The Landscape Contractor magazine JUN.19 Digital Edition

Summer Landscapes What’s Hot? What’s Not?

Tropical Plants Add Fun Element

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CONTENTS Excellence In Landscape Awards Project

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FOCUS: Trends in Residential Landscaping 2019 Trend Spotting 10 What’s white hot? — What’s played?

Creating a Tropical Feel in the Midwest 22 Extending one of the top trends in Illinois

Can Your Company Deal with a Chemical Spill?

Coping with a disaster you hope never to face

28

Seasonal Weather Forecast 32 Summer 2019

Myth to Money 38 Five myths top salespeople avoid

EN ESPAÑOL

10

22

Latino Profile: Sergio Garza 34 Sergio Garza: 45 años en una compañía

Soils in the Urban Landscape An overview of what you can do

42

Creating a Company Culture that is Distinctive 48 Tips on how to set your company apart

Diseases & Pests 54 Japanese beetle and Hawthorne rust

32

Member Profile 56 PACE, LLC

Revisiting Your Plant Palette 62 Salvia sylvestris On the cover... Christy Webber Landscapes, received a Gold award for Commercial Landscape Construction for this project at Soldier Field.

The Landscape Contractor June 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 Irvin Etienne Rick Reuland Steve Mirsky Chalet Merit Gest

8-9, 30-36 22-27 28-31 32 34 38

Calendar 4 5 6 52 58 61

Paul Drobot Heather Prince PACE, Inc. Midwest Groundcovers

AUGUST August 1, 2019 Summer Field Day Goodmark Nurseries Wonder Lake August 29, 2019 Turf Education Day (TED) Chicago Botanic Garden Glencoe

42-45 54 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

SEPTEMBER

Volume 60, Number 6. 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.

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Education Manager AnneMarie Drufke adrufke@ilca.net

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

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at dotynu rseries.co m to recei ve our

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Feature Writer

Meta Levin

Shade TreeS • OrnamenTalS • evergreenS • ShrubS

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

meta.levin@comcast.net Nina Koziol

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n.koziol@att.net Heather Prince

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facebook.com/illinoislandscapecontractorsassociation

From Where I Stand — They say there is someone for everyone. That is, unless you are

looking for help at Home Depot. In that case, you are on your own.

Walking through Home Depot, I feel like James Audubon hoping to catch a glimpse of the rare orange-breasted employee. Many of us spend our Saturdays hunting these elusive and majestic beasts. To be fair, we know what we are getting into. We descend upon these massive stores with a skip in our step and delusions of grandeur in our heads. We are the weekend warriors armed only with a credit card and hastily sketched plan on the back of a piece of junk mail. “In and out”, we tell our families - like the famous last words of doomed bank robbers.

The moment we enter, the plan goes sideways.

They are out of a certain material. We have questions on fixtures or fasteners. We stare hopelessly at a wall of appurtenances whose use and understanding far exceed our limited knowledge base. Then, someone utters those terrible words, “Let’s just ask someone.” We cup our hands to their mouths trying to shove those words back where they came from.

We know, full well, that “asking someone” will begin the hunt - a desperate trip into the jungle, where torches glow and war drums beat. The hunt usually ends in frustration, hunger, and disillusionment.

As far back as I can remember, I was going to hardware stores with my father. Often, multiple times in the same day. My father would shuffle around the hardware store aided by someone named Larry in an apron with a pencil shoved behind his ear. He’d tell my father that he was on the right track, but would make casual, inoffensive suggestions that would change the entire project. Looking back, I probably owe that man my life.

Big box stores came into prominence in the late 1980’s. They rode the economic boom and urban sprawl of the 1990’s to become the de facto retail stores of the modern marketplace. Big box hardware stores were game changers. They had absolutely everything whether you were buying batteries or building a bomb shelter.

As with anything, there were tradeoffs. Gone was the helpful hardware man. Now, a team of employees had to cover a store 10x larger, featuring dozens of different brands of the same product, and hundreds of thousands of items. The idea that a hardware store employee, living out his golden years, was going to have firsthand knowledge of twelve different drill bits, was asking a lot.

I have been in seedy bars, dark pool halls, and Chicago alleyways, but no environment is more intimidating to the uninitiated than a garden center. At least with hardware, you have a general idea of what the item is, where it goes, what it does, and what it should not do. The first time I walked into a garden center, it was like that dream of walking through your high school cafeteria in your underwear. I was convinced everyone was looking at me, judging me, as I tried to appear calm and in control.

With each passing trip, it gets a little easier, but I don’t think our industry understands just how hard it is for the layman to break into gardening and landscaping. It’s ironic that one of the biggest complaints about landscaping are the low barriers to entry. I would bet that if you ask your average residential homeowner about gardening and landscaping, they’d compare it to mastering a musical instrument or learning Russian. It’s not that there isn’t enough information out there, it’s that there is too much.

For garden centers, this is certainly a bad thing. They want as many knowledgeable customers showing up each day with money to spend.

The more background the customer has, the less resources the garden center has to spend. I would also assume that avid gardeners spend

more per visit than the average weekend lookie-loo.

For landscapers, creating barriers for DIYers may be zero-sum. On the one hand, it shows consumers just how complicated and expensive landscaping can be. This could create more consumers of landscape services. On the other hand, it may completely turn off the customer and send them back into the world of red mulch, identical hostas, and weekly lawn scalpings.

Our industry had our chance to demonstrate value and we whiffed. Those dollars will be spent elsewhere.

Garden center employees truly do the Lord’s work.

The window for DIYers is small. This means garden centers are absolutely crushed for about 10-12 weekends per year. To meet demand, we’d probably need to airdrop horticulturists in from helicopters to answer every question. Even if the customer has prepared a plant list, they now need to find those plants amidst a sea of green. There is also strong industry resistance to cookie-cutter design, but many garden center customers barely know sun from shade. I am sure many garden center customers would love someone to hand them a plant layout, plant list, and even have it palletized by the time they walk through the door.

Garden centers are locked in an epic struggle between big box retailers. Chains like Ace Hardware and True Value knew they couldn’t win an arms race with big box stores so they focused on quality, not quantity and spotlighted their greatest asset, their employees.

People love the convenience of big box retailers, but shopping at one is usually a miserable experience. This is especially true when customers require assistance and expertise. That is what garden centers have in spades. They can also beat big box retailers at their own game if they are willing to accept commoditization.

I told my wife recently that shopping is a lot easier when you’ve committed to spending the money. She laughed, but it’s true. Wandering around any store is stressful and exhausting when you keep seeing those dollar signs add up and you aren’t quite sure what you want. Once you know your budget and what you are looking for, all it really takes is one last gulp.

Most of my friends are middle class and live in middle class homes.

Some use professional landscape companies, some do not. I have never heard a single one of our friends say they were shocked at how cheap landscape material is. Other than mulch, most homeowners are stunned at the cost of plant and landscape material. I have to admit, I fall victim to this, as well. The more I think about it, I am not sure what we are benchmarking plant prices to. Cut flowers? Produce? Hardware? Clothes? Plants can last a long time with proper care. Is $15 for phlox really that excessive?

Garden center customers may not know plants. They may not know design. They may not know maintenance. The one thing they do know is how to pull a credit card from a purse or wallet and hand it to a cashier. Garden centers should recognize this. The quicker they can get to that step, the happier all parties are. That’s not crass, that’s giving the customer what he or she wants.

Most consumers view plants like I view wine. I know very little about wine other than the basic varieties. When in doubt, I always buy a bottle of wine with a duck on the label. I trust ducks. I also have a set price in mind. If I’m buying a bottle for the house, under $10 is fine. If I’m buying a bottle for company, $15. If I’m bringing a bottle to someone’s house, I’ll crack $20. So, all of my wine purchasing decisions are based on price and ducks. That’s completely idiotic. But c’mon, liquor and grocery stores know this. Wine sections are organized by type and then organized by price. Expensive bottles on top. Cheap bottles on the (continued in page 7)

Garden Re-centering

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President’s Message — This is my las

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t Presidents message and I have to say; it’s the most onerous part of the job. While I enjoy pontificating, the deadline always kept showing up: “Time for another one? What? Didn’t I just write one?”

But in all seriousness, being President of ILCA has been a joy. The relationships I have built is the most rewarding part, the accomplishments are the most satisfactory part, and the pride in our industry and what I do will be the most enduring part. When I asked a vendor at iLandscape what made our show better than shows in other states, he responded with, “One word — harmony.” I thought that was a strange word to use, but he went on to say that we work together, get along for the most part, and share the same positive ethos when it comes to business. That is why I am proud to be part of this community.

Going into my Presidency, I was naive. Even after all my time on committees and the Board; I still had no idea what was in store for me. I thought I would be a figurehead at events: “Hello, I’m President of ILCA and welcome to (insert event name here)”. I’d run a few meetings, write the Presidents message, and give a couple of speeches. Boy, was I wrong.

The first thing I had to do was implement my agenda; and I wasn’t timid. In my first week as a new Board member, I met with Scott Grams and laid out my plan. He said: “OK, most Board members wait until they’re President to have this conversation, but fine, tell me what you’ve got.” My priorities were: addressing the labor shortage, cleaning up the industry, and improving our image as a profession. It was a long struggle. I had to fight to get labor on the strategic plan. Cleaning up the industry was seen as too big a problem. Branding and marketing was perceived to be too expensive. The Board got to work and figured out solutions to each of the problems we were facing. They worked really hard and deserve all the credit.

The second thing that got in the way of being a figurehead was how much time the legislative part of things took up. The service tax showed how much was at stake if we don’t pay attention and that was just a warmup. We leveraged our legislative relationships to tackle the Practice Act for Landscape Architects. This bill would move landscape architecture from a title act to a practice act. The original versions of the bill would’ve restricted work done by contractors and designers. This is work we have been doing our entire careers without incident. ILCA has long been a supporter of the Title Act and the profession of landscape architecture, but we were deeply troubled by the initial drafts of the bill.

We are compelled to intervene when fences are put around tasks like submitting drawings and placing plants, professions are interpreted by a government agency, and real penalties are imposed (fines and felonies).

I headed down to Springfield with Scott Grams and attempted to hammer out a compromise. All the related green industry groups were there along with the major design trades and the Department of Professional Regulation. We were stuffed into a small, hot, crowded conference room in the bowels of the Capitol Building. It’s one of my favorite moments as President. It was the moment I realized that being President isn’t about being a figurehead; it’s about channeling a chorus of 850+ members into one unified voice and that I was that voice. As President, you have to protect all members and not choose winners and losers.

This was also the year that ILCA decided to play a little offense. We sponsored a bill in Springfield aimed at, you guessed it, cleaning up the industry. What started out six years ago in a depressing meeting with

The Landscape Contractor June 2019

the Illinois Department of Labor culminated in HB269 which provides greater enforcement powers to the only agency who can clean up our backyards - the Illinois Workers Compensation Commission. Because of the Empowerment Packet, the IWCC increased its activity and went after serial violators who risked their employees’ lives in order to undercut legitimate businesses. But, this exposed weaknesses in the system. HB269 aims to address these problems by making the penalties for operating without comp more severe and helping the IWCC inspectors more effectively enforce the law. We showed up to that first meeting as “nobody that nobody sent”. Through our dogged efforts, over six long years, we are now somebody, and someone sends us.

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

A personal reading list to leave you with:

•

Aristotle’s ‘Nicomachean Ethics’ is the best therapy money can buy. He teaches us what it means to be happy (and it’s not what you think).

•

Matsuo Basho is a Japanese poet from the 17th century. His poetry is like an impressionist painting; moments captured. He titled one of his works ‘Travelogue of Weather-Beaten Bones.’ How do you not read that?

•

Roy Diblik. His perspectives are vital to today’s design community; a perfect blend of the picturesque and pastoral (we’re way too picturesque).

•

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

‘The Alchemist’ by Paulo Coelho is about chasing your dreams and the unexpected places it can lead.

And one last quote: “Veni, vidi, vici”- Julius Caesar, words to aspire to.

Tom Lupfer May 15, 2019

Jennifer Fick Wilson Nurseries and Landscape Supply (847) 683-3700 jennf@wilsonnurseries.com Allan Jeziorski Hartman Landscape (708) 403-8433 allan@hartmanlandscape.net

Scott Grams continued from page 5 So here’s my unsolicited advice for plant sellers, follow the money. This is not advice to be used on master gardeners or plant geeks. They will spend hours at a garden center like they are picking out a Ferrari. Leave them alone. This advice is for how to handle the wandering hordes.

The garden center zombies are begging for your help. I recognize this flies in the face of a lifetime dedicated to the art and science of growing and selling plants, but creating customers for life happens when you remove the pain points.

Garden centers are fun to watch from a far because they must keep up with retail trends far more than landscape companies. I know many garden centers are experimenting with online ordering and express pick-up. Others are having customers pay for the privilege of using a private shopper by appointment only. Others have live and online classes about basic garden and landscape design. All of this pumps more money into the industry. It turns the ambivalent into DIYers and DIYers into landscape consumers. That’s the chain this industry depends on.

Dual income families with an endless slate of structured activities have paved the way for commoditization. People like to shop, but they value their time even more. Grocery stores are moving rapidly towards online shopping. Amazon, home to the world’s richest man, is a leviathan that reaches into every industry, even plants. Carvana, an online car dealer, more than doubled its sales last year. All the factors align for garden center customers to be commoditized.

I understand the purists will disagree, but inclusivity can drive the plant market just as it did the wine market. In 1960, Americans consumed 63 million gallons of wine. 60 years later, we are up to 789 million gallons. Changing the way people purchase a product isn’t treachery, it’s trenchant. The future of plants will depend on our ability to react to a changing marketplace.

Plant geeks, like wine snobs, aren’t made overnight. It takes years of patience to get them to that level. If that fails to move plants, just put a duck on them.

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

May 20, 2019 The Landscape Contractor June 2019

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ILT Vignocchi, Inc. • Wauconda Bull Valley Residence

The idea for this project came to the owner after years of travel.

He appreciated how much fun and togetherness his family had at resorts that combined fun, relaxation and sun. We were tasked to design and build a place that would have the amenities of a resort, but be cozy enough for the family to enjoy. The design process took over a year and a half, but in the end we were able to recreate his experiences.

There were several issues at the beginning. First, there was a substantial grade change between the front and rear of the house, due to a protected wetland past the property line. It was decided that the grade would be split up into two levels to help achieve a more human scale. The first eight foot elevation drop came in the form of stone steps that lead from the house and the detached garage. Great care was taken to match the house stone to the new wall stone and steps to insure a seamless look between the home and landscape. The second grade change is less noticeable because the pool and deck were raised and leveled off. This meant the last eight foot grade change came at the far side of the pool. This afforded us the ability to add an infinity edge and waterfall. However, this also required hauling in approximately three-thousand cubic yards of soil.

Another challenge was the stone for the pool deck. The customer wanted the appearance of sand. They wanted it to have a feel of the ocean meeting the sandy beaches of a Caribbean resort. Jerusalem limestone was

chosen, but to achieve the desired look each piece of stone had to be cut to provide a completely random look. Although time consuming, the end product provided the desired look.

One of the biggest challenges were the amenities. Beyond the pool; they included a water slide, a lazy river, waterfalls, in-pool loggia, diving board, rock formations, a pool cabana, spa, fire pit, bridge and an in-pool island.

With all the elements needing to work in harmony a great team was needed.

For this project the companies building the Cabana, pool, lighting and artificial stone structures were absolutely integral in making this project a success.

The entire team had to constantly work closely together to help insure all the details were considered and executed perfectly.

The customer also wanted there to be spaces away from pool side activities to unwind. A quiet hammock swing, a secluded dining and fire pit area, and a playset for the kids were just a few of the items on the wish list.

Bluestone paths and thousands of plantings tie the spaces together.

The biggest show stopper is the fourteen foot tall berm that provides the elevation change that allows the water slide and the artificial stone structure for the waterfalls to be possible. Just like the pool, hundreds of cubic yards of soil needed to be imported to create the berm. Access to the top of the slide is made possible by stone steps that wind through the lush plantings that were installed on the massive berm.

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Trends in Residential Landscaping 2019 —

Trend Spotting What’s white hot? — What’s played?

Nina Koziol

Before 2008, consumers, landscapers and suppliers

were on one wild ride. It was a time when just about anything was possible. Clients wanted expansive ponds, complete with koi and waterfalls. How about an outdoor kitchen with all the amenities? Sure! And, big sweeping perennial gardens with non-stop color? Bring it on!

Then the recession hit and landscaping firms, growers and suppliers took it on the chin as homeowners tightened their wallets. But that’s a decade ago and things have changed. Big time.

“Right now the economy is very, very strong and we’re back to people wanting everything,” said Eric Bruss, president of Bruss Landscaping in Wheaton. “The difference is they want all the accoutrements but with smarter design—more creative, usable space.”

Bruss is finding that clients still want the cool stuff—an outdoor kitchen, fire table, pergola and hot tub—but they lived through the recession and they’re being cautious with their dollars. The desired outdoor space might have been 1,500 square feet with several outdoor rooms a decade ago, but now, Bruss says, it’s about half that size. “The biggest change has been scale. We can still achieve all the goals and include all the bells and whistles,” Bruss said. “What we’re finding is that the clients want everything in their space.” Just scaled down.

For Carol Heffernan of Heffernan Landscape Design in Chicago, her clients’ needs and desires have changed, too.

Grills with countertops and storage, pizza ovens, contemporary fountains and sleek arbors and pergolas are on their wish lists. “We also do lighting in at least 50 to 75 percent of our

Wood-burning fire pits are white hot for Bret-Mar Landscape clients in the southwestern suburbs.

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The Landscape Contractor June 2019

Outdoor lighting has gone beyond safety and security.

jobs. And, we’re doing more built-in grills rather than big outdoor kitchens.” For owners of a suburban mid-century modern house, Heffernan installed a built-in grill with a concrete countertop, a backdrop of Ipe (ee-pay) Brazilian wood and a waterfall, which complemented the home’s architecture.

Clients who do ask for outdoor kitchens have specific demands. “Refrigerators, warming trays, sinks—those are the most common,” Bruss said. “In many situations, they want a grill with additional storage—matching stainless steel doors next to the grill so it looks like a build out. All of these things are borderline in our climate and we educate them about that.”

Landscape architect Aaron Zych with ILT Vignocchi in Wauconda is still designing larger outdoor spaces for homeowners. “That hasn’t changed, but more clients are asking for small areas to grow tomatoes all summer as well as huge

spaces with eight to 10 raised beds,” Zych said. Veggies and herbs are hot.

Sleek is In

Grandma’s perennial-filled cottage garden may have been the rage 10 or 15 years ago, but not so much now. “More and more we’re seeing a modern contemporary look and style as opposed to more traditional, country gardens,” says Mike DiCristina, landscape division manager at Hinsdale Nurseries.

“Younger homeowners want a fresh, clean contemporary and modern line. They want to do something outside the norm— a different vibe.” That vibe includes a new look in planting beds. “We’re doing a lot of straight bed lines with 90-degree angles and grids of plants or rows of boxwoods or grasses.” (continued on page 12)

More clients in search of sophisticated, up-to-date patios are asking for dark colors in porcelain tiles and pavers.

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Trends in Residential Landscaping 2019 — (continued from page 11) Tropical plants in containers and in planting beds fit that new urban chic outdoor style, especially among younger homeowners and those with backyard pools. The big beefy foliage of banana plants and elephant ears sets a garden apart, says Dan Biernacki of Ted’s Greenhouse in Tinley Park. The greenhouse has seen a big uptick in sales to landscapers turning to tropicals and succulents for discerning clients.

Hardscape Materials

Manmade and stone materials for patios, walkways and retaining and seat walls have evolved, too. Another significant difference, Bruss said, is that manufactured product lines were all the rage a decade ago. “Fifty percent of our installations now are natural stone and masonry. The demand for masonry in seat walls, pillars, and retaining walls has exploded. In the material aspect, we’re seeing right about 50/50 manufactured products versus natural stone. I’d say 10 years ago it was 80/20. My supply chains have changed quite a bit.”

For Zych’s projects, the trend is moving away from natural stone. “Bluestone is a very popular material, but it’s harder to find. We’re seeing a lot more of porcelain tiles in different sizes and colors and precast concrete,” he said. (continued on page 14)

Dan Biernacki of Ted’s Greenhouse in Tinley Park says more landscapers are snapping up tropical plants, like this Musa basjoo (hardy Japanese fiber banana), for their clients’ containers.

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Trends in Residential Landscaping 2019 — (continued from page 12) “And, they’re in more modern colors like shades of gray, black and blues. Ten years ago, it would have been browns, reds and oranges. We still use a lot of natural stone, but there are a lot of new choices.”

“Porcelain, rather than tumbled pavers, is big,” Heffernan says. “It’s durable and easy to lay and it’s popular for rooftop applications.” The larger format tiles are sought after by urban clients with newer, contemporary homes and those

There are more opportunities today to provide structures such as gates, screens, arbors, trellises and pergolas, according to Leo Kelly, of Kellygreen Design in Palatine. Designed by Hursthouse and Kellygreen Design.

who are adding rooftop spaces.

Pergola installations have experienced an uptick as well.

“Pergolas are on virtually every outdoor room project we’re installing and it’s the homeowner who is asking for it,” Bruss said. “It may be just two posts and cross members to bring out the vertical element in the design.”

“Vertical elements are making a statement, especially in smaller sites,” says Leo Kelly of Kellygreen Design, Inc., in Palatine. “We’ve found more opportunities to provide structures such as screens, arbors, trellises and pergolas that homeowners are looking for.” For tight urban gardens where the yard can feel like a fishbowl, Kelly has built decorative screens that provide much needed privacy. He’s created custom trellis panels to support flowering vines in narrow plant-

Designed by John Staab Design (Staab & Olmsted) and built by Leo Kelly, this pergola is an elegant element in the outdoor kitchen.

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The Landscape Contractor June 2019

ing spaces along brick walls. His arbors with built-in planter boxes provide a chance for busy homeowners to nurture a few plants. These custom design touches appeal to homeowners because they turn small ho-hum sites into comfortable, attractive spaces for relaxation.

Depending on the homeowners’ style, pergolas and arbors may be formal, casual or sleek and contemporary. “Traditional style pergolas can be too fussy for some projects,” Heffernan says. “Now, some pergolas are almost like a box. We’re doing steel-and-wood combinations and one that’s all black steel.”

And, that makes sense given all the new, boxy housing being built in the city. In her own garden, Heffernan had her crew remove the “tails” off the top of her pergola cross bars to give it a contemporary, squared-off look.

Designed and built by Leo Kelly, this stylish pergola offers filtered shade to the dining area.

Couch Potatoes

A decade ago, most patios had a dining table, chairs and an umbrella. “Now they want lounge furniture, big comfy chairs and a love seat,” said Ashley Marrin of Bret-Mar Landscape in Homer Glen. “We’re designing the spaces for how many people will be using it but now they want that cozy feel—overstuffed outdoor furniture.”

Although teak was a top choice for outdoor furniture a decade ago, Zych notes that resin and concrete are gaining (continued on page 16)

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Trends in Residential Landscaping 2019 —

Gas-powered fire tables give a contemporary vibe in today’s patios.

(continued from page 15) popularity. “Customers still want teak but the trend is going to huge concrete slabs as tables, especially in commercial sites and for conference tables outside.

There are some sharp, high-end composite materials for decking, too, developed in the past 10 years. Most of our customers don’t want wood decks. They just don’t want the maintenance.”

Technology

Wireless has exploded and with it music, lights and t.v. are available outside with the touch of a phone. “We’ve always done lighting but now we’re doing LED lighting that’s dimmable, color changeable and zone-able—within one area you can just have the patio lights on or off and maybe just the plantings lit,” Bruss explained. “It’s all from your smart phone and it’s wireless. There

Today’s backyard living spaces may be smaller, but clients still want all the bells and whistles.

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The Landscape Contractor June 2019

are very high-fidelity controllable speakers with high sound quality.”

A decade ago, most clients weren’t doing a lot of outdoor lighting, Marrin said. “It was done in the front landscape or for security. Now we think about where we can light up areas. It’s not an afterthought; we include it in the design process. Even if the client doesn’t want the lighting at that point, we include the lines so that when they are ready, it’s there.” (continued on page 18)

Trends in Residential Landscaping 2019 — (continued from page 16) Zych notes that while incorporating audio-visual accessories outdoors—from flat-screen televisions to sound systems— is not new, the demand, while not expanding, has been consistent. “People know about it and they want to implement it.”

Do It For Me

“Every one of our clients asks for low-maintenance landscapes,” DiCristina said. “It’s a big trend because both homeowners often work and they’re hiring an outside maintenance firm because they’re not gardeners or they don’t have time.” Heffernan sees the same thing.

“It used to be that clients wanted a lowmaintenance landscape but now they want no maintenance.”

Fire versus Water

“Water features were absolutely huge 15 years ago,” Marrin said. “We do almost zero water features now. I think it’s a maintenance thing—people don’t want to have to winterize them. Even if they don’t have experience with a water

feature, they just think, ‘that’s a lot of maintenance,’ whether it’s true or not.”

For Bruss, the demand for water features has changed dramatically as well.

“Ponds and water features were very popular 10 to 15 years ago. We installed water features in three of four patios back then while now it might be one in 10 or one in 15. Whenever we bring water into a garden, it’s more of a small recirculating fountain.”

For a client that wanted a smaller water feature, Heffernan found a cubeshaped fountain made of basalt that provides a sleek look, attracts the occasional song bird and is about as low-maintenance as it comes. It suits her client’s busy lifestyle.

The consensus is that flickering flames in the backyard seem to be replacing ponds. “Fire pits are huge,” Marrin says. “I pretty much get a request for a fire pit if someone’s doing a patio.

Most of our clients in the southwestern suburbs go with the wood burning instead of gas because it’s easier or costs less. Almost everyone wants a fire pit.”

Carol Heffernan of Heffernan Landscape Design in Chicago created a stylish space with a contemporary pond, waterfall and lower-maintenance plantings.

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The Landscape Contractor June 2019

Contemporary gas-powered fire tables cost more but are easier to operate and create a modern feel in the garden.

Save the Planet

With all the media buzz about the plight of pollinators, more homeowners are interested in planting to support insects and birds. “A lot of our customers are asking for gardens that attract bees, butterflies and hummingbirds,” DiCristina said. “We’re using more natives and [the bed designs] are opposite of the clean look that some homeowners want.”

Native plants are big, Zych said, and it’s not a pre- or post-recession trend. “They’re gaining more speed.

Rain gardens are more popular now for water retention. That’s because villages are requiring more water retention on site.” For that purpose, Zych points to native grasses and forbs. He notes that many colleges now are offering natural resource programs that are larger than the traditional horticulture tracks. (continued on page 20)

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19

Trends in Residential Landscaping 2019 — (continued from page 18)

The Future

There’s no crystal ball telling us what to expect in 2029, but Zych sees electric mowers as a trend away from gas mowers. “California is passing laws about mowing and types of lawnmowers,” he said. “There are landscape companies with solar panels on their trailers so they can charge their electric mowers. That works in urban areas where the lawn panels are small. It’s being talked about at trade shows and while I don’t think it’s anything immediate for Illinois, it’s something manufacturers and homeowners are talking about.” Stay tuned.

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Lighting in pillars, seating walls and steps adds ambience to the patio.

“Younger homeowners are looking for a more contemporary feel in the landscape,” Carol Heffernan said.

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The Landscape Contractor June 2019

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Expanding on a Trend —

Creating a Tropical Feel in the Midwest iLandscape P

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

by Heather Prince

After a long, cold, hard winter and a mischievous spring, we’re all ready for the big, bold textures and colors of the tropics.

Irvin Etienne, Horticultural Display Coordinator for the Garden at Newfields in Indianapolis, gave an inspiring presentation at iLandscape on creating tropical flare in the Midwest. It’s all about drama!

Etienne uses a huge array of annuals and tropicals in his plantings at the Garden at Newfields as well as his home garden. Depending on your site and client, you can add sweeps of tropical flare, or create intimate vignettes to refresh a corner or patio. When working with tropicals, Etienne recommends being mindful of the subtle textures and colors they offer and think of ways to echo that in vignettes. Play off of red stems or dark venation in foliage by pulling those colors through the area and highlighting with bright colors. Repeat colors and textures for a seamless rhythmic look that weaves through the landscape. “Don’t be afraid to echo color in your plants.

Little, subtle cues, pull the whole thing together,” recommended Etienne. “Think about the colors and how they’re working.” With thoughtful placement, you can easily add tropicals into tree, shrub, and perennial beds to step up color and contrast. Many shrubs and perennials also have a tropical feel. “If you want the tropical look without replanting the whole garden every year. Sometimes layered containers can be the way to go,” suggested Etienne. He also advocates seeking out perennials like hosta, Ligularia, and ferns to layer in the look with less maintenance. Hakenochloa or Japanese forest grass is a great weaver shade grass that blends beautifully with large, bold foliage. In the sun, “If you’re looking for a native plant with dramatic leaves, use the silphiums! All the silphiums look very tropical.”

Etienne advocates going forth boldly, “I grow bananas because I think they’re pretty. I just love the damn things. Three easy plants for an instant tropical look are bananas, cannas, and elephant ears. They are all readily available and look great together. They even like the same conditions and are easy to grow.” These are all plants with huge leaves in a wide range of colors and sizes.

Bananas add height and a big, plumy leaf texture to the garden. Ensete ventricosum ‘Maurelii’ or red banana is one of Etienne’s favorites, reaching 8 to 10 feet with shades of burgundy and bronze in full sun and moist soils. It’s a great statement plant and combines easily with shrubs and perennials for layers of texture. Try it with Rhus typhina ‘Tiger Eye’ for a brilliant contrast. “For big, bold texture, try Ensete with Tiger Eye sumac. I absolutely love Tiger Eye sumac, it’s an incredible, bright yellow chartreuse when it leafs out then it goes to a greenish chartreuse in the summer, and in the fall it gets orange highlights. In the ground all year, a perfectly hardy plant, but it gives you a tropical look,” suggested Etienne. “Try hardy banana, Musa, too and weave it through the garden beds for a dramatic upright rhythm to the landscape.” (continued on page 24) 22 The Landscape Contractor June 2019

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23

Expanding on a Trend — (continued from page 22) Canna lilies have been popular garden plants since Victorian times for their beefy bright leaves, showy flowers, and easy care. “They can do remarkably well in shade. They won’t bloom as much or grow as tall in part to light shade, but they sure can punch up that bed of hostas!” enthused Etienne. “If you don’t care for canna flowers, don’t hesitate to cut the blossoms off and the foliage might even get bigger. I like a lot of color, and sometimes you can have a whole lot of color without a lot of flowers. Even if your textures are all the same weights, say larger leaves, you can add depth and drama with different colored foliage,” suggested Etienne. “Pretoria canna is one of my favorites for striped foliage with great depth. Prairie plantings are very popular right now, but if you add something like a canna ‘Pretoria’ in that kind of combination it takes you from Thursday afternoon to Saturday night!” Try them with purple smoke bush for a dynamic combination. You can

24

add cannas almost anywhere from containers to beds or even create a tropical hedge. You can lift the bulbs after frost and keep them going or start over again in the spring. Etienne commented, “When most of your color comes from foliage, you don’t have to wait for flowers or add deadheading to your maintenance schedule.”

Elephant ears are another big, bold foliage plant that is easily tucked into containers or the landscape. “You’ll find more color in Colocasia, than Alocasia, but Alocasia has a heavier texture,” observed Etienne. One of his favorites is Colocasia ‘Thailand Giant’ for a gigantic lime green leaf. “Let it get hit by frost before digging the tuber. It has the most beautiful white calla lily-like flowers.” Etienne also loves Alocasia Borneo Giant for a more upright plant with massive foliage. Elephant ears do best with moist conditions and a good fertilization program, plus most tolerate some shade. They can be a rich addition to a shaded corner for heightened (continued on page 26)

The Landscape Contractor June 2019

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Expanding on a Trend — (continued from page 24) drama and paired with bright flowering annuals for seasonlong color.

For grassy textures, there’s few plants like papyrus.

“Papyrus doesn’t need to be in the Nile Delta to be a happy plant. It takes normal garden soil on the moist side and does well. It can get five or six feet high in a season, so it can be a really nice addition,” recommended Etienne. It gives you a strong, upright, fine texture with a soft, feathery flower head that moves in any breeze and provides a strong textural contrast to the large leaves of banana or canna. The bright green foliage gives a place for the eye to rest amid a riot of fiery colors, too. “I like the straight species big ones, but Cyperus haspen viviparous gives you virtually the same texture in a smaller form and stiffer carriage,” observed Etienne. Annual Pennisetum rubrum or purple fountain grass also is an easy way to add drama and contrast with a grassy flavor. Etienne particularly likes the dark, big ones with deeper color like ‘Vertigo’, ‘Prince’, and ‘First Knight’.

He recommends planting them in the ground because in a container, they can be aggressive. “Pennisetums don’t like to share. They’ll claim all the space and all the moisture in a container,” commented Etienne.

And last, but not least, are flowers. Although tropical plantings feature foliage first and foremost, they come together with pops of blossom color. Ones that Etienne uses often include celosia, fuchsia, lantana, torenia, gomphrena, and brugmansia. “Orange is just about my favorite color in the garden. I particularly like the Fresh Look series of celosias. Terrific plants and a great punch of color. Their multibranched habit brings more bulk to the flowers and it blooms forever,” enthused Etienne. For a fuchsia that combines seamlessly with lime green and lighter colors, try ‘Gartenmeister’.

26

Long-blooming with pendulous clusters of tubular orange flowers, “It’s an easy plant with great flower power.” Plus, hummingbirds love it.

“I use lantana a lot because it blooms its head off all summer and it’s drought tolerant,” recommended Etienne.

Lantana also gives you an ever-shifting flower combination as blossom colors change with age. Try them in containers for a quick-filling plant that can also drape. If you want a tropical look for your base layer, “I love the new torenias that bloom their hearts out with minimal care and can give you an annual groundcover effect,” recommended Etienne. For an easy plant to weave through a sunny garden that contrasts beautifully with bold foliage, try gomphrena. “I love gomphrena, it’s a wonderful plant, it just puts out tons and tons of flowers,” suggested Etienne. Their bright, globular flowers punctuate a vignette as well. However, if you are looking to make a true tropical statement with flowers, Etienne suggested the Brugmansias with their enormous clusters of trumpet-like flowers in yellows and peaches.

“They are great plants for a true tropical look, with an incredible fragrance that many people enjoy. New breeding has more consistent blooms. You can overwinter them indoors but fertilize them well for success.”

Big, bold foliage and bright, long blooming flowers give clients a tropical punch to their landscapes. As you experiment with these textures and flowers, Etienne encouraged attendees to play with combinations of textures and colors.

“Something as ordinary as annual red salvia, combined with the right plants, becomes sexy again,” enthused Etienne.

The Landscape Contractor June 2019

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Turf Update —

Can Your Company Deal With a

Pesticide Spill?

By Meta L. Levin

Fred Whitford brandished a digging shovel

and told his audience: “Every truck should have one of these.”

Whitford, the Clinical Engagement Professor in Purdue’s Pesticide Programs and a Fellow in the American Society of Pesticide Safety Educators, led attendees at the 2018 ILCA Turf Education Day (TED) through an interactive presentation, “Can Your Company Deal with a Pesticide Spill?”

Often using humor and pulling audience members into the demonstration, Whitford set up a scenario based on a real accident and resulting chemical

spill. Using chairs from the room, an empty pesticide container, and other props he had brought along, Whitford set up the situation, plucking one person out of the audience to serve as the “truck driver.”

“It opened my eyes,” says Christopher Douglas, a plant health care technician for Kinnicun Tree Care Experts and Landscape Company. Douglas, who acted as the driver, went through the scenario over and over, as Whitford added components to the situation.

“The driver should be able to respond quickly,” Whitford told the group. (continued on page 30)

Employing a series of props, his boundless enthusiasm and a couple of willing attendees, Fred Whitford made very serious points with a balance of sage advice and deft comedic timing.

28

The Landscape Contractor June 2019

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Turf Update — (continued from page 28) In the scenario he presented, a car T-boned a truck and the car driver, played by Harold Enger of SpringGreen, was lying on the ground, injured. The pesticide was leaking from the container, contaminating the injured driver, as well as the roadway.

Whitford simulated that by pouring a pitcher of water on the volunteer victim.

Other items had spilled from the truck, including a box of empty cans (soft drink, as well as beer) that the driver had picked up from the roadway, while working.

What are your goals?

Whitford asked 1. Check the injured person. Do not move him or her unless the person is in immediate danger, if you don’t.

2. Don’t let good Samaritans

30

The Landscape Contractor June 2019

move the injured person unnecessarily. Give them something to do, i.e. call 911.

3. Stop the leak from going into the water system by blocking the drains on the side of the roadway.

4. Grab your shovel and dig dirt out of nearby areas, roadside, yard, etc. Throw dirt on the spill to keep it from spreading.

5. Use whatever is in the spill kit that you carry in your truck to stem the leak from the tank.

6. Call your boss, who needs to respond immediately.

7. When first responders arrive give them a copy of the Materials Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) that you carry in your truck.

8. Do not let first responders wash

the street down. Explain that will cause a loss of control of the chemical.

9. If a news reporter shows up, tell him or her that everything is under control. Direct questions to your boss or the first responders and walk away.

“Your main purpose is to contain the spill,” says Whitford. It also is important to be able to estimate how much pesticide is on the ground. Most products, however, are diluted, Whitford told the group. It’s still important to keep them out of the water system and to check with the metropolitan water district.

One more thing?

Oh, about those empty beer cans?

Make sure that there are never liquor or beer bottles or cans in the truck – even if you were trying to be a good citizen by cleaning up the roadway.

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31

Seasonal Weather Forecast —

This past winter we were in a weak El Nino, but-

contrary to what some people may think, it does not always mean a mild winter.

Some other factors came into play and there were periods of very cold weather.

For the summer months, an El Nino will often (but not always) bring cooler than normal conditions. In this case, the ongoing El Nino is slowly weakening and if continues to do so, will not have a major impact on our weather. That is probably Steve Mirsky the reason why the model (figure 1) is forecasting slightly above normal temperatures for our area. I am thinking that the warmer temperatures this summer will be weighted to late summer as the El Nino continues to weaken.

The second map on page 33 (figure 2) is the model rainfall prediction which is close to normal, but also with slightly above normal conditions not too far away. During the summer months, rainfall has a pronounced effect on how warm our temperatures will be. Since the sun is as its strongest, the amount of clouds are vital for temperatures, something you do not see to such a degree (pun) in the winter. Summers that are void of much rain or clouds will usually be warmer than normal and consequently cloudy and rainy summers will usually be cooler than normal.

Figure 3 (temperature) and figure 4 (rainfall) maps are my analogs. Analogs are my own generated forecast and are not model derived or issued by any agency. I choose the various years I feel are the closest matches given the current and future climatological and meteorological conditions to arrive at this

forecast. In some areas the model and analog forecasts are far apart, but that is not the case for Illinois. The analogs show that temperatures will be close to normal, thus only slightly cooler than the models. Rainfall looks to be slightly above normal.

Analogs will often but not always perform better than models.

However, in this case it was a struggle to find any strong analogs and in fact, I could only find ones that were only weakly correlated. Thus, this is a low confidence forecast and the model probably has a better idea.

Another aspect to consider is the abnormally high soil moisture over the Central and Southern Plains (figure 5). This wet soil cools the air that moves just above it. Thus, when winds are out of the southwest in Illinois, it would not be as warm as if the soil is dry and thus warmer. This could also be the reason why the model is forecasting cooler than normal temperatures over the Central and Southern Plains that the analogs are not picking up on. But the soil is dry in the Southeast part of the nation and that area may see warmer than normal temperatures. So, if that heat expands it is possible that could get into Illinois, especially the southern portions of the state.

But again, the caveat here is what the El Nino will do. Later this month there will be new model data, predicting the sea surface temperatures along the equatorial Pacific Ocean which may provide us with a better clue to how the summer will pan out. If there are any significant changes I will be sure to provide an update in the next edition.

Steve Mirsky is a degreed meteorologist and has been with Murray and Trettel and Weather Command since 1988. Although Steve is interested in almost every aspect of weather, his specialties include consulting for energy companies, winter storms, severe weather and long range forecasting.

Figure 1: Model temperature anomaly June-August 32

The Landscape Contractor June 2019

Figure 2: Model precipitation anomaly June-August

Figure 3: Analog temperature anomaly June-August

Figure 4: Analog precipitation anomaly June-August

Figure 5: Drought Severity Index

The Landscape Contractor June 2019

33

Enfoque: Sección en Español

Sergio Garza: 45 años en una compañía de 102 años En estos días, el trabajador

promedio de los Estados Unidos cambia de trabajo 12 veces en su trayectoria laboral. Entonces, ¿cuál es el secreto de esta persona para haber permanecido, y prosperado, en una compañía durante 45 años?

Sergio Garza, de 61 años de edad, lleva 45 años en el Chalet LandscapeNursery-Garden Center. Habiendo comenzando como obrero, ahora es un líder, un superintendente en la compañía.

Y alguien muy apreciado en esa función.

Con modestia él dice: “Chaletes una buena compañía. Hay respeto. Hay espacio para el crecimiento profesional, si uno desea.” Pero como dijo el gerente de la División de Jardinería, Kevin Marko, “vimos la chispa de algo especial en Sergio desde el principio. Tuvimos la suerte de que nuestras oportunidades de crecimiento coincidieran con la permanencia de Sergio aquí”.

En la cultura actual, el trabajo de

jardinería se ve como algo anticuado, a veces incluso indeseable. Pero Sergio ve la artesanía demoldear un jardín como algo que le produce verdadera dignidad.

“Me encantan las plantas, me encanta este tipo de trabajo”, admite, “Estoy orgulloso de ello. Mi familia también lo está”. ¿Quién no lo estaría? La jardinería es mucho más complicada de lo que parece.

Por ejemplo, se requiere un conocimiento profundo de lo que necesitan las plantas para prosperar, de cómo podar un árbol para que crezca con gracia, pero con vigor. Y para este supervisor de 18 personas, también incluye el conocimiento de cómo motivar a los empleados y cómo hacer sonreír a los clientes. Es un trabajo duro, no solo físicamente. Tienes que recibir entrenamiento, resolver problemas, ser analítico, ser creativo, y estar en contacto con lo que hace feliz a la gente.

“Los ingredientes del liderazgo natu-

ral están encarnados en Sergio”, dice Marko. “El asume la responsabilidad cuando surgen situaciones; está automotivado, pero es un mentor que demuestra empatía; tiene un gran sistema de valores, y hace que todos los que trabajan con él se sientan como en familia”.

No es de extrañar que el sienta que Chalet es una familia. Esta empresa familiar no solo fomenta ese sentimiento, sino que algunos colegas son en realidad parientes de sangre. El padre y el tío de Sergio comenzaron en la compañía antes que él. Todos vinieron de Los Garzas o “pueblo Garza” en Nuevo León, México.

Actualmente Sergio trabaja con 5 primos de ese pequeño pueblo.

En Chalet, Sergio es uno de más de una docena de líderes hispanos. La compañía inició un programa llamado “El Trainador,” para dar forma a las trayectorias profesionales de los trabajadores jóvenes. Actualmente la empresa ofrece un programa de Entrenamiento

Eleanor Brandt, Production Manager; Sergio Garza; Kevin Marko, Chalet’s Landscape Division Manager.

34

The Landscape Contractor June 2019

de Liderazgo en Gerencia.

Kevin Ron es el primer aprendiz de jardinería de Chalet.

La gerente de recursos humanos, Sandy Van den Avont, dice: “Kevin Ron tiene la inteligencia y el impulso para ser exitoso como gerente. Solo necesita crecer en su conocimiento de la industria para ser uno de nuestros futuros líderes. Es maravilloso ver cómo él, como otros, florece mientrasaprende con Sergio”.

Otra razón por la que Sergio siente el amor de familia es que esta empresa tiene 50 trabajadores que han trabajado durante más de 20 años. ¡Eso equivale a 1,000 años de trabajo!

La mentoría de Sergio a los jóvenes no se limita a los trabajadores hispanos. Eleanor Brandt, una joven coordinadora de producción en Chalet, dice: “Sergio es parte de la razón por la que he tenido éxito en Chalet. Él es un profesor

increíblemente paciente. Aunque tranquilo y reservado, una vez que tienes su confianza, tienes un amigo para toda la vida.

Sergio significa el mundo para mí, y para muchos otros más en esta compañía”.

“En una compañía de 325 empleados en nuestra temporada alta, él es un modelo a seguir”, continúa Marko. “Todo lo que él hace, lo hace con pasión y orgullo. Es el tipo de persona para el que me gustaría que trabajaran mis propios hijos”.

Chalet tiene oficinas en Wilmette, IL, North Chicago, IL, y en Salem, WI. La mayoría de sus trabajadores viven en el área de Waukegan. Para más información, visite www.ChaletNursery. com

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TODOS JUNTOS MEJOR. The Landscape Contractor June 2019

35

Enfoque: Sección en Español Sergio Garza: 45 years at a 102-year-old company – A Success Story

These days the average U.S. wor-

ker changes jobs 12 times in his/her career.

So what’s this guy’s secret to staying – and thriving - at one company for 45 years?

Sergio Garza, 61, has been at Chalet Landscape-Nursery-Garden Center for 45 years. Starting as a laborer, he’s now a leader – a Superintendent - in the company.

And a beloved one at that. Modestly he says “Chalet’s a good company. There’s respect. There’s room for growth if you want it.” But as Landscape Division Manager Kevin Marko says, “We saw the spark of something special in Sergio early on. We’re lucky our growth opportunities coincided with Sergio’s tenure here.”

In today’s culture, landscape work is seen as old fashioned, sometimes even undesirable. But Sergio sees a real dignity in the craftsmanship of shaping a garden.

“I love the plants, I love this kind of work,” he concedes, “I’m proud of it. My family is, too.” Who wouldn’t be? It’s much more involved than appears. For instance, you need a deep knowledge of what plants need to thrive, like pruning a tree just so, so that it grows gracefully but with vigor.

And for this supervisor of 18 people, it also includes the knowledge of how to motivate employees and how to make customers smile. It’s a tough job, not just physically.

You have to coach, resolve problems, be analytical, be creative, be in touch with what makes people happy.

“The ingredients of natural leadership are embodied in Sergio,” says Marko. “He takes ownership of situations; he’s self-motivated but mentors with empathy; he has a great value system, and he makes everyone who works with him feel like family.”

It’s not surprising he feels that Chalet is a family. Not only does this family-owned company foster that feeling, but some colleagues actually are blood relatives.

Sergio’s father and uncle started at the company before he did. They all came from Los Garzas or “Garza town” in Nuevo Leon, Mexico. Currently Sergio works with 5 cousins from that little village.

At Chalet, Sergio is one of over a dozen Hispanic leaders. The company started a program called El Trainador, to shape career paths for young workers. Currently the company offers a Management

Leadership Trainee program. Kevin Ron is Chalet’s first landscape trainee. HR Manager Sandy Van den Avont says “Kevin Ron has the smarts and drive to be successful as a manager. He just needs to grow in his industry knowledge to be one of our future leaders. It’s wonderful to see how he, like others, blossom while learning under Sergio.”

Another reason that Sergio feels the family love is that this company has 50 workers who each have worked over 20 years. That’s 1,000 years of work!

Sergio’s mentoring of young people is not just confined to Hispanic workers.

Eleanor Brandt, a young production coordinator at Chalet, says, “Sergio is part of the reason I’ve been successful at Chalet.

He is an incredibly patient teacher. Though quiet and reserved, once you have his trust, you have a friend for life. Sergio means the world to me, and to many others here.”

“In a company of 325 people in our high season, he’s a role model,” Marko continues. “Everything he does is done with passion and pride. He’s the kind of guy I’d like my own kids to work for.”

Eleanor Brandt, Production Manager; Sergio Garza; Kevin Marko, Chalet’s Landscape Division Manager.

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The Landscape Contractor June 2019

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Better Business —

Myth to Money —

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“More is possible,” says

Merit Gest, who spoke to an iLandscape crowd who braved the Polar Vortex on the first day of iLandscape 2019. “You are in control of asking the right questions and if you do, (the decision to buy) will never be about price.”

Because of the weather, she feared the room would be empty for her presentation, “Myth to Money: Five Myths Top Salespeople Avoid.” But, although, “It was on the coldest day on record and we wondered if anyone would show; they did.”

Based in Denver, CO, Gest is a sales, motivational and keynote speaker. She also offers two day interactive curriculums covering her research on sales.

In her interactive program, Gest ran attendees through the five myths that she says will impair sales efforts: • The Not My Job Myth • The Act As If Myth • The Stick To It Myth • The Born to Sell Myth • The It’s All About Price Myth Gest’s presentation was all about challenging these myths: “Check in on your beliefs and make sure that they are supporting you, not sabotaging you.”

Digging into research she has done,

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“Prospects rarely ask you the real question, so be prepared to ask clarifying questions.” she introduced them to “The Merit Method of Sales Mastery,” via a color wheel that identifies the three main points that Gest says affect sales success: 1. Mechanics 2. Motion 3. Mindset The Landscape Contractor June 2019

“Each fits into each other,” she says.

The perimeter of the wheel shows what aspects of successful sales goes into each of these three main points, beginning with the mechanics, the skill sets needed to be good at sales. These include investigation, expectation, question, qualification and presentation.

You can change how you feel about selling by working to improve the mechanics, your skills. This includes investigation – identifying your ideal prospect and where to find them. Once you have done that, you can put together a strategy for reaching them: how and where. Gest suggests creating an avatar of your ideal prospects, then use investigative reporter techniques to find them.

Once you have identified a sales prospect and are in front of him or her, set expectations about how the sales process works. Both of you have to be comfortable asking questions and deciding whether or not you and your company are a good fit for them and they for you.

Figure out a good way to approach this. Map it out, then use it.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions of your potential customers. “Prospects rarely ask you the real question, so be prepared to ask clarifying questions to ensure you are addressing their real concerns,” says Gest. By asking the right questions, you are showing your prospective customers that you are a knowledgeable professional. (continued on page 40)

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(continued from page 38) All the while you should be qualifying them for need, budget and ability to make the decision. Is the person with whom you are talking the decision maker? “If they are willing, but unable or unwilling, but able, they do not qualify right now,” says Gest.

Don’t waste your time and theirs.

“Move on.”

The last skill in Gest’s toolkit is presentation. Before making a formal presentation, review the reasons, particularly emotional reasons, he or she talked about when you were first interviewing your prospective client.

That, says Gest, helps put both of you in the buying mode. Ask more questions; re-qualify your prospect before presenting anything. Then present only appropriate offers – appropriate for your potential client, as well as for your company. This is true for either residential or commercial customers.

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“Belief informs behavior.

If you believe something you are halfway there.”

Motion is the second major point in Gest’s sales method. It includes goals, game plan, go time and get back up.

“Consistent action produces consistent results,” she says.

“If you are going to set smart sales goals, you have to align them with your life style, so that you are not sabotaging

The Landscape Contractor June 2019

yourself,” says Gest. Ask yourself, what you want to achieve in 90 days, nine months, nine years, nine days or even 90 minutes. “What can you do in the next nine minutes to get started?”

Once you know your goals, you can set up a game plan. What steps will you take to meet your sales goals.

Go time means that you put your plan in motion, then track and measure.

Debrief yourself, says Gest. Ask whether your plans worked. Did you hit your numbers? “Don’t guess which strategies work for you,” she says. “Measure your success.” Then redo the parts of your game plan that are not working. “Give yourself the flexibility to redecide the game plan in order to reach your original goal. Or redecide the goal.”

Despite your best efforts, you will not close every deal. So, says Gest, get right back in the game: “get back up. If you do not have a plan for how to get back in the game, the game is over.” So,

put together a strategy to recover from rejection. The sooner you get back in front of sales prospects, the better.

Which brings us to mindset. That’s the little voice in your head that talks to you about what you can and can’t do.

“Belief informs behavior,” says Gest. If you believe that you can do something, you are half way there. If, however, you believe the myth that there are born sales people and you are not one of them, you are harming yourself.

Our internal mindset describes that little voice. It encompasses our beliefs about money, sales and our own selfworth.

No matter what that little voice tells you, “sales is everybody’s job,” says Gest. You don’t have to have the title, salesperson, to do it. Sometimes people who do not have that title do the best job. These include landscape designers, estimators and even laborers. “Your job doesn’t exist unless somebody sells

something. Sales is an opportunity, no matter the title.”

The behavioral mind is what our actions say to others. Other people can read our attitude from our actions, as well as how we present our messages.

Emotional mindset is understanding our own emotions and the impact we have on others. What message do you send when you walk into the prospective client’s home or office? “To influence others, requires that we understand how our own mindsets have influence over us,” says Gest.

So set your mind and get going.

1-815-737-8758 The Landscape Contractor June 2019

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Soils in the Landscape —

Soils in the Urban Landscape

By Meta L. Levin

Paul Drobot had used

organic material in landscapes for many years when he picked up Roy Diblik’s writings on the subject and knew that he was on the right track.

Drobot, a former landscape contractor, horticulture instructor, author, curator and nurseryman, who now works at a garden center, shared his knowledge of soils in an iLandscape presentation, “Soils in the Urban Landscape.”

“Landscape professionals know that successful gardens depend on the quality and condition of the soil,” says Drobot.

While Drobot recommends soil testing, before planting, he has been in the business so long that he often can tell what the soil needs without testing., but “testing is absolutely a good thing to do” A soil’s color is not always a good indicator of its value and quality, says Drobot. Under normal circumstances, however, lighter colors usually indicate that the soil has less organic matter, while dark colors are an indicator that it contains more. A reddish color points to iron content.

Like the former teacher that he is, Drobot began with the basics. Briefly, 42

The Landscape Contractor June 2019

the ideal soil make-up is 45 percent of solid stuff, such as sand, silt and clay; 25 percent of water spaces; 25 percent of air space and .05 percent of organic matter. “I wanted to give them something of the chemistry and biology of the soil,” he says.

Sandy soil particles are comprised of the largest particles and provide drainage and soil air spaces. Silt has medium sized soil particles and has good water holding capacity. When you rub it between your fingers, it has a smooth floury and slightly sticky feel. Clay has the finest soil particles with a high-water holding capacity. It is sticky and plastic when wet and hard when dry.

If you look at its profile, soil typically layers out like this: 1. Top soil 2. Sub soil 3. Parent material Recognizing all of this allows a landscape contractor to understand that there is something there with which to work. (continued on page 44)

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Soils in the Landscape — on top and tills it in. “Microorganisms (in the soil) love organic material,” he says.

To do this, each fall he cuts the material from plants into small pieces and lets “it drop and lets it rot.” A sprinkle of organic material on the soil is not enough. Inches is better. In fact, Drobot recommends tilling or working in four to six-inches by hand or tiller.

As for the tilling, “I’ve always been a conservative tiller,” says Drobot. “I don’t believe in beating up the soil until it’s sandy.”

Dead leaves from trees on the property are spread over vegetable gardens and allowed to decompose during the winter.

He is careful, however, to ensure that the leaves are not from plants that are infected with disease. Those he discards away from the garden.

Newspapers also figure into his vegetable garden soil enhancement. Since the 1980s, each fall he has spread two layers of newspaper over the vegetable garden, covered by a layer of straw. In the spring,

(continued from page 42) By adding material to it, you can destroy or improve it, Drobot says. “I am a big user of organic materials,” he says. “It seems to solve most problems.”

When you add organic matter, it will provide food for the flora and fauna in the soil; add nutrients as it decays; improves the physicality of the soil and keeps soil loose and friable.

Those organic materials, Drobot emphasizes, do not have to be fancy. As an example, he cites the story of one of his students. Drobot visited the student’s home to look at the soil. It didn’t look good, but the plants growing there were beautiful.

He asked the student’s father, who pointed to a trailer. Two or three trailer loads of manure usually does it, he told Drobot. “Using this he was taking not so good soil and making it really workable,” he says.

Working his own or a client’s soil, Drobot puts four inches of organic matter

you can’t even tell that he did that. “I never get weeds,” he says. He does not, however, use this technique with ornamental plantings.

Sources of organic matter that you can buy include: •

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Soils in the Landscape —

(continued from page 44) • •

Saw dust

Ashes (wood ashes are highly alkaline)

Drobot also goes to his local public works facility. Each fall when leaves are collected, they are piled and left to decompose into what he thinks is great organic compost and it is available for free. He must, however, pick it up and haul it away himself.

He is careful with his client’s property. He cleans portions that will be seen by the public in the normal way.

Areas that are out back and hidden from view, however, he encourages homeowners to allow him to use plant material for mulch. “When I first started talking about this, they kind of looked at me funny,” he says. “Some are still hesitant.”

On brand new garden sites, he uses about one inch of organic material,

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which he mixes into the top soil during the initial preparation. He also will mulch or top dress with an organic mulch.

In new gardens, he would kill the grass, “turn it over and till the dead grass and its roots into the garden,” thereby “getting free organic matter and cheaper labor cost, since I did not need to dig out and haul away the grass clods.”

If, however, he is planting new plants in an existing flower bed, he adds a one to two-inch layer of organic matter, then digs through it and into the existing soil to plant. When planting only one or two plants, in a one to two-gallon pot, he will mix one to two-gallon pots of organic matter per gallon plant.

The pH in the soil factors in to how well plants do. “Many plant mineral deficiency problems are not caused by a lack of a mineral, but the minerals are chemically locked up in the

The Landscape Contractor June 2019

soil and the plants can’t use them,” says Drobot. “This is because of the pH of the soil.”

For instance, Red Maple has a magnesium deficiency in basic soils, where Pin Oaks and River Birch have iron deficiencies.

Drobot lives and works in Wisconsin, where most soils fall in the pH range of the lower 6s to lower 7s. 0 to 6.9 are considered acidic or sour soils.

Rhododendrons, Blueberries and Blue Hydrangeas all are acid loving plants.

A pH of 7.0 is considered neutral. Most plants will do well in the low 6 to mid-7 range. A pH of 7.1 or above is considered a basic or sweet soil. Some Dianthus do well in this type of soil.

When you are mulching or fertilizing, how much is too much? “Your garden will tell you when it needs organic matter,” says Drobot. If it bakes hard in the sun, gets hard or crusty after a rain, isn’t nice and crumbly, rain runs off it or soaks in slowly or it is dusty, it needs some help.

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Please be on the lookout for your dues renewal notice email. In an effort to streamline the renewal

process, we will not be sending paper notices this year. Renewal emails are sent to the main contact on the account. If you do not know your login credentials, please call the office at 630-472-2851.

Payment Options: Automatic Renewal – By providing your credit card information, your membership dues will be automatically deducted from your account every year on June 30th.

Pay Online – One-time credit card payment on the date you enter the information. You will need to go in every year and enter your credit card information to renew.

Pay by Check – If you cannot renew by credit card, you can mail a check to: ILCA 2625 Butterfield Road, Suite 104S, Oak Brook, IL 60523.

We look forward to your continued support of the Illinois Landscape Contractors Association!

The Landscape Contractor June 2019

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Inter-Generational Communication —

Creating a Company Culture that is Distinctive and Remarkable

By Meta L. Levin

Creating a company

culture that benefits you, your employees and your customers is a collaborative process, Lee Fredericks told his audience at iLandscape 2019.

Fredericks’ presentation, “Creating a Company Culture that is Distinctive and Remarkable,” generated comments and questions immediately after he was finished, as well as later when he was representing his employer, Rainbow Treecare Scientific Advancements, on the tradeshow floor.

“I had a number of people who stopped by the booth,” he says. “And a lot have reached out to me as a sounding board.”

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“People want to know where they are going and how they can contribute.”

The Landscape Contractor June 2019

Fredericks first began studying company culture when, as he puts it, he had “The worst manager this side of the Mississippi.

I thought that there has to be a better way.” So, he began asking questions, reading everything that he could and discovered that he had a passion for this work, “making a difference in people’s lives and the companies they work for.”

Since then, while fulfilling his duties as the Eastern Wisconsin Territory Manager of Rainbow Treecare Scientific Advancements, he has continued to study the importance of culture in a company and has reported his findings in presentations all over the United States.

“When you have a good culture that is well established, it is easier to attract and

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retain good people,” he says. This does not happen overnight. “You have to think about redefining and creating a sound culture.”

More than that, “you have to have the ownership, or the top of the business involved” for a culture to work, says Fredericks. “It doesn’t work from the bottom up.”

Fredericks compares organizational cultures to icebergs.

“You can only observe 10 percent; the rest is hidden beneath the surface,” he says. “The invisible only becomes visible when you do a deep dive and right your own ship.”

He ticks off five essential steps to implementing any change in culture:

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1. Check the pulse. Observe people.

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3. Develop a vision. People need to see where they are going.

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5. Live the culture by setting an example.

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Inter-Generational Communication —

“When you have a good culture that is well established, it is easier to attract and retain good people.”

Create an atmosphere in which your employees feel comfortable saying what they are thinking. Then, listen to them – your managers, crew chiefs, superintendents and laborers.

You may learn some things about your company and the way business is conducted that will surprise you, in good and bad ways.

By listening, you are checking the pulse of your organization, looking at what would change, what should change and what can stay the same. “Foster conversations,” says Fredericks.

You must make it clear that complaining and gossiping are unacceptable, says Fredericks.

Communication must be direct, authentic and complete. If someone is going to complain, that person also has the responsibility to propose some solutions.

Pay attention to the ethnic culture of your employees.

“Cultural miscues can be as damaging as strategic miscues,” says Fredericks.

Fredericks believes that landscape contractors must have those in management who can build good relationships with Hispanic laborers. “They respect those who make an attempt to understand them,” he says. You will gain their respect if you try to relate to them and understand what they consider important.

Fredericks recommends developing a vision. “People want to know where they are going and how they can contribute,” he says. If, however, the culture doesn’t support your vision, it will not mean anything. And, without the support of your staff, you will have a hard time implementing any changes.

As you make changes based on the feedback you are getting during your listening sessions, celebrate the short-term wins. Let your employees know that you not only are listening, but acting on what they tell you.

When you are listening, you also will learn what makes a team member loyal to a business.

“What they define as necessary may be different than the owner,” says Fredericks. Understanding that makes it even more important to create an atmosphere in which employees feel comfortable talking about their ideas, concerns and issues.

In helping companies, Fredericks has been amazed by the ideas that employees bring to the table. In many cases, these are people who the landscape contractor owners did not think had an interest in contributing. “When you ask people, they will open up,” says Fredericks.

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Attention Landscape Contractors: Remember to Support ILCA Supporters!

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Where will you find them?

• ILCA Membership Directory & Buyer’s Guide

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• www.ilca.net member lists – Finding a Landscape

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Diseases & Pests —

Pest of the Month: Japanese Beetles Disease of the Month: Cedar-Apple and Rusts

by Heather Prince

emergence. Japanese beetle traps attract males via pheromones. Research has shown that traps attract more beetles to the area and actually increase damage.

Pest of the Month: Japanese Beetle

This pesky critter is usually cause for deep alarm by clients as the adult beetles emerge and begin to skeletonize leaves of many desirable plants. Adult beetles are metallic green with copper wing covers and a row of white spots just below the wing covers. Adults are typically active for about six weeks beginning in July. Mated females will burrow into wellJapanese Beetle watered turf and lay eggs that hatch into white grubs. The grubs will feed on turf grass roots, sometimes causing dieback in the fall. Adults skeletonize leaves and will also eat flowers such as roses and hibiscus.

The adults visit a new host plant about every three days and can fly between ¾ and 1 ½ miles to forage. The good news is that Japanese beetles will rarely kill a plant.

The damage is unsightly, but there are several strategies to reduce beetle populations.

Treatment:

Hawthorn rust

Once Japanese beetle larvae hatch from eggs in late July to early August, they need 11 inches of water through the fall before burrowing deeper into the soil for the winter. They tunnel downward when turf grass root zone temperatures drops to 60˚F. Thus, a summer into fall drought will impact populations. This also means that turf allowed to go dormant will be undesirable for beetles. Larvae overwinter in the top 11 inches of soil, so a deep, cold winter will also impact populations. Adults may be killed by carbaryl, cyfluthrin, permethrin, and other pyrethroid insecticidal sprays that will provide about two weeks of protection per application. Prized specimen trees such as lindens and cherries may be treated with a systemic insecticide containing imidacloprid applied as a drench in June. Be careful of the timing with lindens to avoid their flowering season as many pollinators, especially bees, forage on the flowers. You may also hand-pick beetles or knock them into a container of soapy water. You will see best results if more adults are killed in the first two weeks of

University of Illinois Extension Service https://web.extension.illinois.edu/state/ horticulture/index.php 217-333-0519 54

Disease of the Month: Cedar-Apple and Related Rusts

Cedar-apple, cedar-hawthorn, and cedar-quince rusts, also known as the Gymnosporangium rusts, are named after their hosts, and all have a similar lifecycle. Cedar-apple rust is the most common and is found on apples and crabapples. Leaf symptoms first appear in May and June as pale yellow spots that mature to orange.

Infection may cause yellowing leaves and defoliation. Cedar-hawthorn rust can infect species in the rose family, but is particularly severe on hawthorns. The rust begins as yellow spots that mature to grey-brown lesions on the leaves. Leaves may turn bright yellow and drop. Cedar-quince rust is most noticeable on hawthorn, serviceberry, quince, and apple. This fungus targets stems, thorns, and fruits. Stems and thorns may become enlarged and deformed, while fruit is covered with fungal aecia and giving them a fringed appearance. Juniper is the alternate host for these rusts, so both hosts should be scouted for symptoms.

These rust pathogens overwinter on Eastern red cedar and other Juniperus species as hard and pitted galls or spindle shaped swellings on young twigs.

Treatment:

It is easiest to control these rusts on the deciduous host plants.

Apply a regular fungicide application of chlorothalonil, myclobutanil, potassium bicarbonate, or propiconazole beginning in spring when flower buds begin to open. Apply at the label-listed intervals until about two weeks after petal fall. If choosing a new tree for the landscape, look for disease resistant cultivars.

Additional resources:

The Morton Arboretum http://www.mortonarb.org/Plant Clinic: http://www.mortonarb.org/trees-plants/ tree-and-plant-advice/ 630-719-2424 The Landscape Contractor June 2019

Chicago Botanic Garden Plant Information Service: https://www.chicagobotanic.org/ plantinfoservice 847-835-0972

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Kaknes Landscaping Supply Naperville • 630-416-1002

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CJ Fiore Prairie View • 847-913-1417

Lurvey Landscape Supply Des Plaines | Park City | Volo www.lurveys.com

Stoneleaf Nursery Eureka • 309-261-7008

Cedar Path Nurseries Lockport | Barrington www.cedarpath.net

Midwest Groundcovers St. Charles • 847-742-1790

www.provenwinners-shrubs.com

The Landscape Contractor June 2019

55

New Member Profile Snapshot

PACE, Inc.

739 S. Mill Street Plymouth, MI 48170 (734) 453-6258 pacelink.com

by Meta Levin

It all started with family

, a retail lawn and garden store and Honda engines. The lawn and garden store began in 1928. Along the way the Saxton family decided they liked the quality of Honda engines. By 1982 the family had become a distributor of Honda general purpose engines in Michigan and PACE, Inc. was born.

“We saw an opportunity and started from ground zero,” says Chris Saxton, PACE president, who left the retail lawn and garden business in 1986. “We knew Honda built good engines and we seized the opportunity.”

From that beginning in Plymouth, MI, PACE, Inc. has grown and now has more than 205,000 square feet of warehouse space in California, Lakeland, FL and Plymouth, acting as a distributor for a variety of premium outdoor power equipment used in commercial lawn maintenance, landscape, rental and construction businesses, parts and accessories. Their customers are in 24 states, all over the Midwest, south east and west coast, including Alaska, Hawaii and Guam.

Although it started small, PACE now has more than 85 employees, with 29 territory managers. They include Dave Bomers, vice president, who has a total of 50 years’ experience in the industry. “He is a rare resource in the field,” says Saxton. “He has tremendous awareness of the business, customers and dealers.”

Bomers’ knowledge of the products, as well as the industry is valuable with its increasingly savvy and sophisticated end users. “Landscape Contractors are very much in tune with the products,” says Saxton. “They want equipment that is more efficient and cost effective.”

PACE’s dealers also are telling them that their customers are demanding better performance and the newest technology.

“There also is more awareness of being green,” says Saxton.

“We are starting to see more battery powered equipment and we are getting more efficient.”

Saxton and his team work to stay in touch with the end 56

users of their products. Saxton listens to his people who are out in the field, as well as to his dealers. “We hear them,” he says.

PACE has been an integral part of the Plymouth, MI community for several generations. Through its dealers in other areas, it quietly supports charities and community organizations around the country. The company also is a large advocate for the Dravet Syndrome Foundation, because Saxton’s four-year-old grandson has the condition and his daughter is active in the foundation. Not only do they support it, but they include low key tags on the lawn mowers PACE sells to promote public awareness of the rare condition.

In addition, PACE partners with some of the charity work done by the manufacturers of equipment it sells, as well as others. For instance, it helps SCAG Power Equipment in its backing of Nation of Patriots, a group that aids wounded veterans and their families.

PACE was attracted to ILCA, because of its educational opportunities. So far, the company has had a presence at iLandscape and Summer Snow Days, as well as other events.

“It provides us an opportunity to be in contact with some of the premier people in the industry,” says Saxton.

Saxton sees involvement in the industry as a family affair. In fact, Saxton’s wife, Terry, works for PACE (Chief Financial Officer), as does daughter, Lauren Nassar (HR Manager), his brother, Craig Saxton (IT), son-in-law, Ruben Dominguez (Chief Technology Officer) and daughter, Michelle Dominguez (marketing).

Even Saxton’s 93 year-old-mother comes in from time-totime. “She worked most of her life in the retail store and still wants to contribute,” he says.

Saxton loves the industry in which he has spent his life.

“We are fortunate to service great people in such a great industry,” he says. “It’s a good crowd of people. I love the business and I love the people.”

The Landscape Contractor June 2019

Classified Ads HELP WANTED

HELP WANTED

Classic Landscape is Hiring!

(Commercial Project Manager/Administrator, Commercial Estimator/Assistant, Hardscape Manager) Classic Landscape Ltd. has been a standard in the landscape industry since 1964 and continues to grow each and every year!

Please email hire1@classiclandscapeltd.com resumes if interested.

Chicagoland Certified Sales Arborist We have a need for another Certified Sales Arborist. Assist in daily operations, responsible for sales and client contact in an established territory.

Qualified candidate must have the ability to identify plants, insects and disease. Sales arborist would be responsible for providing daily work and scheduling for 6 crew members.

Full benefits include company vehicle,100% paid medical and dental insurance for employee and family and 100% paid life insurance policy for the employee! A retirement program is also available.

This is a salary plus commission position. Submit resume to info@winklerstreeservice.com.

Discretion assured.

Christy Webber Landscapes is hiring for the following positions:

HELP WANTED

ACRES GROUP IS NOW HIRING FOR LANDSCAPE SEASON! CONTRATANDO AHORA! PARA LA TEMPORADA de JARDINERIA

Spray Technician – Plant Health Care Rosborough Partners, Inc. is seeking an experienced Spray Technician. Responsibilities include handling and applying pesticides according to label specifications, loading materials and scheduling routes to achieve efficient use of time. This position also requires the ability to neatly organize and store inventory with a minimal amount of space and during peak season- April 1 thru July 1, the ability and willingness to regularly work on Saturday.

Location: West Chicago.

Requirements for this position are: Operator/ Applicator license in turf, ornamental and mosquito. Class C Driver License. Horticultural knowledge and landscape industry experience. English & Spanish fluency is a plus. Prefer 3 to 5 years of experience. We offer competitive wages and benefits.

Please email resume to: resumes@rosboroughpartners.com

Current Opportunities / Oportunidades Disponibles: Landscape Maintenance Equipment Operator / Crew Leader / Assistant Crew Leader //Operador de Maquinaria de Jardinería / Líder de Cuadrilla / Asistente de Líder de Cuadrilla //Tree Division/ División de Arboles Climbers (Immediate Start)/Escaladores (Para empezar de inmediato) Turf & Plant Healthcare/Cuidado de Salud del Pasto y Arbustos Technicians (Immediate Start)/Técnicos (Para empezar de inmediato) Mechanics / Yard Forman (Plainfield & Wonder Lake, IL) Mecánico ( Para empezar de inmediato) Playground Inspector/Estimator/Asst.

Superintendent (Plainfield) Inspector de patio recreo / Estimador/ Asistente al Superintendente (Para empezar de inmediato) CALL (888) 231-1300 for more information and check out our website for full job descriptions www. acresgroup.com/careers

LANDSCAPE DESIGNER IMMEDIATE EMPLOYMENT

Commercial Account Manager

Project Manager (Construction), Account Manager (Maintenance), ISA Certified Arborist, Foremen, Drivers, Laborers and Mechanics.

Please call us directly at 872-808-2066, visit our website at www.christywebber.com or visit one of our locations for more information.

Christy Webber Landscapes esta contratando!

Porfavor llamenos al 872- 808-2066, visite nuestra pagina de web al www.christywebber.com o visite una de nuestras locaciones.

James Martin Associates (Vernon Hills, IL) is looking for an experienced Commercial Account Manager to sell, manage, plan and schedule weekly maintenance and enhancement services to our customers.

-Prefer degree in landscape management, horticulture or equivalent experience -5 years’ experience with landscape maintenance -CDL license a plus -Strong computer skills in Microsoft Office programs Visit our website to learn more: https://www. jamesmartinassociates.com/careers/

Clarence Davids & Company, a landscape designbuild firm, has an opening for a Landscape Architect / Designer or Horticulturist in the Plainfield, Illinois office. The full time position will include developing planting and hardscape 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 in downtown Chicago.

A Landscape Architect / Designer or degreed Horticulturist with strong skills in horticulture, floriculture and planting design as well as technical computer skills would be best suited for this position. The individual will assist with client communication, as well as project installation, seasonal

WE’RE HIRING OPEN POSITIONS & INTERNSHIPS: Commercial Account Manager Irrigation Technician Design Sales - Project Director

Call Keri for more information at (847) 876-8017 Or visit jamesmartinassociates.com/careers 58

The Landscape Contractor June 2019

jamesmartinassociates.com | (847) 634-1660

HELP WANTED

HELP WANTED

HELP WANTED

floral arrangements and providing horticulture and creative expertise to clients and sales team.

• Ability to read construction documents and understand construction methods • Assist with proposal writing, project estimating and budgeting • Ability to communicate thoughts successfully both graphically and verbally • Ability to work individually and within a team environment • Required: proficiency in Microsoft Office.

Desired: knowledge of: AutoCad, Adobe Suite, Sketchup • Possess an entrepreneurial spirit and desire to take on operations roles as needed to enhance the overall success of the company with the goal of exceeding client expectations

and while interacting with the public and ENCAP clients.

• Be familiar with and practice safe and proper operation of small power equipment, such as weed eaters, chainsaws, cut saws, compactors, backpack blowers, etc.

• Native restoration services including herbicide application (with license), cutting/mowing, hand weeding, native seed installation, native plug installation, native tree and shrub installation, installation of erosion control blanket and other erosion control practices and prescribed burns.

Clarence Davids & Company was established in 1951 and specializes in landscape management, seasonal floral 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.

This is a key position and an exciting opportunity to work for an award-winning design-build firm!

Skills required:

·

Experience in AutoCad, Photoshop, Sketchup and Microsoft Office

·

Good knowledge of annuals, perennials, and woody plants

·

Strong design creativity, including seasonal floral design experience

·

Ability to work independently and be self-motivated

Interested applicants should send a resume and work samples to: Steve Bos Clarence Davids & Company 23900 W. 127th Street Plainfield, IL 60585 Steve.bos@clarencedavids.com Project Manager Posted 5/1/19: Winnetka, IL/Chicago, IL Experience required: +/- 5 years Red Spade Environments, a landscape design/build consultancy and division of The Lakota Group, Inc. is currently seeking a Project Manager to join our expanding Team. The Project Manager will play a key role in managing our rapidly growing portfolio of high-end residential landscape clients.

This individual will be an integral member of the team directly responsible for the oversight and implementation of small and large-scale outdoor environments.

Candidates must have a firm understanding of the intricacies of high-end residential landscape design including the design process, client relationships and customer service.

Requirements: • Coordinate subcontractor trades • Responsible for the successful and timely implementation of projects • Posses a demonstrated knowledge of plant materials, landscape terminology and installation techniques.

Education/Expertise/Certification: The ideal candidate will have a degree in Landscape Architecture, be a horticultural professional, or have a degree in a related field, with a minimum of 3-5 years experience in residential landscape design and construction management.

Red Spade is a unique, creative, solution-based organization seeking a candidate with similar characteristics Red Spade Environments offers a comprehensive benefits package.

Come Grow with Us. Please send your resume to: Jobs.redspadeenvironments@gmail.com Attn: Human Resources Director Subject: Project Manager 2019 Application Red Spade Environments 841 Spruce Street Winnetka, IL 60093 http://www.redspadeenvironments.com/ http://www.thelakotagroup.com/ Ecological Restoration Technician ENCAP is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or protected Veteran status.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES • Maintaining a safe and clean work environment, on job sites, during travel, and within the shop through control and proper use/maintenance of physical material inventories, machines, equipment, tools, and PPE. • Implement and follow ENCAP Safety Manual policies and procedures including weekly toolbox talks, enforcement of PPE use and maintenance, etc.

• Maintain a high level of professional conduct and a positive attitude while supervising staff,

The Landscape Contractor June 2019

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS • High School graduate or GED. • Must be able to perform manual labor, operate small tools such as chainsaws, weed eaters, and back pack blowers, etc.

• Must be able to work alone or on a team.

• Must be able to lift and carry up to 50 Lbs. and navigate rugged and uneven terrain on foot.

• Must be able to follow oral and/or written instructions, work outdoors in variable and rugged conditions, and establish effective working relationships with other employees, officials and the general public.

• Must possess or be able to possess within 3 months of employment an Illinois Pesticide Operator License.

• Plant identification skills are desirable.

Please submit resume via ENCAP’s website at http://www.encapinc.net/about-us/employment

CLASSIFIED ADS CLOSING DATES & RATES July 2019 issue ads: June 15, 2019 August 2019 issue ads: July 15, 2019 September issue ads: August 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

59

Advertisers 1st Choice Equipment ..............................................40

Attention Advertisers:

Alta Equipment ......................................................27 Bartlett Tree Experts ............................................31 Breezy Hill Nursery ................................................41 Cardno ....................................................................14 Cassidy Tire ...........................................................57 Chicagoland Gardening .........................................61 Compost Supply ..................................................... 15

offers some extraordinary MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES.

Deerpath Nurseries ..................................................48 DitchWitch Industries........................................60 Doty Nurseries LLC ................................................4 Ewing Irigation & Landscape Supply ......................29 Fairview Evergreen Nurseries ...............................31 Goodmark Nurseries ..............................................21 Green Glen Nursery ..............................................63 Hinsdale Nurseries, Inc. .....................................12 Homer Industries ...................................................17 Image Survey PRO ..................................................47 Iron Rental ..............................................................39

Just one call opens the door to enhanced sales and marketing success.

Call Debbie to get started!

817-501-2403

James Martin Associates ........................................58 JKS Ventures ..........................................................41 Kramer Tree Specialists .........................................50 Lafarge Fox River Stone ...........................................45 Longshadow Planters ............................................13 Mariani Plants ..........................................................6 Mariani Plants .........................................................35 Martin Implement ..................................................49 Maynards ................................................................44 McGinty Bros. ......................................................30 Midwest Groundcovers .......................................19 Midwest Trading ....................................................2 OGA .......................................................................43 Rainbow Farm .........................................................51 RWC Insurance .....................................................30 Snow fighters Institute ...........................................53 Spring Meadow Nursery .......................................55 The Care of Trees ..................................................49 The Mulch Center .................................................25 Unilock, Inc. ...........................................................64

The Landscape Contractor June 2019

61

Revisiting Your Plant Palette —

Salvia sylvestris

By Patrice Peltier

Writing in the late 1990s, Kathy Freeland

couldn’t have foretold the immense popularity perennial Salvia would enjoy thanks to Dutch Designer Piet Oudolf’s rivers of Salvia at the Lurie Garden. Nonetheless, sages in general were on her radar.

“The sages, together with the introduction of ornamental grasses, came to our attention during the 80s and early ‘90s,” she wrote. “Botanical gardens have been introducing series of these plants from all over the world.

“Salvia x superba, violet sage, is a group of lovely hybrids nearly smothered in spikes of ½-inch long violet blue flowers from late spring to early summer,” she added, referring to the plants now identified as S. sylvestris and S. nemorosa.

Among the Salvias she highlighted was ‘May Night’ which was chosen 1997 Perennial Plant of the Year by the Perennial Plant Association. Others she highlighted included Blue Hill and East Freisland.

Today, “May Night is our best seller by a mile,” says Shannon McEnerney, Product Manager at Midwest Groundcovers. “East Friesland has fallen off a little bit in the past 10 years, but we still sell a good number. Blue Hill has remained very consistent.”

Salvia nemorosa ‘Wesuwe’, which was introduced by Oudolf, and Salvia nemorosa ‘Cardonna’, admired for its dark flower stems, have been giving some of the older cultivars a run for their money, McEnerney says, but none have been able to knock May Night from the top spot.

Interestingly, when Richard Hawke, plant evaluation manager at Chicago Botanic Garden, conducted a trial of Salvias, May Night was one of several plants to merit a four-star rating. Cardonna and Wesuwe also sailed through the trial with four-star ratings. Blue Hill and East Freisland earned two stars.

“Honestly, I’m not sure that another sage has diminished its popularity,” Hawke says of May Night, adding, “It has more competition than ever.”

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.

62

Salvia sylvestris ‘May Night’ Height: 30” Spread: 36” Bloom time: Late May to early August, repeating to October Bloom color: Deep violet blue Culture: Grows best in full sun, average, well-drained soil in dry to medium moisture.

Salvia nemorosa ‘Cardonna’ Height: 24” Spread: 20” Bloom time: Late May to late June, repeating to October Bloom color: Blue violet flowers with dark purple, nearly black stems and calyces Culture: Grows best in full sun, average, well-drained soil in dry to medium moisture.

Salvia nemorosa ‘Wesuwe’ Height: 30” Spread: 36” Bloom time: early June to early August, repeating to October Bloom color: Deep blue violet. Bracts hold rosy color for weeks.

Culture: Grows best in full sun, average, well-drained soil in dry to medium moisture.

The Landscape Contractor June 2019

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