The Buckeye, April 2015 Volume 26, Issue 3

April 2015 , Vol. 26, Issue 3

The Official Publication of the Ohio Nursery & Landscape Association

GREEN INDUSTRY

WE. MEAN.

BUSINESS.

速 Premium Natural Stone

Add distinction and elegance to any outdoor landscape with premium natural stone by choosing from an assortment of weathered, textured or smooth landscaping stone pavers, which allow you to create your own geometric design for pathways, patios, stepping stones, and various other landscaping applications.

Compliment any landscaping project with these additional decorative products:

Natural Stone Pavers Hand Cut or Sawn Edges

Wall Coping Hand Cut Edges

Pool Coping Bullnosed Edges

Steps / Risers

Brought to you by:

Hand Cut Edges

PH 614.252.0955 PH 937.885.3711 PH 800.845.7644 www.oberfields.com

The Buckeye is published 10 times per year by The Ohio Nursery & Landscape Association, Inc. 72 Dorchester Square Westerville, OH 43081 p 614.899.1195 f 614.899.9489 www.onla.org info@onla.org

CONTENTS

Editorial / Advertising ISSN 1536-7940 Subscriptions: $75/year amanda@onla.org, editor

April 2015

Vol. 26, Issue 3

The Fine Print The statements and opinions expressed herein are those of individual authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the association, directors or staff and do not constitute an endorsement of the products or featured services. Likewise, the appearance of advertisers, or their identification as members of the ONLA does not constitute an endorsement of the products or featured services.

industry news

features

5

President’s Perspective

Pollinators in the City

The Importance of Deadlines ONLA Office Update

22 24 28

Spring Staff Updates

Hardscaped Space or a Room?

6

Staff Kevin Thompson, Executive Director Roni Petersen, Membership & Certification Amanda Domsitz, Communications Director Amy Eldridge, CENTS Manager Karen Lykins, Accountant Lisa Larson, Education Director

business issue 7

Why Small Business Owners in the Green

Officers

Industry Have a Hard Time Delegating

and What They Can Do About It

Mike Dues, President Dues Nursery & Landscaping, Ltd. David Richards, Immediate Past President South Ridge Farm Steve Maddox, President Elect Michell’s Directors Hillary Henry, Board Member The Pattie Group Annette Howard, Board Member Gilson Gardens, Inc. Adam McClanahan, Board Member Carlton Plants Josh Posey, Board Member Buckeye Resources, Inc.

9

11 12

Excerpt from the PEST

Newsletter

33

Landscape Awards Program:

Call for Entries

(in seven easy steps) Boosting Your Game With Employees

April 2015 , Vol. 26, Issue 3

Six Rules for Effective Peer-to-Peer

14

The More Things Change: What’s your

strategy for connecting with today’s

consumers? Are you aiming at the right

target with the right message?

By Design: Is Your Patio a

Planning for Strategic Success in 2015

Communication

16

31

How Plants Work Matters

The Official Publication of the Ohio Nursery & Landscape Association

Employer Strategies Part One: Communicating & Marketing to the Next

Generation

19

Employer Strategies Part Two: Strategic

Hiring for Today’s Workplace

Ellen Gallucci Purcell, Board Member Riepenhoff Landscape, Ltd.

GREEN INDUSTRY

WE. MEAN.

BUSINESS.

front cover: “We Mean Green!”

Mark Reiner, Board Member Oakland Nursery, Inc.

In the spirit of land stewardship, please consider recycling this publication.

also in this issue

37 Industry Calendar • 38 About The Buckeye • 38 Classified Ads • 38 Ad Index

B

President’s Perspective

The Importance of Deadlines As I sat on Capital Square for the Ohio Green Industry Advocacy Day waiting on my State Representative, I started thinking about the approaching season and how hectic we will all be in the coming days. Our phones will start ringing, shipments will come in and go back out, and customers will demand more and more. With all this, we need to understand the importance of meeting deadlines and how it affects our businesses.

Does it ever feel like no one really takes deadlines or promises seriously anymore?

The importance of a deadline seems to be lost on far too many people. One doesn’t need to look very far to see or experience missed deadlines. Keeping our clients happy, whether you’re a small firm or a large firm, includes fulfilling your agreement within the agreed timeline. Failing to meet deadlines can result in a bad business reputation. Creating repeat clients is the key to success; you don’t want to deliver a negative customer experience by failing to be on time. We all work too hard on a project to leave a negative impact because of a missed deadline.

Most missed deadlines are a result of some kind of internal issue. Encouraging employees to meet internal deadlines keeps the company on track. Internal timelines directly affect the company’s overall performance.

Not meeting internal deadlines can cause a company to miss their goals. Employees that consistently meet deadlines are seen as reliable and responsible. These are the employees that we all want to keep within our organization. Whether employees are naturally good at meeting deadlines or their workplace encourages it, these people are the movers and shakers that keep a business relevant and profitable.

Mike Dues Dues Nursery & Landscaping, Ltd. ONLA President mikedues@duesnursery.com

We are the ones who create the work place and internal environment. That environment is, by and large, responsible for what employees do on a day-to-day basis. The environment is composed not only of the physical aspects, such as office space and equipment, but also the management environment, which includes policies, procedures and the relationships of managers and supervisors with employees and staff. The last part of the environment is the social aspect, which involves the relationships among peers, co-workers and customers.

All these things put together, create the workday environment. The fact that you have a problem meeting deadlines suggests that it’s not an individual problem, but rather a system problem.

We need to encourage our employees to have pride in their quality of work. Communicate with employees daily. Ask how they are progressing with their project, what hurdles did they have to overcome and what did they learn today that they may not have known yesterday.

I personally believe that one needs to be sure employees understand they have to be held accountable for the work they are performing.

Deadlines and promises play a major role in our personal lives, as well. None of us would tell one of our children that we will be at a certain place, at a predetermined time, and just not show up. Would any of you make a date with your spouse and not show up, leaving them sitting at a table all by themselves? Would you tell a parent that you will be bringing dinner over at 6:00 and not show up to feed them? Unfortunately, some people will do these kinds of things of equal value in the work place. If the common goal becomes lost, people may need to be replaced in order to keep the organization running successfully. B

ONLA Office Update

B

Spring Staff Update The ONLA Office Update is brought to you by the ONLA staff members.

Check out what is going on in different areas of the ONLA World Headquarters!

Roni Petersen: Membership & Certification Manager.

I have been busy finalizing the 2015 ONLA membership renewals and preparing the remaining certificates for mailing. In March, We had a successful ONLA membership meeting in Columbus and we are planning four more regional membership meetings from April to July. Keep your eyes on the calendar of events for an upcoming meeting in your area. The 43rd annual Landscape Awards program brochure will be hitting mailboxes in April, start thinking about projects and taking pictures to submit! If you are an OCNT and need credits, we are adding qualifying events to our calendar frequently.

Amanda Domsitz, Communications Director The first issue of the 2015 PEST Newsletter was sent out the last week in March. Don’t forget, it’s not to late to register for your 2015 subscription, see ONLA.org for more details. You can also find our brand new ONLA Media Kit on our website. This includes new pricing for The Buckeye, Ezine, and ONLA website advertising. We also have classified postings available on our website.

Contact me for more details at amanda@onla.org. Have a great and successful Spring!

Lisa Larson, Education Director Professional development is central to ONLA’s mission, so we offer year-round options for owners, managers and crew members to learn and grow their expertise. I’m finalizing plans for the popular Diagnostic Walkabout Series, where OSU experts lead a landscape tour and share the latest methods for diagnosing and controlling pests and diseases. We’ll offer six 2-hour walkabouts across Ohio that will provide CEU’s from ODA, ISA and more. Based on increased interest in hardscape training, we’ll be partnering with an ICPI onla.org

certified trainer to offer several best practice programs on: estimating, sales and installation of overlays, segmental pavers and retaining walls.

Last week “CENTS Rock Star” Janet Macunovich, lead a landscape troubleshooting class and a seasonal pruning intensive that was SOLD OUT... and in September we’ll repeat the programs at Cedar Point!

Watch for upcoming announcements, with dates and please see page 6

   

 

   

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

April 2015 5

continued from page 5

registration options for all of our hands-on trainings with expert educators where you’ll expand your knowledge, elevate your skills and earn CEU’s.

Amy Eldridge, CENTS Manager I’m working with a new partner to launch new technology that will offer exhibitors user-friendly options to view the show floor map, plan their space and finalize their contracts and payments. CENTS 2016 is about “connecting-the-dots,” I’m working with Lisa on an innovative plan to offer live technical training and science-based education on the trade show floor.

We’ll engage the exhibits and education committees, our sponsors and partners to create a show that will provide sector tours, industry, technical and resource training to encourage exhibitors, educators and attendees to create mutually- beneficial relationships. Our plan is to offer demonstrations and education for technicians, managers, owners, architects and designers to increase their plant, product and supplier know-how on both sides of the CENTS aisle.

Karen Lykins, Accountant I know that the words exciting and accounting aren’t usually found in the same sentence, but this time, they are! We have a lot of new things going on in the department. We are working with YourMembership to implement a plug in feature that will allow purchases made on our website to automatically be downloaded into Quickbooks, our current accounting system. Implementing this feature will allow us to be more efficient. B

LANDSCAPING EQUIPMENT SALES • SERVICE • PARTS • RENTALS

Covering Northeast Ohio

Covering Central Ohio

MH

BURNS 800-752-1220 • www.burnsjcb.com

6 The Buckeye

Covering Southwest Ohio

855-509-1689 • www.hy-tek.net

513-681-2200 • www.mhjcb.com

onla.org

Green Industry Business

Why Small Business Owners in the Green Industry Have a Hard Time Delegating and What They Can Do About It Why is it so hard for a small business owner in the green industry to delegate some of his or her responsibilities? When you stop to analyze what it took to get them to where they presently are, it’s easy to understand.

First, in order for any small business owner to be successful, it takes a lot of hard work. Realizing that they can always count on themselves to do it the “right way,” it quickly becomes a habit to do any present task at hand themselves. Habits are funny things. Once formed, we have to live with them. As Zig Ziglar once said, “Good habits are hard to form and easy to live with. On the other hand, bad habits are easy to form and hard to live with.

“Developing the habit of doing everything—or most everything—yourself is easy to form, but as your business grows, it becomes extremely difficult to break that habit.

In his book, Pizza Tiger, Tom Monaghan of Domino’s Pizza confessed that he loved to make pizzas. He was good at it. He could knead and flip the pizza dough, and make it just right. But early on, when he was starting out with only one or two stores, he realized that if he was going to really grow his pizza empire, he was going to have to stop doing the easy stuff, making pizzas. Instead, he needed to start working on developing a good habit, which was more difficult to form: the habit of doing things that would expand his business.

Let’s face it, most business owners and managers have a hard time with delegation. But in a very real sense, they’re stealing from their company. Stealing, in this sense, means that they are robbing it of the use of the onla.org

Tom Borg Tom Borg Consulting tom@tomborg.com

skills and talents of the people they have hired. By not delegating, they will not allow these employees to learn and use new skills to do their job.

The second way they are stealing is by continuing to do the tasks that could be delegated. This prevents them from doing the top-priority activities they should be doing to grow the company.

When I first started working with one of my past green industry clients, he had a very hard time getting rid of one of his ‘bad habits’. He didn’t trust his foremen to fill up the gas tanks of their trucks and their gas containers.

So, each night after they brought back the vehicles to the shop, my client would drive the trucks, one at a time, to the local gas station, where he would fill up both the truck and the gas containers. To say the least, this was definitely not a good use of the owner’s time.

As mentioned earlier, part of the reason an owner does not delegate is that over the years, they have had to engage in many different activities to make their business successful, and often they enjoyed doing many of those different tasks. However, in order to take their company to the next level, they must come to realize that unless they learn how to effectively delegate, their company can never expand and grow.

In my experience working with green industry owners, I have heard many different excuses for not delegating.

Some of them are: • They don’t feel anyone who works for them can do it “exactly the right way.” please see page 8

April 2015 7

B

continued from page 7

•

Online Availability klynnurseries.com Visit our website Sales Staff Availability* Hot List* Klyn Catalog 2015* Quote Form Photo Gallery E-mail addresses About Us Directions *Contact us for user name and password

KLYN NURSERIES, Inc. 3322 SOUTH RIDGE RD. • P.O. BOX 343 PERRY, OHIO 44081

TELEPHONE: (440) 259-3811 FAX: (440) 259-3338 1-800-860-8104 Web Site: klynnurseries.com

They don’t feel secure enough to give authority to others.

• They feel they will lose control if they give up some of their tasks or responsibilities.

• They don’t think the people they hired are intelligent enough to do it properly.

• They don’t trust the people that work for them.

• They don’t feel others have the skills to do the task well enough.

• By the time they show someone else how to do it, they feel they could have done it themselves.

• They just don’t want to bother with the hassle of delegating to others.

• They don’t want to stop doing the tasks they enjoy.

When green industry business owners learn how to delegate, here are some of the benefits I have observed: • It gets the job done.

• It grows their people.

• It allows their people to feel involved.

• It creates better and greater productivity.

• It allows them to do more important things.

A good way to look at this idea of delegating is to look at the game of baseball. The manager can’t play all nine positions of the team. Even if he could play all nine positions, he couldn’t do them all at the same time. If he is going to do a truly effective job of overseeing and really maximizing the talent and potential of his players, he has got to be the manager, not one of the players.

Here are some basics of delegating a job effectively: • Pick the person to whom you’re going to delegate.

• Plan out how you will delegate the job.

• Explain to the person: • What you want them to do.

• What you don’t want them to do.

• How well you want it done.

• When you want it done by.

• Discuss with them how they plan to do it and answer any questions they may have.

• Let them do the job.

So in summary, as Tom Monaghan learned to do, start delegating the right things to the right people and watch your business grow.

This article first appeared in Irrigation & Green Industry Magazine.

Tom Borg is a business expert who works with small and mid-size Green Industry companies to effectively and profitably improve customer acquisition and retention.

He helps these businesses through his use of consulting, speaking, training and coaching. To ask him a question or to hire Tom, please contact him at: (734) 404-5909 or email him at: tom@tomborg.com or visit his website at: www.tomborgconsulting.com. B

E-Mail: klyn@klynnurseries.com

8 The Buckeye

onla.org

Green Industry Business

Planning for Strategic Success in 2015

(in 7 easy steps)

Now is the perfect time to gain clarity and direction– and set your company up for sweet success–by assessing this past year in broad strokes and by setting your sights on clear long-term objectives.

I developed the following seven questions to help you get focused, and to greatly improve your chances for success in 2015! To gain the most from this exercise, give this same set of questions to your management team and get together to review your answers.

JEFFREY’S SEVEN STRATEGIC-PLANNING QUESTIONS 1. What were your (your company’s) biggest accomplishments in 2014?

Too often we are overly self-critical as human beings.

This question therefore allows you to enumerate your successes and build on your strengths. Think about the larger positive impact you have had on your business, your clients, your employees and your personal life where applicable.

2. What did not work well in 2014?

OK, now you can take a high level look at your missfires. What did you attempt last year that didn’t quite play out as you had hoped? Don’t go over board; keep your list high level by focusing on the top 3 to 5 points.

Jeffrey Scott GetTheLeadersEdge.com

3. What were your high-level key learnings from the past year?

Here is the step most people forget to take when assessing their progress. Reflect on what you learned: both to confirm the positives as well as to use these learnings for future decisions and strategic planning. One client of mine who answered this, said initially that “he learned nothing new” this past year. He said the year was full of reminders but nothing brand new. He didn’t dig deep enough. You have dig through the mud and get down to bedrock and virgin soil. If you aren’t learning, you’re dying.

4. For 2015, what are the biggest challenges and obstacles you (your company) need to overcome?

Rock climbers don’t face problems; rather they face “more challenging climbs.” What are your biggest challenges that you foresee this coming year? A rock climber often can take an easy route by turning one way or a challenging route by taking an alternative direction. What challenges would test you and your team this coming year, and stretch your learning and growth?

5. What are your company’s biggest exciting opportunities in 2015 and beyond...?

Ahhh, now we come to what will drive your passion and success this year. List out the most important ones: 3 at a minimum and 5 at the most.

please see page 10

onla.org

April 2015 9

B

continued from page 9

6. Write a short letter to yourself: Next year, at this time, how would you paint a picture of great success in 2015?

This letter should be written both in terms of accomplishments and in terms of how it makes you feel. Include specifics you have accomplished as well as how success makes you feel.

7. You are about to receive a lifetime achievement award for your remarkable accomplishments, what would that award be for?

This is not necessarily about design awards or installation or service...but rather about you and your professional endeavors. This question is similar to “what your head stone reads after you die” except you get to enjoy this award!! Write it out as a full paragraph; what the awards stands for, and what they will read during the ceremony.

10 The Buckeye

Take Action Don’t overthink your answers; write your first draft without any editing or corrections. Then go back and review. Ask your key employees to do the same, and meet and review your answers together. Identify where you are on the same page, and where you all need to have a discussion to get on the same page. This exercise is highly focusing and energizing.

About Jeffrey Scott Jeffrey Scott, MBA, author, consultant, is the expert in growth and profit maximization in the lawn & landscape industry. He grew his company into a successful $10 million enterprise, and he’s now devoted to helping others achieve profound success. Over 6000 read his monthly newsletter. He facilitates the Leader’s Edge peer group for landscape business owners; his members achieved a 27% profit increase in their first year. To learn more visit www.GetTheLeadersEdge.com. B

onla.org

Green Industry Business

Boosting Your Game With Employees Each day, SuccessfulMeetings.com posts a new tip online to help you with your meeting planning, career development, or workplace satisfaction. To see our most recent tips or to subscribe to our How-To Tip of the Day Newsletter, visit bit.ly/smHowToTips. In the meantime, here are three tips to implement right now.

How to Get the Most From Your Employees Let’s face it: You’ve got great employees, and you’ve got not-so-great employees. Unfortunately, the former can’t do everything all of the time. In order to be an effective leader, therefore, you must learn that the best, smartest way is to deploy your “A team.”

Entrepreneur.com contributor Brent Frei suggests approaching team deployment like a football coach.

“Coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots created controversy in 2012 when he loaded up his special teams with starters,” Frei explains. “Belichick said it was all about putting your best players on the field at critical times, not your least important. Same with business. Put your top performers on the most critical projects. Give them the tough problems to solve.”

When they do, inevitably, solve those tough problems, be sure to recognize them for doing so. “In football, coaches meticulously review game films, examining every player’s performance and productivity, grading them on how well individual assignments are executed,” Frei says.

How to Attract Gen Y Employees Like it or not, the future of your company isn’t you; it’s your younger counterparts. In order to survive, therefore, your business must learn not just to hire Gen Y workers, but also how to attract them in the first place.

“As more Millennials continue to enter the workforce, employers are increasingly turning their attention to recruiting them,” reports Business News Daily Assistant Editor Nicole Fallon. “But if employers think Generation onla.org

Y workers will respond to the same old tactics they used in years past, they may want to think again: Millennials aren’t always the easiest to recruit.”

Indeed, recruiting young professionals requires a deliberate and careful strategy that considers how Gen Y likes to live and work. The core of that strategy shouldn’t be highlighting money; rather, it should be highlighting meaning.

“Research has shown time after time that money and benefits are no longer the most important factors when Millennials are choosing a job,” Fallon says.

How to Up Your Interview Game Interviewing is an art. With the right tools at your disposal, however, it also can be a science that is easily mastered, suggests The Muse contributor Aja Frost. “[Imagine] you have a meeting in one hour with a woman who works at your dream company. You’ve never met her before — all you know is that her support could seriously help your chances of getting an in with Company X,” Frost says. “Now, imagine that someone hands you a perfectly crafted dossier that includes the woman’s work history, recent accomplishments, passions, and professional strengths. You just went from, ‘How was your weekend?’ to ‘I hear you like the Red Sox — did you see that last game?’”

A new app called Charlie can give you this sort of dossier, according to Frost, who says it “will comb through the sources you would normally research to prep for a meeting ... to compile a one-pager on the people you’re scheduled to meet with.” B Matt Alderton Freelance Writer & Editor matt@mattalderton.com This article originally appeared in Successful Meetings magazine.

April 2015 11

B

B

Green Industry Business

Six Rules for Effective Peer-to-Peer Communication Effective peer-to-peer communication affects the workplace in a variety of ways, including employees’ morale and satisfaction as well as the company’s overall success. Here are a few rules for more effective peer-to-peer communication:

1. Make Building Relationships a Priority A study released last year, analyzing some 200,000 responses from more than 500 organizations, found peer relationships and camaraderie are significant factors in spurring employees to go the extra mile at work. Teach employees to be open and willing to change their behavior and communication preferences to accommodate others. Model respectful communication techniques that employees can learn from, and if conflicts or misinterpretations arise, be the first to seek a resolution.

2. Say Something at the Right Moment Timing is the key to effective communication.

Why? A study published online last April in the journal of Psychological Science found the longer rewards are delayed, the more they’re devalued. If employee recognition is delayed, it might not have as big an impact. If staffers receive feedback requesting a change too late, the comments might not be as relevant and

12 The Buckeye

making a late modification might not be as helpful to the team. Motivate employees to speak up and recognize one another immediately if communication or recognition is warranted.

Give them the tools needed to do so.

3. Use the Right Medium For employees to successfully communicate with one another, they need the right tools.

44 percent of employees offer peer-to-peer recognition when they have an easy tool to use. Set up an instant messaging or a recognition platform to encourage employees to communicate and acknowledge one another more often. Notice which employees are motivated by written recognition and those who value tangible rewards. Let peers commend one another either way, at their discretion.

4. Prompt Understanding To help employees better understand one another, arrange for collaborative projects, through which communication and understanding are essential for successful completion. Assigning more tasks that require effective teamwork gives employees the opportunity to demonstrate their skills to one another, learn and narrow the gap in mutual understanding about their individual roles in the workplace. An employee should take the time to fully understand another staffer’s point of view

onla.org

before making a rash judgment or accusation.

If your organization allows for this, cross-train and perform another function for a day to gain a better appreciation of how people need to work together.

5. Promote Honesty and Straightforward Behavior Employees who trusted their coworkers, especially their leaders, were less likely to harbor the intention of leaving their organization, Trust doesn’t thrive in environments where people omit important information and beat around the bush. Teach employees to express themselves honestly and straightforwardly. The sooner employees can express their points, the more they will avoid cumbersome misunderstandings.

6. Aim to Encourage More than 54 percent of the employees surveyed have experienced frustration and discouragement in the office. When employees feel discouraged, they find it more difficult to solve problems, make decisions and enjoy their jobs -- ultimately leading to diminished productivity and higher turnover.

Whenever employees communicate or give feedback to one another, ensure that they do so in a positive, constructive way. The aim always should be to encourage employees, never to tear down others by hammering at flaws. Serve as a role model for encouraging others. Respond to mistakes with a willingness to help and make employees feel they have the competence and skills to try again. B Article provided by LS Training

Turfgrass Sod and Grass Seed

Solutions to all your Turf, Ornamental and Landscape Needs COMING SOON!

COLUMBUS

WEST CARROLLTON

6700 Huntley Rd. Columbus, OH 43229

1800 S. Alex Rd. West Carrollton, OH 45449

BELLBROOK

SPRINGFIELD

2615 Stewart Rd. Bellbrook, OH 45305

Fertilizers

Pre-emergent Herbicides

Post-emergent Herbicides

Fungicides

Insecticides

Ornamentals

Growth Regulators

Soil Amendments

Wetting Agents

Aquatic Pond Management

Colorants

Spray Additives

Erosion Control

Safety Products

Ice Melt Products

Marking Paint

Athletic Field Products

Spreaders & Sprayers

Turf Covers

Animal Repellents

3025 Snider Rd. New Carlisle, OH 45344

800-342-0571 greenvelvet.com @GreenVelvetSodFarms @GreenVelvetSod onla.org

Golf Course Products

April 2015  13

B

Green Industry Business

The More Things Change...

What’s your strategy for connecting with today’s consumers?

Are you aiming at the right target with the right message?

“I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words ... When I was young, we were taught to be discreet and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly disrespectful and impatient of restraint.”

You might think this is a member of the silent generation or boomer talking about a Gen Xer or millennial, but you’d be wrong. This is a quote from the early Greek poet, Hesiod, around eighth century BCE (Before Common Era).

Despite their differences, boomers, Gen Xers and Gen Yers share a rebellious youth, a rough entry into the workforce and a huge impact on corporate culture.

Looking at the trends, all three have pushed for a meaningful, collaborative work environment, a want to provide for themselves and their families, and to have the time to spend with their friends doing what they love.

Generational Differences At the Big Grower Executive Summit two years ago, demographer Ken Gronbach wrote about the differences in generations in his book The Age Curve. What I took away from his talk was the methods, approaches, tools, strategies and even terminologies used by each generation might be different, but at the end of the day we are all more similar than we might believe. Instead of focusing so heavily on our differences, perhaps we should acknowledge them, move beyond them and learn from each other.

Staying up to date on the latest demographic trends is important because it helps firms more clearly identify existing and emerging markets for their products and services. By evaluating customers’ and prospects’ demographic trends, managers and other decision-makers can identify changing needs in the marketplace and adjust to them.

Demographic trends can also help organizations spot future spending patterns. For example, the spending trends of baby boomers (who have been so critical to

14 The Buckeye

green industry’s growth) will likely change as they age out of their peak earning years and head into retirement.

Hitting the Target When combined with behavioral and attitudinal data, demographics can be used to improve marketing effectiveness by helping businesses target new customer segments with the right messages at the right time. When done well, businesses can increase consumer awareness, improve customer acquisition efforts and bolster customer retention rates.

I am often asked for sources of demographic insights, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to list my favorite books on the subject: 1. The Age Curve: How to Profit from the Coming Demographic Storm by Kenneth W. Gronbach 2. The Age of Aging: How Demographics are Changing the Global Economy and Our World by George Magnus 3. Boom, Bust & Echo: How to Profit from the Coming Demographic Shift by David K. Foot and Daniel Stoffman 4. The Leisure Economy: How Changing Demographics, Economics, and Generational Attitudes Will Reshape Our Lives and Our Industries by Linda Nazareth 5. State and Local Population Projections: Methodology and Analysis (The Springer Series on Demographic Methods and Population Analysis)

by Stanley K. Smith, Jeff Tayman, and David A. Swanson 6. Boomer Selling - Helping the wealthiest generation in history own your premium products and services

by Steve Howard 7. Almanac of American Demographics by Colin Nagengast If you elect to take on the task of reading these resources, be forewarned — how each author defines demographic age segments varies! Why is that, you ask?

To differentiate their line of thinking and sell their books, of course! onla.org

Definite Definitions While some of the demographers define generations by historical and cultural events, the U.S. Census Bureau uses a statistically measurable approach that determines generational cohorts by annual birthrates, using 4 million as the watermark that identifies the beginning and end of a generation. When birthrates average above or below 4 million per year for an extended period of time, it represents a generational cohort that is only changed when the average birthrate crosses that benchmark again.

For example, from 1946 to 1964, the average annual U.S. birthrate remained above 4,000,000, which according to the U.S. Census Bureau, marks the entire period of the baby boomer generation. From 1965 to 1976, the average annual U.S birthrate remained below 4,000,000, which represents the generation known as baby bust (II) or Generation X. Below is a list of generations determined by the U.S. Census Bureau of generations: • Baby bust (I) (born from 1921 to 1945)

• early cohort (born from 1921 to 1933)

• late cohort (born from 1934 to 1946) • Baby boomers (born from 1946 to 1964)

• Boomer Cohort #1 (born from 1946 to 1957)

• Boomer Cohort #2 (born from 1957 to 1964) • Gen X/Baby bust (II) (born from 1964 to 1976) • Gen Y/millennials/echo boomers (born from 1976 to 1994)

• Leading Edge (born from 1977 to 1990)

• Trailing Edge (born from 1990 to 1994) • Generation Z/Generation I (born from 1995 to 2009?)

The Census Bureau hasn’t yet categorized the generation that follows Generation Y. Many experts are already dubbing it “Generation Z” or “Generation I.” However, little information is available about this young generation, except that the first members of this generation were born around 1995. What’s particularly interesting about Generation Z or Generation I is that every member of this generation was born after the Internet became popularized, which will likely affect this generation’s experiences, attitudes and opinions.

True Targets Demographic segmentation has been around since the 1920s but we have to make sure and understand the limitations of segmenting by demographics as well.

Grouping people by age range, gender, education and income can actually be a very weak way to develop true target markets. This is one of the many fallacies of using demographics in modern marketing; especially considering social media, which has completely rewired the way we communicate and thereby eliminating geographic and media outlet boundaries. onla.org

Connecting to Values: Each of us has a built-in set of filters that’s developed through three significant periods including the Imprint years (birth to 7 years old), the Modeling period (8 to 14 years old) and finally Socialization (15 to 21 years old). These formative periods set up our core set of values and help us distinguish good from bad, valuable from wasteful, and so forth. For example, you already know that people who primarily place value on the environment have a very different psychological makeup then those who primarily place value on material goods and money.

So, why would you talk to them the same way? We must consider that fact when aiming to build relationships in the marketplace. Your brand values and customer values should be aligned. I would almost consider segmenting by values a push marketing effort. To do it successfully, you have to reach in and discover what your brand’s core values REALLY are and if you’re comfortable with them. Start your next marketing strategy by focusing on values in addition to age, gender, income levels or any other demographic variable by which you choose to segment.

Finding Meaning: This aspect of advanced segmentation involves understanding who we are and who we wish to be. One of the best examples over the years has been Harley Davidson. They created meaning around their brand and their customers. They created a gravitational pull for those who want to feel like a bit of an outlaw. To own a Harley means something. It’s why we don’t see many Honda motorcycle gangs. It’s a meaning, a construct that consumers can buy into. So, you’ll have a dentist who lives a nice, cushy life (who he is) and buys a Harley to connect to the outlaw inside (who he wishes to be).

So, how do you use this? You create meaning through the tone and style of your branding and marketing.

Make absolutely sure each marketing piece connects to the meaning you wish to convey. From a segmentation aspect, think about who your customers ASPIRE to be and connect to that. Once you know that, you’ll see a clearer path to finding your ideal customers.

If you want to create genuine relationships in the marketplace and substantially enhance your marketing strategy, consider connecting to psychographic variables such as values and meaning in addition to demographic variables such as age, gender and income level. B Dr. Charlie Hall Texas A&M University, Department of Horticultural Sciences

charliehall@tamu.edu

April 2015 15

B

Green Industry Business

Employer Strategies Part One:

Communicating & Marketing to the Next Generation Millennials, echo boomers, digital millennials, kid employees…are just a few names of the young adults that were born between 1980 and 2000. They are 80-million strong and there are predictions that they will grow to 100 million. If you do the math, the oldest of this group is just turning 35 in 2015. That means that as an employer you have many on your team and obviously they represent a large portion of your customer base.

They’re the most influential generation and they’ve shown more spending power and stronger opinions at an earlier age. The economic opportunity is enormous and one every business needs to embrace.

Whether they’re your customers or your employees, you need to adjust your training as well as your marketing techniques to them. After reviewing the top five requests of Gen-Y-ers, you may find yourself not so different than they are.

This customer is the epitome of multitasking. Too often employers and business owners see this as a way of “turning off” what doesn’t interest them. On the contrary, they’re able to do far more things at one time and actually do them well.

Listen to your Gen Y employees or customer and don’t just give them “ear service” assuming they really don’t care, because they do. This generation doesn’t appreciate a “talking head,” so add various types of media throughout the training process to keep their attention.

Don’t Fake It

Be Original

This is not a customer to try to impress. They’re smart, savvy as well as media bombarded and probably more knowledgeable about your product than you are.

Be straight forwarded and concise in how you

16 The Buckeye

communicate with them and they’ll appreciate your style.

If they’re your employee, be straightforward with your requirements. Explain the “why” behind the task, as this is the generation that “needs to know” before they’ll successfully complete the project.

Listen to Me

This generation grew up being told they’re special and that they can do anything they want. They have a solid sense of identity and you can see that in how they onla.org

“personalize” much of what they own.

Look for the unique things to offer this generation as well as how to train and motivate them as your employees. The old “atta boy” name recognition on the break room bulletin board doesn’t cut it anymore.

This is a generation that has shelves of trophies and awards at home from their accomplishments over the years. They’re used to public recognition, so don’t hold back when it comes to acknowledging a good job.

Know My Communication Style With technology changing at warp speed, it’s important to know how both your employees AND your customers like to be communicated with. Some may choose text messages; others will choose posting a message on Facebook. Either way businesses need to embrace technology and all the ways people prefer for you to contact them.

The power of their friendship is just as important as their expertise in technology. This isn’t a group that will read the newspaper with a cup of coffee and run across your ad. They would rather lose their wallet than their cell phone.

I Know, It’s All About Me! Generation Y is not necessarily interested in where they will be in five years. Statistics show that this generation may have up to a dozen “careers” in their lifetime. They want to know “why” something is important to them right now. They want to know what the product will do for them, right now. They can be interested in you if you can tell them important facts about what you’ve done lately for people like them.

If you are an employer you may be challenged in hiring and retaining this age group. I recently read this statistic, “60% of college graduates expect to remain with their first employer less than five years.” If you wish to retain this bright group, you need to win their trust and respect and not the other way around.

The three keys to retention is to engage them from day one, develop mentors and be transparent, Evaluate your current training material as well as trend-setting marketing ideas and decide what new techniques you can add that’ll make the information more interesting to your younger employees as well as customers. Offer training that’ll fit into their busy lifestyle and they’ll appreciate your flexibility.

please see page 18

7463 West Ridge Road P.O. Box E Fairview PA 16415 800.458.2234 Fax 800.343.6819 e-mail: info@FairviewEvergreen.com FairviewEvergreen.com

onla.org

April 2015 17

continued from page 17

The challenge in marketing to Gen Y-ers, means giving them what they want, when they want, in a quick, easy format so they’ll share it with the world, literally.

It is also no wonder that the Gen Y group says their peers and friends play the biggest role in their decision of what to buy. Talk about being contagious!

If you look at these four areas realistically, you may find yourself being more like a Gen Y yourself. This generation has raised the bar on how we communicate and relate on a global basis. B Anne works with organizations who want to become CONTAGIOUS, on purpose! Anne is a professional speaker, author and customer service strategist. Take advantage of her new 6 Session Contagious Service video webinar training program to use with your staff at http://www.merchandiseconcepts.com or Contact her at :anne@merchandiseconcepts.com

Prodiamine + Isoxaben

DOUBLE TROUBLE FOR WEEDS

What an original idea. To have these two trusted actives found in Barricade® and Gallery®* appear together in one jug. Gemini™ is a convenient, liquid-pre-emergent herbicide specially formulated for nursery use and gives you: • A consistent and prolonged herbicide barrier • Control or suppression of more than 125 broadleaf and grassy weeds Control times two.

• A cost in use per acre that’s competitive with tank mixing

PHONE: 317-784-1442 • FAX: 317-787-2054 www.carlinsales.com *Barricade® is a trademark of a Syngenta Finance Corporation.

Gallery® is a trademark of Dow AgroSciences LLC.

18 The Buckeye

Always read and follow label directions before sale or use of this product. © 2015 An ICL Fertilizers Company, Worldwide Rights Reserved.

onla.org

Green Industry Business

Employer Strategies Part Two:

Strategic Hiring for Today’s Workplace Who makes up your staff? Did you hire them or did you inherit them? Either way, they are the conduit to your customers. If you are big enough to have an HR department or small enough to advertise and hire your own employees, the job of finding and retaining the right people for each position is daunting.

Successful companies create and edit job descriptions with regularity. Before you hire someone, have a detailed description of exactly what the job requires and who the perfect candidate would be.

Then be picky. When the economy is sluggish, there’s a large market of people who “say” they’re the perfect candidate, but only through dedicated interviews and assessment tools can you find the match you’re looking for.

Assessment tools are simple “tests” that provide detailed information about a person’s behavioral style and some of their strengths and weaknesses. Too often people come into interviews with all the “right answers” and when hired, turn into a “Jekyll and Hyde” and you find yourself in the wheel of hiring again.

For more information on assessment tools, you can Google “DiSC” and you’ll find a number of companies who offer online or paper assessment tools to administer to any number of employees.

I recommend having every employee take an assessment test so that you have a clear idea of the behavioral styles of each employee. Your employees should know the reason for the assessment tests and how you plan to use the information. Assessment tools are just a “tool” to

analyze and manage your employees but they shouldn’t be used as the single reason not to hire a person. Regardless of the job, an assessment report on every employee can prove to be invaluable.

You have heard the comment that people like to do business with people who are like them. People also enjoy working with people who are like them. Yet over 60% of employees hate going to work every day. Each year one fourth of the workplace population receives treatment for mental illness or substance abuse. One of the main reasons is that many people have difficulty getting along with the different behavioral styles of their coworkers.

In any company, there is a very good chance that you work with people whose ages range from “20-somethings” to the “traditionalists” or those over 70 and everyone in between. Not only do the generations differ in how they communicate but when you throw in the different personality styles you can see why there are challenges in maintaining a happy workplace culture.

When I teach classes on communicating with different behavioral styles I divide people into five unscientific categories that I have named after bugs. See if you can recognize your customers, employees and even yourself in the following profiles.

Bees Bees are driven. In the DiSC they are the “drivers.”

They are industrious and do well in management positions. However, a Gen Y will manage much differently please see page 20

onla.org

April 2015 19

B

continued from page 19

than a Baby Boomer, yet they can both be “bees.” Don’t bother them when they have had a bad day. Bees are abrupt, to the point, demanding and may be considered rude by others. They prefer a communication style that is clear, specific, and results driven.

Flies A fly is the eternal optimist and everyone’s friend. In the DiSC they are the “influencers.” They are enthusiastic, expressive and the life of the party. They make great receptionists as well as those in sales or even customer service as they are extroverts and like people contact.

Spontaneity is their middle name. If you are selling them something, remember that they are impulse buyers and like showy items that draw attention to themselves.

Whether 18 or 80, flies prefer a communication style in which they can engage others in conversation. If you have a tradeshow booth, this is the type of person you want greeting potential customers.

Ladybugs Ladybugs are steady, reliable and very patient. In the DiSC they are “steadiness.” They make great office managers and nothing ever seems to be a crisis to them. They

20 The Buckeye

usually have the longest employment record in a company because they are very loyal. They like positive assurance an you can count on them to be team players.

They prefer communication that is non-threatening and allows them to think. You just may have a group of “ladybugs” who wear construction hats and drive big rigs and you can count on to always be at work on times and do the job you ask them to do and never give you grief.

Ant The ant avoids conflict and loves information and numbers. In the DiSC they are “compliance.” These people are perfectionists. If you have a job that requires a landscape architect, you can almost count on them being an “ant” and you wouldn’t want it any other way. They play by the rules and are often number crunchers. These people make excellent accountants or finance managers in your business. They like communication that is straightforward and they need to have details to make a decision.

The final “bug” comes as a suggestion from someone who recently attended one of my seminar. He said “Don’t you think there are some people who are “slugs?”

I thought, he’s right! Here is the new description for a “slug.”

onla.org

Slug The slug just “exists.” It takes a major crisis to motivate this type of person. Slugs are great couch potatoes.

They don’t have an opinion on anything. Change is the word they fear the most. They are people that most people don’t like to work with or be around. Unfortunately, too many companies have “slugs” that are “in the boat” but aren’t rowing and are doing more harm than good to the image and performance of the company. Do you have a “slug” you need to get rid of?

I am sure that you recognize that attracting and retaining good employees is an ongoing process. Creating a job description that allows you to verbalize and communicate not only the requirements for the job performance, but also match the behavioral style with the position will help to create a laser focused vision for the person you are looking for.

You may just be looking for an hourly employee, and one that will just show up and do what you ask them to.

The hiring principles are still the same. Describe what

you want, hire as close as possible to what you want and provide training for that employee that hammers home exactly what you expect from each and every employee who are the “face of the company.”

It’s a huge advantage to have a hiring strategy template that you can follow each and every time you hire. It’s also wise to keep people in your “hiring funnel” to avoid panic hiring. Rarely is the outcome of that type of hiring positive. If you have a strong workplace culture, then your customers and employees will spread the word about your “infectious and contagious” business. B Anne works with organizations who want to become CONTAGIOUS, on purpose! Anne is a professional speaker, author and customer service strategist. Take advantage of her new 6 Session Contagious Service video webinar training program to use with your staff at http://www.merchandiseconcepts.com or Contact her at :anne@merchandiseconcepts.com

N U R S E R Y

Quality and Service G A R D E N C E N T E R is the Nature L A N D S C A P E of our Business

Call Us for all your nursery needs including Quotes, Availability or a Catalog

1-877-722-7337 411 N. State Route 235 Fax 937-845-9731

onla.org

New Carlisle, OH 45344 www.scarffs.com

April 2015 21

For Immediate Release Spring 2015

Home Garden Seed Association www.ezfromseed.org

!

The Home Garden Seed Association promotes gardening from seed – an easy, economical, and rewarding way to garden. All HGSA content is provided for the free use of garden professionals. When reproducing information from this or other articles, please credit ezfromseed.org as the source.

Pollinators in the City !By now we’ve all heard the news: pollinators are in trouble. The White House has established a Pollinator

Health Task Force to integrate the needs of bees and butterßies into land management plans. The Department of Transportation is seeking to increase pollinator habitat along highways. When it comes to the built-up cities, it’s up to urban residents to provide nectar, pollen, and nesting options. Every person with access to a sunny Þre escape, patio, or tiny back yard plot can make a difference.

“Nearly 75% of all plants on earth require animals for pollination.” —The Xerces Society A study by Rosemary MalÞ, University of Virginia, and Neal Williams, UC Davis, showed that native bumblebees, which are among our most important pollinators, thrive in urban and suburban environments. In fact, their abundance has been shown to actually increase with increased development. Besides the ubiquitous bumblebee, researchers counted around Þfty other types of bees in a Þve-year survey of community gardens in New York City. Carpenter bees, leaf cutters, borer bees, mason bees, sweat bees, and others were drawn by the ßowers and shrubs planted by urban gardeners.

The Good News is …

!The ßip side of this, however, is the relative lack of abundance of some

other wild bee species, particularly those that depend on early spring bloomers, or nest in bare soil.

A tiny bee carries a lot of pollen!

Plant ßowers in raised beds and containers throughout your own urban garden, and the pollinators will Þnd them. This has been proven in the Battery Rooftop Garden, a 35th ßoor New York garden that is isolated from life on the ground and pummeled by harsh winds. Despite the extreme altitude the garden is inhabited by a diversity of pollinators and other beneÞcial insects, an abundance that has been attributed to high ßoral diversity. If they can make it there, they can make it anywhere!

Pots for Pollinators

Let herbs develop ßowers. Basil, oregano, thyme, and other herbs are pollinator magnets.

22 The Buckeye

!For in-depth information about other ways you can do

your part, read the Council on Environmental QualityÕs recent online publication: Supporting the Health of

Honeybees and Other Pollinators.

onla.org

If we are to sustain urban agriculture, we must support urban bees: 1. Be prepared for pollinators in spring. ItÕs especially important to plant spring-blooming ßowers if

there are no fruit trees or early-blooming shrubs in the vicinity of your urban garden. Columbine, California poppies, sweet alyssum, larkspur, bachelorsÕ buttons, clarkia, cerinthe, and cilantro will sustain bumblebees, miner bees, and other native pollinators until summer nectar and pollen sources become plentiful.

2. Plant ßowers in summer. Group plants of the same species in clusters, and provide a diversity of species in your garden. Zinnias, coreopsis, cosmos, sunßowers, tithonia, echinacea, and herbs that ßower, such as thyme, basil, oregano, and arugula will keep bees busy through the summer and into the fall. !

!

3. Avoid pesticides. Hand-pick pests, or use non-toxic products such as horticultural oils or soap sprays.

Particularly avoid broad-spectrum pesticides, even organic ones such as pyrethrin.

4. Offer water, and nesting options. Bumblebees often build nests in abandoned rodent nests. Other cavity nesters prefer rotting logs or stumps, or the soft pithy centers of elderberry or sunßower stems. This means Òneatening upÓ can deprive bees of prime nesting sites! Bees also need access to clean, shallow water.

5. Leave spots of undisturbed soil. Bees with the fewest housing opportunities in the urban garden are ground-nesting native bees. Set aside an area of the garden where you will not cultivate the soil, as bees need direct access to the soil surface to construct their underground tunnels. Six to 36-plus inches under the surface, these narrow tunnels lead to small chambers (the brood cells), where next yearÕs bees will develop.

Frequent Fliers in the Urban Garden Planting colorful ßowers, such as the zinnias, scarlet runner beans, and cosmos, will attract pollinators to your garden. Studies have shown that they will stay and pollinate your crops also, ensuring a good harvest.

Most pollinators commonly seen in the urban garden are cavity nesters, and many are solitary bees, rather than hive dwellers. Some can easily be mistaken for wasps or ßies. Left to right: Bumblebee (Bombus impatiens); sweat bee (Lasioglossum sp.); carpenter bee (Xylocopa virginica); metallic green sweat bee (Agapostemon sp.).! photo credits, left to right: Pamela Ruch, Lynette Schimming, Pamela Ruch, Kathy Keatley Garvey

For more great gardening ideas and articles, visit us at ezfromseed.org!

For photos and information, contact renee@reneesgarden.com & patty@seedsbydesign.com onla.org

April 2015 23

B

W h y Tr e e s M a t t e r

how plants work matters As Julie Andrews and Lady Gaga and the genius of Rodgers and Hammerstein would attest, starting at the very beginning is a very good place to start. With plants that could be a seed, or the flower that lead to xygotes, seeds and fruits - pollen tubes and pistils and all that - but rather let us start with the ‘landscape below ground”.

If we are going to get to the root of the matter, then let us begin with soil. Teach your customers well.

1). Soil Chemistry Matters.

The chemistry of the soil is a key factor in terms of which woody plants grow well there. Some plants are acid-loving, such as river birch, rhododendron, white pine, and red maple. Soil considered neutral has a pH of 7.0: above that alkalinity increases and below that acidity increases. The problem for an acidloving plant is that at more alkaline pH values certain plant nutrients are bound to other soil chemicals, making needed minerals such as iron and manganese relatively unavailable to plant roots. Don’t guess – soil test. And select trees and shrubs for planting with the results in mind.

Another chemical factor of soil is something called the cation exchange capacity (CEC).

Without going in to too much

24 The Buckeye

detail now, suffice it to say that CEC relates to how well macronutrients such as nitrogen, so essential for plant growth adhere to soil. Don’t guess – soil test.

2). Soil Physics Matters. Physics relates to soil texture: the percentages of sand (the largest particles), silt, and clay (the smallest particles) in the soil in a landscape. Though plant growth may be supported by a wide range of combinations of sand, silt and clay, the best soils for many woody plants is a loam soil with all three components, with clay being a smaller percentage than sand and silt. Even though it has a bad reputation for root growth, clay is good, just not too much clay: a “heavy” clay soil with too many tiny particles, results in not enough room for oxygen, a key to root health. Soil physics also relates to CEC. Nitrogen easily leaches out of predominately sandy soils with their large particles, compared to clay portions of soil, which retain more nitrogen compounds and other cations, thus making them more available to plant roots.

Top: Roots are tenacious Bottom: Roots are tough, here swallowing rocks

3). The Living Soil or Organic Matters. Roots need water and minerals and oxygen, but we often forget the oxygen part, so essential to the cellular metabolism of plant onla.org

root cells.

Obviously, soil texture comes into play: small particles like clay have less room for oxygen than larger particles such as silt and especially clay.

Soil chemistry comes into play relative to the mineral need, as noted with CEC mentioned above. But overlooked too often is the living component of soils, including all of the microorganisms that number in the hundreds of billions in even as little a soil volume as a cup.

To improve soil structure, which increases oxygen availability to roots and is essential to microbial balance in soil, we need to do the hard work of adding organic matter over time.

Not just any organic matter, but well-decomposed organic matter, such as composted materials.

How does this help with oxygen availability to roots?

Organic matter is essential for the development of soil “aggregates” or ”peds”.

Adding organic matter Spring is Here! encourages the growth of soil microbes that provide en masse a sticky “microbial glue”. These billions upon We are talking, bacteria and fungi and nematodes and billions of microorganisms in microbial glue causes soil many other microorganisms. Some of these microbes particles to adhere into peds that allow for macro-pores are damaging plant pathogens, causing plant disease, between the peds instead of micro-pores between soil but many more are essential to the root-conducive particles, allowing for better air availability in the soil for health of the soil, transforming soil chemicals to usable root metabolism. Soil that is crumbly. Healthier roots forms, competing with damaging plant pathogens, ad mean healthier plants – this is a big deal. No short cuts infinitum. So, how do we encourage an optimal balance here: for many soils,add organic matter each year. Next of microorganisms in the living soil? year: repeat. That is why horticulturists mature with age.

There are no short cuts. We cannot simply add soil Where Roots Grow Matters. Contrary to popular activators or add beneficial fungi or magical chemicals to belief and graphic representations in book after book, root make what we call “soil structure” better, though these systems are not mirror images of the above-ground parts “chicken soup for the soil” solutions seem attractive. please see page 26

onla.org

April 2015 25

A simplified graphical view of a typical tree stem (Photo Credit: Joe Boggs, OSU) continued from page 25

of the trees we see. The absorbing (water and minerals) roots are shallow and wide. Research shows that for a typical large tree over half of the absorbing roots are within the top foot of soil and over 90% are within the top three feet of soil. As well, the root system does not stop with the “drip-line” of the tree, that imaginary circle where water would drip from the canopy leaves. Left unhindered, the root system would expand outward 2-3 diameters of the drip-line or more.

Of course, as those heroic and indefatigable graduate students who have researched where the wild roots grow will attest, there are variations on this theme. Soil type, tree species, obstructions such as roads and driveways and houses may change the equation of where these roots grow – but again – shallow and wide – is the rule that is only marginally excepted. Why does this matter?

It matters because it means that we drastically alter the health of those roots if we change the soil grade over those root systems.

If roots really were a mirror image of the above-ground canopy, then adding soil over the root system would little change the environment of the roots. But with a shallow

26 The Buckeye

root system, adding soil on top or planting too deep at transplanting drastically changes that all-important element for root health – oxygen. Oxygen concentration decreases with soil depth, so the more you bury the roots the more you stress the roots; even a few inches matters.

Couple this with not understanding how far roots spread laterally, and there is much mischief to be made during construction projects around the roots of trees.

Decline of tree health due to root stress is not typically immediate (trees are big organisms), but a failure to understand where roots is why tree decline in new developments where soil grade changes that were severe during house construction later haunts us years down the road.

And now, let us begin our movement up the plant…

Woodman, Spare That Bark. As we move up from roots to the stem of our learning tree, understanding the vascular (conducting) system of the tree matters. On the outside of that stem is the bark, but just on the inner portion of that bark are rings of plant tissue known as the phloem, inside that is an area of new growth known as the vascular cambium, and inside that rings of xylem. The onla.org

xylem is made up of plant cells which take up minerals and water from the soil and transport these up the stems to the leaves. The rings of vascular cambium produce xylem cells to the inside, and phloem tissue to the outside. Phloem in turn, is made up of rings of cells that bring plant food, made in the leaves through the wonderful start-of-thefood-chain process of photosynthesis, down to the roots.

This is the only way that the energy source for plant cell metabolism gets to the roots. The life of the tree is thus vitally interconnected.

Food, made in the leaves travels through the stem in the phloem to nourish the roots which need this energy source to take up water and minerals needed by the stems and leaves and flowers and fruits. Oh, what wondrous life! But remember: the

phloem is just on the inner portion of that bark – damage this with weed whips, lawnmowers, unremoved wires and rubber staking aids, and you damage the phloem.

For the future: More on stems, leaves, flowers and fruits. And one final note, now that this much- desired Spring has sprung: She turned to the sunlight And shook her yellow head, And whispered to her neighbor: “Winter is dead.”

-A. A. Milne B Jim Chatfield Ohio State University Extension chatfield.1@osu.edu Photo Caption: Girdling wires and hoses left on tree from staking can kill a plant by preventing food movement from leaves through stems to roots(Pam Bennett, OSU, with permission)

Kodiak

®

Diervilla

You need a durable, native plant that will thrive in sun or shade? Drought tolerant? Deer resistant?

And support pollinator populations, too? You’ve got it!

Our new Kodiak™ Diervilla do all of that, plus add intense color to your landscapes.

It’s just one of the over 240+ Proven Winners® shrub varieties available from Spring Meadow Nursery. We have 2¼”, 4” and Quick Turn™ liners available for 2015.

Kodiak® Black

Kodiak® Orange

Contact Sara Gordon to add these profitable new plants to your spring order.

616-223-3376 Download the iBook at: http://tinyurl.com/o3lvskn

100c / 0m / 81y / 66k

Learn about these and other Proven Winners plants with the new iBook for landscapers. Easy-to-read overviews of each genus lead to detailed, downloadable pdf sheets for individual varieties.

ONLA_Kodiak_HalfPg.indd onla.org

1

3/6/15 8:34 AM April 2015 27

45c / 15m / 90y / 20

B

By Design

Photo Caption: The bamboo awning and metal posts set into the stone patio.

Is Your Patio a Hardscaped Space or a Room?

Sad to say, many patios look like an afterthought or a space with a table and chairs but they don’t look an extension of your house nor do they have the presence in your landscape that a room would. Your living room and dining room, perhaps also your den or rec room are entertainment centers. It’s important to think of the patio as another entertainment room.

So, what can you do to turn your patio into a room?

You already have a floor so start by creating walls and a ceiling. There a number of ways to create a ceiling. If you construct pillars or posts around your patio, you could add

28 The Buckeye

horizontal beams of wood or steel or copper, thus creating a pergola of sorts. Under most circumstances, you do not want the ceiling to be solid because you would lose sight of the sky which is the ultimate ceiling. Such a structure would lend itself to the installation of night lighting, very important if you’re entertaining in the evening.

I recently saw, in a Landscape Management article, an innovative design by Mariani Landscape in Lake Bluff, Illinois. A partial ceiling was created on a roof patio so that part of it was shaded and part was exposed to sun.

Small rectilinear cuts had been made in a stone patio onla.org

Left: Pergola over a stone patio. Right: A sail was used as shade for a small patio.

to make room for metal poles that supported a bamboo awning. The awning could have been made from a wide variety of materials.

Something a bit different is a canvas “sail” which is anchored to metal posts and could be any color desired by the client. Another is installing a series of posts, either metal or wood, attaching rods from one side to the other, and then tying an outdoor fabric to the rods.

Hardscape walls can be made of stone, brick, pavers, or wood, depending on the patio material and color. The walls should complement the patio and seem like a logical extension. Top short walls with a cap that can be used as seating. Keep in mind that not all the walls need to be the same height; you could vary them for more interest.

If you want a penetrable but taller wall, you could build pillars at the corners of the patio if it is rectilinear or at intermittent intervals if it is curvilinear, thus implying the creation of walls. In the Autumn 2014 issue of Garden Design, there was an article about a design created by Richard Hartlage in which he created an arbor with granite pillars and a horizontal ring on top. This arbor draws the eye and entices one to journey to the raised stone patio that has been set in an area away from the house.

A series of arches or arbors on two or three sides of a patio could serve as inviting entrance doors to the patio room and also imply that there are walls. In fact, you could grow a vine or pendulous narrow tree like a weeping Atlantic cedar on an arbor and virtually disguise it.

Landscape beds can be thought of as living walls.

These beds can be filled with a single type of plant such as an ornamental grass, perennial, or shrub or can be a onla.org

combination of them, depending on the depth of the bed.

If privacy is desired, the plantings should be at least five feet tall. If only a decorative illusion of privacy is wanted, I would keep the plantings at eighteen to twenty-four inches. If the beds are at patio level, I would suggest a raised decorative edging that will prevent soil or mulch from washing onto the patio when it rains. Such edgings could be cut stone, brick, or pavers. Please avoid the omnipresent plastic edging; it is just downright ugly.

Another possible solution is installing raised beds that are created by hardscape walls, thus blending inert and living materials.

Hedges can be considered as living walls. Hedge walls are usually straight lines of evenly pruned plants but they don’t have to be. They can be pruned so that, periodically, there is a ball-shape which breaks up the monotony of the hedge. Keep in mind that hedges don’t have to be pruned at all if a looser look is acceptable and if the plant is chosen for a particular mature size that will not outgrow the allotted space. An arborvitae such as Thuja occidentalis ‘Mr. Bowling Ball’ (‘Linesville’), a rounded conifer that only grows three feet high and wide, or one of the boxwood cultivars could be used in this manner.

In many homes, houseplants are placed strategically around the perimeter of rooms to help create a welcoming and comfortable ambiance. Decorate your outdoor room in the same way. Happily, you have a much larger palette of choices.

Consider spicing up the patio with plants in containers that have colorful foliage. Although there are several tropicals, such as Canna and Colocasia (Elephant Ear) that would be useful, don’t forget about some of the old standby houseplants such as Aglaonema (Chinese Prayer Plant) and Ficus elastica (Rubber Plant). The variegated please see page 30

April 2015 29

An arbor has been added as an entrance to a patio. continued from page 29

rubber plant would supply color and textural contrast to the plants around it with minimal water. Be sure to pick plants according to their light requirements. That variegated rubber plant would burn in full sun. Such plants winter over in a basement with very little light or water.

Many shrubs and perennials have yellow, purple, burgundy, or variegated foliage. Remember that foliage color lasts much longer than flower color. The “in” color for 2015 is Marsala, a color similar to burgundy and maroon. There are several hardy plants that would fit the bill, e.g.red-leaved Japanese maples, sand cherry (Prunus cistena), heucheras like ‘Crimson Curls’, or one of the purple-leafed sedums that often are more dark red than purple.

Transform your client’s patio into the room in which they want to live. B Bobbie Schwartz, FAPLD Bobbie’s Green Thumb bobbie@bgthumb.com

smart phone phone Scan with smart

CALL YOUR BUSINESS PARTNERS Dick Posey, Josh Posey, Judd Posey, www.BuckeyeResources.com Jake Posey, Tony Sciambi or Mike Satkowiak

937-462-8346

For complete listing & product descriptions, visit

www.BuckeyeResources.com

30 The Buckeye

88415 Buckeye 3.5x5 Ad.indd 1

onla.org

2/10/15 3:53 PM

Excerpt from the PEST Newsletter About the P.E.S.T. Newsletter Over 22 years ago, Dr. David Shetlar joined The Ohio State University as an Extension Entomologist He opted to continue printing Dr. Dick Miller’s BugDoc in partnership with the ONLA. It’s new name is the PEST (Pest Evaluation & Suppression Techniques) Newsletter, and it’s printed biweekly from mid-March to mid-October.

What Was That?

Strange Things on the Snow!!

I knew that we were going to be in for an interesting Winter Stoneflies winter when I received a couple of emails in late December about strange critters walking across the snow! The images were of winter stoneflies. Stoneflies are insects that have aquatic nymphs. These nymphs live in streams and rivers, but have the interesting habit of emerging during the dead of winter! Because they have their own antifreeze in their blood, these insects can remain active at temperatures down to about 10°F, especially if it is a sunny day! Most of them look like elongate roaches and they are usually black (better to absorb any heat from the sun).

They creep fairly slowly at low temperatures, but they can move pretty fast, even take flight, when it gets close to freezing. They don’t move far from streams, but homes that were built within 100 feet of a stream or river can often have them crawling up tree trunks and even the siding of the house. Even in winter, they can be attracted to night lights!

As with last year, I had a couple of reports of brightly colored “jumping things” observed on the snow. onla.org

These are winter-active springtails that are often called “snowfleas!” They are usually pink to dark blue in color, but there are some yellow species. Most entomologists speculate that these come to the surface during the winter to mate and avoid being eaten by predators.

I read in the Columbus Dispatch a couple of weekends ago about the adventures of the nature columnist. He had gone out in the snow with some other folks who liked looking for wee critters, not just birds. He talked about the stoneflies (even saw some flying) and snowfleas, but the strangest critter was the winter scorpionflies!

Scorpionflies are common inhabitants of our woodland areas. They are called this because the males have a knob-like structure on the tips of their abdomens which are held over the backs of their bodies, like a scorpion tail. They prey on other small insects. Winter scorpionflies are very tiny, black to dark brown and they lack the ability to fly. As far as we know, their larvae feed on mosses, and the adults have not been observed feeding. Again, they apparently emerge in winter to mate, then females scatter their eggs among the mosses. Strange!

Register Today!

It’s not too late to register for the 2015 PEST Newsletter. See onla.org or register using the subscription form on page 32. B

April 2015 31

The P.E.S.T. Newsletter

Pest Evaluation and Suppression Techniques

Editor: David Shetlar (THE BUGDOC), Landscape Entomology Extension Specialist, The Ohio State University Extension

Now is the time to renew to the most important newsletter you may ever receive! Green industry professionals need to remain up-to-date on the latest pest problems and solutions. The P.E.S.T. Newsletter, written by Dr. Dave Shetlar of The Ohio State University, provides timely information on the eradication and control of common pests.

The newsletter for the 2015 season will consist of sixteen issues. These issues will begin arriving in mid-March and continue through October. Subscriptions for the 2015 season are $32.00 for members of the Ohio Nursery & Landscape Association (ONLA), and $40.00 for nonmembers.

Online Newsletter: All subscribers will receive their newsletter by email.

Subscribers can view the newsletter on their computer screen (attached to the email messages as an Adobe PDF file), print the newsletter, and save the newsletter to their computers.

The ONLA, in cooperation with Dr. Shetlar, is proud to continue offering this publication as a much needed resource for Ohio’s nursery & landscape professionals.

Below is a subscription form.

2015 PEST SUBSCRIPTION FORM Please Type Or Print Carefully

Name: Firm Name: Mailing Address: City, State and Zip: Phone: E-Mail (required*):

ONLA Member $32.00

Note: membership will be verified at ONLA office

*Please note that all subscriptions to The PEST Newsletter will be emailed in 2015 unless circumstances prevent you from having access to an email account.

Call the ONLA office if you cannot receive The PEST Newsletter via email.

DISCOUNT FOR MULTIPLE SUBSCRIPTIONS WITHIN A COMPANY! If there are additional individuals within the same company wishing to subscribe to the PEST, simply pay full price for the first subscription and an additional $2 per extra subscription thereafter. Attach additional email addresses to this renewal form.

32  The Buckeye

Payment Method:

Non-Member $40.00

Check Enclosed (# Charge my: VISA

) MasterCard

Name Card Number Exp. Date Signature

Send completed form with payment to: The Ohio Nursery & Landscape Association 72 Dorchester Square / Westerville, Ohio 43081-3350 Ph: 614-899-1195 or Fax: 614-899-9489 onla.org

LandscapeAwards celebrate excellence

2015Applications CALLdueFOR ENTRIES September 25, 2015 Thank you to our Program Sponsors!

R E S O U R C E S

Project of the Year & GRAND

Winning Project

Fullmer’s Landscaping, Inc. Dayton, OH

Ohio’s Most Prestigious Landscape Awards Competition

I N C .

CATEGORIES

Do you have a brilliantly designed landscape, a fantastic seasonal garden or a shining example of an exclusive backyard retreat or oasis? Why not show the quality of your work by entering the 43rd Annual Landscape Awards Program?

Earn the chance to be recognized for your design savvy and green industry know-how. Enchance your company image by highlighting your awardwinning projects and marketing your ONLA accolades to prospective customers.

Purpose & Objective: • • • •

Reward skilled professionals who have executed quality workmanship.

Encourage landscape contractors, landscape designers, and landscape architects to continue their efforts to raise the industry’s image through consistent use of quality materials and outstanding workmanship.

Make the public aware of how quality landscaping can improve our environment and property values.

Recognize citizens who have taken action through quality landscaping to attain this end.

Categories 1-5 (Residential and Commercial Installations) may include any or all of the following features: plantings, hardscapes, structures, water features and lighting.

Category 1: Residential Installation Under $15,000

Residential design/build projects valued at $15,000 and under may be entered into this category. 8-20 project photos, with written descriptions required. (No plan required)

Category 2: Residential Installation $15,001 to $50,000

Residential design/build projects valued $15,001-$50,000 may be entered into this category. 8-20 project photos, with written descriptions required. (No plan required)

Category 3: Residential Installation $50,001 & Over

Residential design/build projects valued at $50,001 & over may be entered into this category. 8-20 project photos, with written descriptions required. (No plan required)

Category 4: Commercial Installation Under $75,000

Commercial design/build projects valued at $75,000 and under may be entered into this category. 8-20 project photos, with written descriptions required. (No plan required)

Category 5: Commercial Installation Over $75,000

Commercial design/build projects valued over $75,000 may be entered into this category. 8-20 project photos, with written descriptions required.

(No plan required)

Category 6: Residential Landscape Management

Must include one project maintained by entrant. In this category, the plantings under consideration must have been cared for by the entering firm for a period of 12 months or more. If this does not include lawn care, be sure to indicate on your written description. No plans are necessary in this category, however, images showing the seasonal progression maintenance details are highly recommended. 8-20 project photos, with written descriptions required.

Category 7: Commercial Landscape Management Please reference description for Category 6.

Category 8: Use of Seasonal Color, Container Gardens, or Perennial Gardens

Seasonal color entries must include images depicting a progression of seasonal color (winter, spring, summer, fall) on a single client’s project.

Seasonal color or container garden entries could include window boxes, patio planters, street planters, etc. Seasonal color or container garden entries may include the use of annuals, perennials, bulbs, etc. Perennial garden entries must feature the predominant use of perennials and/or grasses. (No plan or plant lists required.) 8-20 project photos, with written descriptions required.

Category 9: Student Landscape Design

The philosophy of this competition is to encourage students to design imaginatively and creatively while being mindful of the practical considerations of site opportunities and constraints, program requirements, local government rules and environmental issues.

While students are not restricted by a design and construction budget, they must be able to identify material choices for their garden designs including all hard & soft landscaping elements.

Entries in this category require the submission of a landscape plan of a garden or residence (maximum size 24”x36”). Additional supporting drawings such as elevations, details and perspective sketches may also be included but are not required. All plants and hardscape elements must be clearly labeled on the plans. Plans must be to scale and include a graphic scale and north arrow. No student names or the name of any College or University shall appear on the plans. High resolution digital images of plans may be submitted in place of printed plans.

The official entrant must be a Student member of ONLA. Student entries may be individual or team efforts. For team entries, all team members must be Student ONLA members. A list of all team members must be submitted with the entry form, along with copies of each team member’s valid student identification card.

Category 10: Theme Gardens or Retail Displays of Horticultural Products or Services

May include permanent or temporary installations or product/merhandise displays at garden centers or in landscapes; landscape or garden center company headquarters; garden show, mall, trade show, or state/county fair displays; knot gardens; butterfly gardens; rock gardens; dwarf conifer gardens; etc. (No plan required). Please state the intended theme in your written description.

©The Ohio Nursery & Landscape Association, www.onla.org, 800.825.5062, info@onla.org

Both ONLA members and non-members may submit entries. Submitted projects can be entered up to five years after installation. Any project is eligible in which the entrant has executed or designed the major portion of that project (excluding the maintenance categories).

Any project can be re-entered in the same category unless that project received a previous ONLA Grand Award. Previous Grand recipients may be re-entered in a different category.

Ohio-based ONLA members may enter projects completed within or outside of Ohio. ONLA members based outside of Ohio and all non-member companies may only enter projects completed in Ohio. Entries must be received by Friday, September 25, 2015.

Copyrights and Client Permission

The entrant assumes the responsibility for copyrights, photographic fees and client permission for further use of images by the ONLA for public relations purposes. The ONLA is not responsible for the pictures selected or any edited copy used from the press package sent to the media. Entries become the property of the ONLA and may be used for publication or for any other purpose the association deems appropriate.

Judging & Awards

Two types of awards may be granted in any category, when warranted. All awards are given based on a 100-point system. Points are given by a panel of judges for each entry in a category.

Points are then collected, tallied and averaged to reach the entry’s final score.

Awards may not be given in a category if no entry is awarded an appropriate score.

Merit Awards are given to entries scoring a minimum of 70 points. Multiple Merit Awards may be given in any category.

One Grand Award will be given in each category to the project that has the highest score above 85 points. A single Judges’ Choice: Project of the Year Award is given to one award-winning entry at the discretion of the judges.

A jury of distinguished professionals in the fields of landscape architecture, education and horticulture will evaluate entries and recommend recipients to the awards committee. The judges will determine the quality of materials (both plant and construction), design, completeness of installation,

workmanship, and horticultural correctness in the landscape installation using only the images and descriptions submitted with each entry.

Judging is always a subjective endeavor.

Project images are projected in sequence, as directed by the entrant, for every entry. The judges’ decisions are based on the image presentation and written descriptions of each entry. Read the Judges’ Criteria Forms (available from the ONLA office) for details on a specific category. All entrants receive copies of judges’ critiques. Each project is judged individually and not against other projects, it is judged against the industry standard.

Digital Photography

Company name must not appear on any images. All photos must be submitted as JPEG (.jpeg) files via email thumb drive. JPEG files should be saved in the HIGHEST RESOLUTION or LOWEST COMPRESSION (meaning the same thing). A separate thumb drive must be submitted for EACH individual project.

Photos cannot be edited in any way, EXCEPT to blur/mask a logo or company identifier OR to correct color brightness/ contrast/balance. Entrants can submit up to 20 photos, in the order that the judges will view them. At least three of the photos must be HIGH RESOLUTION and HIGH QUALITY. Each image should be named and that name should be noted in the image description. Label your company name on thumb drive.

Entry Fee

Each entry must be accompanied by a $75.00 fee (non-members, $110.00).

Student entries are Free

Recognition

Winning recipients will be honored and recognized in conjunction with CENTS in Columbus, OH on Wednesday, January 13, 2016. A complimentary commemorative plaque is provided; additional plaques are available for purchase. Press releases on winning entrants are supplied to companies.

Winning projects are featured in a designated “Landscape Awards Program” display area at CENTS. Photos of every winning project and contact information for every winning company will be included on all of ONLA’s social media channels (including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Houzz, Google+, YouTube, and LinkedIn) and the ONLA consumer website BuckeyeGardening.com.

Tell A Story With Words and Pictures

Sell us your project! Write your project description (with references to your pictures) as a narrative. Keep in mind how it will sound when read, and write a compelling story. Since the only way the judges have to evaluate your project is through photos, you want the highest quality possible.

Client Driven Designs

Quirks or conditions imposed on the designer by the owner should be explained. This may well turn a design into a winner if an ingenious solution to a problem was employed. Client objectives are an important component in landscape design/build and judges want to know how you have incorporated these objectives.

Plant Materials

Plant materials should be well adapted and properly used. A plant requiring full sun used in shade is an obvious flaw.

Project Maturity

The rules allow a project to be five years old at submission. In general, the more mature job will make a better show.

Submitting Designs in Multiple Categories or to Other Awards Competitions

If you enter the same project in more than one category, tailor your photos and written description to the specific category. Do not use the same written description for two different categories.

The judges notice!

The same entry can and should be submitted in state and national competitions. There is no reason that your work in preparing the entry should not do double and even triple duty.

Entries due Friday, September 25, 2015

©The Ohio Nursery & Landscape Association, www.onla.org, 800.825.5062, info@onla.org

PROGRAM RULES & TIPS

Eligibility Requirements

celebrating 43 years

Entry Form Deadline: Friday, September 25, 2015. Use a separate entry form for each entry. This form must be completely filled out and accompanied by a written description of all photos for the submitted project to be judged.

NEW! Entries and photos can be submitted via email to info@onla.org.

LandscapeAwards celebrate excellence

En t ra n t In for mation Contact Name:___________________________________________________________________________ Company Name:_________________________________________________________________________ Address:_____________________________________City:_________________State:_____ Zip:_________ Phone: (

) _____________________ Email: _____________________________________________

P ro j e ct I n f o r m a t i on ( leave no blanks ) Category Number:_________ Category Name:_______________________________________________________________________________ Project Name:_________________________________________________________________________________________________________ (if different from entrant) Landscape Architect Firm:________________________________________________________________________________________________

Total Amount for Contracted Work:$___________________

Year of Installation:________________

The entrant assumes the responsibility for copyrights, photographic fees and client permission for further use of images by the ONLA for public relations purposes. The ONLA is not responsible for the pictures selected or any edited copy used from the press package sent to the media. Entries become the property of the ONLA and may be used for publication or for any other purpose the association deems appropriate. I verify that all information contained on this entry form is accurate. I further verify that no alterations of any kind have been made to the images I’ve submitted for this entry.

Signature:_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

P ay m en t I nf o r m a t i on

Check lis t

Number of Entries:­­­­­­­­­­­­­_____ x $75.00 (ONLA Members)

o Completed entry form o Entry fee o 8-20 photo images in JPEG format o Confirmed that photo files are saved to the disk/ thumb drive o Labeled CD/thumb drive, one per entry o Written project description (use suggested template) o No company names or logos appear in photos o Envelope contains only one entry o Outside of envelope marked with company name & category number

Number of Entries:_____ x $110.00 (Non-Members) Number of Student Entries: ­­­­­­­­­­­­­_____ x $FREE (ONLA Student Members) Total Enclosed: $_____________ o Check Enclosed. (Check #___________________) o VISA o MasterCard Name on Card:__________________________________________ Card Number:___________________________________________ Expiration Date:________

Referred by: _____________________________________________

Signature:______________________________________________ Submit entries to: The Ohio Nursery & Landscape Association 72 Dorchester Square / Westerville, OH 43081 / Phone: 614.899.1195 / info@onla.org

Industry Calendar

View www.onla.org for seminars, events, trade shows and more! O designates qualifying OCNT recertification events O April 11, 2015 Spring Pond College 2015, Springfield, Ohio O April 14, 2015 Implementing a Behavior Based Safety Program, Columbus, Ohio, This seminar is being put on for Group Rating member companies and for companies who had a workers’ comp claim in either 2013 or 2014.

O April 28, 2015 Implementing a Behavior Based Safety Program, Akron, Ohio, This seminar is being put on for Group Rating member companies and for companies who had a workers’ comp claim in either 2013 or 2014.

May 21, 2015 OCNT Testing, Westerville, Ohio

April 16, 2015 OCNT Testing, Westerville, Ohio

June 18, 2015 OCNT Testing, Westerville, Ohio

April 21, 2015 ONLA Membership Meeting, Cincinnati, Ohio, Join us for the Cincinnati Membership Meeting, The meeting is FREE to attend– Drinks and snacks are provided. 5:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Social/Networking, 5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

PUCO Speaker.

July 16, 2015 OCNT Testing, Westerville, Ohio

O April 21, 2015 Implementing a Behavior Based Safety Program, Hamilton, Ohio, This seminar is being put on for Group Rating member companies and for companies who had a workers’ comp claim in either 2013 or 2014.

July 23, 2015 Landscape Industry Certified Hand-on Test, To become a Landscape Industry Certified Technician, candidates must pass a series of written and handson test problems specific to their chosen specialty.

August 11, 2015 NGLCO 48th Annual Field Day, Celebrate the NGLCO's 48th annual Summer Field Day at the beautiful Chalet Debonne Winery, Madison, Ohio.

Visit the NGLCO website for more details.

September 17, 2015 OCNT Testing, Westerville, Ohio October 15, 2015 OCNT Testing, Westerville, Ohio November 19, 2015 OCNT Testing, Westerville, Ohio O January 13-15, 2016 CENTS Marketplace & University B

O July 30, 2015 2015 OSU Annuals Trial, Columbus, Ohio

PERMEABLE CLAY PAVERS When installed in a permeable pavement system, StormPave allows rain water to filter through and dissipate into the soil rather than carry excess pollutants into storm drains and waterways.

Genuine Clay Pavers—Strong ▪ Durable ▪ Colorfast

Mineral and Peat Grown Sod for Sun and/or Shade, Blue Grass Blend, Improved Tall Fescue, Fine Leaf Fescue & Blue Grass Mix Contract Grown to Specifications.

Shredded Topsoil, Peat, and Custom Blending (Delivered or On-Site) Bark Mulch, Ties Custom Hauling

"Ohio Grown PROUDLY for over 50 years!” onla.org

www.claypaver.com

800­334­8689 April 2015 37

Advertisers’ Index Big Trees Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 bigtreegroup.com Buckeye Resources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 The Official Publication of the Ohio Nursery & Landscape Association

buckeyeresources.com The Buren Insurance Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 coveryourgrass.com

The Buckeye is the nursery and landscape industry’s authoritative voice in Ohio.

Second to none in editorial and graphic quality, The Buckeye publishes a wide range of editorial features on the green industry’s key issues.

The Buckeye is another example of how the ONLA leads, promotes, and facilitates the success and growth of green industry businesses.

The Buckeye is published 10 times each year with a circulation of over 5,000 each issue and an

estimated readership of over 10,000. Advertisers benefit from an industry-specific audience, with distribution to professional nursery, landscape and independent garden center businesses and individuals, certified green industry professionals, educators/researchers, and subscribers.

Access Ohio’s $4.9 billion industry. Contact Amanda to learn how your business can benefit from becoming an advertiser in The Buckeye.

800.825.5062 amanda@onla.org

Cardno . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 cardnonativeplantnursery.com Ernst Seeds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 ernstseed.com Everris. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 everris.us.com Fairview Evergreen Nurseries. . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 fairviewevergreen.com Green Velvet Sod Farms Ltd.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 greenvelvet.com Hobby Nursery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 hobbynursery.com JCB of Ohio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 jcbohio.com Klyn Nurseries, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 klynnurseries.com Medina Sod Farms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 medinasodfarms.com

ONLA Classified Advertising: onla.org

The online classified service can be found on onla.org along with the complete postings. New ads will be added as soon as they are submitted to the ONLA. For more information, please contact the ONLA office at (614) 899-1195. The ONLA reserves the right to refuse ads. As we go to press, here are the ads posted on onla.org’s online Classified Section: •

Crew Leader, Kevin Reiner Design, Granville, Ohio

•

Landscape Foreman Position, E. F. Pouly Company, United States

•

Design Assistant, Hidden Creek Landscaping, Hilliard, Ohio

•

•

Design / Sales, Hidden Creek Landscaping, Hilliard, Ohio

Landscape & Maintenance Team Leaders, Grunder Landscaping Company, Miamisburg, Ohio

•

•

Grounds Technician, Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, Columbus, Ohio

Landscape Technicians, Graf Growers, Akron, Ohio

•

Horticulture Exhibitions Designer, Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, Columbus, Ohio

Landscape & Maintenance Technicians, M.J. Design Associates, Inc., Plain City, Ohio

•

Landscape Irrigation Technician, Landfare Ltd., Columbus, Ohio

•

•

IPM/Horticulturist Technician, Landfare Ltd., Columbus, Ohio

•

Landscape Project Manager, Landfare Ltd., Columbus, Ohio

•

Laborer/ Brick Installer, Tabor’s Landscaping & Garden Center Inc., North Lima, Ohio

•

Support Greenhouse Grower, Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, Columbus, Ohio

Millcreek Gardens, LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 mgohio.com Oberfield’s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IFC oberfields.com Pine Hall Brick.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 claypaver.com Scarff’s Nursery, Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 scarffs.com Smith’s Gardens, Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 smithsgardensinc.com Spring Meadow Nursery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 colorchoiceplants.com Unilock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IBC unilock.com

Ad Rates & Info Contact Amanda Domsitz 614.899.1195 amanda@onla.org

38 The Buckeye

Landscape Plants for Ohio A Professional’s Guide Please complete the below information Company Name: Contact Name: Shipping Address: City: State: Zip: Phone: Email:

Landscape Plants for Ohio 1-100......................................... $6.00 Each 101-499..................................... $4.75 Each 500 or More .............................. $3.75 Each My Order is as Follows: Return with payment to: (checks payable to) Ohio Nursery & Landscape Association 72 Dorchester Square Westerville, OH 43081 Ph: (800) 825-5062 or (614) 899-1195 Fax: (614) 899-9489 info@onla.org

# of copies _______ x Price per copy __________ = $ ____________ County Sales Tax 7.5% = $ ____________ Total = $ ____________ Payment Information Type of payment:

Check (enclosed)

Card Number Signature

VISA

MasterCard Exp Date