The Landscape Show 2009-Day 1

With the economy top of mind for everyone, what better way to kick off this year's Landscape Show in Orlando with an opening general session addressing that very subject. Henry Fishkind from Fishkind & Associates spoke to a full room of very interested industry professionals. FNGLA retained the consulting services of Fishkind to conduct an in-depth, six-month study about economic trends and how they affect the Florida nursery and landscape industry in particular.

All the numbers and graphs aside, Fishkind says "there is light at the end of the tunnel." Though, the light is a ways off. He says that numbers indicate the economy has bottomed out and the losses are slowing or stopping. Thanks to stimulus money, consumer confidence is starting to come back and the forecast calls for a technical recovery to give way to sustained recovery in 2010. "Things will get better, but we're not off to the races," he says.

Unfortunately, the wait will be a little longer for Florida, according to Fishkind. Indicators show for the rest of 2009 into 2010, it will be "more of the same," he said. All signs point to a slow recovery with housing starts moving up and improvement in population growth in 2011-2012.

On the bright side for the Florida green industry, floriculture sales are on the way up. He cautioned to "keep your seatbelts on" if you're in greenhouse and nursery sales.

From the reaction of the crowd, it doesn't appear that any of the information presented was a shocker: just more reinforcement of what we already know. The trick is to find a way to get to that light at the end of the tunnel relatively unscathed.

When it came to "Defining Your Economic Future," Fishkind offered these words of advice to those attending: "Be smart, vigilant, and careful." For those looking to make structural changes he said to "be prudent." Message received.

Go Green

Sustainability is still a hot topic. I sat in on Joe Lamp'l's short course presentation on "Greening Your Business For The New Eco-Savvy Shopper."

He says today's target audience are looking for safety and more eco-friendly alternatives when seeking out lawn and garden services. "The green industry needs to be a source of information for them," Lamp'l said. "People are asking more questions and we need to be ready to answer them."

Lamp'l pointed out some noteworthy trends for the industry:

• Home vegetable gardening is spiking (Bonnie Plants had its best year ever in 2009---2010 looks to be even better, according to Lamp'l)


• There's more interest in rainwater harvesting


• Bayer Advanced is looking to introduce a new eco-friendly product line called Natria


• Espoma is enhancing its natural line of products

There is a demand for alternatives. The biggest hurdles for the nursery and landscape industry in connecting with the eco-savvy consumer are economics and lack of consumer education. "We need to be a trusted source so we can manage their expectations," Lamp'l concluded.

Get Vertical
In keeping with the "green" theme, I noticed several stunning examples of vertical walls around the demonstration area. Not a gardening practice seen too often around Florida---yet, the message was loud and clear that vertical gardening is not as hard as it looks and could present potential landscape service opportunities for those willing to reach up for them.

Really cool displays and impressive how much goes into not only putting them together, but also keeping them looking good.

Good first day. Gearing up for the second.