The Landscape Contractor magazine APR.19 Digital Edition

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CONTENTS Excellence In Landscape Awards Project

8

FOCUS: What Does Public Awareness Mean to You?

Help Grow ILCA’s Public Awareness Campaign 10 What Does Public Awareness Mean to You?

Young Professionals Day In — Night Out Event 14 A visit to A.M. Woodland Outdoor Design

ILCA Hosts Foremanship Seminar Featuring updated and expanded content

18

Women’s Networking Group Holds Spring Event 20 A tour of Sebert Landscape in Bartlett

Field Staff Skills Training 22 Offered in English and Spanish

FLIP into Spring 26 The FLIP Committee announces their outreach plans

ILCA Professionals’ Choice Award Chalet — Sophisticated Serenity

14

18

30

EN ESPAÑOL

ILCA Spring Events for Latinos 36 ILCA Eventos de primavera para latinos

Are Plants the New Mulch?

A forward thinking designer offers his thoughts

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32

IM4U 46 A story of intergenerational communication

Member Profile 56 Hembrough Tree & Lawn Care

Revisiting Your Plant Palette Anemone canadensis

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On the cover... Scott Byron and Company, Inc. received a Gold award for Residential Landscape Construction for this project.

The Landscape Contractor April 2019

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CONTENTS

DEPARTMENTS

ILCA Calendar

From Where I Stand President’s Message New Members Classified Ads Advertisers Index

Photo Credits ILCA Awards Program Rick Reuland Thomas Rainer Hembrough Lawn and Tree Care Trish Beckjord

Calendar 4 5 6 52 59 61

AUGUST Save the Date!

August 1, 2019 Summer Field Day Goodmark Nurseries Wonder Lake

8-9, 24-30-34 14-16, 18-24 40-45 56 62

The official publication of the Illinois Landscape Contractors Association (ILCA), The Landscape Contractor is dedicated to educating, advising and informing members of this industry and furthering the goals of the Association. The Landscape Contractor carries news and features relating to landscape contracting, maintenance, design and allied interests. Publisher is not responsible for unsolicited material and reserves the right to edit any article or advertisement submitted for publication.

Publication reserves right to refuse advertising not in keeping with goals of Association. WWW.ilca.net Volume 60, Number 4. The Landscape Contractor (ISSN # 0194-7257, USPS # 476-490) is published monthly for $75.00 per year by the Illinois Landscape Contractors Association, 2625 Butterfield Road, Ste. 104S, Oak Brook, IL 60523. Periodicals postage paid at Oak Brook, IL and additional mailing offices. Printed in USA. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Landscape Contractor, 2625 Butterfield Road, Ste 104S, Oak Brook, IL 60523. DISPLAY ADVERTISING SALES: Association Publishing Partners, Inc., Ph. (630) 637-8632 Fax (630) 637-8629 email: rmgi@comcast.net CLASSIFIED ADS, CIRCULATION AND SUBSCRIPTION: ILCA (630) 472-2851 Fax (630) 472-3150 PUBLISHER/EDITORIAL OFFICE: Rick Reuland, rmgi@comcast.net, Naperville, IL 60540 Ph. (630) 637-8632 PRODUCT DISCLAIMER: The Illinois Landscape Contractors Association, its Board of Directors, the Magazine Committee, ILCA Staff, The Landscape Contractor and its staff, neither endorse any products nor attest to the validity of any statements made about products

ILCA Staff

Magazine Staff

Executive Director Scott Grams (630) 472-2851 sgrams@ilca.net

Rick Reuland Publisher/Advertising Sales (630) 637-8632 rmgi@comcast.net

Education Manager AnneMarie Drufke adrufke@ilca.net

Debbie Rauen Advertising Sales (817-501-2403) debbie.landscapecontractor@ yahoo.com

Events Manager Terre Houte thoute@ilca.net Office Manager Alycia Nagy anagy@ilca.net

v Becke Davis Senior Writer

treethyme@aol.com Patrice Peltier

Membership & Marketing Manager Marissa Stubler mstubler@ilca.net

Feature Writer patpeltier@charter.net

v

Feature Writer

ILCA 2625 Butterfield Road Ste. 104S Oak Brook, IL 60523

Meta Levin

meta.levin@comcast.net Nina Koziol

I offer customized self-directed services to meet the needs of small business clients. More than 30 years of experience in accounting, financial management and administration.

Serving ILCA • Financial Reporting • Budgeting • Payables 847.571.5710

Feature Writer

n.koziol@att.net Heather Prince

for 15 years • Receivables/Invoicing • Payroll • Quickbooks

mark@mgkfinancial.com Mark Kaplan, Principal

Follow—

Feature Writer

princeht@sbcglobal.net @ILCAlandscape

4

The Landscape Contractor April 2019

facebook.com/illinoislandscapecontractorsassociation

From Where I Stand — On February 19, 2019, newly elected Governor JB Pritzker signed a minimum wage increase bill – SB1 – into law. The bill was introduced on January 9th. Less than one month later, it arrived in the House. On February 15th it was sent to the Governor and four days later it was signed into law. In terms of Illinois legislation, that is lightning fast. I have seen ten legislative sessions at ILCA and I cannot recall a bill that went from concept to reality before I even got my third bill report. The final deadline for Senate bills is February 15th and the ink was dry on SB1 just four days later.

In lobbying, you always know bills named “SB1” or “HB1” are going to be cannonballs.

They are so named because they represent the singular issue that the House, Senate, or Governor wants to advance in that legislation session. They are the favorite son and given a suitable moniker.

For months, we had been told that the Governor’s first legislative push was going to be for motor fuel tax or sports gambling or legalized marijuana. Those were all aimed at pushing revenue towards our state’s desperate bottom line. Instead, minimum wage was elevated as the key issue the Governor wanted handled before his budget address on February 20th. He got it done with 24 hours to spare.

With a normal piece of legislation, the timetable is slowed to allow special interest groups to weigh in. Obviously, you will find supporters and detractors for most major pieces of legislation, especially one as contentious, impactful, and divisive as minimum wage. When SB1 was announced, our Regulatory and Legislative Committee reviewed the bill, as well as a few different alternatives that would have pushed the wage to $15 per hour. We were strongly opposed to any whiplash change that would more than double the wage in one year. The most palatable options were ones that allowed a ramp and tax credits to ease the burden of the increases on small business.

We also knew that regardless of how hard we lobbied, implored our members to get involved, hit the phones, and told our story to legislators, SB1 was passing. The votes were there and you had a Governor coming off a decisive election win with momentum. The usual suspects lined up on each side of the fence. Most progressive citizens groups and labor unions supported the increase.

The NFIB, Chamber of Commerce, and some trade groups opposed SB1 out of principle. The Illinois Restaurant Association was notably the only trade group who came out in support of SB1.

Their Executive Director called it “pragmatic progressivism.” In other words, you can either stand in front of the train or hop on before it runs you over.

The groups in opposition had no delusions. They knew minimum wage was passing and it was going to pass quickly and resolutely.

The only hope was to get a few small wins like regional wage variations, a ten year ramp, or larger tax subsidies for impacted businesses.

Although the final vote reflected a unified front, word on the street is that SB1 was not without Democratic opposition. Many downstate Democrats viewed $15 as “Chicago wages” and were getting hammered by their local business community. This puts them in an impossible spot. They have to choose between crossing the newly minted Governor and his priority project or the local citizens and business leaders who helped elect them. Many did sup-

port varying wages based on geography where downstate businesses would pay a lower wage. However, that approach, even if constitutional, would cause headaches for companies whose employees do work across the state. Also, it’s never a winning message to return to a home district and say, “I fought hard to pay you less!”

Illinois was hardly out on a limb with minimum wage. Our previous wage was $8.25 which was just one dollar higher than the Federal minimum wage.

A number of progressive states like California, New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts had already passed minimum wage increases of $13-$15.

Now, most landscape businesses don’t pay their employees minimum wage. It would be impossible to find qualified and reliable labor for $8.25 per hour.

ILCA members were more worried about what will happen downstream. A six-year, 82% increase in the Illinois wage floor could have dramatic consequences on all levels of labor. Only time will tell if that is inevitable.

There is no doubt that minimum wage is politicized. Democrats, especially liberal Democrats have long supported minimum wages. They feel business cannot be trusted to self-regulate and that workers are not savvy or emboldened enough to request wages that match their outputs. Republicans view minimum wage as an artificial market control.

Government should stay out of the negotiations between an employer and employee.

In today’s day and age, the familiar cry is that we need to shelve ideology and allow for learned experts to provide us with the facts. If we have the data, it will be clear on whether or not minimum wages are a grand social experiment doomed to fail or a great way to elevate the working poor.

Here’s the problem. If politicians struggle to agree on the positive and negative outcomes of minimum wage increases, economists may be even worse. There is fierce debate on the impacts of minimum wage and whether or not a minimum wage should exist at all.

There have been hundreds of studies, and now two “meta-studies” (studies of studies) designed to answer the eternal question on whether or not minimum wages work. Do they put money into the pockets of workers without causing disemployment, inflation, and rampant price increases? The answer is, drumroll, “Maybe.”

First, some areas of tacit agreement. John Locke and Milton Friedman aside, most economists who agree that a minimum wage should exist believe that $7.25 is too low and could stand to be increased. Annual inflation and massive shifts in income inequality demonstrate that some wiggle room exists. In addition, the United States, for all the bellyaching about regulations and being antibusiness is rated as the 6th most pro-business country in the entire world. Are there head-scratching regulations and government annoyances, of course? Yet, the United States is designed to let businesses thrive while also maintaining a political system that doesn’t throw the workers to the wolves or cause widespread revolt.

There are libertarians and free market zealots who feel if a person wants to work for $1, he should be allowed to, but 82% of the American people agree with a minimum wage and that it should be increased. On the flipside, Liberal economists aren’t that thrilled with minimum wages either. They feel they don’t go far enough and are ineffective at providing economic stability. They view a difference between having more money and growing wealth. The rich

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The Landscape Contractor April 2019

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often have both. Liberal economists view the Earned Income Tax Credit and Universal Basic Income as far more impactful policies to reduce income inequality than artificially juicing the minimum wage. They view minimum wage increases as symbolic gestures that the state or city values its workers.

About 1.4 million Illinoisans work for under $15 per hour.

Governor Pritzker saw tremendous political upside to increasing wages even with the expected heat from the business community.

Yet, here’s the $15 dollar question - do minimum wage increases work?

One thing, almost all studies agree on is that they certainly put more money into workers’ pockets. Clearly, if someone is making $72 one day and $120 the next, he is going to have more money. Studies have disagreed on what that means. Some have shown that these workers then spend those wages and infuse more money back into the market. Others have shown that businesses shed unnecessary positions and it becomes more difficult for younger, low-skilled workers to enter the market. However, the meta-studies have concluded that minimum wage really has no statistical impact on employment. Keep in mind that doesn’t mean employment fluctuations won’t happen, it just means that a change in one area may be negated by the opposite change in another.

That statistically insignificant blip has a very real impact on some employers, workers, and markets.

Economists also agree that businesses who can pass costs onto customers, for example, retail, reap more positive rewards than those who cannot. Employees tend to stay at these jobs longer because profit margins are maintained as salaries rise. That is usually the recipe for prosperity and employee retention. Companies who cannot pass increased labor costs on due to competition, like manufacturing and, yes, landscaping due to our black market, will reap fewer rewards. Over time, these blips will smooth as the market corrects itself.

Inflation is also dubious. Economists see an increase in costs and inflation, but it usually hovers around 3%. So, if an employee just got an 82% raise, and the costs of goods go up 3%, you aren’t going to see him crying. Yes, prices go up for everyone, but more money does enter the stream of commerce. The poor spend, the rich save.

If you are a data nerd (like me) or an economist (not like me) the one positive about this patchwork approach to minimum wages is that it will reap loads of new data that isolates one variable. It will be clearer and clearer to see the actual impact of minimum wages when one state is $15 and the neighboring state is $7.25. Only then, will economists have enough data to make an impartial judgement call. Will the politicians listen to it? Probably not.

For years, landscape companies have said that the jobs they offer are not “minimum wage jobs.” It was a source of pride to tell an employee that his salary will not compare to cashiers and retail clerks. Sure, the work is more strenuous, but the pay is better and the results more rewarding. That claim became easier and easier to make as market conditions drove wages up while the minimum wage stood pat. SB1 in full force for the next six years coupled with labor shortage and demand pull inflation could have a dramatic impact on wages. The sentiment will still be true that these positions are a step above minimum wage jobs. However, now employers will be asked to prove it.

Scot Grams March 19, 2019

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The Landscape Contractor April 2019

President’s Message — It’s a funny time

being President of ILCA and President of my company. The two schedules couldn’t be more different. ILCA has been in high gear since September with an event almost every week and a huge trade show with a polar vortex thrown into the mix. Strategic planning has been finished and now all we have to do it finalize the budget for next year and we are “done.” The spring rush for the landscapers means the ILCA office is quiet and it’s time to work on things we couldn’t get to during the frenzy.

Sound familiar? It’s the landscaping season in reverse. ILCA naturally is busy when the landscapers have time. The craziness of the landscaping world directly affects the ILCA world. It’s like Seinfeld’s bizarro world.

The heavy snow this year means that most contractors weren’t quite ready and had to run around trying get everything in order (But, are we ever really “ready?.” I compare the start of our season to a hand grenade being thrown on the floor. There is no gradual wind up, no; it’s NOW! I always look for the red twig dogwoods and willow trees to color up to tell me when to start my clean ups and the blooming of the forsythia to tell me when I should be going full throttle.

Dandelions on a south facing slope means I’d better be spraying for weeds and the third week of April is time to start mowing.

It’s crazy how every year feels new, but it’s the same rhythms as always.

This means that you can get stuck in a rut. I try every winter to do something to shake things up. The easiest example of this would be remodeling the office. But have you thought about remodeling your trucks and trailers? Take everything out and let the foremen put it back together. Then take the best ideas and systematize them.

Front line labor gets bored too.

One thing I learned from iLandscape is to put a horticultural calendar up in the office. It helped lay out the entire year for everybody. We’re all literally looking at the same page. The first thing we did once we saw it on the wall was to put our marketing calendar under it. The two work hand in hand. Now the account managers and the marketing person are working together instead of in their own lanes.

Another thing you can do is get off the email and drive to talk to your customers face to face. It doesn’t take as much time as you think, and I guarantee it will change up the rhythm of your day. I used to spend six hours of my day on email, crafting the perfect response and trying to “run everything though the email so I have a record.”

Forget that! Once I got out from behind my desk and reconnected with my customers, face to face, I found the we were having a lot fewer problems.

These are my things and I would love to hear from you about your things. We are all working hard and trying to be the best companies we can be. The best way to do that is to learn from one another. Most of the things I mention above. I learned from someone else and adapted to my own situation.

Good luck with the season, but now, get back to work. That customer needs to be talked to, a crew needs a machine, a jobsite needs an inspection, and you have a meeting in half an hour.

President

Tom Lupfer Lupfer Landscaping (708) 352-2765 tom@lupferlandscaping.com

Vice-President

Jose Garcia Natural Creations Landscaping, Inc. (815) 724-0991 info@naturalcreationslandscaping.com

Secretary-Treasurer

Donna Vignocchi Zych ILT Vignocchi, Inc. (847) 487-5200 dvignocchi@iltvignocchi.com

Immediate Past President Lisa Fiore Don Fiore Company, Inc. (847) 234-0020 lfiore@donfiore.com

Directors

Eric Adams Russo Power Equipment (847) 233-7811 eadams@russopower.com Jennifer Fick Wilson Nurseries and Landscape Supply (847) 683-3700 jennf@wilsonnurseries.com Allan Jeziorski Hartman Landscape (708) 403-8433 allan@hartmanlandscape.net

Jeff Kramer Kramer Tree Specialists, Inc, (630) 293-5444 jwkramer@kramertree.com

Kevin Manning K & D Enterprise Landscape Management, Inc. (815) 725-0758 kmanning@kdlandscapeinc.com Scott McAdam, Jr. McAdam Landscaping, Inc. (708) 771-2299 Scottjr@mcadamlandscape.com Dean MacMorris Night Light, Inc. (630) 627-1111 dean@nightlightinc.net Mark Utendorf Emerald Lawn Care, Inc. (847) 392-7097 marku@emeraldlawncare.com

Tom Lupfer

March 22, 2019

The Landscape Contractor April 2019

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Our clients

Greenhaven Landscapes, Inc. • Lake Bluff Rustic Retreat

fell in love with a 160 year old farm house on eight acres. One of the unique relics on the property was the remains of a dairy barn foundation. Unfortunately it was crumbling and filled with weeds as nature had taken over. However, we accepted the challenge of transforming it into an intriguing entertaining space. Inspired by a family tradition of playing bocce ball along the ocean’s coast at low tide, a bocce ball court seemed like a perfect fit for the long and narrow space. Grade changes along the field side of the dairy barn were balanced by raising the grade on each end so you can walk from the space out into the field. In order to keep the integrity of the farm, we highlighted the three time-worn walls that were remaining with a pergola and treillage.

Future access to the silo was preserved with a removable trellis panel to the right of the pergola. The fallen wall was rebuilt as a

low retaining wall topped with a cedar bench to provide an unobstructed pastoral view out to the field and creek beyond. The new concrete wall was poured with wood framing to achieve the same texture as the original walls. All of the new cedar has weathered grey to blend with the original door and window trim remaining on the old walls. The sunken bocce ball court is defined by simple timbers and is complete with an oyster shell surface and underdrains.

Pea gravel paths lead you through the space and are surrounded by cultivated plantings that echo the prairie beyond. Landscape lighting illuminates the space for evening entertaining. Our clients delight in their guests’ sense of surprise as they lead them down the clusters of stone steps to the reclaimed space. Now our clients enjoy entertaining in their rustic retreat that honors both the history of the farm and a fun family tradition.

The Landscape Contractor April 2019

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Public Awareness Campaign 2019 —

Help Grow ILCA’s Public Awareness Campaign ILCA’s Public Awareness Campaign is LIVE!

by Marissa Stubler

Over 12,000!

That is how many times

our brand video has been viewed on Facebook alone. ILCA’s public awareness campaign officially launched on February 15, 2019. Hopefully you have had a chance to watch all the videos and view the new content we created on the consumer side of the website. If not, check it out by visiting www.ilca.net/consumer. We are happy to say that we have received lots of positive feedback on the campaign and have already seen a significant increase in traffic to our website.

In the December 2018 issue, we previewed ILCA’s public awareness campaign. We focused on introducing you to the broad strokes of our efforts. We talked about the campaign’s origin and goals. In doing this, we briefly described the brand video and key messages. In the March 2019 issue, we focused on the creative elements of the campaign and the distribution plan. In this article, we will focus on how you can help grow the campaign via social media and the web.

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How Members Can Help Grow the Campaign Via Social Media: facebook.com/illinoislanscape contractorsassociation

instagram.com/ilcalandscape

linkedin.com/company/illinoislandscape-contractors-association

twitter.com/ILCAlandscape

The Landscape Contractor April 2019

• Like and follow all four ILCA social media channels: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

• Like and share the brand video post on ILCA’s Facebook post (it’s pinned to the top of our page). When you share the post, write what the video means to you and mention that you’re a proud member of ILCA! (Kudos to members who have already done this!)

• As social campaign content is dropped, members should look for the #ILCA2019 hashtag, and make sure to like, comment and share this social media content so it continues to reach a wider audience. (continued on page 12)

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Public Awareness Campaign 2019 — How Members Can Help Grow the Campaign Via Web:

Curious to know what the digital ads look like?

Below are some screenshots.

Add backlinks (i.e. you can link

the new ilca.net/consumer content on your site) when applicable.

For example, if you want your customers to watch the brand video, you would link directly to this page: www.ilca.net/consumer/. If you want customers to see the Chuck video, you would link to this page: www. ilca.net/how-to-hire-a-reputablecontractor/. If you want to share the DIY video, you would link directly to: www.ilca.net/real-cost-of-diy/, and so on.

IMPORTANT REMINDER

This campaign is focused around driving consumers to ILCA’s online member directory to search for contractors in their area. It’s important to make sure your member profile is complete and up to date (current contact information, full company description, services/categories selected under labels, photos, links to social media sites, etc.). If you have any questions about this campaign or need help accessing your member profile, please email Marissa Stubler at mstubler@ilca.net or call the office at 630-472-2851.

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The Landscape Contractor April 2019

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The Landscape Contractor April 2019

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ILCA Spring Events —

Young Professionals CONNECT – LEARN – SHARE – GROW

by Meta Levin ILCA’s second Young Professionals Day-In/Night-Out event was held February 21, 2019, at the A.M. Woodland Outdoor Design facility in Mundelein. The day focused on: • Tour of the Office and Shop • Introduction of Management and Staff • Remarks from Industry Icon: Lisa Fiore, LandscapeHub • Starting a Landscape Business from Scratch, Building Organically and through Acquisition • Organic Growth: Bringing in the right employees, controlled expansion, building a strong foundation.

• Technology: Implementing the right technology to work smarter and accomplish more with less.

• Acquisition: Strategic M&A for situations when organic growth is not the right answer. Land, building, strategic accounts, expertise, etc.

The Night Out portion of the event was held at Lindy’s Landing in Wauconda. The event was sponsored by LandscapeHub.

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The Landscape Contractor April 2019

ILCA Spring Events —

Young Professionals

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The Landscape Contractor April 2019

ILCA Spring Events —

ILCA Hosts Foremanship Seminar — The two-day event

was held February 28 March1. Day 1 is conducted entirely in Spanish. Day 2 is in English. Both classes were held at the Fox Run Golf Links in Elk Grove Village. This year’s edition of the class was greatly enhanced with an hour’s worth of new material presented by long-time ILCA member, Professor Armando A. Actis.

Production and maintenance landscape foremen have unique needs as they have to wear two hats: a worker and a leader. Foremen have to walk the fine line in working side by side with the employee and having to direct, motivate and critique at the same time. Managing former peers and friends can be especially difficult, dealing with problems and obstacles can take skills that only can be developed by stepping out of the work environment for a few days, learning best practices, applying it in a learning environment through role play, and then going back and applying it on the job.

In this dynamic seminar, participants learned how to more effectively handle tight deadlines, tight margins and increase customer satisfaction. Also, participants were energized when they saw the class was prepared and designed specifically to meet their unique needs and not just another cookie cutter seminar.

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Key components of the program included— • The central role of the “worker-leader” • How to properly supervise friends, peers, and former equals • How to effectively communicate with your boss and superiors • To generate 100 percent accountability from your team • How to motivate and delegate at the same time • To require accountability for all work (both bad or good) • How to implement and follow daily & weekly work schedules • How your team can produce quality work that stays within the budget and is completed on time • The effectiveness of the work team • How to deal with challenges and personal problems that occur outside the workplace that impact productivity • To manage problem behavior • How to produce client focused work using a moral compass

The Landscape Contractor April 2019

Mastering Foremanship

The Landscape Contractor April 2019

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ILCA Spring Events —

The Women’s Networking Group Flips of Sebert Landscape’s LEED Gold C Thursday, March 7, 2019,

ILCA members were treated to an exclusive tour of the LEED award-winning headquarters building of Sebert Landscape. Sebert has been an ILCA Member firm since 1988.

The event was hosted by the ILCA Women’s Networking Group (WNG) who worked with Sebert staff to provide guided tours of the innovative facility. This was an nexciting opportunity to get a glimpse of what the landscape industry might aspire to be. The tour began with a rundown of a solar-powered equipment trailer, which can charge all of the rechargable equipment that it carries. Traveling through the offices, design and work spaces, the tour ended on the impressive third-story roof deck, with its magnificent view of nearby wetlands.

After the tours attendees enjoyed ample time for networking and cocktails and appetizers.

For more information about the Women’s Networking Group, contact Marissa Stubler, mstubler@ilca.net.

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The Landscape Contractor April 2019

the Script with a Spring Tour Certified Headquarters

Sponsored by—

Host and Bar Sponsor

Table/Linen Sponsor

Food Sponsors

The Landscape Contractor April 2019

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ILCA Spring Events —

Field Staff Skills Training Field Staff Skills Training

had a change of venue for 2019.

After two very successful years at the College of Lake County, in Grayslake, this year’s event was held at Northern Illinois University in Naperville.

The two-day seminar is intended for English and Spanish-speaking field staff, foremen, supervisors, and grounds managers. The seminar covers skills that everyone needs to know.

Sessions in English and Spanish included: • 5 Math Rules and Plan Reading • First Aid / Safety / Accident / Incident Reporting • Instruments • General Etiquette & Customer Service • Paver Maintenance • Planting & Pruning • Job Site Equipment Maintenance • Irrigation Components/Controller/Lateral Repair/Head Adjustment • Plant & Shrub ID • Diagnosing Lawn & Landscape Problems • Water & Pond Maintenance for Field Staff • Permeable vs. Standard Base Installations • Contractor Panel Discussion

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The Landscape Contractor April 2019

The Landscape Contractor April 2019

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ILCA Spring Events —

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The Landscape Contractor April 2019

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Special Report —

FLIP into Spring

by Marissa Stubler

Flip...verb: turn over or cause

to turn over with a sudden sharp movement, noun: a sudden sharp movement, adjective: flippant. Neither of those are the flip definitions we are talking about. We are talking about the Future Landscape Industry Professionals (FLIP) Committee. The FLIP Committee launched in December 2015 with Jim Martin, James Martin Associates, leading the group as the chairperson. The goal of FLIP is to provide information that inspires individuals to pursue professional careers within the landscape industry.

In this article, we highlight the FLIP Committee and what they have been up to the last few years. More specifically, we highlight what they are up to this year and why they need your help.

What Has FLIP Been Up To? Here is a list of projects FLIP has worked on the last few years: • Reaching out to other state associations to see what they are doing to promote careers in the landscape industry.

• Conducting professional focus groups to gain insight into target audiences and messaging.

• Reinventing Student Career Day at iLandscape and bringing back the Career Fair.

• Taking over the annual ILCECO scholarship review process.

• Attending local STEM nights at elementary schools.

• Visiting with local high school counselors and administration.

• Creating testimonial videos of young professionals to encourage students to explore a career in our industry.

• And much more!

(continued on page 28)

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The Landscape Contractor April 2019

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Special Report — (cntinued from page 26)

Where is FLIP Now?

Due to FLIP’s research over the past few years, they now understand how and where they can make an impact and need your help promoting the passion and needs of our industry to the larger community. They are in the process of creating marketing materials and tools needed to make a difference.

FLIP is currently focusing on targeting two audiences: High school students (mainly through counselors) and front line labor. Through focus group findings and industry need, FLIP feels these two groups are the top priority.

The focus group findings showed that high school students represent the most promising target for outreach efforts.

High school students have very narrow familiarity with the landscape industry, but appear to be very receptive to new information and to considering a career in the industry. In addition, FLIP is going to focus on efforts that will help with the labor crisis and potentially recruit front line labor by participating in local community events, job fairs and advertising.

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

The FLIP Committee is jumping into the community in an effort to recruit front line labor and raise awareness about careers in our industry. The ILCA will have a booth at Taste of Mexico and the Lake County Fair. We need volunteers to help staff our booth at these multiday events.

July 24-28, 2019 Lake County Fairgrounds 1060 East Peterson Road, Grayslake, IL

May 31-June 2, 2019 26th and California (Little Village) 2550 S California Ave., Chicago, IL

If you are interested in helping out, please email Marissa Stubler at mstubler@ilca.net.

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ILCA Honors —

Sophisticated Serenity

by Heather Prince

More than 100

years ago, the landscape excellence tradition began at Chalet with founder L. J. Thalmann and his driving passion to provide beautiful plants and gardens to his customers. Today, the Chalet landscape design and management division keeps that tradition vibrant. They have been rewarded with the Professionals’ Choice Award at the 2019 iLandscape Show for their creative and unique project in Winnetka.

Beginning in 2016 when the homeowners approached Chalet to revamp a newly purchased post mid-century modern home. Chalet’s landscape architect Robert Milani and his team of landscape architect Ian Wagan, landscape architect Eleanor Brandt, and construction supervisor Sergio Garza, stepped up to the challenge of this distinctive site.

The H-shaped home was built in 1981 and was surrounded by overgrown garden spaces with a Japanese aesthetic.

30

Ornamental conifers and Japanese maples had become too large and overwhelmed the entry and garden beds. Dead trees and shrubs had to be removed. The rotting wood deck and a high-maintenance swimming pool needed to be taken out.

Eleanor Brandt, took the reins of the project as the project manager. The homeowners desired “a usable, livable space for themselves, their dogs and grandchildren. As art collectors, they had a keen eye for design. They wanted something reflective of their travels, especially in Spain and California with an open concept and strong elements of indoor/outdoor living,” according to Brandt.

The first phase involved demolishing the deck, filling in the pool, and building the living wall installation. The property backs up to a golf course, which provides beautiful borrowed views, but the backyard is also in a 100-year floodplain. This brought an added challenge with filling in the pool

The Landscape Contractor April 2019

as soils needed to be both well-drained, and yet compacted to minimize subsidence. “We worked hard to respect and respond to Village of Winnetka ordinances and requirements,” reported Brandt. In the second phase, patios were laid, a firepit built, walkways were re-routed and enhanced, and a sylvan grove of birch was planted. The patio grades needed to be raised to meet the level of the home to create an easy step out for the homeowners and their dogs. The living wall was installed in response to the homeowners’ extensive art collection and a desire to create a living mosaic statement piece.

Set back from the street and hidden by a screen of trees, passersby only catch a tantalizing glimpse of the sophisticated serenity that awaits the visitor. The sweeping drive encloses a lush island of plants and runs along a beguiling grove of Whitespire birch. Underneath the birch are ferns, oak sedge, hosta, Green Spice coralbells, and Blue Ice amsonia for a rich mix of texture and foliage color. Splashes of Visions series astilbe provide upright, long-lasting color. As you come around the curve, the astonishing living wall greets you and marks the entrance. Three large panels are framed in stained black trim to match the trim on the home and filled with a sweeping mix of annuals and perennials that thrive in shade.

“One of the biggest challenges was installing the live wall and its irrigation system. Because of our harsh winters and

the shallowness of the planting medium, the wall is replanted each spring,” Brandt shared. In 2018, Brandt designed the planting concept of large swaths of materials and Chalet’s Specialty Gardens department installs and maintains the wall to keep it fresh and vibrant. Layered textures bring tension and drama to this beautiful focal point. Last year, swathes of Hakone grass cascaded amongst the rounded bronze leaves of coleus. Texture upon texture was layered in with asparagus fern, creeping Jenny, purple tradescantia, rex begonias, and variegated coleus, A dash of coral flowers were sprinkled throughout with a mix of dragonwing begonias and Gartenmeister Bonstedt fuchsia. In a touch of whimsy, a few orchids catch and hold the eye.

After the electric display of the living wall, you come to the quiet and serene courtyard entry. An existing Scots pine remains, sheltering a new L-shaped reflection pool. Creeping lily turf provides a soothing ground cover that sweeps along the large paving stones of custom cut limestone slabs that are placed just far enough to encourage visitors to slow their pace and appreciate this quiet nook. Two planters filled with texture and highlighted with flowers welcome you. The front entry opens into an interior garden space that mirrors the outdoor plantings.

The Landscape Contractor April 2019

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ILCA Honors —

The Landscape Contractor April 2019

The Landscape Contractor April 2019

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ILCA Honors —

The backyard truly embraces the outdoor living aesthetic.

Floor to ceiling windows on the back of the home bring the garden in. The two wings also enjoy seamless views through window walls and create a serene frame to a small rectangular pool. A limestone path of Valders Dove White brings you from the front of the home to a hidden nook before continuing to the entertaining space flanked by a grilling area. This large, accommodating patio continues the limestone seamlessly and provides plenty of room to entertain family and friends. A matching patio steps out from the master bedroom on the west

34

wing and is connected by long, rectilinear stepping stones of custom cut limestone. A mix of groundcover sedum, Scotch moss, lamium and ajuga give a multi-textured carpet between the stepping stones. The pond is framed in a lush fringe of Hakone grass and set off by dwarf gold falsecypress. An elegant existing Japanese maple frames the contemplative scene and is echoed by a decorative rough feature stone. The maple was able to be transplanted from elsewhere on site and is thriving in its new home. A bubbler fountain provides the music of water in this serene space. “The plantings in this area are deliberately curvilinear to soften the hard corners and strong square lines of the pool and house,” commented Brandt. The footpath to the west also curves and the Chalet team was able to reuse existing flagstone to create a quieter, softer aesthetic. Plus, it saved on construction costs.

The paired patios are surrounded by lush plantings that frame views of the sweeping lawn. Serviceberry, hydrangeas, viburnum, and witchhazel created a layered look while Rozanne geranium shimmers in perpetual purple flowers.

Swathes of the Visions series of astilbe give a soft palette of pink and purple. The lawn is easily viewed through these living lace curtains so that the doting grandparents can keep an eye on the grandchildren playing, and yet still relax in a lounge chair.

There is much to love with this sophisticated and elegant design. “I love, love, love that living wall! It’s probably the coolest thing I’ve ever designed,” beamed Brandt. “The birch grove is so serene in feeling. You immediately relax. Perhaps my favorite spot is the little nook on the east side. An existing buckeye tree provides the ceiling and its underplanted with lily turf and oak sedge. It’s a moment of peace.” The Chalet team also maintains the property and Brandt is looking forward to watching the plantings grow and evolve. “It has been so great to be part of the team that installed this design and to see it come to life,” commented Brandt.

The Landscape Contractor April 2019

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Enfoque: Sección en Español

ILCA celebra Seminario para capataces — Cómo ser un capataz competente El evento de dos días se llevó a cabo el

28 de febrero de 2019 totalmente en español. El 1 de marzo la clase se impartió en inglés. Ambas clases se realizaron en el Fox Run Golf Links en Elk Grove Village. La edición de la clase este año fue ampliada con muchos materiales nuevos presentados por el Profesor Armando A. Actis, miembro de ILCA desde hace mucho tiempo.

Los capataces paisajistas de producción y mantenimiento tienen necesidades especiales debido a que tienen que usar dos sombreros: uno de trabajador y otro de líder. Los capataces tienen que buscar el equilibrio entre trabajar junto a los empleados y dirigir, motivar y criticar al mismo tiempo.

Dirigir a antiguos compañeros y amigos puede ser especialmente difícil, lidiar con problemas y obstáculos puede requerir de habilidades que únicamente se pueden desarrollar alejándose del entorno laboral por unos días, aprendiendo mejores prácticas, aplicándolas en un entorno didáctico mediante la representación de roles y luego regresar y aplicarlas en el trabajo.

En este seminario dinámico, los participantes aprendieron cómo manejar más eficazmente plazos de terminación muy reducidos, márgenes estrechos y aumentar la satisfacción de los clientes. Asimismo, los participantes se animaron al descubrir que no se trataba de un seminario predeterminado sino de una clase preparada y diseñada para satisfacer sus necesidades específicas.

36

Los componentes clave del programa incluyeron— • El rol central del “trabajador-líder” • Cómo supervisar adecuadamente a amigos, compañeros y antiguos iguales • Cómo comunicarse eficazmente con el jefe y los superiores • Cómo generar un 100 por ciento de responsabilidad en su equipo • Cómo motivar y delegar al mismo tiempo • Exigir responsabilidad en todos los trabajos (buenos o malos) • Cómo implementar y seguir calendarios de trabajo diarios y semanales • Cómo puede su equipo completar trabajos de calidad dentro del presupuesto y con puntualidad • La eficacia del equipo de trabajo • Cómo lidiar con desafíos y problemas personales que ocurren fuera del lugar de trabajo e impactan la productividad • Controlar los comportamientos problemáticos • Cómo producir trabajo orientado al cliente usando una brújula moral

The Landscape Contractor April 2019

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TODOS JUNTOS MEJOR.

Capacitación de habilidades para personal de campo cambió de sitio para 2019. Después de dos años muy exitosos en el

Colegio Universitario del Condado Lake, en Grayslake, el evento de este año se realizó en la Northern Illinois University en Naperville.

El seminario de dos días está dirigido a miembros del personal de campo, capataces, supervisores y directores de paisajismo que hablan inglés y español. El seminario cubre habilidades que todos deben conocer.

Las sesiones en inglés y español incluyeron: • 5 reglas matemáticas y lectura de planes • Primeros auxilios / Seguridad / Accidentes / Reporte de incidentes • Instrumentos • Etiqueta general y servicio al cliente • Mantenimiento de adoquines • Plantación y poda • Mantenimiento de equipos en el sitio de trabajo • Componentes de irrigación/Controlador/Reparación lateral/Ajuste de cabeza de rociadores • Identificación de plantas y arbustos • Diagnóstico de problemas de céspedes y paisajismo • Mantenimiento de aguas y estanques para personal de campo • Instalaciones permeables vs. de base estándar • Panel de discusión de contratistas The Landscape Contractor April 2019

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Enfoque: Sección en Español

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Sustainabilty in Action —

Plants Are the New Mulch

by Partrice Peltier

Landscape Architect Thomas Rainer would

like to change Americans’ love affair with mulch.

Traditional designs tend toward “a sea of mulch with things floating in it,” Rainer says. In its place, he advocates designed plant communities that recognize “it’s a plant’s job to cover soil.” Rainer, a principal in the D.C.-area design firm Phyto Studio, shared his system for creating designed plant communities with participants of ILCA’s 2018 Impact Conference.

As a self-described “semi-feral boy” growing up in the Piedmont Forest outside Birmingham, Alabama, Rainer noticed how and where plants grew, comparing the plants he observed in nature to his mother’s cultivated gardens. He observed how plants arranged themselves in the wild. He also saw how some plants grew on hard surfaces with no soil depth and survived extremes such as drought and floods. Later, this would remind him of the conditions plants grow in in urban environments.

After receiving a Master’s Degree from University of Georgia, Rainer spent 10 years working for Oehme, van Sweden and Associates where he learned the “New American Garden” style of creating masses of durable herbaceous plants.

Later, he spent 10 years working on public sector projects.

“The budgets were much smaller than in my first job, and there were no trained maintenance crews to follow us and fix our mistakes,” he admitted ruefully.

In fact, Rainer was daily confronted with the dilemma so many urban planners and land managers face: the rising public demand for and interest in urban green projects versus the declining municipal budgets to create and maintain them.

Working in these challenging, urban environments, Rainer called upon his youthful observations to develop a system for creating communities of plants adapted to survive together long term under specific conditions with decreased maintenance requirements.

The Fundamentals Rainer’s system, which he calls Designed Plant Communities, is built on several concepts that challenge traditional practices and thinking.

First, “The more fertile the soil becomes, the less diverse the plant species,” he says. By cultivating and amending the soil, “we’re creating conditions where only invasive species want to live,” he adds.

40

Rainer advocates working with the soil conditions as they exist and choosing plants adapted to those conditions.

“Plants don’t want generic conditions. The stresses we work so hard to get rid of remove the conditions where plants thrive,” he explains. “The peculiar American habit of adding two to four inches of mulch keeps the garden in a perpetual establishment stage.”

Then, he advocates an end to thinking of plants individually.

By considering how plants work together in communities, designers can harness the power of how plants grow in nature, he says.

“There’s the same diversity of shapes above and below the ground. This allows for high diversity without direct competition,” Rainer says. Consider, for example, butterfly weed growing among prairie dropseed. The butterfly weed’s vase shape allows it to capture sunlight while leaving space for the prairie dropseed to cover the ground below. Meanwhile, the butterfly weed’s taproot is a reproductive strategy that doesn’t compete with the shallower roots of the grasses.

“The growth habit, the reproductive strategy, everything is a response to what the plant is growing among,” Rainer says.

“You lose the power of that when you plant individually.”

How It Works/Relate Plants to People Designed Plant Communities combine plants with complementary competitive strategies, letting plant dynamics play out within an aesthetic framework, Rainer explains.

The first step in planning a designed plant community is to make plants relate to people. That means the design should be beautiful, Rainer says. He offers several tips.

“You need frames to make plants look great,” he says.

Here, he borrows from traditional horticulture using boxwood hedges or walls. Frames can be a lawn, a building, a paved surface or even a block of massed plants, he explains.

“Creating good lines is half the battle,” he says.

“If you can create a nice edge, you can get away with heck.”

Adding traditional, formal elements as a frame or foil can also bring a sense of order and beauty to a mixed planting, according to Rainer.

Benches, sculptures and topiaries are a few examples.

The Landscape Contractor April 2019

Relate Plants to Each Other

Rainer divides a planting into three vertical planes: ground cover, ornamental and structural.

The groundcover layer is the most important because it resists invasion by weeds and other uninvited species. It’s more functional than ornamental, Rainer says. It often includes several species with complementary shapes and root structures. This is where Rainer uses plants to create what he calls “green mulch”.

Often the species are shade tolerant. Designers may choose spring-blooming species for early season interest.

Rainer’s examples of good plants for the ground cover layer includes: • Amsonia ‘Blue Ice’ • Asarum canadense • Aster divericatus • Callirhoe involucrata • Carex—various species • Coreopsis verticillata • Geum • Heuchera • Tiarella

• • • • • •

Amsonia Asters Baptisia Echinacea Monarda Rudbeckia

The third layer is the structural layer that includes woodies as well as plants with architectural characteristics. Plants with tall, leafless stems, such as Silphium species, can add transparency and an airy, ethereal look to the planting, Rainer says.

In traditional designs, as much as 90% of the planting is these structural plants, according to Rainer. “That tends to create more disease. More groundcovers create more air circulation,” he explains.

Examples of perennials in this layer include: •

Eupatorium

•

Rudbeckia maxima

• •

Panicum

Veronicastrum

The second layer is for seasonal interest. “In the wild, you get big lifts of color with drifting and repeating,” Rainer explains. Working with a spreadsheet to identify bloom time, Rainer creates repeating areas of color throughout the season.

“Sometimes it’s better to have three big moments rather than spread it out. That’s also good for pollinators,” Rainer says.

He often organizes his second layer into plants with early, mid and late season blooms.

Examples Rainer gives of clump-forming perennials with upright growth habits that grow well in communities include: The Landscape Contractor April 2019

41

Sustainabilty in Action —

Relate Layers to Plants’ Behavior Rainer combines his concept of a vertically layered planting with information about how plants grow in the wild. For this, he refers to the work of German horticulturists Richard Hansen and Friedrich Stahl who rank plants according to their “sociability”, or how individuals of a species tend to arrange themselves.

The Hansen and Stahl scale goes from 1, plants that tend to grow singly or in small groups in the wild, to 5, plants that spread aggressively. Interestingly, Hansen and Stahl’s levels of sociability correspond rather neatly with Rainer’s vertical layers.

Plants with high sociability work best in the groundcover layer, Rainer says. Plants with 2 to 4 rankings in sociability work best in the Seasonal Layer, whereas plants with 1-2 level of sociability are best in the Structural layer.

Planting just one of a plant that tends to grow in large groups in nature can create visual dissonance, according to Rainer. “When you get the sociability right, the planting looks more harmonic,” he says.

Level two plants that grow in small groups include: • Hemerocallis • Monarda fistulosa • Pycnanthemum flexuosum

Level three plants that grow in groups of 10-20 include: • Ajuga spp.

• Geranium maculatum • Rudbeckia fulgida • Salvia spp.

Level four plants that grow in expansive groups include: • Allium cernuum • Iris siberica • Onoclea sensibilis Level five plants cover large areas such as: • Carex pensylvanica

• Geum fragaroides Level one plants, those that grow singly or with another indi• Pachysandra terminalis vidual include: • Asclepias tuberosa • Vinca minor • Aruncus dioicus • Calamagrostis acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’ 42 The Landscape Contractor April 2019

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Sustainabilty in Action — in New York, Rainer points out their environmental importance as well.

“Pollinator diversity has become higher in urban areas than in agricultural areas,” he says.

Ensuring the vitality of our urban landscapes by emulating how plants grow in nature is becoming increasingly important as we become more urbanized, Rainer says, pointing out that by 2030, two-thirds of the world’s 8 billion people will live in cities.

“It’s time for us to look at our urban areas with a sense of optimism,” he says. “We don’t have to go to a national park to have a spiritual experience in nature.”

Why Designed Plant Communities?

“Americans have this idea that nature exists out there in national parks. At the same time, we’re replacing natural areas with lawn and urban parking lot islands,” Rainer notes.

“The first step to combatting this loss of natural environments is to look at places where nature can still be.

“Why not have meadows snaking through skyscrapers?

Why not use plants—not chemicals—to clean our drinking water,” Rainer asks.

Noting the popularity and economic impact of public gardens such as The Lurie Gardens in Chicago and the HighLine

44

The Landscape Contractor April 2019

Learn More About It

You can learn more about Designed Plant Communities in the book Thomas Rainer wrote with Claudia West. The book is titled Planting in a Post-Wild World: Designing Plant Communities for Resilient Landscapes. The book was selected by the American Horticultural Society as one of the 2016 books of the year.

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Inter-Generational Communication — P

R

E

M

I

E

R

iLandscape

TM

IM4U

0 1 9Landscape Show The i llinois + wi2sconsin C T O

N

T

E

N

by Meta Levin

Kirk Brown was

a successful businessman who thought he knew how to recruit and motivate the best employees he could find, until, that is, the modern world intervened.

In his iLandscape presentation, “IM4U,” Brown took his audience down the path that began with that cryptic text message, “IM4U,” and led to an understanding of how younger – he eschews the term “Millennials” – people view and navigate their world and their jobs today.

As the father of two young adult children, one of whom works in the technology field, he already had more than an inkling that things were different. This was reinforced in his professional life. He owned his own business for 45 years, served as president of an international not-for-profit organization, was an academic advisor in a technology school and travels the country as a speaker at conferences and meetings. He recently began a new chapter as national outreach coordinator for Magnolia Plantation and Gardens in Charleston, NC. He also is a self-described “networking junkie.”

After noticing the changes in working with younger adults,

Brown decided to experiment. He posted a job opening online.

Almost immediately he received the following text message — IM4U. Brown admits it took him a minute to decipher it as text for “I am for you.”

“Y?” he replied.

The answer? “IM GREAT.” What followed was an interesting somewhat terse text exchange until Brown listed the requirements for the job, at which point his correspondent broke it off. When Brown related the experience to his family, his children informed him that he had been corresponding with a “spider,” a computer program that crawled the web for, in this case, job postings.

This is only one example of the way things have changed.

In the 1950s young people were told that they didn’t have to like what they did, they just had to do what they were told. But now, they declare, “I want to be inspired. Help me understand very clearly what I can do to help address larger

“I want to be inspired.”

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The Landscape Contractor April 2019

problems! I need one thing to respond to. What do you want me to do?”

2008, wages also have not grown much.

Meanwhile, the old ways of attracting

While learning to navigate the new world, employers, in particular those in the landscape industry, are facing a tough job market. “The unemployment rate is down sharply since the Great Recession,” says Brown. Since a dip in

new employees no longer work.

“We can’t use new concepts to promote old business ideas,” says Brown.

So, how are your employees communicating? Brown cites a Pew survey (continued on page 48)

“I need one thing to respond to.”

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Inter-Generational Communication — (continued from page 47) that shows that nearly two-thirds of Americans are using social media. In fact, 90 percent of young people use one or more social media platforms (but use among those 65 and older is growing, too). Which social media platforms does your defined audience support? Brown asks.

“We have to become digitally savvy,” he says. For instance, perhaps you could advertise your job opening with a YouTube video. “You can say here’s my company. I’m looking for someone who wants to make a difference and not just punch a clock.” Watch out, says Brown, you have maybe 30

seconds to connect with your targets. If you don’t, they’re on to something else.

There also are job posting websites that will post your job on multiple sites at the same time. Some will even scour

“Help me understand very clearly what I can do to help address larger problems”

1-815-737-8758 48

The Landscape Contractor April 2019

the responses for appropriate key words that you set and only forward those that contain them to you, thus vetting them before you even look at the answers.

This may be good or bad; you be the judge.

And there is another communication issue. “How many landscape contractor owners have learned to speak Spanish?” says Brown. Just as important, have you

learned about your employees’ culture?

Most Hispanic/Latino cultures place high value on family. How can you, as an employer, support that? Just as important, how can you communicate that you support and value that?

In developing his presentation, Brown interviewed young adults, asking them, “What would jazz up an interview with someone of my generation?” He stresses that he did not use the term, “jazz up.” When talking with his young adult children, he admits that sometimes he feels as if he is “making his

“It’s most successful when you are open, honest and engaged.” If you are going to interview a young adult, Brown suggests that you follow these steps: 1. Communicate with them in the way that they are most comfortable to set up the interviews.

2. Choose a neutral place, i.e. a coffee shop or a similar location.

3. Prepare to begin with the kind of chit chat that allows you both to get to know each other as people before heading into job territory.

4. Ask what of their life experi-

lips move, but they are not hearing me, because I am not on their wave length.”

He learned that young adults place a high value on being treated as individuals. “The first meeting with a potential employee is like a first date,” he says.

ences has been good, valuable to them?

If they say, playing video games, you are going to have a hard time putting them out of doors, says Brown.

(continued on page 50)

“What do you want me to do?”

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The Landscape Contractor April 2019

49

Inter-Generational Communication —

7463 West Ridge Road P.O. Box 189 Fairview PA 16415 800.458.2234 Fax 800.343.6819 e-mail: info@FairviewEvergreen.com FairviewEvergreen.com

50

(continued from page 49) 5. What are the top 10 reasons to work for you? Think of this as another way to market your company.

6. Tell them what you have to offer them, such as job training and special perks.

Think about the job openings that you have. Can you train prospective employees, giving them the tools they need to be successful in your organization? “They may come unprepared for the job, but committed to learn,” says Brown.

Once you have hired a person, set the tone. For instance, when you see an employee, instead of asking immediately about the job, try asking, “How was your weekend?” Then listen. “This may be a huge cultural shift” for the employer, says Brown. “It’s the little things. We have to appreciate the value of the individual.”

“We have to find a basic way to

The Landscape Contractor April 2019

speak,” he says. “Your needs must match their needs. We still have the power to offer a life affirming job.”

Brown points to studies showing that gardening is good for a person’s life and health. “It’s the healthiest place to work, bar none,” he says. “Why aren’t we selling this industry that way?”

As an example, he showed attendees a slide that simply said, “Essential Landscapers” It was followed by, “1.

Education: Being the best that anyone can dream. 2. Decide if you are up to the struggle.” That might attract a certain kind of potential employee. Is this the type you want?

How, asks Brown, do you bring in the prime demographic?

Now, Brown adds to the previous slide, “3. Define how your gardens grow.”

As an example, Brown uses the theme of a red bridge. He showed seven

slides, all containing red bridges, but each one a different bridge and each one integrated into the landscape in a different way.

Capitalize your business in employee capital, says Brown. “How will your employees grow?” he says. “How will your employees garden?”

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51

New Members — CONTRACTORS Avant-Gardenscapes, LLC Elizabeth Olsen P.O. Box 510 Bellefonte, PA 16823 Email: liz@avant-gardenscapes.com Phone: 847-305-0579 avantgardenscapes.com Avant-Gardenscapes is a full service landscape design, construction, and garden maintenance company that is dedicated to creating one-of-akind outdoor living spaces. Through a collaborative design approach, we aspire to understand your landscaping needs and strive to deliver unique, vibrant garden rooms.

Bluegrass Landworks Inc. Jose Jasso 26124 N Hickory Ave. Mundelein, IL 60060 Email: bgljasso@yahoo.com Phone: 847-708-9945 Cartwheel Gardens Inc. Joanne Charron 5857 W. Ainslie Chicago, IL 60630 Email: cartwheelgardens@earthlink.net Phone: 773-678-8105 Garden design and installation, and customized garden care service, including ‘winter gardening.’

Earthworks by Lavicka, Inc. Jan 2396 East 900 North Road Milford, IL 60953 Email: jan@lavickaworks.com Phone: 815-889-5540 lavickaworks.com

Garden’s Gate Garden Center and Landscaping Incorporated Stephanie Stacy 611 E. Dayton Rd Ottawa, IL 61350 Email: plantit2@yahoo.com Phone: 815-433-4006 Gardenottawa.com Garden center and landscaping company specializing in commercial turf maintenace, snow removal and landscape installation & maintenace.

OutdoorPro Landscapes Trevor Kaeb 871 E 200 North Rd Cissna Park, IL 60924 Email: trevorkaeb@gmail.com Phone: 815-549-0023 The Growing Scene, Inc. Kathleen Carr 17015 Harmony Road Marengo, IL 60152 Email: kathleen@thegrowingscene.com Phone: 815-923-7322 www.thegrowingscene.com The Growing Scene, Inc. is a landscaping design, consultation and installation firm. The company opened in 1996 and has been assisting residential customers in achieving a beautiful, well cared for outside living environment.

INDIVIDUALS Janet Cherbak, PLA 834 Quail Run Coal City, IL 60416 Email: janetcherbak@yahoo.com Phone: 815-514-8964 Freelance registered Landscape Architect located in southwest suburbs with an interest in working with design-build landscape contractors.

Kelly’s Green Designs Kelly Girup Warrenville, IL 60555 Email: kellysgreendesigns@gmail.com Phone: 630-479-2727 www.kellysgreendesigns.com Kelly’s Green Designs offers homeowners in the Chicagoland area knowledgeable and practical landscape designs. From custom containers to full residential landscapes, Kelly’s Green Designs are well-planned, strategic and beautiful.

GOVERNMENT Rockford Park District Doug Harkness 401 S. Main St. Rockford, IL 61101 Email: dougharkness@rockfordparkdistrict.org Phone: 815-289-0736 rockfordparkdistrict.org

SUPPLIER Spring Valley Dana Wilson 1891 Spring Valley Rd Jackson, WI 53037 Email: danaw@springvalleyusa.com Phone: 262-717-5970 www.springvalleyusa.com Manufacture, blending and sale of professional fertilizers, combination products and ice melters. Fertilizer based products are available in standard size, fairway and greens grades.

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The Landscape Contractor April 2019

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The Landscape Contractor April 2019

53

Diseases & Pests —

Pest of the Month: Boxwood Psyllid Disease of the Month: Oak Wilt

by Heather Prince

Boxwood psyllid (Psylla buxi) is common throughout Illinois on most types of boxwood. Feeding damage appears as curled leaves and occasionally twisted young twigs in early spring and can be cause for alarm for clients. Although boxwood psyllid damage is cosmetic, if you experience a heavy infestation, it is easily treated. The insect overwinters as an orange spindle-shaped egg tucked under or between bud scales. Once boxwood buds begin to open in early spring, the eggs hatch into yellowish nymphs that suck on the plant fluids in the terminal leaves.

The feeding causes the leaves to yellow, curl, and cup, protecting the nymph from predators. The nymphs are also covered with a white, waxy coating that provides some protection from pesticides.

Winged adults appear in May and June and can often be seen flying around boxwood shrubs. There is one generation per year.

and may be confused with general decline. Leaves become lightbrown or straw-colored from the leaf tip toward the base and remain attached, curling slightly.

Oaks killed the previous year will display spore mats with pressure pads that rupture the bark, usually evidenced by a slight swelling and a vertical crack.

Beetles are attracted to the ripening spore mats and can spread the disease from tree to tree.

Treatment:

Despite their protective coating, boxwood psyllid nymphs are vulnerable to acephate, carbaryl, insecticidal soap, and horticultural oil. Scout for activity on boxwood, looking for curled leaves and greyish green nymphs hiding inside in early spring.

Be generous in coating the plant if using insecticidal soap or horticultural oil as it needs to contact the insect to be effective.

Acephate and carbaryl are effective on the adult stages of boxwood psyllid. However, follow label directions as bees are particularly susceptible to carbaryl, so it is best to apply when bees are not active.

If you suspect an oak of having oak wilt, laboratory testing should be done to confirm the disease as there are other oak diseases out there that can mimic some symptoms. There is no complete control or cure for oak wilt. To reduce the pathogen entering trees through open wounds, do not prune oaks when insects are active, especially in April, May, and June. Timely removal and disposal of diseased oak is key to preventing the spread of this disease. The infected tree should be removed as soon as possible, and the root zone trenched to break potential root graphs. Do not use diseased oaks for firewood as the fungal spore mats can survive under bark until the following spring. A preventative fungicide for white oaks, propiconazole, can be injected by trained arborists to protect high quality, healthy trees. Therapeutic injections can be effective on species within the white oak group when used early in the infection, if less than 30% crown affected.

However, it is agreed that there is no effective treatment for red oaks.

Disease of the Month: Oak Wilt

Additional Resources:

Treatment:

Oak wilt is caused by the fungus Ceratocystis fagacearum. It is a pathogen that travels to healthy trees either via sap-feeding insects spreading the fungus through open wounds or root grafts that naturally occur between trees. The fungus enters the water-conducting vessels of the tree and causes them to become plugged. It is a serious disease of oaks, especially the red or black oak group and can kill a tree in a season. Symptomatic leaves first occur at the top of the red oak trees in late spring to early summer. Leaves curl slightly and turn a dull green, bronze, or tan, starting at the leaf margins. A brown or black discoloration occurs in the current-season sapwood of the wilting branches. For the white oak group, it may take a year or more to kill the tree. In white oaks, symptoms are scattered among the crown

54

University of Illinois Extension Service https://web.extension.illinois.edu/state/horticulture/index.php 217-333-0519

Home, Yard, & Garden Pest Newsletter: http://hyg.ipm.illinois.edu/index.php The Morton Arboretum http://www.mortonarb.org/ 630-719-2424 Chicago Botanic Garden https://www.chicagobotanic.org/ 847-835-0972

The Landscape Contractor

April 2019

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The Landscape Contractor April 2019

55

New Member Profile Snapshot

Hembrough Tree and Lawn Care 2148 E. State Street Jacksonville, IL 62650 (217) 245-6227 www.hembroughinc.com

by Meta Levin

Hembrough Tree and Lawn Care has

ming pools and ways to make the back yard into a quiet area.

Customers want it to be a place to recharge; someplace that offers privacy.

“We focus on what we do best,” he says. He also is proud that they “recycle everything that comes in the door,” an idea, he says, that came from a conversation at iLandscape. His customers, he notes, do not have to pay a tipping fee. Nor do they have to pay to have it mulched. “It lets us be more competitive.”

Twenty years ago, they hired Bev Allen, who is the director of first impressions. She answers the phone, runs the office, knows everyone’s name and makes sure that all the “T”s are crossed and the “I”s are dotted. “She’s perfect,” says Hembrough.

Having someone like Allen as the first line of contact for customers is important. “In rural America there are only a set number of customers,” says Hembrough. “They don’t move.

They stay.” Jacksonville is only six miles across. Everything and everyone is pretty close. “We have to do everything right or our customers will go someplace else.”

Loyalty, says Hembrough, is only as good as the service provided. “Today in our industry, we have to work even harder.”

Hembrough and his wife have three daughters, none of whom has developed a passion for the green industry. One, however, has a degree in botany. Of the other two, one is a doctor of audiology at a children’s hospital and the other has a degree in finance.

Hembrough came to ILCA, because he wanted to have more resources for production and knowledge. A veteran of the old Mid-Am, he was particularly impressed by iLandscape, walking the aisles and finding more opportunities for one-onone conversations with people who were not his competitors, making it easier to share knowledge.

Still, like many in the industry, Hembrough is having labor problems. His, he believes, are exacerbated, because he is in a rural area and not many people want to live there. “To come to a rural area, you have to want to live here,” he says.

Over the years he has watched trends come and go, but, says Hembrough, it all comes down to grass and plants.

Contractor The Landscape

April 2019

a 63-year history, still run by the Hembrough family and still adapting to the varying market. “My father had the wisdom to accept change,” says Steve Hembrough, the second generation to helm the business.

Started as a service to local commercial and residential customers who needed trees infected with Dutch Elm Disease removed, it eventually became a tree nursery, its main focus until 1975, when the family added a garden center.

As customers wanted to do less, but wanted someone else to do more, the family business began offering tree and lawn care for commercial and residential customers. That trend has only grown and Hembrough’s customers are hiring more service work. “There are not as many do-it-yourselfers as there used to be,” says Hembrough. “Ninety-five percent of the people let us take care of it.”

Starting as a young boy, Hembrough’s father introduced him to a hoe and he “got to hoe weeds,” he says. “It was called chores.”

Slowly his work turned into a passion. He went on to earn an associate degree in ornamental horticulture from Lincoln Land Community College and began working toward a bachelor’s degree, but stopped when family matters required that he quit school and join the business full time if it was going to survive. “It’s my passion and love,” he says. “I think that’s true of everyone in the industry.”

When his father retired in 1987, he and his wife, Katie, took over. The company that he runs now offers landscaping, grounds maintenance, hardscapes, tree care and snow and ice removal. In addition, they still run the garden center. It includes a seven-acre tree farm, shrubs, bulk landscape rock and mulch, preventative sweet gum ball formation products, mole control, edging and holiday lighting and decorations.

They also provide snow removal.

With six crews, they do tree trimming, landscaping, chemical applications, mowing and other services. There is an increasing demand, he says, for pagodas, fire pits, swim56

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General Manager James Martin Associates, Inc. is looking for an individual that has developed the necessary skill set to effectively manage, motivate and mentor our residential maintenance team.

As the General Manager, you will oversee all day-to-day functions of this growing landscape maintenance company to meet the overall goals and financial targets.

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Submit your resume to: Sandra@sebert.com Enter in the Subject Line: ILCA Post / (the position that you are seeking).

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Hartman Landscape has an open position for a licensed pesticide applicator with at least 3 years of experience to service our HOA and commercial accounts in the Chicago Southland area. Must have a valid driver’s license. Contact our office at info@hartmanlandscape.net

The Landscape Contractor April 2019

HELP WANTED

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Enhancement and Maintenance Supervisor

Employment Opportunities

This is an exciting opportunity to work for an award-winning design-build firm!

Semmer Landscape is currently looking for an Enhancement and Maintenance Supervisor. Candidate must have experience in the position. English and Spanish speaking is a plus. ralvarez@semmerlandscape.com Employment Opportunities HOY LANDSCAPING, a 100-year-old landscape service company, has opportunities for experienced people who have a positive attitude, a strong work ethic, and take pride in their work. ·

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Send resume to: info@hoylandscaping.com or apply in person at: 3000 W Lake St, Melrose Park, IL Landscape Architect Clarence Davids & Company, a landscape architecture design-build firm, has an opening for a landscape architect in the Plainfield, Illinois office. The full time position will include developing design solutions and graphic presentations for both commercial and residential clients, with a strong emphasis on seasonal displays and sustainable enhancements for streetscapes and rooftop gardens. The individual will also assist with client communication, as well as project installation and management.

Clarence Davids & Company was established in 1951 and specializes in landscape management, seasonal rotations, and design/ build landscape construction. The company has three offices; Matteson, IL (Corporate), Plainfield, IL, and Ingleside, IL. More information can be found online at www. clarencedavids.com and facebook.com/clarencedavids.

Clesen Wholesale is the premier wholesale greenhouse and grower selling to independent garden centers and professional landscapers in the Chicago metro and Southeast Wisconsin areas. Established in 1941, our third-generation family business is the best, year-round source for Seasonal Annuals and Winter Decorations. We have three commercial greenhouses located in Evanston, Lake Villa and Grayslake IL, with our corporate offices and this position located in the Evanston Location. We are a solid business with years of continuous strong growth behind and in front of us. We are building a stronger culture with great teams and great individuals in order to create beautiful environments for the public and individuals.

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Interested applicants should send a resume and work samples to: Kurt Pflederer Clarence Davids & Company 23900 W. 127th Street Plainfield, IL 60585 kurt@clarencedavids.com

We offer competitive pay, health insurance benefits, paid-time off, and 401k retirement benefits.

If you are interested in any of the positions listed, please submit a cover letter and resume for our consideration to careers@ clesen.com.

Landscape Designer The Fields on Caton Farm, Inc. “A Great Place to Work” Beginners and experienced designers can apply.

Southwest suburbs. Large and small projects.

Hardscapes and softscapes. Well-known business with many prestigious clients.

Office personnel, Garden Center and Nursery divisions to support your efforts. Highest pay plus commission, company vehicle, and benefits.

Email to: tgollick@fieldsnursery.com

The Landscape Contractor April 2019

CLASSIFIED ADS CLOSING DATES & RATES May 2019 issue ads: April 15, 2019 June 2019 issue ads: May 15, 2019 July 2019 issue ads: June 15, 2019 PLEASE NOTE: “HELP WANTED” AD SALES ARE LIMITED TO ILCA MEMBER COMPANIES Magazine Cost is $5 per line Minimum charge $50 Website Cost is $12 per line Minimum charge $120 (About 6 words/line) Submit your ads online at ilca.net or call Alycia Nagy (630) 472-2851

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The Landscape Contractor April 2019

61

Revisiting Your Plant Palette —

By Patrice Peltier

For those who think they’re horticulturally

challenged, Kathy Freeland recommended Anemone canadensis, commonly called meadow anemone.

“The common name of this little spring beauty is very descriptive as the plant will spread and fill a meadow,” she wrote. “It’s a perfect plant for those who think they cannot grow anything.”

For the rest of us, Freeland urged judicious use of this plant that spreads by rhizomes. “Placed correctly in a spot where it can run, it is a beautiful ground cover,” she noted.

Trish Beckjord says, “I’ve used this plant in a naturalized woodland shade garden after common buckthorn has been removed. Planted with Common Oak Sedge (Carex pensylvanica), Long-beaked Sedge,Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum), Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis), and Wild Ginger (Asarum canadensis) among other woodland natives, it has happily spread but not to excess extending the season of spring flowering much to the delight of the owner. It would also mix well and add good textural contrast when mixed with hostas.”

From April into June, it is covered with white blossoms, each comprised of five, upward-facing petals with yellow center stamens. The light green foliage is deeply dissected with hairy undersides. The flowering stems can be up to two feet tall.

Anemone canadensis is native to low-lying areas such as river margins, moist meadows, ditches and flood plains. Not surprisingly, it requires moist conditions to get established. It does best in moist, humusy soils in partial shade, but can also tolerate full sun.

Anemone canadensis Spread: 24-36” Bloom time: April-June Bloom color: White Foliage: Basal rosette of light green, deeply dissected leaves with hairy undersides.

Photos by Trish Beckjord

Anemone canadensis

Editor’s Note: Honorary Lifetime ILCA Member Kathy Freeland, a certifiable plant geek, was a regular contributor to The Landscape Contractor starting in the late 1990s. She introduced readers to strange and sometimes exotic plants, frequently offering suggestions on how they might be employed in the landscape. In a world of euonymous and impatiens, she offered a path less travelled. Twenty years later, we offer a look back at how some of her recommendations have stood the test of time.

Naturalized woodland garden in May mixed with other woodland native species.

An early June photo at Hickory Knolls Discovery Center, St. Charles Park District

62

The Landscape Contractor April 2019

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