June 2016 Landscape Trades

June 2016

VOL. 38, NO. 5

landscapetrades.com

Hard numbers knock unit pricing Designers deflect problems with one magic word Mentor Stippler on sector symbiosis

FOUR-SEASON

Contracting Living the dream: Staff retention and steady cash flow Adam Gracey

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Contents

JUNE 2016 VOL. 38, NO. 5

EDITOR AND PUBLISHER Lee Ann Knudsen CLM | lak@landscapeontario.com

ASSISTANT EDITOR Scott Barber | sbarber@landscapeontario.com ART DIRECTOR Kim Burton | kburton@landscapeontario.com

Year-round pioneers

LANDSCAPE ONTARIO MAGAZINE EDITOR Robert Ellidge | rob@landscapeontario.com

ACCOUNTANT Joe Sabatino | joesabatino@landscapeontario.com

6 Two contractors prove a tough industry challenge — seasonality — may be optional.

SALES MANAGER, PUBLICATIONS Steve Moyer | stevemoyer@landscapeontario.com

BY SCOTT BARBER

GRAPHIC DESIGNER Mike Wasilewski | mikew@landscapeontario.com

INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS REPRESENTATIVE Greg Sumsion | gsumsion@landscapeontario.com COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR Angela Lindsay | alindsay@landscapeontario.com ADVISORY COMMITTEE Gerald Boot CLM, Laura Catalano, Mark Fisher, Hank Gelderman CHT, Marty Lamers, Jan Laurin, Bob Tubby CLM, Nick Winkelmolen, Dave Wright Landscape Trades is published by Landscape Ontario Horticultural Trades Association 7856 Fifth Line South, Milton, ON L9T 2X8 Phone: (905)875-1805 Email: comments@landscapetrades.com Fax: (905)875-0183 Web site: www.landscapetrades.com LANDSCAPE ONTARIO STAFF Darryl Bond, Myscha Burton, Rachel Cerelli, Tony DiGiovanni CHT, Denis Flanagan CLD, J. Alex Gibson, Sally Harvey CLT CLM, Jane Leworthy, Heather MacRae, Kristen McIntyre CHT, Kathy McLean, Linda Nodello, Kathleen Pugliese, Ian Service, Tom Somerville, Martha Walsh, Theresa Whalen, Cassandra Wiesner

FEATURES

12 Skilled-labour solutions

Strategies to attract and retain the right green industry employees.

BY SUSAN HIRSHORN

16 Canadian research update

Highlights from the COHA research and innovation cluster initiative.

BY RITA WEERDENBURG

COLUMNS

24 MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS

Hard numbers reveal the hazards of industry-standard unit pricing.

BY MARK BRADLEY

Landscape Trades is published nine times a year: January, March, April, May, June, August, September, October and November.

26 ROAD TO SUCCESS

Horticulture pros need each other — for therapeutic listening.

BY ROD McDONALD

Subscription rates: One year – $46.90, two years – $84.74; three years – $118.64, HST included. U.S. and international please add $20.00 per year for postage and handling.

Subscribe at www.landscapetrades.com

28 LEGAL MATTERS

Supreme Court set to rule on precise definition of ‘own work’ exclusion.

BY ROBERT KENNALEY

Copyright 2016. All rights are reserved. Material may not be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. Landscape Trades assumes no responsibility for, and does not endorse the contents of, any advertisements herein. All representations or warranties made are those of the advertiser and not the publication. Views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the association or its members, but are those of the writer concerned.

30 LANDSCAPE DESIGN

Designers can often manage wrong-headed requests with a one-word question.

BY AUDRIANA VANDERWERF 38 MENTOR MOMENT

Heike Stippler says landscape construction enhances her maintenance business.

DEPARTMENTS

ISSN 0225-6398 PUBLICATIONS MAIL SALES AGREEMENT 40013519 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES TO: CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT LANDSCAPE TRADES MAGAZINE 7856 FIFTH LINE SOUTH, MILTON, ON L9T 2X8 CANADA

GREEN PENCIL 4 INDUSTRY NEWS 20 CNLA NEWS 32 NEW PRODUCTS 34 COMING EVENTS 36 CLASSIFIEDS 36 WHERE TO FIND IT 37 JUNE 2016 | LANDSCAPE TRADES |

3

greenpencil Industry appreciates Charles Vander Kooi’s legacy

Mister Overhead

W

ith a preacher’s heartfelt zeal,

he inspired contractors to charge and prosper.

Charles Vander Kooi spent a lifetime helping the landscape industry succeed, and his sudden passing in March left a big void.

Vander Kooi made his name as a landscape industry speaker and business consultant, travelling across the continent to inspire and educate.

I interviewed him once in 2011, as he rode across Cleveland in the back of a cab. My notes look just as relevant today; during that recovery period he was telling contractors they could more effectively improve profits by looking at job costs, that overheads are not their problem. He said he felt better when things were a little

By Lee Ann Knudsen tight, and more nervous when they were too good. Those quick-scribbled notes, pulled from my files, still testify to Vander Kooi’s energy.

Finding Canadian disciples was no problem. Contractors across Canada were pleased to talk about how “Charlie” helped turn their businesses around.

As a new business owner, Neil Pond of Urban Landscaping, Rothesay, N.B., heard CVK’s first New Brunswick speech in the early ’90s, and it changed his business.

“I immediately implemented his systems using Excel spreadsheets, which I have kept and adapted over the years. Right now, I am looking at his books on my shelf, and the spreadsheet is open on my computer. He was one of the biggest influences on me and my company, and he got us on a path to avoid pitfalls.”

Pond remembers Vander Kooi good-naturedly dubbing a Canadian audience member ‘Billy-Bob Nigel.’ “He was such a good speaker because his numbers were all about people.”

“I took a budgeting course put on by Vander Kooi’s organization shortly after starting up and it really was like getting an MBA for the landscape business in three short days,” said columnist, contractor and LMN founder Mark Bradley. “Chuck had an incredible influence on the indus4 | JUNE 2016 | LANDSCAPE TRADES

try, he was a legend in his own time — in my early days I took every chance I had to hear him speak. I even flew to the West Coast a few times to hear what he had to say!

Chuck was a true gentleman, it was obvious how much he enjoyed teaching landscapers how to be successful business people.”

“Charlie taught me it’s my God-given right to charge for overheads,” said Tim Kearney, Garden Creations of Ottawa. Kearney remembers hearing Vander Kooi for the first time, and scribbling a yellow pad full of notes, leading to an epiphany on why no money was left in his company at the end of the year. “Charlie was fun, entertaining, hilarious.

At that time my partner and I set ourselves apart as high-end by wearing ties and sport jackets. So Charlie called our company, “Garden Where’s-my-BMW Creations of Ottawa.” Kearney credits Vander Kooi with turning his company around to “where it made sense.”

“Charles had ways to Charles Vander Kooi speaking at Congress 2013. make you remember his lessons,” said Kyle Tobin, LawnSavers Plant Health Care of Toronto. “The employee who went bad and will never work out was an Egg-sucking Dog.” Ruth Olde of Blasig Landscape Design & Construction, Maple Ridge, B.C., said, “To me, he made the intimidating, dirty business of ‘business’ seem possible — even fun.

[He was about] making money — and how to do it! He was overtly passionate about the industry not seeing itself as ‘less than.’ I was always grateful for his perspective.”

Neil Pond remembers Vander Kooi being billed in the ’90s as the Billy Graham of Landscaping. Looking ahead, Vander Kooi’s legacy of saved landscape companies lives on. LT

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Year-round

pioneers Two contractors live the dream: Steady cash flow with 365-day staff retention

BY SCOTT BARBER

For landscape contractors

not interested in winter snow and ice service, retaining quality staff members, as well as covering bills and overhead, can be a significant challenge.

“It was like a constant I.V. drip of money coming out of the bank account with nothing coming in to replace it,” says Adam Gracey, owner of D.A Gracey and Associates. “Like a lot of people in this industry, I had done snow plowing as a kind of subsidy, but it wasn’t right for my business. So the issue became covering 12 months of bills and overhead with eight or nine months of revenue.”

That changed about 10 years ago, when Gracey implemented a system allowing has Vaughan, Ont.based landscape construction company to do outdoor masonry all year long.

“We stretch the season through the winter by working on projects that involve concrete foundations,” Gracey explains. “Typically, it involves larger jobs and some examples would be basement walkouts, retaining walls and raised terraces; we often do flagstone work, stone veneers and patios. Really, our method works for any project where you are applying stone to concrete.”

The key, he explains, is to prepare each job site in the fall, completing all the necessary excavation and pour-

6 | JUNE 2016 | LANDSCAPE TRADES

ing the concrete foundation before the ground freezes.

Then, his staff sets up tents and tarps to enclose the work area, which is heated by propane.

“It’s critical to spend the time and effort on making really good enclosed structures,” Gracey says. “Instead of trying to do it on the cheap, we spend the money to do it right. That includes solid framing with two by four studs and scaffolding, as well as making sure the space is well lit and ventilated.”

Upscale clients happy to pay There is absolutely no drop in quality and craftsmanship, Gracey adds. If there was, he wouldn’t do it; it’s that simple.

And neither will he incur the costs associated with tenting and heating.

“We typically charge about five per cent of the job to cover the additional expenses,” Gracey says. “We’re not doing this for $10,000 patios. So if you look at it for a $200,000 job, the client is going to pay $10,000 more. But if it means they can be swimming in their pool by May 24 instead of Aug. 24, a lot of people out there are willing to pay a premium.”

Working through the winter also means clients don’t lose access to their outdoor spaces when the weather is

Winter stonework, made possible by massive enclosures, pays off for Adam Gracey. As a side benefit, his crews enjoy the experience.

JUNE 2016 | LANDSCAPE TRADES |

7

“Commercial construction companies and home builders have been doing masonry work outdoors yearround for generations,” Gracey says. “We can do it too.”

Year-round in Alberta

Gracey connects with a crew member on a site; his winter masonry strategy has proved sound over time.

nice, Gracey adds. It all amounts to a compelling sales pitch once the client is educated on the process.

Not only is winter construction a win-win for the client and the business owner, perhaps the biggest impact is on employees.

“My staff members are masons and carpenters; those are their trades and that’s what they’re skilled at,” Gracey says. It doesn’t make sense for them to plow snow when they have a passion and talent for landscape construction; especially when there is a viable alternative.

This way, “My guys get to come into work in January and February with shorts on inside our enclosures where we have music playing and it’s a very comfortable environment,” Gracey says. “They love it.”

Nearly everything is done inside the warm, dry enclosure, except for cutting stone.

Staff members still get vacation time during the winter — rotated through each crew — with the added bonus of being able to travel abroad without violating unemployment insurance rules. And when they return, they get right back to working full-time and earning a full paycheque.

8 | JUNE 2016 | LANDSCAPE TRADES

Bruce Kay, owner of the Cochrane, Alta.-based landscape design and build company OnGrowing Works, believes winter construction is key to the industry’s future.

“I first started in the trade back in 1984, and what I discovered as a young tradesman was that as much as I liked the trade, it’s actually a really hard career because of its seasonal mindset, its seasonal nature and its seasonal reality for most business owners,” Kay says. “The part-time mindset just simply doesn’t make it easy to pay a mortgage or raise a family.”

Seasonality also puts the landscape industry at a significant disadvantage when it comes to drawing in young talent, Kay says.

“Parents, if they’re going to make recommendations to their kids when they’re in high school, if they are trade-oriented students, landscape horticulturalist is pretty low down the list in comparison to carpentry, electrical work, welding and so on.”

And so Kay left the industry for the better part of 15 years. But by the late ‘90s, he missed landscaping, and decided to start his own business.

“It didn’t take long for me to realize that if we were going to really be an effective business and powerful in our relationship with our clients, it was first of all going to be with what we describe in our business as the ‘Be, Know, Do’ philosophy.” Kay uses sports to illustrate what that means.

“We have this attitude towards things, where, like in hockey, you can’t teach speed, but all other skill sets can be developed. So for us, we look at character first when we are trying to hire. Morals, principles and values are key, but the next aspect is the craft and the trade itself, and we know that we can send people away to school or courses and take an active and aggressive role in developing trade skills.”

Once you start investing in your staff, keeping them in the fold becomes vital to the bottom line.

“The apprenticeship program here in Alberta is a wonderful way to develop trade skills,” Kay says. “Typically it’s a mentorship-type program, four years long.

We started sending folks away to school and part of the mindset was it had been really beneficial for me, so let’s encourage other people to do it.”

Another, less explicit consideration in paying for employees to go to school during the off-season was to keep them engaged and involved in the company and the industry. continued on page 10

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ally phenomenal people,” he says. “These are good-character people with strong morals, and typically they’re young people with young families or people who aspire to have a family and a house. And they were asking for the same thing that our business was asking for: solid, long-term careers in the industry they have a passion and talent for.”

Then, Kay consulted with structural engineers to ensure the construction work they did during the winter would be fundamentally sound. Commercial construction has been done outdoors during the winter for decades, Kay says, so he knew it was possible.

“I consulted with a structural and a civil engineer and said, ‘Here’s my idea, but before I start shooting my mouth off about what we can build in the winter, what are the concerns? How am I going to deal with the frozen ground?

How can I thaw the frozen ground and get rid of it?”’

Winter excavation that works

Bruce Kay’s sense of loyalty to his employees is real. The strategy he built as a result benefits both company and staff.

“I didn’t want to lose these employees because we were really starting to invest in them and we knew they were quality people,” Kay says. “But what else could I do with them for two months during the winter?”

According to Kay, it was “less expensive to send employees to school and to pay their salaries while they were away then it was to lay people off and risk not getting them back and having to reinvest the time and money training new staff.” From a purely economic standpoint, it made sense, he says.

“We weighed out the costs of getting ready to do winter work and there are certainly some additional expenses, especially in terms of prep and set up,” Kay explains. “But, if I had to choose because the costs of doing winter work versus the costs of laying quality people off for the winter and then trying to rehire, it was a nobrainer. We felt that if we could find a way to break even, it would be well worth the effort in the long run.”

The next step was to go all in on winter work, and about 10 years ago, Kay and OnGrowing Works made it happen.

“The driver was that we wanted to offer careers to re10 | JUNE 2016 | LANDSCAPE TRADES

Unlike Gracey, Kay’s company doesn’t limit winter work to masonry applied to fall-poured concrete. With the advantage of a slightly milder climate in the Calgary region, thanks in part to Chinook winds, OnGrowing Works excavates during winter.

There was some trial and error at first, Kay admits.

However, once they found the right equipment, including ground-thaw units and insulated tarps, and implemented building processes according the engineers’ specifications, things really started to work well.

“My fear, initially, was that we would build and then the following year we would have to go back to repair everything,” Kay says. “But it’s just not true.”

One strategy Kay uses to combat cold weather is permeable base preparation. “We dig down until the ground isn’t frozen and then we rebuild,” Kay explains.

“Frost can go down four feet into the ground but that’s not always the case, and once we get past the organic matter and we are dealing with ground that is already firm, we compact if we can, and then build back up the way you would install a base for a permeable patio.”

Apart from thawing the ground with heaters and enclosing work areas with scaffolding and insulated tarps, the work is the same.

Using pea gravel for base instead of three- or fivemm sand is one example of a small change that can make a big difference, Kay says. Weeping tile can also play a big part in both keeping a work area dry and providing effective drainage for the finished product.

“It comes down to making the commitment that providing full-time, year-round employment makes sense for your business and your staff,” Kay says. “Once you have made that commitment, then you start to be LT innovative and creative.”

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Scarce-labour

solutions

BY SUSAN HIRSHORN

Attracting and retaining the talent for your trucks

S

killed trades workers and labourers were among the top 10 jobs Canadian employers had difficulty filling, according to employers surveyed last year by the Manpower Group and Workopolis. This is no surprise to the landscaping and horticultural trades, where labour shortages have been keenly felt for several years.

Older tradespeople with their sights set on retirement are not easy to replace with younger folks for reasons summarized in a 2014 blog by Sarah Watts-Rynard, executive director of the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum. “One of the biggest complaints we hear from prospective apprentices is that employers aren’t interested in hiring young people without experience,” Rynard writes.

She cites a survey indicating that although young people are open to careers in the trades, their parents, teachers and friends have a poor

12 | JUNE 2016 | LANDSCAPE TRADES

image of trades in general, and don’t encourage them to pursue this pathway. Certainly, the horticulture trades’ traditional image of low paying, seasonal work involving long hours of physical labour hasn’t helped recruitment. Happily, this image is changing, thanks to intensive efforts by the industry to promote workplace health and safety and best business practices.

And, more green industry firms have comprehensive on-the-job training programs these days. The industry-led On-the-Job Training system, for example, helps employers in the landscape horticulture sector to train employees in a consistent and effective way.

While there is no getting around the physical demands of many horticulture jobs, this is not perceived as negative when paired with such benefits as working with nature, creating beauty and enhancing the environment. “We need to come across as the sexy industry that

we are,” observes Sally Harvey, Landscape Ontario’s education and labour development manager. “Sometimes we don’t tell our story well enough. We’re a very humble industry. We’ve really got to work at telling our story as an association and as individual employers.”

Create an employer brand So what story — or “employer brand” — should you communicate to prospective employees? Employer branding is the process of promoting a positive image of your company as a “good place to work” or “an employer of choice” in the minds of the job applicants you want to reach.

Although eliminating the seasonal-pay stigma might boost your brand, salary alone will not attract the employees you want. “Job satisfaction is a huge motivator for many potential hort workers,” says Ed Hansen, president of Hansen Lawn and Garden, based in Ottawa. “If someone is looking solely for money then that person might not be a right fit for your firm. But if they’re looking for a place to grow, to expand their knowledge, to work in a professional, ethical environment — and you offer it — these factors can be part of your branding to employees. The reality is that not every company has a professional environment. Someone can work at a place that pays two dollars more an hour, but isn’t as ethical as another company.”

Vicky Smith, of Contact Coaching and Training Services in London, Ont., agrees that distinguishing yourself from your competitors is an important part of employer branding. “Ask a landscaper about three local lawn service companies and he’ll tell you the differences amongst them; this one says you’ll work with the best crew chiefs, that one says it pleases every customer every time and the third one creates a fun work environment so employees want to come to work,” she states in the HR Toolkit her firm developed for Landscape Ontario.

Ask employees to spread the word The HR Toolkit and other industry resources suggest a variety of places to advertise directly for new employees. “However, an excellent way to promote your brand is through your existing employees,” adds Smith. “They know what it takes to succeed at your company, and they understand its culture.”

Consider setting up an employee referral program where a bonus is awarded to the referring employee once the new hire passes his or her three-month probationary period. Encourage the use of social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter) for referral purposes, but not before installing a Social Media Policy for employees. They need to understand the importance of professional online behaviour, since they are representing your firm.

hands,’ I’d rather hire that person than one who says, ‘I just took a course and think I deserve $20 an hour.’”

Posing the right questions during the job interview is key to screening for attitude, values and personality. Ask open-ended questions (not those requiring just a yes or no response) to find out what you need to know. When interviewing individuals with work experience (in or out of the trades), here are some questions culled from a webinar by Tony Bass, a landscaping business consultant in Fort Valley, Ga. l Why did you apply? What’s happening in your life to make you change jobs? l Tell me about a job that you loved.

What did you love about it? l Tell me about a time when you hated your job.

(The love/hate questions should reveal something about their interests and work ethic. For example, someone who hated a job because he or she was asked to work overtime could be a liability at the height of your season). l If you were offered a job tomorrow, when could you start?

(Candidates willing to start “tomorrow” — leaving a current employer on the lurch — can do the same thing to you!) continued on page 14

NEW CANADIAN LABOUR RESOURCES greencareerscanada.ca Canada’s horticulture professions now have a one-stop web resource for students, teachers and industry. The site guides young people on employment and educational opportunities, and also serves as a communications hub for educators. Students tell their stories in video interviews, bringing it all to life. landscape.jobs Since January, the free site landscape.jobs has been connecting talent and employers across Canada. Employers simply register and can post jobs immediately. Those looking for work can also register, upload resumes and criteria and get matching jobs directly via email.

Registered applicants can also apply for jobs directly on the site.

Screen for “soft skills” Although horticultural certification or other academic credentials may be necessary for certain positions you need to fill, many jobs can be satisfactorily filled by people willing to be trained, providing they have the “soft skills” — attitudes, values, personality — that fit with your workplace. Says Hansen, “When a job candidate tells me, ‘I don’t have experience but I don’t want to work at a desk, I want to be outside, I want to be a part of building something with my own

JUNE 2016 | LANDSCAPE TRADES |

13

Hundreds of human resources documents are available for free download at www.horttrades.com/HRtoolkit.

The resource is customized for the horticulture industry, and many of the documents may be personalized for your own operation.

brand. The Canadian Nursery Landscape Association (CNLA), for example, has many member savings programs that can extend

to your employees. This includes discount cards for Mark’s, Work Authority or Choice Hotels. The HortProtect Insurance program

AUTHORIZED DEALER

Encourage top talent to stay Good employees are the foundation of your business: the key to customer satisfaction and to profitability. An attractive compensation package beyond their standard wage can be a strong incentive for them to stay put and an additional way to polish your employer

55

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has options for health and life insurance, home and auto insurance, as well as a group RRSP program for your employees. Contact the CNLA office for details on these programs.

Providing opportunities for career development is another powerful way to retain top talent, says CNLA’s past president Michael Murray. He is president and CEO of Murray’s Garden Centre and Horticultural Services, Portugal Cove, Nfld. “We have a young man who started this year who got certified as a heavy equipment operator,” he explains.

“We exposed him to the scope of what we do…from installing trees, shrubs, landscapes and green roofs to the construction side, where we have carpenters and bricklayers. As he saw all of this he was amazed.

Our managers noticed that not only did he do a great job with the excavator and other equipment, he was also helping the guys get bricks on site and started laying a few bricks himself. So when he said, ‘Gee, how do I become a lead hand here?’ we said, ‘You need to acquire more horticultural skills. Are you interested in the apprenticeship program?’ He said that he was. We believe it’s important to get to know our staff — their interests, attitudes and potentials — and to support programs that will train them.”

Not everyone you train will remain with you permanently. And, yes, losing a valued employee hurts. However, Murray and Hansen agree that refusing to train people because they “might” leave makes no sense.

Says Hansen, “Everybody talks about not wanting to train someone because it takes so much time. But imagine if you don’t train them, and they stay!”

When addressing the common fear that highly trained staff will leave to start their own businesses, apprenticeship advocate Terena Hantelman, Garden Centre Manager at Aubin’s Nursery, Carman, Man., told this to the CNLA: “Competition is a good thing.

Quality workmanship and a good reputation will overcome most competition. If your employee wants to start a business, encourage a specialization and work together to achieve a greater portion of the market.

Encouraging the growth of a ‘sister’ comLT pany would benefit all involved.”

Susan Hirshorn is a Montreal-based freelance writer for business, professional and consumer audiences.

14 | JUNE 2016 | LANDSCAPE TRADES

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Cluster highlights

BY RITA WEERDENBURG

Canadian nursery sector research updates As a member of the Canadian Ornamental Horticulture Alliance (COHA), Canada’s nursery grower sector will benefit from several research projects which are included in COHA’s research and innovation cluster, which is collaboratively funded by industry with assistance from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Growing Forward 2 (GF2). In total, the current COHA research cluster includes nine projects which are being conducted at several research institutions across Canada, including University of Guelph, University of Waterloo, Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, Laval University and Memorial University in Newfoundland.

Although several projects are ongoing research initiatives, most COHA research cluster projects commenced in the spring of 2015 and are scheduled for completion in March of 2018. A separate Science and Industry Advisory Committee, chaired by University of Guelph’s Dr. Mike Dixon, provides ongoing oversight to these projects to ensure they continue to meet the needs of the industry. A webinar series, allowing each of the scientists to provide interim, one-year updates, was held in early February 2016. These webinars were recorded and are now available on the COHA website, along with brief two-page project summaries.

It is always a given that there can never be enough funding, scientists or research institutions to meet all of industry’s research requirements, however, the projects selected for COHA’s research cluster are very diverse and will make a significant contribution to the advancement of the sector. The following is a very brief overview of the nursery-specific research projects; readers are invited to visit the research section of the newly updated COHA website for further information.

GREENING CANADA’S HIGHWAYS This ongoing project by Dr. Darby McGrath and her colleagues at the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre addresses the issue of survivability of newly planted trees at highway and urban planting sites. With an objective of developing recommended best practices for tree planting

at these challenging sites, the project will evaluate six tree planting treatments at several highway sites in both Ontario and Alberta. The very high level of interest from growers, landscapers and the municipal sector are strong indicators of the need for this research work.

PRECISION NURSERY IRRIGATION USING WIRELESS TENSIOMETERS Access to water and water conservation are important priorities for the nursery and greenhouse sectors and are the subject of a number of research projects. One high-tech solution being proposed by Dr. Charles Goulet of Laval University is the use of wireless tensiometers for precision irrigation. Tensiometers can measure the precise amount of water in growing media available to plants, with resulting data sent to growers via mobile phone, thereby allowing for watering systems to be turned on or off in direct response to plant needs. This technology requires the clustering of plants with similar watering requirements, a water-saving method already employed by many growers.

DEVELOPMENT AND MARKETING OF NEW HARDY WOODY PLANTS This project, led by Todd Boland of Memorial University, addresses the consumer’s seemingly insatiable demand for new and improved plant varieties and at the same time provides new revenue opportunities for nursery growers. This plant introduction project will focus primarily on native Newfoundland flora. A total of nine pre-selected plant varieties are currently undergoing commercial trials with eight separate nurseries across Canada. The data accumulated through these trials will be used to identify varieties that are best suited for moving into the commercial and retail marketplace.

OPTIMAL FERTILIZER APPLICATION RATES IN CONTAINER PRODUCTION As the cost of inputs such as fertilizer continue to rise, there is an increased need for growers to better understand optimum application rates and methods. Conducted by Dr. Youbin Zheng and his team at the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre, the focus of this project is to ensure better nutrient uptake, thereby producing more vigorous and healthy plants more quickly, helping growers to LT increase sales and market opportunities.

The Canadian Ornamental Horticulture Alliance (COHA), founded representing the ornamental industry: Flowers Canada Growers (FCG) Federation Interdisciplinare de l’Horticulture Ornementale du Quebec (FIHOQ), and the Canadian Nursey Landscape Association (CNLA).

Andromeda polifolia latifolia, a Newfoundland native from Todd Boland’s project.

16 | JUNE 2016 | LANDSCAPE TRADES

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“In the last twelve months, LMN has helped us get away from inefficiencies and panic from tasks not being completed. Everyone is seeing all the benefits of LMN Time and the importance of time management. This has created a new exciting environment where bonuses are no longer a buzzword. The understanding from all our staff is that you do your job in the timeframe allotted (or better) and you can bank on bonus dollars.”

REALITY CHECK

Look at Me Now, One Year Later With the evolution of technology and being in an industry that is always thriving, the ‘finished landscape’ of a company twelve months ago is not the same finished landscape of today.

At least not when it comes to its growth, potential, and evolution in the industry.

To maximize one’s bottom line is any landscape company’s primary medium, if not its soul.

For David Berto, Owner of Kingcal’s Properties & Maintenance and Aim General Contracting, the last twelve months have been a time of exponential growth – where the company has been able to maximize their already-successful establishment into a further profitable landscaping business.

Kingcal’s Properties & Maintenance and AIM General Contracting are incorporated companies that were formed in 1996, and are owned equally by Kevin Comacchio, Anthony Garito and David Berto. The companies primarily focuses on providing customers with professional lawn care, snow maintenance and construction services.

LOOKING BACK… The landscape lawn and maintenance industry is now a multi-billion dollar business. Even though the potential is substantial for any business to thrive, companies are often forced to hold back on spending during off season, and dealing with margin pressure and pricing

pressure is a common and unruly task.

It was just over one year ago when Berto and his team started using LMN – the most popular landscape estimating software currently being used by thousands of users across North America, Australia and the UK. This mobile landscape estimating, scheduling and timesheet software is known to eliminate the paperwork out of running a landscape company. It also includes QuickBooks syncing capabilities for accurate job costing and faster payroll.

“LMN (or what we like to call, ‘Look-at Me Now’) has provided the base and true characterization of Kingcal and Aim General with our makeover or transformation from the Curly, Larry and Moe show to a mathematician, statistician and executioner,” said Berto back in June 2015.

“Our roles have been re-vitalized and energized like a shot of Viagra to both Kingcal and Aim General. We went from an outlook of “Freedom 105” to “Freedom 55.”

And as they say, the rest is history.

When asked to summarize the last twelve months by using only one word – Berto used the term, ‘revelation’. “In the immortal words of St. Francis of Assisi: start by doing what’s necessary, then do what’s possible. Suddenly

With great growth also comes great fortune.

“We grew the business this past year by approximately 30%, while at the same time, cutting our staff in half and actually increasing our net profit by 25%.” Berto continues “LMN enabled us to have access to real numbers. We won a very large tender this past snow season utilizing the production calculators to properly price the bid. It was a celebratory moment for the entire team.”

Currently focussing on organic growth, the company has developed into a successful enterprise. “Our profit and loss statements now make sense and our bottom line is substantially greater than it was a year ago,” Berto explained.

All-in-all, Berto says that the numbers speak for themselves – and thanks to LMN, there is no more guesswork. In fact, Berto is now referring others to LMN and utilizing the discounts LMN gives within their member referral program.

NEXT STEPS AND THE FUTURE What the future holds for David Berto and his staff is true optimism and success beyond their wildest dreams. “Success is no longer a guesstimate.”

The company’s mission has always remained consistent: to attract and maintain customers.

“When we adhere to this maxim, everything else falls into place, and our services will exceed the expectations of our customers.

This is and will continue to be our focus in the future,” said Berto.

“And with LMN, we have been provided a compass to direct our business anyway we choose – and it’s a bright future, indeed.”

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industrynews Nursery worker manual launched The Canadian Nursery Landscape Association recently released the Nursery Worker Technician Manual, first edition. This manual serves as a study guide for the Nursery Worker certification program, now available across Canada.

The first of its kind, the manual is designed to help technicians in the nursery sector understand and meet minimum industry standards.

The Nursery Worker Technician Program will be added to the CLT program this year, with testing beginning in July.

Funded in part by the Government of Canada’s Sectoral Initiatives Program, the project was undertaken in partnership with CNLA’s provincial associations. To obtain a copy of the Nursery Worker Technician Manual, please visit the Certified Landscape Technician website: www. landscapeindustrycertifiedtechnician.ca/certification/preparing-for-your-clt-exam.

To enhance delegate’s CanWest experience, the show will feature the Greenhouse Demo Zone, the Outdoor Equipment Demo Zone, the container competition and the New Product Showcase.

Networking and training opportunities are available through seminars and clinics featuring horticulture experts from around North America.

Networking continues over food and drinks at CanWest’s popular Tailgate Party on Wednesday night. Information on the education program can be found at www.CanWestHortExpo. com at the end of June.

CEUs are available for all seminars and clinics. Horticulture students are encouraged to volunteer at the expo to increase their exposure in the industry and earn CEUs.

Canada’s sesquicentennial tulip The National Capital Commission recently unveiled the Canada 150 tulip in Ottawa’s Commissioners Park, naming it the official tulip

CanWest returns to Abbotsford CanWest Horticulture Expo (CanWest) is returning to Tradex in Abbotsford, B.C., September 28-29, 2016. The move to Abbotsford in 2015 was a success for the largest horticulture trade show in Western Canada. In 2015, CanWest’s attendance was 36 per cent higher than 2014’s show, including over 2,000 delegates and 1,000 exhibiting staff. The expo is managed by the B.C. Landscape and Nursery Association.

This year’s show theme is “Island Life,” and exhibitors are already busy planning their creative booth designs.

The Outdoor Equipment Demo Zone feature at CanWest.

20 | JUNE 2016 | LANDSCAPE TRADES

Canada 150 tulip.

of the nation’s 150th anniversary. The tulip is white with red flames, resembling Canada’s Maple Leaf flag. During sesquicentennial celebrations in the spring of 2017, 300,000

Canada 150 tulips will be showcased in NCC flower beds, and thousands more will bloom in community gardens across Canada.

Celebrate Garden Days Garden Days, June 17-19, is Canada’s coast to coast to coast, three-day celebration of our National Garden Day, which is held on the Friday before Father’s Day. The program of activities and events is for gardening enthusiasts, families, schools and tourists alike. Garden Days is an opportunity for Canadians to enjoy their own gardens, visit or take part in their favourite garden experience, get inspired at their local garden centre or travel to a nearby destination to enjoy their favourite garden. Members of the horticulture profession are encouraged to create their own gardenthemed events, which can be listed for free at www.gardendays.ca.

The event is organized by the Canadian Garden Council, with support from the Canadian Nursery Landscape Association and Landscape Ontario. Television personality Frankie “Flowers” Ferragine serves as the initiative’s national spokesperson.

“I am pleased to be national spokesperson for Garden Days — a terrific opportunity for everyone to visit their nearby public garden, stop in at their favourite garden centre and above all, get outdoors and garden!,” says Ferragine.

“Why garden? From growing your own food to cutting a fresh bouquet of flowers or improving a community space, gardening is the best way to be active and studies prove it makes you feel better too! Gardening is a blooming time — so let’s get dirty, Canada!”

Impact of stress on urban trees Planting trees in the urban landscape provides countless benefits; trees limit the heat island effect, clean the air, raise property values and beautify the landscape.

Unsuccessful urban tree plantings have become a cause for concern for the industry. Landscape Ontario recently commissioned a literature review on current research as to why urban plantings have a lower success rate. The literature review, titled, “The impact of environmental stresses on the survivability of the urban landscape: A review of the literature and recommendations” was completed by Jason P. Lemay and M. A. Lemay with Vista Science & Technology.

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industrynews The review discusses 11 factors that influence the survival of urban tree plantings, including: species selection, transplanting, site selection and preparation, soil compaction, moisture stress, mulching, salt and de-icing products, root damage, light, temperature, and post-planting management. These environmental stressors, acting alone and in combination, have been attributed to reducing the growth and survival of urban trees.

This report will get industry members up-todate on the current science behind how urban tree survival is affected by environmental stressors, and provides insight on where research is headed, tips on species selection, purchasing, planting, and maintenance, as well as other factors to consider when planting trees in an urban environment. The complete literature review can be downloaded at http://www.landscapetrades. com/environmental-stress-research-u-of-g.

Top Lift joins Ammann dealer network Peter Price, Managing Director of Ammann

22 | JUNE 2016 | LANDSCAPE TRADES

Canada, recently announced Top Lift Enterprises has joined the equipment manufacturer’s growing network of dealers. Top Lift will provide sales, rentals, parts and service to customers throughout South and Southwestern Ontario, from Ottawa to Windsor.

“Top Lift has the experience and staff to support this busy region,” says Price. “With their resources, Top Lift can provide fast, efficient service to our customers. We’re thrilled that they’ve chosen to become part of the Ammann Canada family.”

Top Lift Enterprises is one of Canada’s fastest growing construction equipment and heavy industrial dealers with locations in Surrey, B.C., Stoney Creek, Ont., Bolton, Ont., St. Laurent, Que. and Sherbrooke, Que. Top Lift specializes in sales and service of new and used premium construction, material handling and compact equipment.

Takeuchi expands Japanese headquarters Takeuchi recently completed a major expansion to its corporate complex located in Sakaki,

Nagano, Japan. Included in the expansion are an administration building, a new main factory building and a production engineering building.

The new facilities include environmentally friendly technology, and will enhance production efficiency, according to Takeuchi. All of the new buildings are equipped with solar power generators.

Subaru launches dealer loyalty program Subaru Industrial Power Products recently unveiled a loyalty program to support and reward its dealer network in Canada. Dealers may earn

loyalty points for every Subaru engine sold. To receive points, dealers will login to a new dealer portal and register the serial number of the sold engine. Dealers can redeem points for Subaru products, apparel or marketing materials.

“Our dealers do a great job of promoting our equipment to their customers, and we created the loyalty program to show our appreciation for their continued loyalty,” said David Frank, Subaru vice president of sales and marketing.

“The new dealer portal not only lets our dealers track and redeem loyalty points, but it also provides them extremely useful resources, such as product information, training and certification opportunities.”

JCB produces 200,000th handler For nearly four decades, the Loadall telescopic handler has provided materials handling and lifting solutions for construction, agricultural and industrial markets. Now, JCB celebrates the production of its 200,000th Loadall telehandler.

Launched in 1977 as the JCB 520, the first Loadall was a two-wheel drive machine with a 21-ft (6.4m) lift height and a maximum lift capacity of 2.48 tons. Updates over the years have included the introduction of four-wheel drive,

placing the engine to the side of the chassis to allow a lower boom-mounting position and offering multi-mode steering with equal-sized wheels to improve maneuverability.

U.S. garden centres promote pollinators

year the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture signs the proclamation, and 2016 is gearing up to be the biggest celebration of pollinators’ vital role in our ecosystem yet.”

For more information, visit: www.pollinator.org/ pollinatorweek.

American garden retailers will celebrate National Pollinator Week, June 20-26, Darwin hosts in an effort to increase pubopen house lic awareness of the plight Darwin Perennials welof pollinators and to supply comes commercial peColourful resources support solutions to customers lookrennial plant growers, ing to help. Put forward by National Pollinator Week. nursery growers, retailers, the National Pollinator Garden landscapers and designNetwork as part of its Million Pollinator Garden ers to the Gardens at Ball in Chicago, Ill., on June Challenge, Pollinator Week involves public mes- 22 for a tour of their trial gardens. Highlights will saging and family friendly events. include unique bare root and vegetative varieties “National Pollinator Week was unanimously for 2017, retail-ready colour from Kieft Seed, new approved and designated nine years ago by the mixed container ideas and plants from suppliers U.S. Senate to focus broader attention on pol- such as Darwin Columbia. For more information, linator health and the decline of pollinator popu- visit www.darwinperennialsday.com.

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managementsolutions

Unit pricing hurts contractors and contracting

BY MARK BRADLEY

Pricing work by the unit — per square foot, per tree, per meter — is a method as old as the landscape industry itself. Many contractors use this system as their default method for pricing work.

Others are forced into it by cities, architects or project managers, who insist on getting bids in a unit-price format. But no matter why you’re doing it, recognize that unit pricing is hurting your company’s profits, not helping them.

One of the most significant problems with unit pricing is that it assumes a fixed amount of labour per item. This might be 1.5 hours per tree or 0.15 hours per square foot. But that labour is just an average, and while it might help you guesstimate the time it takes to complete a job, it will more than likely hurt your profits when submitting a unit-price bid. Consider this example: You have a job planting 20 trees; you are sending a four-man crew and figure they can plant those trees in a nine-hour day. Your estimate might look like this:

Labour, 36 man hours Equipment, 1 day Trees, 20 Other materials Delivery charges Overhead Totals Totals per tree

COST PRICE

$720 $1,800 $400 $550 $4,000 $7,000 $1,000 $1,250 $400 $500 $540 $600 $7,060 $11,700 $353 $585

In the above example, we calculate all the costs and prices of the job and divide by the number of trees to come up with a price of $585 per tree.

We are okay here, because we calculated that $585 as accurately as possible based on the costs of the job. But watch what happens when the customer changes the bid…

CHANGES USUALLY HURT THE CONTRACTOR Imagine the customer says, “Thank you for your price. We’re a little bit over budget, so we only want you to install 15 trees. I’ll draw up a PO for 15 trees x $585 per tree, for a total of $8,775.” But the reality of this situation is that many of our costs don’t drop in proportion to the materials.

24 | JUNE 2016 | LANDSCAPE TRADES

l Our

trucks need to load and leave the yard need to fuel and load the trucks l It takes the same time to drive to the site l Our equipment still needs to be used on that site for the day l We still need to pay the delivery charges, even if fewer materials are on board l The crew isn’t going to clock out at 3:15 p.m. because there are a few less trees; they are likely going to stretch this job out to the end of the day l Our overhead on this job didn’t decrease — we still have the same rent that day, and all the same time ordering and managing the work on this project l We

Let’s revisit our estimate, this time with only 15 trees.

Labour, 36 man hours Equipment, 1 day Trees, 15 Other materials Delivery charges Overhead Totals Totals per tree

COST PRICE

$720 $1,800 $400 $550 $3,000 $5,250 $800 $1,000 $400 $500 $540 $600 $5,860 $9,700 $390 $647

The original estimate of $585 per tree isn’t very good at 15 trees!

The cost per tree increased from $353 to $390, and our price of $585 should be $647 per tree. Now our company is eating $100 per tree in increased costs and lost revenue!

EVEN INCREASES CAN HURT There is a good chance we can get hurt the other way, too. Let’s imagine we are low bidder at $585 per tree. They like our bid so much, they increase their budget from 20 to 30 trees.

That is too many to plant in one day, so we have to send the crew back for a second day to plant the extra 10 trees. And in reality we’re not going to get to another job that day. By the time we mobilize, install the trees and break for lunch, there is not enough time left in the day to start another job.

So our bid now looks like this:

Labour, 72 man hours Equipment, 2 days Trees, 30 Other materials Delivery charges Overhead Totals Totals per tree

l How

COST PRICE

are materials being picked up or delivered? is the access to the planting location like?

Or soil conditions? l Which crew is expected to do the work? l In which season will the work be done? l What

$1,440 $3,600 $800 $1,100 $6,000 $10,500 $1,500 $1,850 HOW CAN YOU FIX THIS? $400 $500 If you are pricing your own work with unit pricing, you can stop im$1,080 $1,200 mediately. You should always use cost-based estimating using actual $11,220 $18,750 labour, equipment, materials, sub and overhead recovery costs when arriving at your bid. Avoid unit pricing. Not only will you have a more $374 $625

Not quite as bad as the previous example, but our increased costs and decreased revenue means we’re eating $60 per tree. On an $18,750 job, we are short $1,800.

THE AVERAGE PRICE IS RARELY RIGHT There are scenarios where unit pricing can work in your favour.

Not every change is to the detriment of the contractor, but changes are far more likely to be the contractor’s detriment than to our benefit. Especially when most of these contracts are awarded on a low-bid basis. We are doing everything we can to get to the leanest price, in order to get the work. Changes are far more likely to hurt us than help us.

accurate price, you will have a clear picture about how long a job should take, equipment and materials used, and your true net profit.

If you have a customer or bid that insists on this pricing method, you have little choice but to roll with the punches. But be safe. Consider the impact of changes. If possible, ask for the opportunity to re-price before you agree to changes. And at the very least, take the opportunity to educate your customer. Every job is different — and averages are almost never the right price.

Remember, using unit prices is like forecasting the average weather. The average temperature in Toronto is 9 C, but that doesn’t tell you how to dress each day. If you woke up and dressed for 9 C every LT day, you would rarely be dressed right for the weather!

l Average

unit prices are rarely correct, because they simply cannot factor for some very significant variables. l Are you installing five trees or 100? You will certainly install 100 trees faster per tree, as economies of scale kick in. l What kind of equipment is available?

Mark Bradley is president of TBG Landscape and LMN, based in Ontario.

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roadtosuccess

We need each other

BY ROD McDONALD

Another guest joined me at the breakfast table in my favourite Saskatoon bed and breakfast. Put two men together at any table, in any city, and sooner or later the conversation will include, “So, what do you do?” Men are like that, me included.

My tablemate was a family doctor in a small town. The image of the country doctor, which is often portrayed in movies, came to mind. He quickly contradicted my concept, explaining his practice was anything but a Hollywood movie. He clarified that on any given day, approximately 20 percent of his patients had appointments because they were lonely, not for medical attention. His practice was overwhelming and when he went out, people would expect a roadside diagnosis from him. There was no time off.

I had no idea. He told me isolation and loneliness are major problems in the farming community and he could not address those problems from a medical perspective.

I asked him if there was anyone with which he could share these experiences; he said he did talk with other doctors in surrounding communities.

All of us have a strong need to unload or to share with others, who understand our situation. There are always going to be people who understand how we feel, and others who do not. I, most definitely, do not find fault with those people who do not comprehend what we, in this trade of ours, experience at so many different levels. How can we expect most people to understand our situation when we do not understand what they are going through? I had no idea what it was like to be a small town doctor until that morning.

I likewise have no idea what someone who works on a Ford factory assembly line experiences. I have never worked on an assembly line, just as I have never worked in a funeral parlour or an abattoir. I have no idea what most people go through in their jobs and professions.

26 | JUNE 2016 | LANDSCAPE TRADES

I do have an idea, a very strong idea, of what it is to work in a greenhouse, a garden centre and a landscaping crew. I am grateful that I can call up Jan Pederson, my friend at Byland’s Nursery, or Garfield Marshall who used to own Advance Orchards or Les Vanderveen in Carman, Man., and a few dozen others from the trade. I can yell, scream, complain, share and most of all, laugh, when we get together. We have a strong need to bounce ideas off of each other or just verify we are not going crazy.

Thank God, when I was young and starting out, I could share my experiences with older, experienced people within the trade. I would have a new experience, at least new to me, and I needed to find out if what I had just witnessed was normal. Could I expect this again or was this a one-off situation? I would get on the phone to these people and describe what had transpired. Often, they would chuckle, telling me what I had just gone through was normal and I should expect these things to happen again. And they were right. Very few experiences, and this is my 40th year, were solo events. Yes, the woman who told me she wanted to “die in Israel because it seems like a nice place to die” was a one-off, but the customers who asked, “Why are your prices so high?” were not.

I had to learn how to deal with customers and the questions they would ask. What should I say to the customer who would be negotiating, telling me the place down the street is a lot cheaper? My friend Jimmy Moore owned the neighbourhood Dairy Queen. He laughed when I told him, many years ago, comments like that threw me.

Jimmy taught me those comments are made in every business, including his. He had customers wanting D.Q. Royal Treats for the price of a McDonald’s sundae. Michael Touchette, at Jeffries Nursery, advised the return comment to be, “That’s an excellent price,” and then to shut up, putting the ball back into their court.

It is so important that we have people who understand us and what we do. We cannot share with most people what we share with those from the trade.

As I got older and more experienced, I started getting calls from younger people starting out. They would do what I had done 30 years prior; tell me a landscape customer had told them if they matched another company’s quote, they could have the job. My advice has always been that lowering a legit quote is a very bad habit. They would tell me about the ‘know it all’ customer who disagreed with everything they had to say. How do you handle that one? I would tell them to take a chapter from Dieter Martin’s book and respond, “Is that so? You learn something new every day.”

We have all had that type of customer.

When I first started out, a man walked into my garden centre to tell me, “I have planted more trees than you have ever sold.”

What could I say to that except, “That is impressive. By the way, did you drive down here to tell me that or is there another reason you are here?” Nope. That was indeed the purpose of his visit. You do learn something new every day.

My friends from school and my neighbours would visit my greenhouse in the spring to purchase bedding plants. A greenhouse is a wonderful place to be, indeed.

They would be in a happy mood. Sometimes, they would say something along the lines of, “When I retire, I want to open a little place, just like your place.”

How nice. My ‘little place’ had 75 employees in the spring, thousands of customers needing personal attention and when I slept, which was not often in May and June, my wife said I talked greenhouse talk in my sleep. One night I sat up in bed and shouted, “Water those geraniums!” and then fell back asleep. She said she didn’t know if she should comfort me or get dressed, drive down to the greenhouse and carry out my instructions.

You see? I can share that story with you, the reader, but not everyone else.

Most people from outside the trade think we spend our time either smelling the roses or looking at pretty pictures of flowers as we place our orders. I would try to explain, with futility, that what the customer thought we did was actually only one per cent of our working time. We are so busy moving plants, setting up displays, calling in reorders, answering the same question for the 20th time that day, and everything else it is we do, that we don’t smell the roses. Perhaps we should, but as any greenhouse father tells his children, “Smelling roses is for July and August, not for May and June.”

I was not born into this trade; I arrived from the outside. I am from a newspaper family. I grew up thinking that all fathers carried around red pencils for editing. I thought that six men, sitting around our kitchen table, drinking rye whiskey, chain smoking and telling stories about prominent politicians, was a normal situation.

My family never joined me in the trade.

Readers from the trade can understand how many years it took to convince my family I could not participate in a Mothers Day Brunch. “I can’t be there. I have to be here,” I would try to explain. After 20 or so years, the family would come down after brunch for a small visit with me. I was no longer the errant son. Mom would wander around the greenhouse telling complete strangers, beaming with pride, “My boy owns this place.” I was back in her good graces.

May and June birthdays were celebrated in later months. Valentine’s was celebrated in March. Our staff Christmas party was held the first week of November. And yet, all of us grow weary of that crack, “So what do you do, spend most of the winter in Hawaii?”

Yeah. That’s where we recover our greenhouses, order our plants, start our seeds, transplant our plugs, pinch our geraniums and answer the phone, on the beach or in a Mai Tai bar.

I have to be careful I don’t write as if I have not had a wonderful life in the trade. I have. I have had blessings and many of them, but, and it is a big but (pun intended) I have a need to share ... which is a euphemism for letting off steam. I am, by nature and choice, JUNE 2016 | LANDSCAPE TRADES |

27

a positive person, so grant me this one indulgence and I promise to get back on track next edition.

We need each other to maintain our focus. Those who try to go it alone are often lost — and quickly. Stay connected in every form that benefits you, and the road to sucLT cess will be much smoother.

Rod McDonald owned and operated Lakeview Gardens, a successful garden centre/ landscape firm in Regina, Sask., for 28 years. He now works full-time in the world of fine arts, writing, acting and producing in film, television and stage.

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JUNE 2016 | LANDSCAPE TRADES |

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legalmatters

Consequential loss goes to Ottawa

BY ROBERT KENNALEY

In a previous column on construction liability insurance, we pointed out that the insured’s own work is generally excluded from the scope of coverage under a CGL (comprehensive general liability) insurance policy. We pointed out these policies are not generally designed to cover the contractor’s own deficient work, but are drafted to cover damages caused unintentionally to either another person, or another person’s property. From a different perspective, it can be said that CGL insurance is intended to cover ‘accidents’ which occur in, or because of, the insured’s performance of its own work — and not the insured’s own work itself.

In practice, the distinction between an insured’s ‘own work’ and what might be considered accidental damage gives rise to the concept of ‘consequential’ or ‘resulting’ loss.

An example we have used involves construction of a retaining wall which falls down: the

CGL policy will generally not cover the cost of repairing or rebuilding the wall because the contractor did what he intended to do in building the wall, and there is no ‘accident.’

If the wall falls on a Volkswagen, however, the CGL policy will generally respond to the claim of the car owner. The damage is an unforeseen consequence of the construction deficiency, unrelated to the work itself.

(There are often, we have said, exceptions to the own work exclusion set out in the policy.

These include where the work is performed by a subcontractor of the insured or where the work fails due to a design defect and coverage for design is specifically included in the policy).

DIFFERENCES OF OPINION The concept of consequential loss can be confusing, however. It is sometimes difficult to draw a line between what is the insured’s

own work and a consequence of that work.

By way of example, if you build a house for someone, and after completion, the foundation fails such that the entire house needs to be torn down and replaced, would any of the reconstruction costs be covered under a standard GCL policy? The insured would argue that only the foundation failed, and that while the replacement of the foundation should be excluded for coverage the need to replace the rest of the home is a result of the failed work, and thus covered as consequential loss. (The insured would argue that the cost of replacing the rest of the house is akin to the Volkswagen). The insurer, however, would argue that the cost of replacing the rest of the house is nothing more than the cost of correcting the insured’s own deficient foundation, and therefore not brought within coverage.

Our courts have struggled in the application of the concept of consequential loss.

The cases have depended on the facts of each particular case and on the wording of the particular policies. They have struggled, to some degree, to develop a predictable method of determining when rectification costs move from being the cost of correcting deficient work to the cost of rectifying the result, or consequence, of deficient work. We may soon, however, have some guidance from the Supreme Court of Canada on this topic.

HOPE FOR CLARITY Recently, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal in which it will be asked to consider the line between faulty workmanship and resulting damage in a CGL policy.

The case under appeal, Ledcor v Northbridge Indemnity Insurance Company, involves an insurance policy which covered “direct physical loss or damage” to an owner’s property in the construction of a new 28 | JUNE 2016 | LANDSCAPE TRADES

28 | JUNE 2016 | LANDSCAPE TRADES

building. The policy was subject to, among other things, the ‘own work’ exclusion.

On the facts of the case, and as construction was winding down, a company was hired to clean the exterior of the building, including the windows. The windows were damaged by the cleaning process and they had to be replaced. The insured made a claim for the replacement costs under the policy, and the insurer denied on the basis of the ‘own work’ exclusion, arguing that the damage was the ‘faulty workmanship’ of the insured and therefore not covered under the policy. At trial, the trial judge recognized the contractor’s work was faulty and that the “cost of making good” that faulty workmanship was excluded. The insured successfully argued, however, that while the cleaning work may have been faulty, the scratches to the windows were a consequence of that work, and not the work itself. The trial judge held that while the insurance would not re-

spond to pay for the windows to be washed again (the ‘own work’), it should respond to the damage caused by the work — which included the scratches produced by the cleaning process.

The Alberta Court of Appeal overturned the trial decision. The court held that the purpose of the policy was to cover certain unexpected events and accidents. It declined to find coverage because, in the court’s view, a standard CGL construction policy is not intended to provide a “warranty” that construction is performed properly. The court expressly stated that, in its view, clarity needed to be brought to the law as regards the interpretation of CGL policies and scope of the ‘own work’ exclusion.

We are optimistic that the Supreme Court will bring some clarity to the scope of the ‘own work’ exclusion, which can be applied nationwide with some degree of predictability by insurance companies and their

counsel. We also see the issue as being very significant to many CNLA members, and will report back once the court has rendered LT its decision.

Rob Kennaley practices construction law in Toronto.

He speaks and writes regularly on construction law issues and can be reached for comment at 416-368-2522 or at kennaley@mclauchlin.ca. This material is for information purposes and is not intended to provide legal advice. Readers who have concerns about any particular circumstance are encouraged to seek independent legal advice in that regard.

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designersnotebook

When to draw the line

BY AUDRIANA VANDERWERF CLD

Clients seek out

proven knowledge from professional landscape designers to help their ideas evolve into fantastically logical, flowing and gorgeous spaces. They hire us for guidance, vision, and product knowledge, and we demonstrate our expert prowess while explaining what is possible, how it’s possible, and why.

Every element, every curve and line has a reason for its very existence on a plan. We have found solutions, and can present them in a beautiful way. True, we all have stories of the client who requested odd features, like one of mine who wanted a hedge of silk trees. Ellen Ruddick, a Certified Landscape Designer in Nova Scotia, had a client who wanted the entire yard paved.

With tact and the end result in mind, we show how these ideas may not work and perceptively give alternatives.

Ian Bruce, president of Bruce Tree in Toronto, agrees that helping your clients see how a request may not be practical or relevant, or doesn’t fit conceptually, is the first step. “If they still insist, then I would con-

cur, because they are paying you and you are their contractual servant,” Bruce says. He suggests designers consider “that it may be a question of freedom of expression or interpretation” on the client’s part.

Excellent point. When it comes to odd requests that we initially want to reject, we should ask ourselves if it is a matter of taste or interpretation, or if it’s a true concern. Is it ego? Is it perception? Is it just plain crazy?

Steve Jones of Houston Landscapes in Vancouver is open to the challenge. “I deal with a plethora of clients with a variety of requests and project sizes. I like a challenge, so I don’t disqualify crazy ideas straight off the bat.”

ROLE OF PRACTICALITY Expression and challenge aside, the request must still be legal and ethical, of course. We need to hold our designation as landscape designers as high, maintaining our principles on issues such as safety — with no grey area — just black and white.

Tom Meyer CLM of TM Landscape Design and Construction in New Westminster,

B.C., agrees that some decisions are not up for discussion. “When people want to do something that either clearly opposes best practices or will endanger them or others, I will simply not do it. This happens sometimes when people want a deck with no railings, or want to build a wall on city property beside a ravine.”

The grey areas, like environmental concerns or refinement of design, have different degrees of concerns among us. The lines we draw will differ according to our perspectives and motivations.

For example, I’ve been known to change many minds when clients want poured concrete curbing around front gardens. I personally don’t recognize curbs as aesthetically pleasing in a residential setting, and plenty of porous options provide the same function while being good looking. Luckily this always comes up at the first meeting and I am able to dissuade and design according to a new, mutual vision.

I do this by always asking “Why?” when clients make such a request. They seldom

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have a good reason! They think it is the thing to do, or it is the only product they know about. With some guidance and advice, they can see how other options are better choices.

Our clients become our partners when we engage them in intelligent decision making.

With our experience and tools like books or tablets, we can show differences, likenesses, good-better-bests — and disasters.

WHEN THE CLIENT INSISTS Still, designers may encounter people who insist on something against better advice.

And what if the demands customers make really go against your grain, defy your values, or detract from the overall concept? When no amount of tact or reason can change their minds, do you have an imaginary line you would draw?

Fredrick Post CLD of Grimsby, Ont. does have such a line. “I will not bend to clients’ requests to design, install or promote anything in our industry that is unethical, illegal or nonfunctional if I believe it undervalues professionalism. Sometimes it is better to walk away and move on.”

That is an excellent line to draw: professionalism. Post says he’s walked away from people who asked for a 14-ft. high fence because of an annoying neighbour, and a caller who wanted a swastika pattern in his pavers.

However, I know a few designers who would just say, “Okay” to odd requests, for no other reason than that’s what their clients asked for. As landscape design professionals, we strive for unity in high standards; but perhaps for them, it’s a matter of education … digging in a completely different way.

Analyzing your customers’ motivation can clear up any future miscommunications and pave the way to better choices. Meyer says, “By far and away there is usually no issue with a conflict of values that good communication cannot resolve. If I feel something is not quite right it is usually because I am making assumptions, and not asking the right questions.” Meyer acknowledges it’s not always easy trying to understand a client’s motivation, and modifying your approach is often required.

On the other side of the coin, as a homeowner, I have needed quotes from various trades; windows or flooring, for example.

JUNE 2016 | LANDSCAPE TRADES |

31

If they just tell me the price I asked for, without asking questions about lifestyle at a minimum, I may end up with a substandard or impractical product. Do your clients a kindness by asking, “Why?” We don’t want to assume they have done their homework and know what they’re asking for, because LT indeed, that is our job.

Audriana VanderWerf is an Ontario-based landscape design pro and a Certified Landscape Designer.

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31

cnlanews

Judy Sharpton 2016 Farwest Speaker

Far From Ordinary AUGUST 25-27, 2016 At the Oregon Convention Center Farwest Fanatics are popping up all over the industry; even Judy Sharpton can’t resist. At Farwest – the biggest show in the West – you'll experience far more than you’ve come to expect from a green industry show. Ideas. Knowledge.

Connections. Products.

Discover all this and far more in the heart of nursery country.

Farwest: Far From Ordinary.

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Green City Conference: Canada leads the way This past March, over 100 delegates from around the world gathered in Vancouver for the 2016 International Green City Conference and Tours. The major international groups represented were the International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH), European Landscape Contractors Association (ELCA), and the International Garden Centre Association (IGCA).

This was the first time representatives from the international ornamental horticulture value chain met together. Participating Canadian groups included the Canadian Nursery Landscape Association (CNLA), the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects, the Canadian Ornamental Horticulture Alliance and Green Roofs for Healthy Cities (GRHC) — just to name a few.

The conference took place over a week, including speakers, networking events, tours and the Canadian Landscape Summit.

The Green City Conference was created by AIPH, the international body for horticultural producers, to promote the essential role of plants in creating vibrant urban areas in which Green City delegates enjoyed seeing Vancouver’s VanDusen Botanical Gardens (above) and green initiatives at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel, at right.

32 | JUNE 2016 | LANDSCAPE TRADES

32 | JUNE 2016 | LANDSCAPE TRADES

people and businesses can thrive. Held around the world each year, speakers and AIPH members share Green City developments within their own countries, creating an international dialogue on a topic key to urban centres everywhere. Vancouver was chosen as the 2016 host partially because it is set to become the greenest city in the world by 2020, a goal it is on track to achieve.

The first half of the conference focused on green infrastructure in urban environments.

Local and international speakers discussed the importance of building healthy cities and creating dialogue between decision-makers across

all sectors. Egbert Roozen, Director of the Dutch Landscape Association (VHG), talked about the challenges industry faces in terms of quality living environment, biodiversity and health. Roozen stated greenery is no longer a decoration, it is a functional element of built environments. Local experts included Steven Peck from GRHC who addressed the developments of the green roof and wall industry; Paul Ronan of Green Infrastructure Ontario Coalition on quantifying the value of green infrastructure; Patrick Condon and Sara Barron of the University of British Columbia on the East Clayton Neighbourhood Project in Surrey, B.C.; and Mike Harcourt, former Premier of B.C. and Mayor of Vancouver, on the city’s history.

After the formal conference, tour guides took delegates to see Vancouver’s living green infrastructure in action. Stops included green wall and roof installations, a rehabilitated brownfield site, botanical gardens and LEED-certified sites.

Learning from a city that is making green work, both economically and socially, was an important part of the event, as organizers hoped to inspire delegates to bring ideas back to their own cities. Pictures of the tour stops can be viewed at the event Facebook page, www.facebook. com/greencity2016.

CNLA hosted the conference to take part in this important dialogue. Canada is seeing a revival in the “green” movement, where both the public and professionals are interested in caring for the planet through their landscapes.

Extreme weather events are spurring people to seek innovative solutions to drought, urban heat islands and flooding, to name a few. This in turn creates more opportunities for our sectors to get involved, including interior plantscaping, green roof and wall installations, water conservation and urban planning. As Karen Tambayong, chair of the AIPH Green City Committee, reminded delegates, “Working with green is a way to respond to the true needs of people.”

Free retail benchmarking Imagine receiving a weekly report summarizing your sales by category, along with totals for the week and year-to-date — and comparisons to aggregate data from participants in your region and across Canada. Soon you won’t have to imagine, because it will exist, thanks to Garden Centres Canada (GCC), and funding received from Agriculture and Agri-food Canada. GCC JUNE 2016 | LANDSCAPE TRADES |

33

has been working on developing garden centre software over the last year, and it will soon be available for your store.

Inspired by similar programs in the U.K. and U.S., this program asks you to enter sales data weekly in order to receive a report back. The more garden centres participate, the more valuable data you will get back about what is happening both in your region and nationally. It will help you increase efficiency by allowing you to easily identify trends.

The benchmarking program will also enable CNLA to gain access to more accurate industry data, so we can create programs to better serve our garden centre members. Learning more about trends from garden centres will also be valuable for growers to help them select what to grow in the future.

We encourage all garden centre members to take advantage of this program and enter data on a weekly basis. All of your data will remain anonymous; only aggregate data from participants will be shared. Pre-register your store online at www.cnla-acpp.ca/gccbenchmarking

and be the first to take advantage of this great program.

Garden centre event in Switzerland The 2016 International Garden Centre Association Congress is taking place in Zurich, Switzerland Aug. 21-26, 2016. Learn about the innovative ways Swiss garden centres are attracting customers to their stores. Experience the beautiful Swiss landscape and cultural traditions, while seeing some of the best garden centres in the country. If you were looking for the perfect excuse to buy a Swiss watch, or some high quality chocolate, why not add some garden centres into the mix and make it a business trip? For more information visit www.igcc2016.ch.

LT

The Canadian Nursery Landscape Association is the federation of Canada’s provincial horticultural trade associations. Visit cnla-acpp.ca for more information.

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This is PRO Landscape. prolandscape.com | 800-231-8574 | sales@prolandscape.com

JUNE 2016 | LANDSCAPE TRADES |

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Z MASTER

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newproducts WITH

MyRIDE™ SUSPENSION SYSTEM

Liquid fertilizer NutriRoot, by Arborjet, is a new liquid fertilizer and water manager designed to stimulate and enhance root development, which helps plants resist water stress.

The formula addresses poor soil conditions, nutrient deficiencies as well as seasonal stresses and can be used for soil injection, during planting or as a maintenance product for trees, shrubs, landscape plants and turf. Lower soil drench rates are also listed for annuals, perennials, herbs, vegetables, tropical, and potted plants.

Arborjet www.arborjet.com

Air compressor

Long days feel shorter with the MyRIDE™ SUSPENSION SYSTEM on select Toro® Z Master® mowers.

The fully suspended, adjustable operator platform isolates bumps and vibrations so you don’t feel the rough terrain. It’s the Toro toughness you expect with a ride you won’t believe.

Learn more at

TORO.COM/MYRIDE-LT

34 | JUNE 2016 | LANDSCAPE TRADES

The new XATS 900E electric portable air compressor from Atlas Copco features a high-efficiency 160-kilowatt WEG 22 motor that operates at a quiet 73 decibels, which is about the same noise level as a vacuum cleaner.

The compressor is outfitted with a heavy-duty galvanized steel frame and enclosure and has a footprint of 44 square feet. Exempt from Tier Four Final regulations, the electric motor is a cost-effective alternative to traditional diesel-fueled compressors.

Atlas Copco www.atlascopco.ca

Propagation pots The new Ellepots by A.M.A. use hydroponic paper, making the rooting medium solution more environmentally friendly. The certified hydroponic paper allows a crop to be disposed of at the end of the production cycle along with the pot in a composting facility. Developed by Denmark’s Ellegaard A/S, the product is suited for greenhouse production only with respect to organic certification and is particularly useful for vegetable growers.

A.M.A. Plastics www.amaplas.com

Brush cutter attachment

The Extreme Duty Brush Cutter RS72 is the latest addition to John Deere’s lineup of Worksite Pro attachments. Optimized to work with select John Deere E and D Series skid steers, compact track loaders and most competitive models, the attachment is designed to make site preparation and clearing easier. The new attachment utilizes four double beveled-edge blades and optional stump grinding teeth and can cut heavy brush and trees up to seven inches in diameter.

John Deere www.deere.ca 34 | JUNE 2016 | LANDSCAPE TRADES

GRANDSTAND®

MULTI FORCE

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STAND-ON MOWERS

Zero turn mowers Bob-Cat recently announced several updates to its Predator-Pro and ProCat commercial zero turn mower lineups. Both models now feature terrain-gripping Zero-T drive tires as part of an exclusive two-year partnership with OTR Wheel Engineering. The new tires provide improved grip, puncture resistance and tight turning with minimal turf damage, according to Bob-Cat. Each model will also utilize a modified double-wave baffle system, which enhances cut quality, and a re-engineered discharge chute designed to fan out clippings and leave the grass with a clean finish.

Bob-Cat www.bobcatturf.com

Sprinkler removal tool The Easy Out by Underhill is the first sprinkler removal tool that requires no digging. Compatible with all major brands, the Easy Out simplifies head removal for repairs and modifications.

The Easy Out kit includes an alignment rod that prevents dirt from entering the piping system and a heavy duty removal tool with a hex head at the bottom end.

Underhill www.underhill.us

Air-cooled engine Briggs & Stratton Commercial Power introduces its Vanguard air-cooled V-Twin Big Block EFI engine, giving construction contractors power and durability with the increased fuel efficiency of a closed-loop electronic fuel injection system. The new engine joins the Vanguard EFI engine lineup and is designed to power jobsite applications including concrete trowels and chippers/shedders.

Briggs & Stratton www.briggsandstratton.com

Skid steer grader blade The new SSGB-8B skid steer grader blade from Worksaver maintains a consistent grade for site prep work and is designed for asphalt, landscaping and concrete flatwork contractors. The unit features an eight foot, six-way hydraulically controlled moldboard with 25 degree rotation/tilt that is controlled by an in-cab remote. The moldboard is shear pin protected to help prevent damage, and a proportional hydraulic valve provides precise control for maintaining grade.

For an even finer grade, the SSGB-8B can be paired with a Leica laser system. Optional end plate and laser pole kits, both offered in pairs, are also available.

Switch attachments and boost profits year round with the new GrandStand® MULTI FORCE™.

It combines the proven productivity of our GrandStand stand-on mower with the ability to add attachments like a BOSS® plow.

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Worksaver www.worksaver.com JUNE 2016 | LANDSCAPE TRADES |

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JUNE 2016 | LANDSCAPE TRADES |

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events June 16, Seventh Annual Canadian Water Summit, Toronto, Ont. www.watersummit.ca June 17-19, Garden Days, www.gardendays.ca June 23-25, Canadian Society of Landscape Architects 2016 Congress, Winnipeg, Man. www.csla-aapc.ca/events/2016-congress August 7-10, Toronto Fall Gift Fair, Toronto, Ont. www.cangift.org August 12-19, Canadian Fertilizer Institute 71st Annual Conference, Quebec, Que. www.cfi.ca August 14-17, Alberta Fall Gift Fair, Edmonton, Alta. www.cangift.org September 26-29, 12th Annual Canadian Urban Forest Conference, Laval, Que. www.treecanada.ca September 28-29, CanWest Hort Show, Abbotsford, B.C. www.canwesthortshow.com October 5-6, Canadian Greenhouse Conference, Niagara Falls, Ont. www.canadiangreenhouseconference.com October 26-29, Communities in Blooms 2016 National Symposium on Parks and Grounds and Awards Ceremonies, Regina, Sask. www.communitiesinbloom.ca November 16-18, FIHOQ Expo, Drummondville, Que. www.fihoq.qc.ca November 17-18, Green Industry Show and Conference, Edmonton, Alta. www.greenindustryshow.com November 30-December 2, The Buildings Show, Toronto, Ont. www.thebuildingsshow.com January 10-12, 2017, Congress Trade Show and Conference Toronto, Ont. www.locongress.com 36 | JUNE 2016 | LANDSCAPE TRADES

classifieds SERVICES AND SUPPLIES

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CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING INFORMATION:

All classified ads must be pre-paid by credit card. Rates: $62.15 (HST included) per column inch (approx.

25 words). Minimum charge $62.15. Deadline: 10th day of the month prior to issue date. January deadline is Nov. 15. Space is limited to a first-come, first-served basis. Paid ads are also posted to the website for the same month they appear in the printed magazine. To advertise: E-mail your name, phone number and ad to Robert at classifieds@landscapeontario.com. Website only advertising: Minimum cost is $67.80 HST included for association members and $90.40 HST included for non-members, up to 325 words. If over 325 words, an additional $20.00 fee applies. Website ads are posted for 31 days. For more ads and full details, visit www.landscapetrades.com/classifieds. Post employment ads for free at landscape.jobs.

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404 Stone Limited 22 905-877-3404 sales@404stone.com Allstone Quarry Products Inc. 14 905-939-8491 info@allstonequarry.com Atlas Polar Company Ltd 29 888-799-4422 info@atlaspolar.com Beaver Valley Stone Ltd 30 416-222-2424 info@beavervalleystone.com Best Way Stone Limited 17 800-BESTWAY info@bestwaystone.com CanWest Hort Expo 27 604-575-3516 kdejong@bclna.com Fibertop 25 905-203-0816 sales@fibertop.ca Ford Motor Company of Canada Ltd 9 905-845-2511 Gravely 39 800-472-8359 info@ariens.com Greenhorizons Group of Farms Ltd 31 519-653-7494 info@justsodit.com Kubota Canada Ltd 15 905-294-7477 info@kubota.ca Landscape Management Network 18,19 888-347-9864 info@golmn.com Munger Lawnscape Inc 28 519-738-2571 jmunger@mnsi.net Oaks Concrete Products by Brampton Brick 2 800-709-OAKS info@oakspavers.com Oregon Association of Nurseries 32 800-342-6401 info@oan.org Permacon Group Inc 40 800-463-9278 PRO Landscape by Drafix Software 33 800-231-8574 sales@prolandscape.com Stihl Limited 5 519-681-3000 info.canada@stihl.ca Thames Valley Brick & Building Products 37 905-637-6997 info@thamesvalleybrick.com The Toro Company 34,35 800-348-2424 LCEproducts@toro.com Unilock Limited 11 800-UNILOCK georgetown@unilock.com Wajax Equipment 21 780-851-9490 Zander Sod Co Ltd 23 877-727-2100 info@zandersod.com

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Look for these upcoming special feature issues of Landscape Trades: August 2016 - SNOW ISSUE September 2016 - RETAIL ISSUE October 2016 - NEW PLANTS for 2017 November 2016 - BUSINESS MANAGEMENT issue: feature Special

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JUNE 2016 | LANDSCAPE TRADES |

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mentormoment

Construction supports maintenance This month’s mentor is Heike Stippler, president of Heike Designs in Whistler, B.C. Stippler earned an architecture/ engineering degree from the Technical University in Braunschweig, Germany and has been landscaping in Whistler, Pemberton and Squamish since 1999. Named the British Columbia Landscape & Nursery Association Member of the Year in 2014, Stippler serves on the BCLNA board and is a horticultural advisor to the Sea to Sky Invasive Species Council. Heike Designs was launched in 2005 to provide design, installation and maintenance services.

Why do you enjoy being a green professional?

It’s never boring, that’s for sure.

It’s an ongoing challenge working with living things, because each garden is constantly evolving, however that is a challenge I Heike Stippler CLD, Heike Designs thoroughly enjoy.

I’m also very passionate about the environment and the importance of using green practices, and also educating clients and colleagues about them as well.

A good example of why this industry is so important to me goes back to my time in university. One of the first projects I was involved with was the design of a park in the centre of Berlin right around the time when East and West Germany were reunited. A green space near the heart of the city was previously a part of East Germany, and during the transition, it was undecided what exactly would happen with the space. Fortunately, city planners implemented our design, and that area will always remain a green space.

How does your architectural background influence your landscape designs?

It makes me understand the connection between garden and home a little bit more. I don’t want to design a garden that could go anywhere, rather there should be a connection between the garden and the home, the way that it is constructed or perhaps the location. My gardens are meant to be where they are; you can’t just move one design to the neighbour’s property.

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How do you keep staff members engaged?

A lot of companies will separate maintenance and construction crews, but I purposefully avoid that. I understand that it is a bit unusual, but it’s very important to me.

For our business, we probably spend two-thirds of our time on maintenance and the remainder on construction work. And while there are challenges to our staff model, I have found the maintenance staff seems to care more about the properties we install. When somebody is actually involved in the build, they tend to connect to the place because they remember the installation, and how the property looked before. So I have found our staff takes much more pride and care in the properties we design and build.

It comes down to small things like ensuring there is enough space between plants and rocks to cultivate the soil with a hoe. Or making sure a lawnmower is going to fit through a narrow section of the lawn, or even just weeding thoroughly during the installation process.

My thinking is that the maintenance and construction sides need to be connected, because if you don’t understand how it will be maintained, how can you do the design or the build?

Further to that, I try to take the time during the build to be on-site to talk with our staff about the initial concept and the idea behind the garden, as well as the kind of care the plants will need to thrive; bringing our staff on board and making them an integral part of the project from the beginning makes a real difference down the line.

Describe your personal design style.

First off I would say the less restrictive the better; I try to keep an open mind. Listening to the client is important, rather than imposing and saying, ‘well, this is what I always do.’

I try to create a flow within the landscape because nothing should ever be stagnant. Even in a formal or a contemporary design, there is still room for that element where your eye has something to go with, that leads to something.

Of course, each situation is different and one of the most important aspects of this profession is trying to find out what works for each situation because every client has different wants, needs and LT budget parameters.

If you have a question to suggest, or a mentor to recommend, please e-mail editor@landscapetrades.com.

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