Apple options, the difficulties faced in reproducing text messages can be formidable.

In addition, parties should ensure they have a system in place to secure and manage digital communications. Emails should be regularly pulled into project specific folders and not deleted until the potential for litigation in relation to a project has expired. It will put a party in a tough situation if all emails are kept in a single inbox and sent folders, such that someone will have to go through the folders to find and assess relevant documents — which can be difficult to do if generally worded emails might relate to more than one project.

In addition, limitation periods generally expire based on the “discoverability” principle, such that claims might arise years down the road. Parties are generally required to preserve, in their original format, all documents that could reasonably be expected to be potentially relevant to the litigation, until such time as their actual relevance to the litigation can be determined. This includes all originals, copies and drafts of the same document. Accordingly, it is important to ensure that data is archived, and not deleted.

It is also important to note that, for the purposes of litigation, any digital record is a “document” that should be secured and potentially produced. This obligation extends to all electronically stored information, stored on any kind of electronic media. These can include typed documents, spreadsheets and other accounting data, electronically stored voicemail records, archived and deleted files, auto-recovery files, web-based files, such as internet history logs, temporary internet files and “cookies.” These, of course, might be stored on hard drives and servers, backup media, USB storage devices, CDs and DVDs,

laptop computers, mobile phones and other personal digital assistants. In addition, the obligation to produce a digital document will generally not be satisfied by printing out the document. Rather, the digital version itself should be available for production.

When it appears a dispute might be likely, it is essential to ensure that potentially relevant electronic records are preserved intact and unmodified in their original electronic form, until counsel has an opportunity to assess the relevance of the records and the appropriate means of production of the records to opposing parties.

Parties should promptly inform all involved employees, contract workers and third-parties who may be custodians of potentially relevant documents of the need to preserve these documents in their original format without modification. The list of custodians may include IT personnel, subcontractors and others who may have control over documents they did not create themselves. Those responsible should be instructed not to destroy, delete or modify electronically stored information in any way. Each individual should be asked to specifically identify the places in which potentially relevant documents may be located (including network folders, portable computers, PDAs, and home offices), and to outline their personal document handling practices.

Potentially relevant documents must be preserved whether they are located on company-owned, personally owned, or third-party owned locations, provided the documents are within the client’s possession, control or power. This means they are required to preserve not only documents they possess, but also those

within their “control or power.” The affected documents include any documents that a party has the ability to possess or to obtain from others, such as from employees, companies with which a party is involved, banks, professionals (such as accountants or lawyers), the government, insurers, and third-party service providers.

Where potentially relevant documents

are destroyed or lost, a party may face allegations of spoliation of evidence. The consequences of spoliation can be very serious. A court may dismiss your claim or strike a defence, it may draw an adverse inference from the destruction of the documents, or it may require payment of some of the opposing parties’ costs, among other things. LT

Nueva® 75 Wall

SMOOTH, LINEAR, MODERN

The perfect ashlar wall block for creative applications.

SCAN TO LEARN MORE! OAKSpavers.com | 1.800.709.OAKS (6257)

Nueva® Collection

ROB KENNALEY is with Kennaley Construction Law, a construction law firm with offices in Simcoe, Toronto and Barrie.

2023 PERENNIAL PLANT OF THE YEAR

is generally trouble free and easy to propagate, grow and finish in a container and a breeze to garden with. It started as an open-pollinated seedling among several other related seedlings, but quickly distinguished itself with clean disease-free foliage, a naturally compact and rounded habit and beautiful presentation in a container over an extended bloom period.”

In a media release, PPA said, “At the height of summer, ‘American Gold Rush’ black-eyed Susan turns up the volume for a long season of dazzling colour right up to autumnal frosts. The bright goldenyellow flowers feature arching rays and a reddish halo surrounding dark chocolate cones. Three-inch flowers blanket the compact plant, only 22-27 inches tall with a broader width to 40 inches if given room to grow.

The Perennial Plant Association (PPA) announced Rudbeckia ‘American Gold Rush’ as Perennial Plant of the Year for 2023. The black-eyed Susan originated from open-pollinated seed sown from the seed parent Rudbeckia fulgida var. Deamii, and was introduced by Brent Horvath from Intrinsic Perennial Gardens.

Horvath said, “I’ve always liked my plant introductions to speak for themselves and this one speaks volumes. From start to finish this plant

KEEP CHIPPING AWAY.

“The green leaves and stems are covered in hairs, which gives them a silvery cast — on sunny days, peeking through the blooms to the leaves is a luminous silver-and-gold treat. More than just boosting the ornamental show, the hairy foliage is resistant to Septoria leaf spot — a debilitating fungal disease that causes unsightly black spotting and premature seasonal decline on some black-eyed Susans. ‘American Gold Rush’ is a reliable hardy perennial and a great substitute for popular, brassier ‘Goldsturm,’ which is highly susceptible to leaf spotting. ‘American Gold Rush’ is a stunning focal point in perennial borders and meadows and is brilliant when massed in public or corporate landscapes. Butterflies caper over the blooms and songbirds feast on the plentiful seed long after the flowers have passed — the seedheads provide winter interest too.”

Your equipment is where the money gets made.

M-K Power keeps your tree service equipment running perfectly, so your business never takes a cut.

Rubeckia ‘American Gold Rush’

KRESS LAUNCHES IN NORTH AMERICA

With deep-rooted heritage in German engineering and design, the Kress brand is coming to North America with commercial outdoor power equipment (OPE) for lawn care and landscape professionals. Kress will launch in North America in Q4 of 2022 in conjunction with Equip Exposition.

“As a part of the wellestablished Positec family of leading brands, Kress Commercial is introducing advances that will, for the first time, offer commercial OPE professionals in North America the opportunity to transition away from gas-powered products, a transformation that will change the OPE industry forever,” the company stated in a media release. “Built upon a reputation for innovation and pushing the boundaries in engineering and manufacturing excellence, Kress is well-established throughout Europe as a professional-grade equipment manufacturer. As early as 1966, Kress introduced to the European craftsmen clean, quiet, professional-grade tools. Today, with the brand’s introduction to North America, Kress’s proprietary technologies will now be available to commercial landscapers in the US and Canada.

Learn more at Kress.com.

TREES FOR HEROES

Trees for Life recently announced Trees for Heroes. Through this new program, the organization will continue to plant trees to honour many kinds of heroes in our lives and the people who make Canada one of the best places to live in the world.

“We are excited to announce the launch of our collaborative initiative, Trees for Health, which will see hundreds of thousands of trees planted in honour of our health workers over the next five to 10 years,” the organization wrote in a social media post. “[On September 20] we planted 155 trees at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre [in Toronto, Ont.] honouring frontline health workers who have bravely led us through the pandemic and who work tirelessly for our health and well-being.”

Tree for Heroes marks the continuation of the Highway of Heroes Living Tribute tradition of creating living legacies.

“Trees for Life is proud to plant trees that pay tribute to the heroes who make our communities and our country a better place for you and for all. These heroes include military, first responders, front-line and healthcare workers, neighbours, and loved ones,” the organization said.

Learn more at treesforlife.ca/hero-trees.

DO

STATSCAN RELEASES SOD AND NURSERY WORKFORCE AND REVENUE DATA

Statistics Canada (StatsCan) released data on the sod and nursery sectors in Canada. The dataset compares sales and staff numbers from 2014 to 2021.

Canadian sales from nurseries and sod operations to landscape contractors, garden centres, mass merchandisers, nursery stock growers, and other buyers all increased in 2021 compared to 2020. The combined sales ($897,154,000) have steadily risen over the past six years, but are still below the 2015 peak of $916,472,000.

Although overall sales are up, the number of nurseries, sod farms, and employees are at the lowest point since 2014-2015, having decreased seven per cent for nurseries and four per cent for sod operations over the last seven years.

Canada’s nursery stock sales topped out at $747,457,000 in 2021. Historically, numbers had been rising from 2008 to 2015, but then took a dip. Sales hit a low in 2017 but have risen 11 per cent since then. National sod sales reached $149,697,000 in 2021, up from the past few years but some $13 million shy of their 2012 peak.

Production was booming in 2011, when the number of nurseries in Canada jumped 78 per cent, from 1,526 to 2,721. It did not last, however, as the number of nurseries has declined steadily since. In 2021, only 1,840 remained, down from 1,993 in 2020.

View the StatsCan data at: data.ontario.ca/dataset/nursery-trades-industry-statistics.

FRIENDLY ICE MELTERS BULK AND BAGGED

PRECAST CONCRETE PRODUCTS

DIRECT LOADS OF BULK SALT AVAILABLE.

NEWSSCAPE

SITEONE ACQUIRES LINZEL

SiteOne Landscape Supply announced it has completed its acquisition of Linzel Distributing — a wholesale distributor of outdoor lighting and landscape supplies with one location in Hamilton, Ont.

“Since 2008, Linzel has built a reputation for providing tremendous customer service, product expertise, and industry-leading customer education programs to landscape contractors in Ontario and Eastern Canada,” Doug Black, Chairman and CEO of SiteOne Landscape Supply said. “We are excited to welcome the team to our SiteOne family and continue providing world-class products and services to our combined customers.”

This is the tenth acquisition in 2022 for SiteOne as the company continues to expand the number of markets in which it offers the full range of landscape supplies and services to landscape professionals.

SiteOne is the largest and only national wholesale distributor of landscape supplies in the United States and has a growing presence in Canada. Its customers are primarily residential and commercial landscape professionals who specialize in the design, installation and maintenance of lawns, gardens, golf courses and other outdoor spaces.

YUKON SUN JOINS 49TH PARALLEL COLLECTION

Yukon Sun is the latest addition to Vineland’s 49th Parallel Collection of made-in-Canada roses. The bright yellow rose has been released by Vineland Research and Innovation Centre (Vineland) and will be available in Canadian garden centres next spring.

Yukon Sun is a golden yellow rose with dark green foliage and early, continuous bloom. Growing to about one metre tall, it is winter hardy to -35 C and moderately resistant to black spot and powdery mildew.

“Canadians have embraced these stunning Vineland roses since we first introduced the collection in conjunction with Canada’s 150th anniversary celebrations in 2017,” Vineland President and CEO Ian Potter said. “We are excited to expand the collection once more with the addition of the first yellow rose. Yukon Sun was specifically bred for the Canadian climate and will brighten any outdoor living space with its warm, sunny hues.”

Yukon Sun joins three other roses in the collection: the red Canadian Shield, the coral Chinook Sunrise, available in 2019 and the pink Aurora Borealis. All roses in the collection come from Vineland’s rose breeding program and its close collaboration with the Canadian Nursery Landscape Association (CNLA). The CNLA has owned the rights to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s hardy rose breeding program for more than 10 years. Roses in the collection are known for being low maintenance, black spot tolerant and able to withstand temperatures down to -40 C.

“We value the ongoing partnership with CNLA and its members who are helping us deliver what Canadian gardeners and consumers across the country are looking for: hardy, beautiful and easy-to-grow roses thriving in Canada’s varied climates,” Potter added.

More information about Yukon Sun and the rest of the collection is available at 49throses.com.

Flexible. Power ful. Profitable. prolandscape.com | 800-231-8574 | sales@prolandscape.com

Soft ware that ’s flexible enough to design on any platform, power ful enough for any job, and created so that your profits are as beautiful as your proposals

This is PRO Landscape.

2022 NATIONAL AWARDS OF LANDSCAPE EXCELLENCE

Winners of the 19th annual National Awards of Landscape Excellence (NALE) were announced on Aug. 10, 2022, in the ballroom at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier in Ottawa, Ont.

Each year, the NALE celebrates outstanding work across the country, honouring top projects in landscape construction, design, and maintenance. In order to qualify for the NALE, applicants first enter their projects in their respective provincial association awards of excellence competitions. Then the provincial associations submit up to three entries per category to the national competition.

The judges, a volunteer panel of industry experts, did not

have an easy job evaluating several dozens of projects ranging from exceptional to extraordinary. The national judges evaluated each entry based on standardized criteria first developed by the Canadian Nursery Landscape Association (CNLA) in 2004 to narrow the submissions down to this year’s best in each category.

Following two summers as a virtual event, the CNLA was excited and eager for the national awards to return to being an in-person event. The ballroom was packed with more than 140 members of the industry from across the country, representing a cross section of the horticultural trades.

TRADES

Award winning lighting by DiMarco Landscape Lighting

See all the 2022 NALE winners at cnla.ca/awards

Congratulations to all winners this year! The recognition is well deserved for all of your outstanding work that significantly raises the level of professionalism in the landscape industry. The ceremony also included the CNLA awards for Grower

SEFERIAN DESIGN GROUP

Commercial Construction

For: Paradigm Condominiums Burlington, Ont.

DAROCHA WEBSTER LANDSCAPES

Residential Landscape Construction

For: “Perched on the Rocky Cape” Montreal, Que.

CLINTAR LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT SERVICES

Landscape Design

For: Urban Sanctuary Halifax, N.S.

STRATHMORE LANDSCAPE CONTRACTORS

Commercial Landscape Maintenance

For: Centropolis Laval, Que.

THE CULTIVATED GARDEN Residential Maintenance

For: Contemporary Beauty Toronto, Ont.

and Garden Centre of the Year, as well as the Green for Life Industry Awards, which recognize individuals, companies and communities which benefit the public through the development and maintenance of green spaces.

BROOKDALE TREELAND NURSERIES

CNLA Grower of the Year Award Schomberg, Ont.

SHERIDAN NURSERIES

CNLA Garden Centre of the Year Award Etobicoke, Ont.

HUMBOLDT URBAN GARDEN SANCTUARY (HUGS) Green for Life Community Award

LANDSCAPE ONTARIO COVID-19 TASKFORCE GARDEN MAKEOVER PROJECT: PARTICIPATION HOUSE Green for Life Community Award

GENERAL MOTORS CANADA Green for Life Industry Award for a Corporation

ALEX RAAB Green for Life Distinction Award

RAYMOND CARRIÈRE Green for Life Distinction Award Industry Award for an Individual

TONY DIGIOVANNI Green for Life Distinction Award Industry Award for an Individual

WITH

Tall Fescue

Native

Bentgrass

NEWPRODUCTS

PRUNING SAW

Weighing less than five pounds without a battery and featuring a compact design, the new Milwaukee M18 Fuel Hatchet pruning saw offers increased access and control in tight spaces compared to full-size chainsaws. The Powerstate brushless motor delivers the power to cut through hardwoods without bogging down to complete demanding applications.

Milwaukee Tool milwaukeetool.ca

MINI EXCAVATORS

Yanmar Compact Equipment introduces a new generation of its ViO17 and ViO25 mini excavators. The ViO17-1E is best suited for residential work, landscaping and small general construction projects. The ViO25-6B brings additional power and size for benefits in building maintenance projects, irrigation, plumbing pipeline and more.

Yanmar Compact Equipment yanmar.com

COMPACT DOZER LOADER

Case Construction Equipment is launching an all-new, industry-first equipment category with the introduction of the CASE Minotaur DL550 compact dozer loader. Weighing in at more than 18,000 pounds (8,164 kg) and working with 114 horsepower, the new machine delivers true dozing and grading performance, as well as powerful site loading capabilities and compatibility with hundreds of attachments.

Case Construction Equipment casece.com

BRINE SPRAYER

The new Hilltip SprayStriker 2600 truck-mounted brine sprayer has a 265-gallon capacity with a polyethylene tank and powdercoated stainless steel frame. Dual 12V pumps apply liquid at rates up to 20 gallons per lane mile at a maximum speed of 32 kph, and GPS speed control automatically adjusts the flow according to the vehicle speed to consistently achieve the desired rate across the treated area.

Hilltip hilltip.com

ZERO-TURN MOWER

Exmark has launched its updated 2022 Radius X-Series zeroturn riding mower. The new machine features a 31 horsepower Kawasaki twin-cylinder engine, making it the most powerful Radius model Exmark has produced. The mower is equipped with a 60-inch UltraCut Series 4 cutting deck, which features a highcapacity 5.5-inch deep, side-discharge design.

Exmark exmark.com

The Landscaper is perfect for golf course builders, commercial landscapers, public works departments, earthscaping, construction sites, or any project requiring grading and reconditioning of a soil or gravel surface making it ideal to “finish” an entire site.

ELECTRIC ZERO-TURN MOWER

The Ryobi 80V HP 42-inch Lithium Electric ZTR delivers the power equivalent of a 31 horsepower gas engine and cuts up to three acres per charge. The mower also features an LCD screen that displays runtime, battery life and more, and the Riding Mower app allows you to monitor charge time and battery life remotely.

Ryobi ryobitools.com

HIGH TORQUE IMPACT WRENCH

Dewalt introduces the new 20V Max XR 1/2 in. High Torque Impact Wrench with Hog Ring Anvil equipped with 47 per cent more torque. Delivering 1,030 ft-lbs. of max fastening torque and 1,400 ft-lbs. of max breakaway torque, this impact wrench is ideal for fastening large pipe flanges, grooved couplings, wheel lugs, concrete anchor bolt setting and other commercial applications.

Dewalt dewalt.ca

SUBMERSIBLE UTILITY PUMP

Franklin Electric recently announced the launch of the next generation of the Little Giant 5-MSP compact submersible utility pump. The new pump offers the same compact size, yet features a new motor designed to boost the pump’s overall performance and efficiency.

Franklin Electric franklin-electric.com

ADVERTISERS

COMPANY

A.M.A.

Atlas Polar Company Ltd atlaspolar.com

Bailey Nurseries

Manufacturing Ltd baumanmfg.com

Beaver Valley Stone Ltd beavervalleystone.com

Best Way Stone Ltd

Bobcat Company

Coivic Contracting Ltd coivic.com

Durham Artificial Grass

Green Industry Show & Conference greenindustryshow.com

gro-bark.com

Horst Welding

Husqvarna husqvarna.ca

Limestone Trail Co Inc limestonetrail.com

M-K Power Products Corp m-k.com

Milwaukee Tool milwaukeetool.ca

Miska Trailers miskatrailers.com

Neudorff North America neudorffpro.org

Oaks Landscape Products oakspavers.com

PRO Landscape by Drafix Software prolandscape.com

Platinum Natural Stone platinumnaturalstone.com

Pro-Power Canada Inc propowercanada.ca

Spring Meadow Nursery Inc springmeadownursery.com

Stihl Ltd stihl.ca

The Salt Depot saltdepot.ca

Walters Gardens Inc waltersgardens.com

Windy Ridge Corporation stonehook.com

Winkelmolen Nusery Ltd winkelmolen.com

Zander Sod Co Ltd zandersod.com

EVENTS

OCT. 24-27, 2022

CCGA DAMAGE PREVENTION SYMPOSIUM Whistler, B.C. canadianga.com/2022-symposium

NOV. 17-18

GREEN INDUSTRY SHOW & CONFERENCE Red Deer, Atla. greenindustryshow.com

JAN. 5, 2023

IPM SYMPOSIUM Toronto, Ont. & Virtual horttrades.com/event

JAN. 9, 2023

LANDSCAPE DESIGNERS CONFERENCE Toronto, Ont. & Virtual horttrades.com/event

JAN. 10-12, 2023

LANDSCAPE ONTARIO CONGRESS 2023 Toronto, Ont. locongress.com

WELCOME TO THE NEW HOME OF

LandscapeTrades.com