Freestate Summer 2013 Edition

Free State

Summer 2013 Vol. XL No. 2 $10.00

Nursery & Landscape News

Reinvent the Wheel Hard Decision Coming Up with Ash Trees

Hardy Hibiscus A look at new technology at Summer Field Day

Since 1875

Babikow Save the Date

Fall Fling September 13, 2013 Babikow Greenhouses 7838 Babikow Road Baltimore, MD 21237 Tel: 410.391.4200 Toll-Free: 800.835.7617 Fax: 410.574.7582 Email: Babikow@babikow.com web: www.Babikow.com

Contents 5

32

This Business of Ours

– Mike Hemming

13 It’s Time for Sharing

– Jerry Faulring

20

MNLA 2013 Summer Field Day

32

Featured Member Leyland Landscaping, Inc.

13

28 Total Plant Management

– Stanton Gill

13

38 Growing With Education

– Ginny Rozencranz

Departments

2 2 4 4 10 12 23 24 27 34 42 43 43 44

From the President – Garet Bunting Association Officers Director's Message MNLA Board of Directors Scholarships and Awards New Members Research CPH Update Press Release Obituary MNLA Chairmen and Committees MNLA Mission Statement Directory of Advertisers Calendar of Events

Executive Director: Vanessa A. Finney Staff: E. Kelly Finney, Brittany Winchester and Chelsea Bailey Phone: 410-823-8684, Fax: 410-296-8288 E-mail: mnacma@aol.com, Web: www.mnlaonline.org Free State e-mail: freestatenews@comcast.net Cover Photo: Gregory J. Cannizzaro Design: Gregory J. Cannizzaro (contact information page 12)­

20

27 Free State • 1

© 2013 Maryland Nursery and Landscape Association

President’s Message Maryland Nursery and Landscape Association Officers 2013 President Garet Bunting Bunting’s Landscaping & Nursery, Inc. 410-352-3371 1st Vice President Brent Rutley Capitol City Contractors, LLC 301-854-5620 2nd Vice President Steve Black Raemelton Farm 301-990-7577 Secretary Brad Thompson Foxborough Nursery, Inc. 410-836-7023 Treasurer John Marshall Marshalls’ Riverbank Nurseries 410-677-0900 Director-at-Large John C. Akehurst Akehurst Landscape Service, Inc. 410-538-4018 Executive Director Vanessa Akehurst Finney

The 2013 summer growing season is in full swing. Hopefully, Mother Nature will try to cooperate this year and offer low humidity, mild temperatures, and slow soaking rains. In a perfect world, that would be great for our operations.

After having several conversations with landscape contractors, this year has been relatively strong. Landscape renovations and new plantings have been plentiful and the rest of the year looks promising. Several wholesale nurseries that I buy from expressed Garet Bunting slower sales to start the year and a high surge of orders in late April and May. The cooler wet spring of 2013 is to blame for the decline in plant sales. Overall the industry is doing well in this economic environment.

I would like to thank Mr. Jerry Faulring and his staff for hosting the MNLA Field Day. It was truly a great way to start the summer. Waverly Farm is a wonderful wholesale nursery and genuine showpiece of an operation. The well maintained grounds, beautiful buildings, and rolling hills created a picturesque setting for the day’s events.

I would also like to thank all the speakers and presenters for their part in making the event a major success. Bill Schrodel of MidAtlantic Farm Credit put on a great crab feast dinner and it was a privilege to have Mary Ellen Setting, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, in attendance.

Please don’t forget to complete the 2012 Maryland Horticulture Economic and Statistical Survey. Your participation is needed to help verify statistics to prove Maryland’s horticulture industry is an economic powerhouse.

Enjoy your summer, family, and friends. I hope 2013 will be profitable for everyone and thank you for your commitment in making the horticulture industry the second largest income generating commodity group within Maryland agriculture. ❦ Garet Bunting, B.S. C.P.H. Bunting’s Landscaping and Nursery, Inc.

Maryland Nursery and Landscape Assn.

P.O. Box 726 Brooklandville, Maryland 21022 Phone: 410-823-8684 Fax: 410-296-8288 e-mail: mnacma@aol.com Website: mnlaonline.org Free State E-mail: freestatenews@comcast.net

MNLA Summer Field Day, story and more photos, starting on page 18.

2 • Summer 2013

Director’s Message Maryland Nursery and Landscape Association Board of Directors Terms Expiring 2014

Leslie Hunter-Cario Environmental Concern Inc. 410-745-9620 Larry Hemming Eastern Shore Nurseries 410-822-1320 Jessica Todd Clear Ridge Nursery, Inc. 888-226-9226 Carrie Engel Valley View Farms 410-527-0700

Terms Expiring 2015 Gregory Stacho Akehurst Landscape Service, Inc. 410-538-4018 Jason Sersen Kingsdene Nurseries, Inc. 410-343-1150

Mary Claire Walker Patuxent Nursery 301-218-4769 Stormy Gibbons-Neff Clovelly Nurseries 410-778-9686

The Free State Nursery and

My husband, Kelly, and I are getting ready to send our oldest daughter off to college in August. We are so excited for her, I think more excited than she is to be going to college, because we know the opportunities in store for her, whereas she has yet to experience them. It is common for friends and family to ask us what she plans to study or choose for a career. She stresses a bit to think about this, because the answer is she doesn’t know.

Vanessa Finney And I think that’s fine, for now. Her first semesters of college will expose her to new academic interests, general cultural information, and career opportunities that help her decide her career and future path. I am confident that she will be challenged, work hard, but come out with the world at her feet.

Wondering why I am writing about my daughter and her future education in my column? I think it’s because to some degree her situation leads me to revisit my career path and how pretty far I’ve strayed since I earned my college degrees.

I believe some students know from an early age what their career will be and they never deviate from that goal. But for most of us, we seem to get a degree (or two) and then flounder in the “real world” trying to find a job (not even a career) that suits us. We go through high school and college doing what we think we are supposed to be doing – we get summer jobs, internships, and pick an academic path that we do well in – but in the end, as we cross the stage, we still don’t know if our pick is really something that will interest us in the long run.

There are so many career choices, so many opportunities in the world today that I think it is almost impossible for a young person to choose his/her career path at such a young age. I think as employers we need to understand this issue/problem and be open to hiring graduates based on the merits of them earning a decent degree, but equally as important - the applicant’s willingness, base skills, and flexibility to learn the job that you have to offer.

Case in point – my own career journey. I’ve a Bachelor’s Degree in International Business and Finance, an MBA, and am also a CPA. I’ve had a career in retail management, health care finance, health care management consulting, public accounting (auditing and tax), and for the past dozen years – association and tradeshow management. I have no regrets or misgivings about the wavy trail I’ve hewn; each job has been beneficial and has, I strongly believe, provided me the skills to manage my current jobs. And I truly enjoy what I do now and can say that I love my job. Sometimes it just takes time (and circumstances) to find your “home.”

So, next time you are considering candidates for your open job, think beyond the degree listed on the resume and ascertain the flexibility and potential of the candidate to find his/her career home with your company. It may be a decision that really works for everyone. ❦ Vanessa Finney

Landscape News is a news magazine published for the membership of the Maryland Nursery and Landscape Association (MNLA).

For more information, e-mail: freestatenews@comcast.net

4 • Summer 2013

If you are prepared, you will be confident, and will do the job.

Tom Landry

This Business

of

Ours

Roses, Hibiscus and Training the Next Generation Mike Hemming

Well here I am again. My iTunes is playing 60’s rock and my little notebook with a half a page of cryptic notes is in front of me. But not too cryptic I hope.

I have written about the use of Knock Out roses recently. I’ve gotten curious about how much there were in older and newer housing developments. So I decided to take Flo on a top down ride through a couple to count and figure up the percentages.

The results kind of surprised me. I had been basing my assumptions on one development we ride through often.

That one ten-year-old development turned out to be the exception, not the rule. They had forty-three out of fifty-five houses having them in the front yard. We have no idea what’s in the back yards of any of these places.

A two year old townhome group had none that we could

“

see. There was minimal landscaping and not well cared for in general; a sign of the times and the owners’ input.

However, there was a large group of Knock Outs at the entrance. A twenty-five year old neighborhood had none visible out of thirty-five houses. The rest we traveled through were ten years old with two out of thirty, five years old with two of ten, and a ten year old with nine out of twenty-six. So my thought that it was all new places getting loaded with Knock Out Roses is wrong.

But I can tell you they are going somewhere as sales are still high.

This brings to mind the excess signage that we retailers have to put up with and dispose of these days. We got some Flirt and Blush Nandinas from Flowerwood Nursery this spring. For heaven’s sake the signs in each (continued on next page)

I’ve gotten curious about how much ... Knock Out roses ... there

were in older and newer housing developments.

So I decided to take, a ride through a couple to

count and figure up the

percentages.

”

Free State • 5

pot were twice the size of the plants themselves. Now many of those signs are scattered about the greenhouse for us to pick up and dispose of. Next time I’m going to want to pull them as they come off the truck and toss them back. Other nurseries send them in a box, at least; but the box just ends up stacked somewhere taking up space until we get around to sending them to the land fill. Several drivers have been apologetic about them, but they are not their fault.

Over the last couple years I’ve been in contact with a man who is very interested in Hardy Hibiscus. He contacted me about the Annie J. Hemming mallow my grandfather developed. He wanted a couple of plants to be sent to a mallow collection at a university. This I gladly did. He knows more about mallows than I ever did and is actively searching for rare clones that may have sadly disappeared, mostly to development. I would love it if he ever found the yellow one again, but that marsh was drained and filled and it seems to be gone.

In our email discussions he mentioned the fact that Annie J. often has six petals instead of five. My theory is that genetic material is a chimera and should be selected out to raise a six petal clone. At first I thought that tissue culture was the answer, but that would be expensive to get a lab to do it. Last summer I did mark a plant that produced more six petal flowers than most. Last winter Shelly divided it into three plants, one of which has only produced six petal flowers so far. However, it is way too early to claim success. I don’t think it will be that easy.

Speaking of Shelly, I was a little concerned about the fact that Rosalie, my granddaughter, wouldn’t be here this summer to do the cuttings. I like doing them but it’s hard for me to have enough time to do them all. While I was pondering this, Shelly said, “I’d like to learn to do them this year.” Well I agreed that she should since I knew that she would be good at it. Between my guidance and her reading a propagation guide, it’s working wonderfully. I inject the practical into the job after she got the theory, which is, “make ‘um big, make ‘um fast.”

Beginning propagators are always too neat.

Shelly has worked at keeping better and neater records of what was done and when. This following last year’s beginning records that I started with Rosalie. This helps in knowing what to do early and what you can do later in the summer. Last year we did River Birch and some Arborvitae for the first time. Both were early successes and failures later. One of her successes is she has gotten some roots to form on some White Fringe cuttings she took, not knowing their reputation and difficulty to root.

Yesterday we tossed eight flats of Helleri, Gold Helleri, Nellie Stevens and China Girl Holly that got some kind of webs in them and the leaves then died. Not sure what is doing that.

This spring maple seeds that blew into the irrigation 6 • Summer 2013

pools are making me tear my hair out. Many of our sprinkler heads have a removable nozzle for cleaning, but many don’t. Most often, but not always, the end sprinkler ends up plugged and most of those have been changed. Changing, removing, and replacing the heads brings up the problem of rusty fittings which the plastic nozzles will not thread into properly. Larry and I have decided that using steel fittings is false economy in this case. The time spent and destruction of new sprinkle heads not going into rusty threads is not worth it. But OMG the price of brass these days, and I don’t see using PVC fittings in this case. It would mean cementing three individual pieces together and the splitting of it during the winter freezing would probably be 25 to 50% at least.

The first year we had the pools I got a cover for them, however the mesh was too large to stop maple seeds from getting in and the cover only lasted 1 1/2 years. I’ve got to design and build a better screening for the pump intakes to keep those seeds out of the system. Then I’ll only have to worry about the little bee like creature that stuffs shredded grass into the holes until they don’t work.

I carry a Leatherman tool in a pouch to which I’ve added a bent piece of copper wire and a pair of tweezers for cleaning out irrigation nozzles. Hanging attached from the pouch is a carabineer holding several hose washers.

I figure this “kit” saves me about a hundred miles of walking a year. ❦ Mike Hemming

Free State • 7

8 • Summer 2013

Free State • 9

Scholarships and Awards

MNLA Ornamental Horticulture Scholarship Recipients Announced Zachary Beichler of Jarrettsville and Stephanie Marino of Millersville are this year’s recipients of the Maryland Nursery and Landscape Association Ornamental Horticulture Scholarship.

In keeping with its mission to promote and provide for the future success of Maryland’s ornamental horticulture industry, the Maryland Nursery and Landscape Association sponsors academic scholarships to students pursuing an education in the field of landscape architecture and/or ornamental horticulture. Currently, the MNLA offers two scholarships for $2500 each to students with status of Junior, Senior, or Grad Student, enrolled in horticulture or landscape architecture degree program.

Zachary is a rising senior at the University of Maryland, College Park. He is a Landscape Management major, pursuing his passion for the horticulture industry. His interest was peaked when he was very young, helping out his parents in the family gardens, and then moving on to compete in his local 4-H program. Zach took his passion into the classroom where he spent three years in classes through the Maryland 4-H Junior Master Gardeners Program, which led him to finish in 5th place overall at the 2010 National Junior Horticulture Association competition. Zachary has taken great pride in his four years of work with Flowers by Bauers where he has gained extensive knowledge of hydroponic greenhouse systems. In 2012 he was promoted to manage his own one thousand square foot hydroponic greenhouse where he was able to raise and market over ten thousand sunflowers. In addition to his studies at the University of Maryland, Zachary is working with Dr. John Lea-Cox on the University’s Specialty Crop Research Initiative which has given him experience on improving the future of the horticultural industry. It is clear that with Zach’s extensive educational and work experience directed toward landscape management, he will go on to be fully invested into a career in the horticulture industry.

10 • Summer 2013

Stephanie is also a rising senior at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is majoring in Landscape Architecture while taking on two minors which are Landscape Management and Sustainable Studies.

Stephanie’s passion for landscape architecture began early when she was in high school. She had a love for ecology and recognized that this field fits perfectly with her creativity. A few of Stephanie’s professional achievements include designing and constructing an exhibit at Evergreen Museum and Library, participating in an Interior Landscape Design competition sponsored by PLANET, and serving as the fundraising chair of UMD’s American Society of Landscape Architects. In addition to her achievements outside of the classroom, Stephanie continues to excel in her studies. She has grown to be a great team leader and strives to get the most out of her college career. She now has a better understanding of business management practices of landscape organizations, and has learned a lot about land constraints through her sustainable studies minor. Stephanie will continue to pursue her passions through her education and she hopes to one day become a leading professional in her field.

The MNLA is very proud to have been able to support the goals of Stephanie and Zachary. You may find more information on the Maryland Nursery and Landscape Association Ornamental Horticulture Scholarship as well as other available educational scholarships at www. mnlaonline.org.

Congr

Link Shanks Award For years now, every May, the MNLA has awarded a $500 scholarship to a University of Maryland student enrolled in a plant science or landscape architecture program. This scholarship is named the Link-Shanks award after two prominent Maryland professors. The University annually selects which student will receive the award, and an MNLA member, usually Landon Reeve or Mark Dougherty, present the award at the department’s spring awards ceremony.

manifested as a competitor in the 2010 National Junior Horticulture Association Convention. Furthermore, he is one of six children being raised by a single mother.

Zachary is responsible for financing his education.”

The MNLA heartily congratulates Zachary on his success and the Link-Shanks award. (Zachary is also one of two students awarded the MNLA’s Ornamental Horticulture Scholarship).

The criteria for the Link-Shanks Award are somewhat unusual.

It is given to an undergraduate student as a junior who shows academic improvement and promise in horticulture. This is different than most other awards, typically given to graduating seniors who have completed their studies. As such, this award helps to identify and encourage students earlier in their studies.

The 2013 Link-Shanks award was presented to Zachary Beichler by Landon Reeve, long-time MNLA member and owner/founder of Chapel Valley Landscape Co. In the words of University of Maryland professor Steve Cohan:“Zachary Beichler has sought several avenues to gain experience within the horticulture field. At UMD he works as an assistant in the research greenhouse complex. He has also attained experience in commercial greenhouse operations and initiated design and installation of landscapes at his family’s Brier Ridge Farm. His interest and academic prowess was further

Dear Maryland Nursery and Landscape Association,

ratulations!

I want to sincerely thank you for your generous scholarship gift. Being the Link Shanks recipient is a tremendous honor, and will greatly help me in my pursuit of Landscape Management at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Thanks again!

Zachary Beichler

Free State • 11

NewMembers The Maryland Nursery and Landscaping Association is pleased to welcome the following new members: All Trees & Shrubs Nurseries Dohlman Rivera 1201 Hemlock Lane Westminster, MD 21157 410-871-2222 Arborject Inc. Eric Bristol 99 Blueberry Hill Road Woburn, MA 01801 860-508-5997 Cobalt Greenhouse Structures, Inc. Michael White 529 Pylesville Rd. Pylesville, MD 21132 410-937-8870

EnviroSolutions Katrina Portes PO Box 259 Owings Mills, MD 21117 800-704-6549 USDA/ARS Martha Schmidt 1300 Baltimore Ave Beltsville, MD 20705 301-464-6731

Bright Ideas

Logo Design Packaging Design Exhibit and Trade Show Graphics

Advertising Brochures Direct Mail Catalogs

Fresh Solutions

Gregory J. Cannizzaro Graphic Design 410-444-5649 • gccannizzaro@aol.com

12 • Summer 2013

It’s Time

for

Sharing

Reinvent the Wheel Jerry Faulring

We have all grown up with the phrase “Don’t reinvent the wheel”.

We know what it means. It’s wrong.

Reinventing the wheel has brought the human race to where it is today although in a great many respects the inventions have not always made our existence better. Looking only at those things that have hurt us such as fast food, industrial pollution, and many more suggests that progress is often a bad thing. (continued on page 14)

Free State • 13

(continued on page 13)

Amsterdam was our starting point..

It has been said that public sewers were the greatest advance in public health…ever. Air conditioning, bridges, trains, planes, indoor plumbing, the plow (almost extinct now with new inventions) and automobiles are some of my favorite things. These are big things and will only be improved, maybe reinvented in some aspects.

Yet we can all play the game in just tiny ways that improve our efficiency, productivity and wellness.

The gratification and non-financial rewards that flow from engaging everyday challenges and their solutions are what make for a good life.

There are different ways to make progress. Invention of new ‘things’ that we touch are important. Yet George Leidig, Brad Thompson, myself (Jerry Faulring), Stanton Gill; The Netherlands. improving on an existing method or system without a patentable outcome can be just as significant to improved efficiency, productivity, and comfort with astounding gains.

This brings me to the real matter of this article.

In August, 2012, for 10 days, I toured nurseries and equipment manufacturing facilities in The Netherlands and Germany with George Leidig (trip host and owner of Autrusa), Stanton Gill, and Brad Thompson. We spent 2 days at a nursery equipment trade show and 1 day at Floriade (the Disneyworld of horticulture exhibitions).

14 • Summer 2013

We visited Quickhedge.

Light bulbs went off. It was one of those moments, for me, when the future is right there in full view.

We have spent many years trying to visualize hedge production with less than an earnest attempt to develop a solution. It seems obvious but the challenge is to develop a production system to include absolute mechanization. It’s one thing to plant and shape a 40 foot hedge in the landscape. It’s another thing to grow, groom and harvest miles of finished hedge. Quickhedge has 30 miles of hedge in production and a year round crew of 4 men with some seasonal help.

What they have accomplished is an invention of process.

All production practices are accomplished with GPS driven equipment. Along with Damacon and Basjris, European equipment manufacturers, they have more or less invented the equipment needed.

The equipment is highly specialized and single use except for the tractors. The pictures substitute for text as they are self-explanatory.

Photos courtesy of Quickhedge.nl

Basrijs adapted this planter from existing designs. Precision plant spacing is the critical starting point.

(continued on page 16)

Shear trims between segments to cause finished ends of segments.

It is also slicing the root ball at the segment end. GPS knows where to make the ‘incision’.

Free State • 15

Frequent undercutting compacts the root system for a smaller root mass.

Harvesting with a grapple.

There are six pallets on a fork-lift mounted to the rear of a tractor.

Tractor and equipment are operated remotely.

16 • Summer 2013

Boxed and palletized, ready to ship.

Note the yellow tool sold to contractors for lifting the boxes.

Craning finished hedge segments into a courtyard. The boxes are planted and will compost quickly.

(continued on page 18)

Free State • 17

Instant, finished hedge.

To start our production of hedges, we bought a GPS system for an existing tractor and a single row disc planter. Over time we will add the additional machines required to shape and harvest finished hedges.

It has been suggested that we not share what we are doing so potential competitors don’t get started.

Thinking back on my previous experiences, competition is a good thing when offering a new concept or product. It happened with automobiles, computers and most other product innovations.

I started in lawn service in 1973.

During the next couple years we looked at the evolving high volume/ low priced services being implemented in the mid-west. We intentionally

18 • Summer 2013

waited for Chem Lawn to enter the market in 1976 believing they would create demand before we offered a high volume service of our own. We could not afford to do the marketing for a lawn service concept that was then not prevalent. It worked. Our sales increased 14 fold in just a few years.

Consumers like choice.

Therefore, we welcome competition to share the marketing costs.

Hopefully, demand will be sufficient for all. â?Ś Jerry Faulring Waverly Farm

It was great way to ...

kick-off

Summer Free State • 19

Summer

MNLA 2O13

First off we would like to thank everyone who made this year’s annual Summer Field Day a huge success!

Field Day was held this year in Adamstown at Waverly Farm. With over four hundred varieties of ornamental trees and shrubs, the farm was a beautiful backdrop for our event. Jerry Faulring, Lisa Deramus, and Mark Nowicki truly helped to make the day outstanding. We had an outstanding turn out this year, as well, with over one hundred-sixty MNLA members and CPHers in attendance.

The first half of the day included industry networking followed by various informative briefings. The morning began with an update from the Maryland Department of Agriculture followed by a few notes from Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, Mary Ellen Setting. Next up was a recap of the Maryland General Assembly’s 2013 Session,

Andrew Ristvey

20 • Summer 2013

Field Day followed by details on the new “Rain Tax” and a UMD Extension update.

After lunch, all of our green enthusiasts were split into groups to travel around the grounds to various educational stations. The stations were very intriguing and highlighted what is new and on the cutting edge in the green industry. Dr. Andrew Ristvey, UMD Extension, led a session explaining sensor-driven irrigation and its ability to assist in water conservation. George Leidig, Autrusa, managed a demonstration station featuring European equipment that is now finding popularity in American nurseries. George’s station featured the Seppi Midiforst Forestry Mulcher, a mower that can clear just about any hedge row, brush, and tree, in seconds.

One of the new cutting-edge stations was hosted by Steve Black of Raemelton Farm. Steve unveiled a new

Steve Black

Jerry Faulring

weed technology – a weed sensing device attached to a “regular” tractor. Steve demonstrated by driving the tractor down a planted row, and when the sensing device detected a week, it sprayed weed-killer. This invention allows for quick and very economical control of weeds, as weed control spray is specifically targeted and not wasted.

Mark Nowicki ran another demonstration station featuring a European designed piece of equipment. This device, the Pazzaglia FZ200, has a fifty-six inch blade which is purposed to dig and lift a six foot root ball in tight quarters. The ability to dig in close quarters allows the grower to plant stock closer together.

The final educational station was a double feature, as

Jerry Faulring, Waverly Farm, and Stanton Gill, UMD Extension, presented the John Deere StarFire ITC Receiver and a GPS/Auto Steer System. This equipment, Jerry presented, is used in Europe where ready-made/readygrown hedges are popular. Jerry is now testing this new technology and hedge-concept at his farm. (See Jerry’s article, “It’s Time for Sharing” on page 13 of Free State).

After the stations wrapped up, about half of the attendees stayed for the “post-show” – a crab feast sponsored

by MidAtlantic Farm Credit. What a great way to end the Field Day. The crabs were delicious, but the social time amongst peers was also cherished. ❦

Jerry Faulring

(more photos on page 22)

George Leidig

Free State • 21

22 • Summer 2013

Research

The Fundamentals of Fungicide Trialing Fungicides are an essential part of production ornamentals; however, with everything a grower does with the crop it’s just one component in growing. An untreated fungal disease can literally wipe out an entire crop in a matter of days. While most growers have thankfully never experienced this catastrophe, many have had to battle fungal outbreaks at some time.

Growers generally turn to researchers and university partners for information about proven fungicide solutions. But while scientific trials provide evidence about how well a fungicide or other treatment performs in the field, every greenhouse or nursery has its own unique growing conditions.

To find out whether the latest fungicides will work well in their individual environments, growers should consider a do-it-yourself fungicide trial. The process isn’t as complicated as many believe – especially when growers take advantage of available outside resources.

New products have been scientifically proven to offer broad spectrum disease control and plant health benefits, including better tolerance in extreme temperatures and improved ability to withstand drought conditions. By conducting their own trials, growers can see the results for themselves.

Starting a trial

Depending on your situation, your procedure may vary slightly. But here are the basic steps: Determine what to trial

Before beginning the trial, establish the issue you want to resolve. Need to control a specific disease? Looking for a broader control method? Want to produce better plants?

Know your goal before you start to test a new product or application approach.

Talk to a trusted partner

Manufacturer, industry consultants and distributor sales representatives can provide expertise in setting up a trial.

They understand product capabilities and are versed on the newest chemistries on the market. These local experts can offer potential solutions that you can put to the test.

Work with a consultant

Partnering with a consultant to trial fungicides within your own operation is a sensible step to consider. Growers often lack the time and effort needed to take a product sample and conduct the trial themselves. A consultant can provide the amount of expertise that’s right for you.

Perhaps you want a partner who can simply help monitor the trial, or conduct it from beginning to end and

then share the completed results. Consultants can also do hands-on work, like treating the plants, and compiling or evaluating the data.

Define a plan

Decide where the trial will take place on site, how long it will last, and how often the fungicide will be applied to the test plants. Be as thorough as possible in outlining these details so you get the most reliable – and potentially repeatable – results.

For example, if the crop consistently experiences disease during a specific growing phase, such as in the finish house, that’s probably the best place and time to begin the trial. When partnering with your manufacturing rep, consultant, or distributor, he or she can help decide essential details for the trial.

Begin the trial

Ideally, you should begin the trial when you’re free from looming deadlines or the pressure of getting a crop out (and revenue in). Typically, the group of plants to be tested with should be placed on a bench that’s set apart from the “control” plants, but close enough that both groups grow under the same conditions. The only variable within your trial should be the fungicide regimen; watering, soil, fertilizers and other factors should remain the same. Also, communicate with staff, especially spray technicians, that you’re conducting a trial so they clearly understand that the test plants should not be treated like the rest.

Collect data

Throughout the trial, regularly collect data or have a consultant help you. Critical data-collection times, depending on the goals of the trial, need to be made; otherwise, you will not know the value the new product brings to your production Analyze results and determine next steps

Once the trial is complete, review the data to see if the initial issue has been resolved using the new product and/or application regiment. If the results are favorable, you’ll probably want to incorporate the new product or approach into your disease-control rotation.

For more information about BASF Professional Turf & Ornamentals visit www.betterplants.basf.us or email BetterPlants@psbpr.com. ❦ Kyle Miller, BASF Professional Turf & Ornamentals Senior Market Development Specialist

Free State • 23

Maryland Certified Professional Horticulturist Program

Update 2013 CPH Exam Schedule

2014 CPH Exam Schedule

October 8 – Basic

April 15 and October 7 – Basic

October 8 – Specialist - Advanced Plant ID

October 7 – Specialist - Advanced Plant ID

Pre-registration is required for all exams. All eligible candidates will be contact prior to the listed exams, with registration information.

24 • Summer 2013

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Diversity

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Timely Deliveries Natives

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Edibles

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Since 1945

PO Box 155 n Garner, NC 27529 8:00–4:30 Monday–Friday 919-772-7255 n Fax 919-773-0904 www.pendernursery.com sales@pendernursery.com Free State • 25 www.facebook.com/PenderNursery

You only grow the best.

Why not offer your customers the best in advice, too!

Certified Professional Horticulturists (CPH) provide either “do-it-yourself” or professional landscape installation and maintenance advice.

Maryland Certified Professional Horticulturist Program

For more information contact the Maryland Nursery and Landscape Association at 410-823-8684 or visit www.mnlaonline.org

Cultivate your business with a Certified Professional Horticulturist

26 • Summer 2013

Press Release

Maryland Professional Lawn Care Manual The Maryland Professional Lawn Care Manual is now available on the Maryland Department of Agriculture website at www.mda. maryland.gov/fertilizer.

Developed in cooperation with the University of Maryland (UMD), the Maryland Professional Lawn Care Manual provides lawn care professionals with information on soils and fertility, soil testing, interpreting fertilizer labels, use and calibration of fertilizer application equipment, UMD fertilizer recommendations and other knowledge areas that will be covered by the newly created Maryland Professional Fertilizer Applicator Certification Exam.

Signed into law by Governor Martin O’Malley in 2011, Maryland’s lawn fertilizer law includes new requirements for fertilizer manufacturers, homeowners and lawn care professionals who must now be licensed

and certified to apply fertilizers to properties that they manage. The law takes effect October 1, 2013 and is designed to protect the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries from excess nutrients entering its waters from a variety of urban sources, including golf courses, parks, recreation areas, athletic fields, businesses and hundreds of thousands of suburban and urban lawns.

Regulations to implement the law were published in the Maryland Register earlier this year. Certification testing is slated to begin this fall and expected to be ongoing in order to address demand and busy schedules as the program begins. For more information on training classes and testing dates, visit the MDA website or contact MDA’s Urban Nutrient Management Program at 410-841-5959 ❦

Free State • 27

Total Plant Management

Hard Decision Coming Up with Ash Trees Protect it or cut it down? This is the decision that managers are going to be faced with over the next couple of years if there are green or white ash trees planted in the landscape. Green and white ash were one of the top selling nursery trees for over forty years and lots of them were installed in new communities around office parks throughout the metro area. Many of these trees are now big caliper trees of 15–25” DBH. You heard the saying “The bigger they are the harder they fall.” This will be very true in many landscapes.

In May of 2013, a meeting was organized to help city managers and arborists understand what we can expect as emerald ash borer continues to establish itself in Maryland. We have brought in urban forester managers

“

There is no natural resistant to the emerald ash borer among ash trees

”

28 • Summer 2013

Stanton Gill

from mid-west cities that had to deal with the fall of the ash in the mid-west. They comment that you go through about three or four years of discovery of the pest in the area followed by a tidal wave of dying trees. This is called the “Exponential Death of Trees”. You really need to start planning in these early stages because when the “Exponential Death of Trees” starts you will have a large number of dead trees that have to be taken down.

If you can keep your ash tree alive through the tidal wave, then the population goes down and you are hopefully left with standing trees. The question is, how much are you are willing to spend on protecting the ash and for how long? There is no natural resistant to the emerald ash borer among ash trees, so the choice is which chemical do you treat the tree with to protect its life.

You also have to decide when the tree should be taken down. Sounds simple enough, but as many things in life, it is not simple at all. A big tree not only shades areas reducing temperatures in summer, it also absorbs huge amounts of runoff water. Taking down a large tree is going to dramatically change the environment in the area where it was growing. It is also expensive to remove a tree and its stump, and then grind out the roots. A replacement tree takes years to grow in. So inject and save the ash or cut it down? I lean toward removing the tree and starting over with another species of tree, but it can be argued it is best to inject and save a tree a little while longer until the tidal wave passes by. The other thing is it may be too expensive to take down all of the ash trees in an area preemptively.

Some city foresters are choosing to go out and rate the quality of the ash tree and evaluate its potential hazard if it dies. They rate the trees on a scale of say 1 to 5 with 5 being the trees that should have priority on being removed. One city in Maryland that has 22,000 ash trees in its tree inventory is choosing to remove 500 ash trees each year, picaking the ones with a “5 ‘rating. They are injecting 25 to 30% of the better ash trees to give them more breathing room before these trees have to be removed. Eventually the plan is to replace the ash trees with other species of trees and try to have a mixed species of trees to protect against outbreaks of other insects coming in the future. This is probably the best long range way of dealing with EAB. The adult beetle will out in May. The adults of emerald

ash borer emerge at 450 degree days about the time that black locust are in full bloom. If you are taking action with insecticide treatments then May and June is the best time to apply treatments.

Table 1 (page 30) is a list, of chemicals with time of application and how long they will give control of the emerald ash borer. Insecticide options for professionals and homeowners for controlling EAB that have been tested in multiple university trials. Some products may not be labeled for use in all states. Some of the listed products failed to protect ash trees when they were applied at labeled rates. Inclusion of a product in this table does not imply that it is endorsed by the authors or has been consistently effective for EAB control.

Table 2 (Page 30), this chart, is adapted from the publication “Insecticide options for Protecting Ash trees from Emerald Ash Borer” at www.emeraldashborer. info/files/multistate_eab_insecticide_fact_sheet.pdf This is a chart to help you understand how long each of the soil drench or injection, bark spray or injection will provide control of EAB and approximately what professionals are charging to treat trees per each inch of DBH (diameter at breast height). This is not the actual cost of the chemical but is the range of what most certified pesticide applicators are charging to make an application to a tree.

In Canada they have severely restricted the chemicals that can be used for insect control. The Canadian Forest Service has backed the development of a 5% Azadirachtin B marketed by BioForest Technology, Inc (Distributed in the US by Rainbow TreeCare) for tree injection that should satisfy the organic type customer.

The product is called TreeAzin systemic insecticide.

This is an organic systemic insecticide (OMRI listed) for control of Emerald Ash borers. The Azadirachtin that is extracted from Neem tree seeds acts as an Insect Growth Regulator. The larvae are prevented from completing development and die before they can go to the next instar (growth) stage. When treating with TreeAzin for control of EAB it is suggested to use between 5 to 18.5 ml per DBH. It has been tested in Canada and is supposedly providing 95% control of EAB larvae. It is being tested in United State sites in 2013.

The product must be stored at 40–70 degrees Fahrenheit and will last 1 year in storage. When you take it out to the field it is recommended that you pack the material in a cooler with ice packs to keep it cool. The formulation is very thick and it is injected using large tubes and takes 30 -60 minutes to get it into the trees.

In May of 2013 the city Forester from Fort Wayne, Indiana was asked to come and address arborist and landscape managers on how they dealt with EAB in their

city. Chad Tickle, the city forester, started with the comment “As the population of EAB goes up, the options goes down.” His approach is to remove a certain number of ash trees each year and treat a set number of trees to buy time until you have to take the trees down. There just isn’t enough money to take the entire ash tree down in most cities on one year’s budget. He mentioned that is the early stages that we are in most of Maryland you can get lulled into thinking you don’t need to do anything.

This is a bad decision because in 2-3 years you are suddenly faced with many standing dead ash trees.

During the meeting Nevin Dawson, forestry expert, of the University of Maryland Extension commented that the City of Baltimore has over 300,000 ash trees in the city. This is one Maryland city that better start developing a plan for dealing with EAB and soon.

In Fort Wayne, when Chad started in his job in 2008, there are 59,000 street trees in the city limits. In 2013 they have 46,000 trees in the city limits. The reduction in tree numbers is mainly removal of ash trees. They still have ash standing but not many. Green and white ash was 25% of the Fort Wayne city tree plantings back in 2008. They started their management program with a tree inventory, to know what they have and where the tree is located.

They then evaluated the tree health and determined which trees needed to be removed immediately and which trees could be treated with Imidacloprid to give them 1 year of control and at least 2 more years until the tree would be killed

by EAB leading to the need for removal. It is a buying time strategy. Originally in Fort Wayne they treated 11,000 trees with spoil injection of Imidacloprid to buy time. Now they treat 1300 trees per year. Chad also noted that (continued on page 30) Free State • 29

emerald ash borer seem to like green ash the most with white ash being less preferred, but it still will be attacked.

Chad told the group that the 14,000 trees in Fort Wayne have cost $7.2 million to take down and treat from 2008 – 2013. Even with this aggressive plan it is not enough for many people and Chad still receives in over 250 complaints about dead or dying trees in the city from citizens who want immediate action to remove the dead trees in their neighborhood. He said you better be organized and prepared. This is good advice for us here in Maryland.

We are not trying to scare anyone with this article but you need to make sure your clientele understand the choices and the consequences of “no action.” Hope this short summary is helpful. ❦ Stanton Gill, Extension Specialist in IPM and Entomology for Greenhouses and NurseriesCentral Maryland Research and Education Center University of Maryland and Professor, Landscape Technology, Montgomery College

Table 1 Insecticide Formulation

Active Ingredient

Application Method

Recommended Timing

Professional Use Products Merit® (75WP, 75WSP, 2F) XytectTM (2F, 75WSP)

Imidacloprid Imidacloprid

IMA-jet® Imicide® TREE-ägeTM

Inject-A-Cide B®

Imidacloprid Trunk injection Imidacloprid Trunk injection Emamectin benzoate Trunk injection (restricted use) Bidrin® Trunk injection

Early May to mid-June

SafariTM (20 SG)

Dinotefuran

Systemic bark spray

Early May to mid-June

Soil Injection or Basal Drench

Early May to June

Transtect Dinotefuran

Soil injection or drench Soil injection or drench

Mid-fall and/or mid- to late spring Mid-fall and/or mid- to late spring Early May to mid-June Early May to mid-June Early May to mid-June

Astro® Permethrin OnyxTM Bifenthrin Preventive bark and Tempo® Cyfluthrin foliage cover sprays ® Sevin SL Carbaryl

2 applications at 4-week intervals; first spray should occur when black locust is blooming (early May in southern Ohio to early June in mid-Michigan)

TreeAzin Azadirachtin Trunk Injection

Typical application takes 30 -60 minutes per tree. Translocate throughout the tree within 48 hours May to Mid-June

Homeowner Formulation Bayer AdvancedTM Tree & Shrub Insect Control

Imidacloprid

Soil drench

Mid-fall or mid- to late spring

Table 2

Imidacloprid

Dinotefuran

Emamectin benzoate

TreeAzin

Application method

Soil drench or Injection or drench

Basal trunk spray or soil injection

Trunk Injection

Trunk Injection

Time of application

Fall or May - June

May - June

May - June

May - June

Residual control

1 year

5 – 7 months

2 years

2 years

What most applicators charge to treat per 1 inch of DBH

$1 - $5

$10- $15

$10 - $15

$20 - $30

30 • Summer 2013

Free State •31

Featured Member

Lee Yachimowicz’ company is called Leyland Landscaping. No, it has nothing to do with Leyland cypress trees. His initials are L.E.Y., and he tacked on “land” because his business deals with land.

“

Yachimowicz started the business in 1982. He grew up on a farm in Reisterstown — in fact, the company’s home base is on that family farm today. “I love working outdoors,” he said. “I was always involved in landscaping around our home, and at a young age acquired a passion for it. Most of my learning is from doing the work, going to a lot of seminars, and reading a lot.”

His Bachelor of Science degree from Towson University is in business rather than horticulture. His brother-inlaw, Brent Cassell, has worked with him for fifteen years.

Cassell has quite a background in landscaping, having taken classes and worked for several big companies that are part of MNLA, including Maxalea, Pinehurst Landscape, and Chapel Valley. Both he and Cassell have passed the basic CPH exam.

32 • Summer 2013

"A lot of what we try to do is natural type landscaping. In the commercial sector, it's turning that way.

In the past it wasn't; the landscaping was usually the same old thing."

”

“We don’t grow our own plants,” he said. “We thought about getting into it, but we’re so busy doing actual work ... and we find we can buy what we use for less than it would cost us to grow. That’s a whole ‘nother operation.”

“Most of what we do is very involved in plantscaping,” Yachimowicz continued. “We do very little hardscaping; its design and installation of plants, plus a lot of maintenance.”

He and twenty employees cover Baltimore and the surrounding counties, going as far as Ocean City on the Eastern Shore. About seventy-five percent of his work right now is commercial, Yachimowicz said, “a lot of offices, professional buildings, shopping centers.”

Asked what are his favorite plants, Yachimowicz said it depends on the site. For commercial projects he uses a lot that are drought tolerant and low maintenance, as well as a lot of native plants. “A lot of what we try to do is natural type landscaping. In the commercial sector, it’s turning that way. In the past it wasn’t; the landscaping was usually the same old thing.”

One thing that is very popular, he said, is Knockout roses, which provide a lot of color for the whole season, and they’re pretty much low maintenance. He also uses a good many perennials that require minimal watering.

“With residential properties, you’ve got to be very aware of whether plants are deer tolerant,” he added. “Deer are a big problem we face.”

Another major problem Leyland Landscaping and many other companies face is labor. “Some of our guys have been with us a long time,” he said. There’s some turnaround, and finding replacements is difficult. “Pretty much of the workforce is Hispanic, and there are difficulties with immigration. We used to do H2B for eight or nine years, but that’s gotten to be very difficult.

We face the same problems as everybody.”

Leyland Landscaping has been a member of MNLA for more than ten years. “We do volunteer a lot at the Home and Garden Show and man the booth at MANTS. We attend field days and seminars,” he added, “and have taken employees, too. I highly recommend them.”

Leyland’s website is under construction, but you can reach the company at (410) 526-4449 ❦

Are you getting the most out of your MNLA membership?

Use of the MNLA and CPH logos is an easy way to lend professional credibility to your company, in the consumer’s eye. Consumers want to work with companies that have professional affiliations and certifications.

MNLA members and CPHers are invited to incorporate the MNLA and CPH logos into their advertising and business cards. You simply need to be in good standing in these programs. If you would like an electronic copy of either of these logos, e-mail us at mnacma@aol.com. We have color and black and white versions.

Do you use your membership, or CPH status to promote your business to your customers?

Free State • 33

Obituary

Rod Witman–Past President MNLA For us, it begins in January 1971, MANTS I, Williamsburg, Virginia. There was an unbelievable enthusiasm in the air, as the industry was really evolving in a positive way. Being young and new to the industry we were seeking not only supply, but information, assistance and encouragement.

There were several representatives that provided all that in an exceptional way–Rod Witman was one of them.

Several weeks later, Rod (and Janet) spent an entire day with us. We visited a number of local nurseries, visited a few retail centers, talked about strategies that may work for us and received even more encouragement. So began a relationship with a man of splendid character that has endured for 43 years.

Over the next years, Rod supplied roses, plants, ornamental concrete products, perennials and dedicated service to us. In one of the first years, we managed (or perhaps mis-managed) to kill every one of the bare root roses we potted. Rod came to visit the very next day to view the catastrophe. Shaking his head but undeterred, he made some telephone calls to Conard-Pyle; negotiating an arrangement that brought us a batch of already forced roses along with favorable terms and with personal sacrifices on his part. It all turned out to be a breakeven deal for us on roses that Spring. Without Rod, it would have been a big hole out of which to dig.

We are grateful to this day!

34 • Summer 2013

Our business changed, but the relationship with Rod continued in a different fashion. During the several terms together on the Maryland Nursery and Landscape Association Board, we faced enormous challenges. Rod was an outspoken proponent to preserve the industry from governmental intrusion. He supported and worked diligently to develop our industry and its people.

Rod served on the MANTS Board, when MANTS also had a summer edition; originally in Virginia Beach, later in Baltimore. A local group came together, attempting to bring the annual national summer meeting of the AAN (American Association of Nurserymen, which subsequently became ANLA) to Baltimore. As MANTS- Summer was moving to Baltimore, the negotiations (which began in 1990) became more intense. Rod offered significant leadership from the MANTS side to secure the arrangement, which brought the AAN national meeting to Baltimore in July 1994. This process was very competitive in those days, so it was an incredible achievement; one that helped place MANTS and the regional industry in the national spotlight it enjoys today.

On behalf of the MNLA and MANTS, we send our sincere condolences to Janet and her family.

Jan and Mary Louise Carter

Free State • 35

36 • Summer 2013

Get your Ag Tag today!

www.agtagmd.com Educating Youth about Agriculture

C H E S A P E A KE G REEN 201 4 AN ANNUAL HORTICULTURE SYMPOSIUM

February 20 & 21, 2014

The Maritime Institute and Conference Center Linthicum, MD

Industry Educational Winter Symposium for the Chesapeake Region and Surrounding States For more information, visit the Chesapeake Green page of the MNLA website,www.mnlaonline.org

Free State • 37

Growing

with

Education

Hardy Hibiscus Hardy Hibiscus or Rose Mallow is truly a flower of summer, needing soil temperatures to rise to at least 70 degrees F before they even begin to think of emerging into the warm spring sunshine. When pruning back the cold killed stalks in the late fall, it is often a good idea to leave 2-3 Ginny Rosenkranz inches above the ground so as not to forget that they will eventually come back to bloom in the garden the next summer.

The Hardy Hibiscus can grow as short as 2-3 feet tall to the background loving 6-8 feet tall varieties. The newer cultivars are often more compact, giving them more access to various parts of the flowering garden.

In the wild, the Hardy Hibiscus hugs the edges of fresh water streams and ponds and there are cultivars that thrive in brackish and salt water as well. Despite their love of moist soils, they can also thrive in clay, loamy and sandy soils and tolerate some drought. The leaves can be dark green, green with a purple cast or green with a copper cast, and can be oval, heart-shaped, 3-5 lobed maple shaped or very deeply cut lobes depending on the cultivars.

The 5-petaled summer flowers that bloom from 3 to 12 inches with a showy prominent central saminal column are the reason so many Hibiscus find their way into our gardens. Opening in the early morning, hardy Hibiscus bloom for only 1 to 3 days but with over 100 buds produced. Each day brings more spectacular flowers and they bloom from late summer to the first frost.

38 • Summer 2013

They attract butterflies and hummingbirds into the garden, but not deer. The straight species of Hibiscus moscheutos come in white, pink and red, while the newer cultivars are hybridized with H. coccineus or H. militaris and come in raspberry, plum, bright pink, dark pink and many have contrasting colored eyes and colorful veins.

Hardy Hibiscus can be used in rain gardens, in perennial gardens, and beside ponds and streams.

Japanese Beetles and the larva of the Hibiscus sawfly are the two most common pests of Hibiscus. Both damage the foliage sometimes to the extent that the best design use of the plant is close enough to view and admire the flowers but far enough away to be able to ignore the damaged foliage.

The largest flowering cultivars are often called dinner plate size, with 8-12 inch flowers include ‘Lord

Baltimore’, ‘Plum Crazy’, ‘Pyrenees Pink’, ‘Everest White’, ‘Blue River II’, ’Kopper King’ , ‘Crimson Wonder’, ‘Summerific®’ ‘Summer Storm’ by Proven Winners and ‘Copper Queen’. Smaller flowered Hibiscus include ‘Lady Baltimore’, ‘Cranberry Crush’, ‘ Cranberry Punch’, ‘Sweet Caroline’, ‘Fireball’ and ‘Pitter Patti’.

The most compact hardy Hibiscus grow only 2-3 feet tall and include the Disco Bell series, the Southern Bell series, the Luna series, ‘Crown Jewels’, ‘Cranberry Punch’, ‘Super Rose’, ‘Royal Gem’ and ‘Robert Fleming’. These plants are good for smaller gardens and even thrive in containers. The hardy Hibiscus with a mounding habit includes ‘Blue River’, ‘Fantasia’, ‘Summerific® and ‘Super Rose’. Hibiscus with an upright growth habit include both small, medium and tall cultivars and include the Disco Bell series, ‘Fireball’, ‘Kopper King’, ‘Lord Baltimore’,

‘Plum Crazy’, ‘Sweet Caroline’ and ‘Turn of the Century.

‘Lord Baltimore’ is famous for the huge 10 inch crimson red flowers with ruffled and overlapping petals. The plant can grow up to 4-5 feet tall and has deeply cut lobe leaves of a medium green. ‘Blue River II’ has huge 10 inch pure white flowers without a speck of red eye or veins, medium green leaves and grows 4-5 feet all. ‘Lady Baltimore’ has bright pink flowers with a red eye with lightly ruffled petals 4-6 inches wide and medium green heart shaped leaves.

‘Plum Crazy’ has dark purple to plum 12 inch flowers that resemble crepe paper or silk with wavy, ruffled edges. It has a dark purple eye and dark purple veins and green purple maple shaped foliage on a compact 3-4 foot high plant. ‘Pyrenees Pink’ has huge 12 inch deep pink flowers with a darker eye, growing 3-4 feet tall with dark green oval shaped leaves.

‘Everest White’ has the same characteristics but the huge flowers are pure white with a bright red eye in the center of the flowers. ‘Sweet Carolyn’ is taller, growing from 4-5 feet tall, with bright pink ruffled petals, darker eye and veins and dark green oval leaves. ‘Fantasia’ grows only 2-3 feet tall but is covered with rosy pink ruffled petals with a darker rose eye. ‘Turn of the Century’ grows 6-8 feet tall and has bi-colored 9 inch flowers that are red on one side of the petal that fades to white on the opposite side of the petal, giving a pinwheel look to the blossoms. ‘Kopper King’ and ‘Copper Queen’ both have dark copper-colored leaves and both have pink flowers but the Queen has very dark red veins giving the flowers a candy-striped appearance.

‘Summerific’® also has a stripped pink flower on a tall plant and ‘Super Rose’ is tall but with a dark rose 10 inch flower blossom. With all the colors, sizes and shapes there should be at least one Hibiscus for your sunny garden. ❦ Ginny Rosenkranz Commercial Hortculture Specialist University of Maryland, Lower Eastern Shore

Free State • 39

O

Our mission is to provide you with the highest quality of professional tree care in the greater Baltimore area, as well an unmatched level of personal attention❧With Maryland Licensed Tree Experts and an ISA Certified Arborist on staff, we have the expertise to provide the best options for all your tree, shrub and landscaping needs❧ From saving the trees at Camden Yards to tending the lilacs in yours, Arbor Valley has the answers and the time for you❧ Remember, for your protection you should always use a qualified and experienced arborist that is licensed by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and fully insured❧

Interested in a subscription to

Free State Nursery and Landscape News?

Contact us with your request and we’ll add you to the mailing list.

Subscriptions are $35 annually; MNLA will invoice you upon receipt of your subscription request. (members need

not subscribe)

Name_________________________________________________ Business_ _____________________________________________ Address_______________________________________________ City___________________________________________________ State, Zip______________________________________________ E-Mail_________________________________________________ Mail/Fax or e-mail: Free State, Maryland Nursery and Landscape Association P.O. Box 726 Brooklandville, MD 21022 or e-mail: mnacma@aol.com­

PUBLICATION NOTICE

FRANK E. DUDEK president

p 410-357-8445 c 410-977-3202 P.O. BOX 749 PARKTON, MD 21120 ARBORVALLEYTREESERVICE.COM MD TREE EXPERT LICENSE #477 ISA CERTIFIED ARBORIST #MA-0073A frankdudek @ arborvalleytreeservice.com

40 • Summer 2013

We welcome your company news and updates or columns with your professional insight.

E-mail any submissions you have for Free State to mnacma@aol.com or mail to Maryland Nursery and Landscape Association P.O. Box 726 Brooklandville, MD 21022 The deadline for submissions for the Winter issue of Free State Nursery and Landscape News is Nov. 1, 2013.

Free State Reinven

Hard D

Summe r Vol. XL 2013 No. 2 $10.00

N ur se ry & La nd sc ap e N ew s

t the W

ecision

heel

Comin

g Up w

ith Ash

Trees

Hardy

Hibiscu

A look at at Sum new techno mer Fi eld Da logy y

s

We have answers when you have questions …

www.mnlaonline.org

The MNLA web site is designed for our members and is your single source for the answer to almost any question. The site is your: • Membership Directory with member search options • Up-to-date industry calendar • Classified ads which members can post and track resumes/ responses • CPH program information including basic and advanced test applications and registration • Business resources • CEU forms • Free State Nursery and Landscape News (electronic issues) • Root of the Matter issues and MaGIC updates

• Chesapeake Green - speaker resources - year round • Industry calendar includes: – Event postings from organizations and educational institutions around the Mid-Atlantic region; – Resources for finding CEUs for pesticide recertification, nutrient management recertification, and general education in horticulture topics; – MNLA events including Field Day, MANTS, Chesapeake Green and much more

Visit www.mnlaonline.org today!

Free State • 41

Chairman & Committees Education Dave Clement Stanton Gill Hank Doong Mary Kay Malinoski Tina Paul Ginny Rosenkranz Greg Stacho Nominating Mark Dougherty – Chair Richard J. Watson Finance and Planning John Marshall – Chair John C. Akehurst Garet Bunting Larry Hemming Ed Snodgrass Link/Shanks Scholarship Mark Dougherty – Chair MANTS Jan S. Carter Bernard E Kohl, Jr. William A. M. Verbrugge Membership Committee Rich Poulin Greg Stacho

Interiorscape John Akehurst - Chair Stanton Gill Scott Harwerth Suzanne Klick CPH George Mayo – Chair Steve Black Nick Graves Dr.Andrew Ristvey Bob Trumbule Gaye Williams Scholarship Bernie Kohl, Jr. – Chair Hank Doong Leslie Hunter-Cario George Mayo Greg Stacho Jessica Todd Mary Claire Walker

Signe Hanson Independent Horticultural Consultant

Advisors to Others ANLA

John Rausch LEAD Maryland

Vanessa Finney Maryland Agriculture Commission

Karl Fischer Marion Mullan Maryland Farm Bureau

Larry Hemming MAEF

Hank Doong MGGA

Economic Survey Steve Black Bernie Kohl George Mayo Brent Rutley Dr. John Lea Cox

Tina Paul

Advisors to the Board

Signe Hanson

Maryland Invasive Species Council (MISC)

John Peter Thompson MDA Nutrient Management Advisory Committee

Awards - Professional Achievement,

Richard Bean MD Department of Agriculture

Young Farmers Advisory Council

Michael Marshall– Co-Chair Kevin Clark - Co-Chair

Dr. John Lea-Cox University of Maryland

Invasive Plants Advisory Council

Carville M. Akehurst

Historian George Mayo – Chair Legislative/MaGIC James R. McWilliams– Chair Signe Hanson Alan Jones Bernard E. Kohl, Jr.

42 • Summer 2013

Jessica Todd Mike Hemming Jason Pippen

Every member of every committee listed above is an individual who volunteers their time in support for the MNLA and it is with the utmost gratitude and appreciation that we thank you for your selfless endeavors. If your name is not listed above, please consider following the example of those who are.

Directory of Advertisers Firm Name

Maryland Nursery and Landscape Association, Inc. Mission Statement The purpose of the Maryland Nursery and Landscape Association is to promote the use of ornamental plants, products, and services. The association supports all constituent groups of the horticulture industry including landscape, garden centers, interiorscape, grounds maintenance, nursery, greenhouse, and arboriculture. The association communicates the role of the horticulture industry in improving people’s quality of life.

Angelica Nurseries, Inc.

Page

Outside Back Cover

Arbor Valley Tree Service Babikow Greenhouses

40 Inside Front Cover

Braun Horticulture

9

Cam Too Camellia Nursery

9

Cavano’s Perennials

24

Chesapeake Green Symposium

37

CPH

26

Eco Depot Foxborough Nursery

9 Inside Back Cover

Genesis Turf Gras

6

Specific Goals

Gregory J. Cannizzaro Design

12

Promote professionalism through education programs for members and the public and by encouraging enrollment in educational institutions.

Hanover Farms

27

Monitor state and local laws relating to horticulture industry.

Participate actively in legislative and regulatory processes.

Hawksridge Farm

3

Holly Hill Farms

35

MANTS

31

MD Ag Ed Foundation

37

MNLA On-Line

41

North Carolina Nurseries /NCNLA

7

Promote the use of environmentally sound practices in the horticulture industry.

OHP

36

Pender Nursery

25

Monitor and communicate to members developments in allied industries including agritechnology.

Sitelight ld

12

Support donations of plant products and services to state and community programs.

To join the growing list of companies who advertise in the Free State Nursery and Landscape News or for more information, please call Vanessa or Kelly in the MNLA office at 410-823-8684.

Support research relevant to the horticulture industry.

Participate in Maryland agricultural organizations.

Waverly Farm

8

Visit the redesigned association website at: www.mnlaonline.org.

E-mail Free State News at freestatenews@comcast.net.

Free State • 43

2013-14 Calendar of Events

August 3-7, 2013 89th Annual ISA Conference Location: Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto, Ontario (Canada) Contact: +1 217-355-9411, conferencereg@isa-arbor.com August 5-6, 2013 Southern Nursery Association Research Conference Location: Georgia International Convention Center, Atlanta, GA Contact: SNA, 678-809-9992 mail@sna.org August 6, 2013 Summer Cut Flower Tour Location: Salisbury & Federalsburg, MD Contact: University of Maryland Extension 301-596-9413 August 7, 2013 Snow Management One-Day Seminar Location: Hampton Inn & Suites, Baltimore, MD Contact: Snowfighters’ Institute 814-455-1991 www.snowfightersinstitute.com August 14, 2013 FALCAN Truck and Trailer Safety Seminar Location: Frederick Fair Grounds www.falcanmd.com/Forms.html August 19-21, 2013 MAC-ISA Tree Risk Assessment Qualification Course Location: Baltimore, MD Contact: 703-753-0499 admin@macisa.org

44 • Summer 2013

August 23, 2013 Conservation Landscaping Tour & Field Day Location: York, PA Contact: Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Council, 717-840-7408 www.chesapeakelandscape.org July 31 – August 1, 2013 PANTS Location: Philadelphia Contact: www.pantshow.com September 18, 2013 MAEF/MGGA Golf Tournament Location: Oakmont Green Golf Course, MD Contact: MAEF, 410-939-9030 www.maefonline.com October 8, 2013 CPH – Basic Exam Must be pre-registered to attend Contact: www.mnlaonline.org 410-823-8684 October 8, 2013 CPH – Specialized Exam: Advanced Plant Identification Must be pre-registered to attend Contact: www.mnlaonline.org 410-823-8684 October 23-25, 2013 Planet 2013 Green Industry Conference Location: Louisville, KY Contact: PLANET, 800-395-2522 www.landcarenetwork.org

November 7, 2013 MAEF Banquet Location: Michael’s Eight Avenue Contact: MAEF, 410-939-9030 www.maefonline.com November 16, 2013 Turning a New Leaf Conference Location: Shepherdstown, WV Contact: Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Council, 717-840-7408 www.chesapeakelandscape.org

2014 January 7-10, 2014 USDA Research Forum on Invasive Species Location: Loew’s Hotel, Annapolis, MD Contact: Micheal McManus mlmcmanus@fs.fed.us January 8-10, 2014 Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show Location: Baltimore Convention Center Contact: MANTS, 800-431-0066 www.mants.com February 5, 2014 The Eastern Shore Pest Management Conference Location: Salisbury, MD Contact: Ginny Rosenkranz 410-749-6141

February 20-21, 2014 Chesapeake Green Horticultural Conference November 2-6, 2013 Location: Linthicum Heights, MD International Plant Propagators Contact: MNLA, 410-823-8684 Society, SR 38th Annual Meeting www.chesapeakegreen.org Location: UGA Hotel & Conference Center, Athens, GA Contact: IPPS, 803-743-4284

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For a full and updated calendar of events, and to find registration information and event links, please visit the MNLA website at www.mnlaonline.org