Florida Local Horticulture Professional Earns Certification

Mark Templeton of Crawford Landscaping in Naples, Fla., is a member of a group of professionals who are Certified Horticulture Professionals.

This designation was earned by Templeton after passing an exam that measures horticulture knowledge and professional skills through a 4 part exam covering plant identification, disease and insect control, landscape design/management and proper irrigation.

Established by the Florida Nursery, Growers, & Landscape Association Certified Horticulture Professional program has been administered since the mid-80s. The program was designed to increase professionalism among Florida's growers, landscape professionals and retail employees. This is the industry's only standard for measuring horticultural knowledge and has been recognized by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and all five water management districts. The program builds upon Florida Green Industries Best Management Practices and Florida friendly principles.

Horticulturist to discuss drought effect on plants (Alva, OK)

Dr. Mike Schnelle, professor and extension specialist at OSU will present a program on “Life After Summer 2011 and Celebrating Winter in the Landscape,” at 7 p.m. Monday, November 14th at the Alva Public Library.

Other issues to be discussed are how to be proactive in light of the forecasted continuing drought and horticultural lessons learned from 2011. Dr. Schnelle will discuss plants that failed as well as those that triumphed after the Winter and Summer 2011 seasons.

Schnelle will then talk about how we can be more proactive in terms of plant materials’ long-term health and how to plan for winter beauty in the landscape.

Dr. Schnelle received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Horticulture at Kansas State University, Manhattan. He completed a PhD. in Horticulture at Colorado State University, Fort Collins.

The educational event is the fifth and final program sponsored by the Alva Public Library through a grant from the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture Food and Forestry Division.

Alva Public Library
504 7th Street, Alva, OK
(580) 327-1833

Michigan: St. Clair County Community College is offering a new horticulture/landscape certificate.

The program will allow students to enhance their immediate and long-term goals in horticulture and landscape careers.

Completing this certificate will prepare students for jobs such as landscaper, nursery technician, greenhouse technician, groundskeeper and garden center technician.

The certificate incorporates newer landscape courses such as soil management, landscape plant identification and selection, greenhouse management, nursery management and turf management.

Classes in the program also will transfer into SC4’s landscape design, turf and greenhouse management associate in applied arts and science degree.

Registration is open for fall semester classes that begin the week of Aug. 24. To register for classes, visit www.sc4.edu/wave or call (810) 989-5500.

Overcoming problem areas in the garden

In an article published by the East Hampton Press, ASLA member April Gonzales, presents two landscape projects that overcome hydrological challeges through innovative designs. The resulting solutions were designed by horticulturalist Tony Piazza and installed by his team, Piazza Horticultural Group. Read complete article here>

The Secret Garden

BREMERTON — Stone paths meander up and down the hillside, connecting more than a dozen diverse botanical collections. Lush ground cover hugs the stones, trailing along from the far reaches of the Madrona Woods, through the Stroll Gallery and the Cutting Garden, all the way down to the John Lentz Garden, a memorial to the late rhododendron enthusiast. Eucalyptus trees stand guard along one section of the path. Heather and lavender spill over another section. Striped-bark maple trees shade yet another. There are nearly four acres in all, smack dab in the middle of a populated East Bremerton hillside overlooking the Port Washington Narrows. Read more>

Front Yard Garden of the Week: Landscaping is team effort for Bemidji couple

Terra and Charlie have been busy propagating plants to get ready for our short summer growing season. Terra started a large amount of her own flowers and vegetables from seeds, multiplied her favorites by stem cuttings, and, using her favorite propagation method, gathering seeds and plants from family members and friends. A couple of Terra’s most treasured plants are the purple irises from her grandma and the peonies from her great-grandma found tucked in the side yard by her grandpa’s antique plow and other found treasures. Read more:

Pacific NW | Stone and sturdy natives ground a strong garden worthy of a bold house | Seattle Times Newspaper

WHEN IT CAME time to landscape, the architect wanted nothing but natives. The owner requested a low-maintenance garden with spaces for outdoor living. Landscape architect David Pfeiffer could picture the hillside property studded in boulders and clothed in a mix of natives and ornamentals. "David and I had nice pushback" says architect Geoff Prentiss of the collaboration that resulted in an earth-friendly garden as naturalistic and bold as the house it complements.

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Pacific NW Stone and sturdy natives ground a strong garden worthy of a bold house Seattle Times Newspaper

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Program to explain 'Landscaping on the Wild Side'

ARTHUR — University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator Sandy Mason will share easy ways to develop an attractive landscape that birds, butterflies and other wildlife will appreciate during the program “Landscaping on the Wild Side – Attracting Wildlife to your Yard.”

The program will be offered twice: at 1 p.m. July 14 and at 7 p.m. July 16.All programs offered in this summer series will be held at Moultrie-Douglas Extension office, 122 S. Walnut St., Arthur.

The presentation will be via the University of Illinois telenet system and local computer Power Point presentations, allowing live discussion between the instructor and gardeners throughout Illinois.

Branching out from banking to landscape : Business : Naples Daily News

Landscapes Depot By BRENDA HAWKINS (Contact) 12:37 p.m., Wednesday, July 8, 2009 The title of branch manager takes on a whole new meaning for George Hernandez, of Landscapes Depot, a banker turned horticulturist. The former senior executive may not have an extensive background in horticulture, but he is banking on plenty of family-grown plant stock and generations of nursery experience to help him crest a new learning curve. "I'm a salesman," he explains. "It doesn't matter whether it's a plant or a house." Read more:
Branching out from banking to landscape : Business : Naples Daily News Source: naplesnews.com

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Gardeners slug it out this season - The Sun Chronicle Online - News

Slugs, snails ravage plants in wet weather
Area gardeners slogging through the soggy landscape are getting grossed out by gooey slugs bent on destruction, eating away at hostas and other plants.

Some are small, some are long, and they came in a number of colors, including repulsive red-tinted varieties.

Those who have dared to venture into their yards while dodging the rain drops, report a proliferation of the pests this season.

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Gardeners slug it out this season - The Sun Chronicle Online - News

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Program to explain 'Landscaping on the Wild Side'

www.jg-tc.com

ARTHUR — University of Illinois Extension horticulture educator Sandy Mason will share easy ways to develop an attractive landscape that birds, butterflies and other wildlife will appreciate during the program “Landscaping on the Wild Side – Attracting Wildlife to your Yard.”

The program will be offered twice: at 1 p.m. July 14 and at 7 p.m. July 16.All programs offered in this summer series will be held at Moultrie-Douglas Extension office, 122 S. Walnut St., Arthur.

The presentation will be via the University of Illinois telenet system and local computer Power Point presentations, allowing live discussion between the instructor and gardeners throughout Illinois.

If interested in participating, call Moultrie-Douglas Extension at 543-3755 and reserve a seat and packet of information.Pre-registration is needed, especially for the Thursday session. There is a $5 fee to help cover the cost of handout materials.

Green thumbs up: Blend, soften, and unify plantings with silver-foliage

http://www.wickedlocal.com/
By Suzanne Mahler

As the holiday weekend approaches, several days of sunshine and drier conditions are predicted. Perhaps, at long last, this never-ending damp and dreary weather pattern will break and the summer season will get underway as we celebrate the birth of our nation. In the meantime, a depressing gloom shrouds my landscape for yet another day. My lawn is beginning to resemble a cow pasture and there isn’t a bare spot in any garden as weeds and misplaced wildflowers fill in the spaces among my prized plants.

Despite overcast skies and the murky conditions, there are plants that seem to demand attention even from afar. Plants that feature white or pastel flowers are particularly effective on these dreary days while those that display bright gold or variegated foliage offer colorful highlights throughout the season. Similarly, plants that produce gray and silver leaves seem to glow even on the gloomiest days.

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His green genes go way back

http://www.newsobserver.com/

BY KEVIN KILEY - Staff Writer

(Photo BY SHAWN ROCCO)

RALEIGH -- Twenty years ago, Will Hooker began efforts to make N.C. State University's red brick campus more green.

Hooker's pleas fell on deaf ears. Administrators didn't want to require environmental classes for every student. They didn't want to hire someone to organize environmental projects.
"They basically laughed me out of their offices," he said.

Now environmentalism is all the rage. The green movement on campus is in full swing, with student organizations dedicated to the environment, departments focused on being more eco-friendly and an office assigned to organize environmental projects.

And as if some cruel joke is being played on him, it comes as Hooker is too tired to lead the push.
At 65, after 30 years of teaching landscape horticulture and pushing environmental causes for the university, Hooker could retire whenever he wants. But he can't. Not yet.

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Crape Myrtle Craze in McKinney features plants for sale, bus tour and symposium

By KARA KUNKEL / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

Kara Kunkel is a Dallas freelance writer.

Photos by EVANS CAGLAGE/DMN

Crape myrtles, such as 'Acoma', are popular throughout North Texas for their beauty and durability. "

In North Texas, if you give a crape myrtle enough sunshine and adequate care, it's hard to go wrong. Still, these vividly blooming shrubs and small trees, a staple of Southern landscapes, often don't get the respect they deserve, according to a group of crape myrtle devotees in McKinney.

McKinney's annual Crape Myrtle Craze on Saturday is intended to show North Texans the wide range of the summer bloomer's trees and shrubs, and offer for sale some of the hard-to-find varieties. The event, organized by the Crape Myrtle Trails of McKinney Foundation, also features a symposium and bus tours of the city's 14 miles of crape myrtle plantings.

McKinney isn't the only city in the nation or the state that has adopted the crape myrtle as a cause, but it hopes to gain distinction. The foundation aims to beautify the city with thousands of crape myrtles and to create a park where every known variety would be planted and studied.

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Scandia Landscaping celebrates 25 years

Conny Gustafsson and his wife, Wendy, are celebrating their 25th year in business as Scandia Landscaping.

Gustafsson moved to San Rafael from Sweden in 1981. In 1983, he married Wendy and they moved to Sonoma starting their company the following year with Conny doing the field work and Wendy running the office from their home in Sonoma. In 1995, they expanded the business, opening an office and corporate yard in Petaluma. They currently work in six counties and employ 15 people, keeping employees involved in learning; several are now Certified Landscape Technicians.

Conny Gustafsson has a degree in landscape engineering and horticulture from the University of Alnarp Sweden. To keep current with the latest technology, he continued to take college courses here in horticulture and native plants. He also earned his herbicide and pesticide license from the State of California and 1991 completed schooling in arboriculture to become a Certified Arborist and then a graduate of the American Society of Consulting Arborists.

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A landscape ablaze

Colorful perennials herald the start of summer

Bright sunshine, rising temperatures (and humidity), frequent thunderstorms and luxuriant growth have replaced spring's cool refreshing mornings and delicate wildflowers. By now, you're probably wading through that thick and luxuriant growth.

This is also the time of year when garden companions carefully planned to bloom during the summer in our perennial borders and woodland edges ignite the landscape. Summer's intense light and heat create the perfect conditions for an amazing array of bold flower colors and textures.

If you haven't done so, begin to explore some of the fine plants that help make the garden a focal point of interest in early summer.

Bright and beautiful
Right now, a wide range of native plants are exploding into flower, providing a remarkable showcase of color and adaptability. Here are just a few examples worth adding to your summer garden.

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Nature’s Landscapes is a monthly column by Mt. Cuba Center that focuses on the native plants of the Piedmont region, which lies between the Atlantic coastal plain and the Appalachians, stretching from New York to Alabama. Today’s column is written by Rick J. Lewandowski, director of Mt. Cuba Center.

Drip system advocate shares his wisdom

PressDemocrat.com

Robert Kourik hopes if you don’t, you will. And not just because it’s a more efficient way to deliver water and help your landscape survive a drought.

“I was fed up with the countless articles about drip irrigation as a tool only for the arid West when I know good-and-well it’s a cost- and time-effective tool for watering in any climate,” he declares in the forward to his updated “Drip Irrigation For Every Landscape and All Climates.”
Kourik, a longtime landscape designer, horticulturist and author, who pioneered the concept of edible landscaping, believes that “plants grow better with drip systems than with any other watering method.”

The book, an update of a 1993 edition, is a complete handbook for the use of in-line emitter tubing for every aspect of gardening, from vegetables to ornamentals, containers to trees.
He’s also added two new chapters on how to use drip irrigation with gray water and cistern water and helps you unlock the mysteries of all the newest widgets, gadgets, controllers and timers.

The new edition can be ordered on his Web site, robertkourik.com. It is also slated to be carried by Harmony Farm Supply and Copperfields Books.

New gadgets on the gardening landscape | News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Gardening | Home | Dallas Morning News

12:00 AM CDT on Thursday, June 18, 2009
By CAROL MILLER / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

Since gardening may be the oldest hobby known to mankind, you wouldn't think there was much room for improvement in the way of gardening gadgets. Yet, in the name of gardening's growth spurt, technology has changed the game for busy homeowners, helping them better understand their own yards and gardens. Renters with no land to call their own and empty nesters relocated to maintenance-free condos and townhouses benefit from new products, too.
Local local

Herb 'n Serve provides a shortcut for herb vinaigrettes and marinades using your own home-grown bounty. Add oil and vinegar to premeasured markings on the carafe, and toss in your garden-fresh herbs. The machine chops and emulsifies for you. The carafe doubles as the serving bottle and includes 20 recipes from around the world. $24.99 at North Haven Gardens, 7700 Northaven Road, Dallas The layered look

Stack-A-Pots are a modern twist on the classic strawberry pot. Each layer of the invention has three sections, allowing for multiple plantings. Self-watering technology and frost-proof and UV-safe materials (no leaching of chemicals in the sun) make the product ideal for growing edibles where there's no yard or where there's no room left in sunny garden beds. $99 at Dennis' Farm Store, 320 Bell Place, Denton, and Covington's Nursery, 5518 Liberty Grove Road, RowlettLight meter

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New gadgets on the gardening landscape News for Dallas, Texas Dallas Morning News

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Go green and save money by creating an edible landscape

More and more people are becoming increasingly concerned with protecting the environment and are choosing to go green. The green movement not only makes sense environmentally but also financially. We can save money, for instance, on our energy costs. We can also save on our grocery bills by growing our own fruits, vegetables, and culinary herbs. However, not everyone has enough room in their yard to devote a sizable plot of land to use for just vegetables. You really do not need to separate your vegetables from the ornamental plants in your landscape. In fact, you can intermix your fruits, vegetables, and culinary herbs with your ornamentals. In this way, all of your plants can share resources and actually work together to attract beneficial insects and repel harmful insects, thereby eliminating the temptation to use harmful chemicals in your garden..

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Go green and save money by creating an edible landscape

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Japanese Garden Video