VNLA News - Summer 2022

Summer 2022

The Virginia Nursery & Landscape Association Magazine

Member Highlight on

ABIGAIL GARDENS

“Where Beautiful Gardens Are Born”

Proudly Serving Independent Garden Centers, Hardware Stores, and Professional Growers Since 1881 www.wqseeds.com Follow us @wqseeds

Virginia Nursery & Landscape Association 5101 Monument Avenue, Suite 203 Richmond, VA 23230 Tel: (804) 256 2700 Email: info@vnla.org Published by: Leading Edge Communications, LLC 206 Bridge Street, Suite 200 • Franklin, TN 37064 Tel: (615) 790-3718 • Fax: (615) 794-4524 Email: info@leadingedgecommunications.com 2021 Officers and Directors Year indicates start of volunteer service to VNLA Board of Directors EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE President Jeff Howe 2016 Windridge Landscaping & Hardscaping Vice President Chris Dowdy 2020 Bennett’s Creek Nursery

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Secretary Treasurer Jason Stern 2021 Bailey Nurseries Past President / Board Recruitment Seana Ankers 2017 Meadows Farms Nurseries and Landscape

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VNLHRF Chair Christopher Brown, Jr. 2013 Lancaster Farms Executive Director Shellie Archer DIRECTORS Matt Deivert 2017 MANTS Board Representative South Riding Nurseries

CONTENTS | Summer 2022 DEPARTMENTS

12 Cover Story

Member Highlight on Abigail Gardens

16 Feature

Virginia Tech Students Represent SPES at the National Collegiate Landscape Competition

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Index of Advertisers

6

President’s Letter

8

Legislative Updates

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News from VNLA

Neal Beasley 2019 Certification / VCH* Chair Timmons Group Robin McCall 2020 Williams Brothers Tree & Lawn Service Warner Winthrop 2020 Bartlett Tree Experts EX-OFFICIO, VIRTUE OF OFFICE: Non-voting Laurie Fox, Ph. D. VA Tech Hampton Roads AREC David Seward Reynolds Community College Montpelier, VA * VCH = Virginia Certified Horticulturist

INDEX OF ADVERTISERS

A wholesale grower of deciduous and evergreen B&B trees.

Agri Supply..................................... 3 www.agrisupply.com

Bennett’s Creek Nursery................ 14 www.bcnursery.com

Better Bilt Products................. 18, 19 bbponline.com

Bremo Trees.................................... 5 www.bremotrees.com

Cam Too Camellia Nursery, Inc...... 5 www.camtoocamellia.com

Fairview Evergreen Nurseries........ 17 www.fairviewevergreen.com

Jelitto Perennial Seeds.................... 15 www.jelitto.com

masLABOR..................... Back Cover www.maslabor.com

Pender Nursery, Inc......................... 9 www.pendernursery.com

Phillips & Turman Tree Farms..... 11 PhillipsAndTurmanTreeFarms.com

Turner & Son’s Nursery................ 15

434.842.8733 email@bremotrees.com www.bremotrees.com

Virginia Turfgrass Council.............. 7 www.vaturf.org

Wyatt-Quarles Seed Co................ Inside Front Cover www.wqseeds.com

To discuss advertising opportunities, contact Leading Edge Communications:

888-707-7141 sales@leadingedgecommunications.com www.LeadingEdgeCommunications.com

The statements and opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the association, its staff, or its board of directors, VNLA News, or its editors. Likewise, the appearance of advertisers, or their identification as Virginia Nursery & Landscape Association members, does not constitute an endorsement of the products or services featured in this, past or subsequent issues of this quarterly publication.

Copyright © 2022 by the Virginia Nursery & Landscape Association. VNLA News is published quarterly. Subscriptions are complimentary to members of the Virginia Nursery & Landscape Association. Third-class postage is paid at Jefferson City, MO. Printed in the U.S.A. Reprints and Submissions: VNLA News allows re- printing of material. Permission requests should be directed to the Virginia Nursery & Landscape Association. We are not responsible for unsolicited freelance manuscripts and photographs. Contact the managing editor for contribution information.

Cold Hardy Zone 6 | Cold Tolerant Zone 7 | New Hybrids Zone 8 & 9 Liners and 1, 3, 5, 7 | 15 and 20 Gallons Available | Wholesale Only

(800) 758-8121 | CamTooCamellia.com 805 OAKBURY COURT | GREENSBORO, NC 27455

Virginia Nursery & Landscape Association

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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

My Wife and My Mother Like It

H

appy summer everyone! This is the time of year when everyone’s phones are ringing, and emails are numerous, and work is wide open. The VNLA is returning to normal, and we have been busy with VCH and the final conversions to enable the use of Pearson Testing Sites across the state. This will be online and ready for testing by mid-summer. Our annual Field Day is August 4th and is going to happen this year! It is at The Farm Brewery at Broad Run Virginia, a great brewery owned by Community Landscape Services. We are all looking forward to getting together in person and sharing stories of how we made it through Covid.

Spring is also the time of year when I get spells of illness (not related to Covid) from plants blooming that we are no longer supposed to like. The blooms of the rogue Callery Pear trees are finally over but not forgotten. We are plagued by the blooms of Forsythia, the unnatural harbinger of spring and bright yellow we have grown accustomed to seeing everywhere. What else is it telling us? It is telling us that another pretty invasive imported plant (which is a sterile plant with no benefits to bees or butterflies) has grown its way into the hearts and affected/influenced financial successes for many of us.

Forsythia has put me in a tricky situation because some clients (besides beloved family members) still love it, along with other plants we are not supposed to use anymore. We used to use it in design especially for slopes where almost nothing else would grow. Then again, we used to use Burning bush and Barberry and Nandina in design as well. We understand many growers and garden centers and landscapers depend on these plants along with many others which are clearly not good for the environment but important to sustaining the lives and economic stability of the business.

What are we to do when my mother wants more forsythia and my wife wants a new butterfly bush? I don’t have a good answer, nor do I have a complete understanding of why they are still grown or sold when science says we should probably not encourage use of non-natives. We as knowledgeable horticulturists can offer reasonable plant substitutions, make suggestions and even offer companion plants to our inquisitive families, friends and clients. We also as designers, contactors, growers, gardens centers, municipalities should not expect all nurseries to flip a switch and stop growing and using some things they/ we have depended on for decades.

How are we supposed to balance what should and should not be grown or planted in our Commonwealth? Just because

6 • VNLA News • Summer 2022

a plant is liked by those who do not know the consequences of using it, should we continue to design or grow it in nurseries or plant it in landscapes? Probably not. Just this week, I had a call from a client of many years. She wanted to fill in a spot with English Ivy because it will “go with all the ivy” she already has. After explaining several alternate choices, the next sentence out of my mouth was “we can probably recommend someone who will plant it for you.” That was followed by, “There are some highly reputable nurseries in this state who grow many cultivars of Ivy.” A strange response from me but the truth, nonetheless.

The intentions of our company are to do our part to help the environment and educate our clients even if it sometimes means some lost financial opportunity. I anticipate designers and architects will be along with more and more natively strong plant list. I hope our nurseries can provide the unique pallet that is natives. I wish garden centers and landscapers would educate and sell and install many species that are not invasive, but I understand this all will take time.

As nurserymen and landscapers, we will continue to make plant selection decisions based on multiple factors. Whether that choice is commercially viable or economically sustainable is up to us and how we run our businesses or who we work with and how we finance our livelihoods. We will continue to have friends and family who still want to enjoy a plant that is considered to be invasive or non-beneficial to bees and butterflies or even destructive to the environment. Why shouldn’t they have that right? I have heard that we cannot and should not try legislate behavior.

As I struggle with this conundrum, I wonder where we as an association will be in 5, 10 and 20 years with the nonnative, invasive plant cultivation, sale and installation controversies. I do know that our members will be at the forefront of educating each other and our clients and we will cultivate better species and we will do our best to maintain profitability in the process. It may be as simple as labeling or as complex as a tax to offset the cost to our environment. The bottom line is we cannot and should not try to legislate behavior but rather educate and propagate what is best for the environment.

Whether our mothers and wives still want to have it in their yards should be up to them but not completely. I also heard or read somewhere and liked “Our natural resources will not be protected or restored unless a critical mass of people is motivated to change their behavior.” •

We are the Bridge

The Green Industry A N D Environmental Groups

A 501(c)(3) Corporation

P.O. Box 5989 • Virginia Beach, VA 23471 • 757-464-1004 • virginiaturf@gmail.com

LEGISLATIVE UPDATES from AmericanHort

HOW POLITICS ARE AFFECTING YOUR BUSINESS RIGHT NOW Feeling the Heat

By Craig Regelbrugge The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has announced a new “national emphasis program” for heat illness in outdoor and indoor occupations in targeted industries. This means that OSHA can now launch heat-related inspections on high-risk worksites before workers suffer preventable injuries, illnesses, or fatalities. Agriculture and landscaping are both included in the list of targeted industries. The National Emphasis Program is in addition to expected future regulation relating to heat illness; earlier this year OSHA sought public comment on the topic via an advance notice of proposed rulemaking. LEARN MORE AT https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/osha/ osha20220412-0 •

AmericanHort Pushes Back Against Tax Hikes

By Evan Lee

AmericanHort, joined by our partners in the Tax Aggie Coalition, sent a letter this week to Congress’ tax writing committees, warning of harmful tax increases proposed by President Biden in his Fiscal Year 2023 budget request.

In total, the President proposes to raise tax revenues by $2.5 trillion above current law over the next ten years through a combination of new taxes and sunset of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act – all without ever balancing the budget. An analysis by our partners at K·Coe Isom identified the most significant changes affecting agriculture operations: 1. Income, estate, and gift tax rules for grantor trusts 1. Grantor retained annuity trust changes 2. Changes to treatment of sales of property by a grantor to a grantor trust 3. Change to the gift tax treatment of income taxes paid by a grantor 2. Changes to valuation rules on promissory notes between related parties 3. Extending estate tax lien from 10 years to the end of any deferral or installment period 4. Requiring trust information returns for trusts with assets over $300,000 or over $10,000 in income 5. Changes to the Generation Skipping Transfer tax – increasing the scope and number of trusts to which the tax applies 6. Limitation on transactions to which partnership basis step-up adjustments under Section 754 apply 7. Assessing capital gains taxes upon gift or death transfers, including transfers to trusts 8. Limiting income tax deferral on like-kind exchanges to $500,000 per taxpayer The budget isn’t all bleak, however. It does boost the limitation on the special-use valuation from $1.23 million to $11.7 million, allowing farmers and ranchers to significantly roll back the value of land subject to the estate tax. Tax-watchers will recall that Congressional Democrats put forward this idea last year to soften the blow of their proposal to halve the estate tax asset exemption from $11.18 million to $5.8 million.

While the revenue raisers proposed by the President are cause for vigilance by advocates, it’s noteworthy that Congressional Democrats failed to enact dramatic tax increases last year during Build Back Better negotiations. A deteriorating economic outlook and worsening political environment for the President mean his new tax increases too are likely dead-on-arrival in Congress. • 8 • VNLA News • Summer 2022

DHS Vaccination Requirements for Land Border Crossers

By Sara Neagu-Reed

The Department of Homeland Security announced that the mandate for proof of full vaccination for nonimmigrants transiting into the United States will be extended without a specified expiration date and without an exemption for essential workers.

The requirements apply to noncitizens who are neither U.S. nationals nor permanent residents (including H-2A and H-2B workers). During the height of the pandemic, essential workers like agricultural workers or truck drivers were exempt from this requirement. That is not the case under this extended mandate and all essential workers must comply.

All non-U.S. travelers seeking to enter the United States through a land port of entry or ferry terminal, whether for non-essential or essential reasons must be prepared to: Verbally attest to their COVID-19 vaccination status; Present a valid passport or Trusted Traveler Program Card; Provide proof of a CDC -recognized COVID-19 vaccination C ome prepared to share any other relevant documents requested by the Customs and Border Protection officers during the inbound border inspection We have heard of few problems with the vaccination requirement for land border crossers; however, if you are experiencing any issues related to this proclamation, please reach out so that our staff team may connect you with the appropriate resources. FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/ 2019-ncov/vaccines/people-vaccinated-abroad.html •

Agriculture Secretary Carries Budget to Capitol Hill

By Evan Lee

U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will appear before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture to defend the President’s fiscal year 2023 budget request. Overall, the President’s budget calls for a twelve percent increase for USDA. At the April 28 hearing, Mr. Vilsack can expect Republicans will question the budget’s $1.8 billion for climate change, including new funding for climate research hubs and greenhouse gas monitoring. Both sides of the dais, however, will likely applaud the Administration’s call for $600 million in rural broadband deployment, a $22 million increase over the current fiscal year.

AmericanHort will watch for reaction to proposed roughly $200 million increase for the Agricultural Research Service, $2 million of which we’re seeking for the Floriculture and Nursery Research Initiative. As we recently reported, the Administration’s enhanced endangered species reviews for new pesticide registrations underscores the importance of USDA’s IR-4 program, which supports data collection necessary for bringing new crop protection tools to market. The President’s budget proposes to nearly double funding for IR-4 this fiscal year.

Following the budget hearings, AmericanHort will continue its advocacy in support of these key research programs for our industry. To date, our grassroots advocacy effort has touched dozens of Senate and House lawmakers.

Looking ahead, the Chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee plans to introduce and hold House votes on all twelve spending bills before the August recess. The Senate traditionally moves at a more deliberate pace through the budget cycle, often waiting to release its versions of the bills until agreement is reached between congressional leaders on overall spending levels and contentious policy riders. Although the process of wrangling over spending bills is underway on-schedule, expect the final agreement to come well after the midterm elections. •

DOL to Hold Regional Overtime Listening Sessions in May and June

By Sara Neagu-Read

In fall of 2021, the Biden Administration released their regulatory agenda which included the Department of Labor’s (DOL) plan to release a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in April focusing on changing criteria for exempted individuals from overtime pay requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). DOL has announced that it will host a series of public listening sessions for stakeholders in May and early June to seek feedback as to whether changes are appropriate to the executive, administrative and professional employee exemptions from FLSA’ minimum wage and overtime requirements. DOL is seeking input on: T he appropriate salary level above which the exemptions for bona fide executive, administrative or professional employees may apply.

T he costs and benefits of increasing the salary level to employers and employees, including increasing wages and reducing litigation costs.

T he best methodology for updating the salary level and the appropriate frequency of updates. hether other changes to the overtime regulaW tions are warranted.

The listening sessions for employers on the proposed rulemaking are organized by region and include the following: Northeast Employers: May 13 at 3:30pm EST Southeast Employers: May 17 at 2:00pm EST Midwest Employers: May 20 at 3:30pm EST Southwest Employers: May 27 at 3:00pm EST West Employers: June 3 at 3:30pm EST Interested members may find additional information and registration links for the sessions here https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/ overtime-listening. •

Rediscover PENDER NURSERY

PHONE: 800-942-1648 FAX: 919-773-0904

ONLINE: www.PenderNursery.com 2620 Wall Store Road

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Garner, NC 27529

UPCOMING EVENTS

How Do Consumers Visually Find The Plant They’ll Buy? A Look Through Their Eyes!

Dr. Bridget Behe, Michigan State University May 10, 11 PM, ET

Industry Insider: Sustainability Presented by a panel of horticultural sustainability experts June 7, 2 – 3:30 PM, ET

Building A Better Monarch Butterfly Garden Dr. Dan Potter, University of Kentucky August 23, 11 AM, ET

To learn more about AmericanHort events, visit www.americanhort.org/events

May Women in Horticulture Interview Dr. Alicain Carlson, Syngenta Flowers May 18, 2 PM, ET

Cultivate’22 July 16 – 19, 2022 Columbus, OH

How Do Weather and Climate Impact Boxwood Blight?

Dr. Len Coop, Oregon State University September 7, 1 PM, ET

at AmericanHort

Virginia Nursery & Landscape Association

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NE WS F R OM VN LA

IN MEMORIAM

Paul Massie Saunders, Sr. VNLA honors and remembering Mr. Saunders’ extraordinary passion for and impact in our industry. He will be missed.

On

Friday, March 11, 2022, Paul Massie Saunders, Sr. passed in the midst of a large family gathering. Listening to string music and songs, he was swept away. He is survived by his devoted wife of over 65 years, Tatum Newbill Saunders.

A man of many interests, Paul passionately loved God, his family, his country, local history, boxwood, peaches, apples, Indian artifacts, antique farm equipment, and Virginia Tech.

Born November 8, 1933 to Mildred Massie Saunders and Samuel Edmund Saunders, Paul lived most of his life at “Tye Brook”, his family home in Nelson County.

In 1947, Mr. O. O. Atto, an eighth-grade science teacher, taught Paul how to propagate boxwood. Paul was fascinated at the process and through the enthusiasm of his mother and his county agent, Paul started a backyard nursery.

In the summer of 1955, Paul, then an Agricultural Farm Agent, met Tatum, a UVA nursing school graduate, at a 4-H event near her home in Franklin County, VA. They were married August 18, 1956.

Paul loved the farm but found it difficult to support his growing family that soon included seven sons. To provide steady cash flow, he continued his family’s tradition as a land surveyor. However, he hated property line disputes that required him to be in court. In 1981, after surveying some 3,000 tracts over 20 years, a copperhead snake bit him as he was climbing out of a creekbank. Soon thereafter, he used the snake as a worthy excuse to quit surveying and to devote all his time to his true love, the nursery and orchards.

In the 1960’s, he began to ship his boxwood to garden centers throughout Virginia and Maryland. Early on, he recognized problems with the predominant variety ‘English’ boxwood and began a search for better cultivars. Paul helped to establish 60 testing sites from New England to Chicago southward to Memphis and the Carolinas. Colleges, universities, botanical gardens, arboreta, and individuals participated in an evaluation project whose goal was to introduce new varieties into the industry.

Throughout his life, Paul took Tatum with him when he traveled, and they worked as a team. The business grew, and with the help of many devoted workers, Saunders Brothers, Inc. now grows and ships plants throughout the mid-Atlantic region and has supplied boxwood to the White House, Longwood Gardens, and other historic sites.

In the early 2000’s, Paul published a 600-page book Heartbeats of Nelson, in which he took great interest in meeting fellow Nelsonians and arranging Nelson County photos and stories from the American Civil War through Hurricane Camille. He later published Down on the Farm and Memories of the Packing Shed, collections of stories and photos.

10 • VNLA News • Summer 2022

He was delighted to reflect on the people the farm had brought into his life.

Paul was a loyal Virginia Tech Class of ‘54 alumnus and held season tickets to the football games for over 50 years.

He loved to load up his family and friends and travel to Blacksburg on Saturday mornings. All his sons, along with 18 grandchildren are either graduates or are now enrolled at Virginia Tech.

An avid fisherman, Paul anticipated the opening day of trout fishing season every April. He relished telling his thoughts on why the fish were or were not biting. He had little patience for fishermen that didn’t sneak up on the fishing holes to avoid being seen by the native Brooks or fishermen who wore bright colors that spooked the fish. Without apology, he often used only a cane pole.

In recent years on Saturday mornings, during fruit harvest at 11:00 sharp, Paul would ring a loud bell at the Saunders Brothers Farm Market. He would then heartily lead anyone visiting the farm market in singing “God Bless America”. Paul would give free ice cream to any U. S. Veterans in attendance, and then of course have some himself, if Tatum was not around!

Paul was the younger brother of Rebecca Saunders Anderson Tucker and Samuel Edmund Saunders, Jr, both of whom predeceased him. Paul and Tatum raised seven biological sons, Paul Massie, Jr. (Joyce), Thomas Newbill (Lyn), Julian Bennett (Lynn), James William (Amy), Robert Edmund (Pat), John Tatum (Ruth), and Samuel Ferguson (Alisha), along with 35 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

Two more young men became a part of the Saunders family and were treated as brothers, Frank Sirois and Ivan (Galina) Morozov. Blood kinship was not a prerequisite to become a part of Paul and Tatum’s family. They unconditionally loved people from all walks of life.

Visitation was held at the Saunders Brothers Farm Market on Wednesday, March 16 and a Celebration of Life was held Thursday, March 17 at Calvary Baptist Church in Lovingston VA, with Pastor John Campbell and Reverend Roger Roller officiating followed by interment at Harewood Cemetery. Donations can be made to Horticultural Research Institute, 2130 Stella Ct, Columbus, OH 43215 or Rose Union Baptist Church, 955 Tye Brook Highway, Piney River VA 22964. •

Upcoming Events

SAVE-THE-DATE FOR THE

Return of VNLA Field Day! THURSDAY, AU GUST 4

Thank you to our hosts: COMMUNITY LANDSCAPE SERVICES and THE FARM BREWERY AT BROAD RUN MORE DETAILS AND REGISTRATION COMING SOON VIA VNLA’S FACEBOOK PAGE, WEBSITE AND MEMBER COMMUNICATIONS.

The Central Virginia Nursery & Landscape Association (CVNLA) is facilitating a review class for the Virginia Certified Horticulturist (VCH) credential.

JUNE 13, 2022 IS THE DEADLINE TO REGISTER AND CLASS STARTS MONDAY, JUNE 27 Contact CVNLA for all details and to register: contactcvnla@gmail.com

PHILLIPS AND TURMAN TREE FARMS WHOLESALE GROWER OF EVERGREENS FOR OVER 40 YEARS! May Nursery, Inc. of Havana, FL Celebrates 50th Anniversary MAY NURSERY, the family-owned and operated business in Havana, Florida, recently celebrated its 50th anniversary.

In 1971, Fount H. May, Sr. and Don F. May, Sr., completely converted the family’s Shade Tobacco farm to a plant nursery. What they began was nurtured and increased by their sons, Fount Jr., Don Jr., Fred, and Brad over the majority of the last 50 years. In 2020 third generation family members Ashley, Richard, John Bradford & Joel May assumed operation and control of May Nursery.

Today the nursery grows over 600 varieties and cultivars of shrubs, trees, grasses, and perennials on 250 irrigated acres of the 500 acre farm in Havana, Florida with more than 140 employees. A handful of those employees have worked here since the beginning of May Nursery. The nursery ships plants to 25 states and Canada. As we continue to grow, we look forward to providing our small-town community with opportunities for employment and lifelong friendships. May Nursery appreciates our 50 years of friendship and business relationships with all of our customers.

A celebration was held at the nursery’s newly built loading docks. May Nursery takes pride in knowing our customers are our friends. With over 200 friends and family in attendance, the celebration included dinner, cocktails, and nursery tours. Attendees were given the opportunity to tour the nursery and learn some of the history on how May Nursery came to be. •

WHITE PINE 8' – 16' NORWAY 10' – 16' C ALL FO R P R I C I N G

DOUG PHILLIPS DAVID PHILLIPS (540) 745-3700 (540)-320-1515 (cell) PhillipsRealEstate@gmail.com PhillipsAndTurmanTreeFarms.com

Virginia Nursery & Landscape Association

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COVER STORY

Member Highlight on

ABIGAIL GARDENS I’m

hardly a business tycoon or horticultural authority, but at 25 years old, I now own a serviceoriented gardening business that I eponymously transitioned into Abigail Gardens. With nine months of business ownership under my belt, the driving forces for success in my business are focusing on employees and relying on self-assuredness.

Two vehicles, six employees, and about fifty-five regular clients. We’re small but mighty, and I certainly can’t be considered responsible for its conception. As a previous employee of Leslie Harris at LH Gardens, I was shocked (to say the least!) when she dropped the bomb on me and asked me to buy and take-over the business from her.

I never had intentions of becoming a professional gardener.

After receiving my degree from St. Lawrence University in Modern Foreign Languages in 2018, I made the move from rural upstate New York to Charlottesville. Although I had plans of becoming a teacher, it was ultimately the ability to work with my hands, be outside, and the allure of becoming nature’s eternal student which had me captivated by the world of horticulture.

It was May of 2021, and we launched into a whirlwind transition- three and a half months later, Abigail Gardens was born, and my head still spins when I think about how quickly it all happened. There’s a steep learning curve that comes with transitioning from employee to employer, and time is hardly ever on your side. Technically, the heavy lifting was already done, as I had many of the big picture things in place thanks to Leslie. There were, however, a lot of growing pains. Leslie had created something that worked really well, so I wasn’t going to reinvent the wheel with Abigail Gardens, but I did spend a lot of time considering what spirit and ethos I wanted my business to embody.

If the success of Abigail Gardens is measured only by our ability to turn a profit, then it isn’t a success in my eyes. While we do need to turn a profit, adding quality of life to all of those involved with the business – clients, plants, employees-- is an integral part of our mission.

With all that’s involved in running a business such as this, I knew I needed someone at my side that matched my passion and work ethic. Sarah Schrock, another previous employee of LH Gardens, I felt was going to be the perfect fit. Despite all the unknowns of a transitioning business, Sarah gladly accepted the position of Manager of Operations.

“It doesn’t feel like I have to go to work each day, I get to go to work each day,” says Schrock. “We spend so much time throughout our lives at work, that it really ought to be spent doing something you enjoy.”

12 • VNLA News • Summer 2022

Virginia Nursery & Landscape Association

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We never claim to be the most inexpensive service, and much of the reason why is so that employees can earn a decent and livable wage. Jobs are plenty, especially in today’s market, so I place the focus on employee retention and happiness. In my years working at nurseries, I never understood why some of my employers suffered through the revolving door of employee turnover, specifically in the landscape departments. My thought process was, retain the best employees by truly investing in and empowering them to maintain excellent work. Maybe it was more complicated than that, but in my business, I see it as a very simple input/output equation: treat employees right and they’ll reward you with higher quality work. If you want to offer a top-tier, gold standard product, you have to first make your workers feel as though they are top-tier. That’s the beautiful irony of this whole operation- it’s about me in the sense that it’s me, Abigail, calling all the shots in the garden, but it’s not really about me in the slightest.

14 • VNLA News • Summer 2022

The hiring process at Abigail Gardens is somewhat rigorous. Between one and three paid, working interview days are required. We’re such a small team that it’s highly important that potential hires are the right fit energetically. If you are vying for employment at Abigail Gardens, common interview questions that you may not have heard before include, “How do you feel about taking direction from someone younger than you?”

Or, “How do you feel about working on an all-female team, as it so happens to be right now?” (Hint: the only correct answers are some variation of, ‘It doesn’t bother me’).

The job is not inherently glamorous, but we make it so. Currently, our “office” is a tiny corner of my one-bedroom apartment. Our headquarters is the parking lot of a defunct convenience store. We have only our vehicles, a storage pod, one running spigot, and a very shabby looking fence we built ourselves from pallets. We don’t even have electricity! We make do with very little creature comforts and put all our resources and concentration into our clients and their gardens that we tend.

Our over-arching goal in every task, project and design is to marry proper horticultural practices with aesthetic function in the landscape. In other words, we equally value what is healthiest for the plant and how it will look. Fine gardening is fairly niche as it stands, but we offer an extra level of “niche-ness” that is surprisingly sought-after. The care and attention to detail that we give to fifty, sixty, or a hundred-year-old shrubs is something I’ve found clients really appreciate, and new customers seek us out for this very reason. Pruning in particular is our art form; we’re shaping

functional, living sculptures, and we approach even the tiniest of boxwood with that mindset. I take this art form so seriously, I give a hard ‘no’ to electric shearing or any practice that will consistently cause a plant to grow incorrectly. My crew can attest to the way my eyes light up as I enthusiastically explain to a client how having us hand prune their shrubs will be one of the best investments they could make in their landscape.

Other things we offer that sets us apart from landscapers and other fine gardeners include a commitment to being fully organic and using battery power only. I’m not being dramatic when I say that we hate loud noises and chemicals. Those things just kind of defeat the tranquility of being a gardener, no?

When it comes to competition, I put my blinders on. I pay attention to what other services are providing to some degree, but at the end of the day, I get the most satisfaction from knowing that I can only focus on what I’m doing.

For design, I do look outward for inspiration, but often I have a gut feeling that something looks and feels ‘right’ before I’m able to put words to why. My mind is a free space where I try not to have too many pre-determined ideas. Anything might speak to me at any given time- I just roll with it, be it a floral pattern on a dress, the intricate texture of a tree trunk, or the color palette of a peculiar fungus. Nature is the creator; I’m just the curator.

There’s something deeply satisfying about having a career that requires you to be mentally sharp, physically robust, and creatively uninhibited. By day, I garden with some of the finest people and professionals that I know. By night and weekend, I run the business side of things. While I enjoy both roles, my favorite place to be is out on a job with my crew.

With our one-year anniversary coming this fall, I’m excited with all the progress we have accomplished thus far. Each day I find that I am learning more and more about how to make this business reflect what is truly important to me, what I want to bring to me clients, and the type of work experience I want to offer employees. •

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FEATURE

Virginia Tech Students Represent SPES at the National Collegiate Landscape Competition

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T

he VNLA is proud to provide support Virginia Tech’s team of students who participate in the National Collegiate Landscape Competition (NCLC).

The School of Plant and Environmental Sciences and the Agricultural Technology Program sent 18 students to represent Virginia Tech at the event, which was hosted by NC State in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The centerpiece of NCLC is a 31-event competition where students can compete in events ranging from driving a skid steer to plant identification to designing a landscape. This year over 500 students from 43 schools attended. As a team, Virginia Tech placed 12th overall in the competition.

Kevin Painchaud (Fr. SPES) placed 2nd in Sales Presentation beating out 20 other students from various colleges and universities. Juan Gonzales (Sr. SPES) placed 2nd in the Floral and Foliage Identification event. •

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OTHER TOP FINISHERS FROM VT 4th

7th

EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT: Hannah and Juan

MINI TRACK LOADER OPP: Parker

4th

8th

MAINTENANCE COST ESTIMATING: Tyler C

SAFETY FIRST: McCullen and Liam

6th

8th

Compact Track / Skid Steer Opp: Connor

COMPACT EXCAVATOR OPP: Tyler B

7th

9th

INTERIOR PLANT ID: Gordon

16 • VNLA News • Summer 2022

Truck and Trailer Opp: Tyler B and Parker

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PHOTO 1: Our team always dresses to impress for the career fair! • PHOTO 2: Tyler Baker and Khalil McKenzie celebrating the end of the Hardscape Install competition.

PHOTO 3: Unfortunately, our site for the landscape install competition was a mud pit... • PHOTO 4: Hokies spirit was on display all week!

PHOTO 5: Juan Gonzales (Sr. SPES) won the $2500, Stihl Inc. Landscape Industry Scholarship. Pictured with Roger Phelps, Corporate Communications, Stihl and Teddy Russell, President, National Association of Landscape Professionals.

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