The Landscape Show-Day 2

A day of recognition and learning going into the second day of this year's Landscape Show.

For the last 11 years now, Ornamental Outlook and Meister Media Worldwide have honored the nursery profession by recognizing operations that excel in the field of innovation, leadership, and a commitment to the future of the green industry. It was an honor for me to present the 2009 Ornamental Outlook Operation of the Year award to Ruskin, FL-based Sun City Tree Farm. The award was presented to the company at their booth during the show.

Sun City Tree Farm will be featured in the upcoming November issue of Ornamental Outlook. I'll be heading out to their operation in Ruskin to conduct the photo shoot and interview next week.

Demonstration Education
I was able to take in a few demonstration sessions during the show today. Michael Orfanedes from UF/IFAS led a talk about grading trees. The session, directed to landscape inspectors, discussed ways to measure, inspect, and spot the signs to know if the tree you're looking at is a "Florida Fancy" or a cull.

The Roots Plus Field Growers Association of Florida provided a tree grading cue card for the presentation that listed helpful tips, including:

• Look inside the crown of the tree at the trunk form


• Check branch arrangement


• Choose appropriate tree matrix type (Type 1: spreading and rounding shapes; Type 2: pyramidal shapes; Type 3: columnar/upright shapes; Type 4: vase shapes; and Type 5: oval shapes)


• Measure the caliper of the trunk (measured 6 inches from grade on trees up t and including 4 inches in caliper, and 12 inches from grade for larger trees.


• Grade the tree based on crown spread


• Grade the tree according to structural uniformity

Click here to see more helpful steps from the cue card.

Not only a good demonstration for landscape inspectors, but also a timely topic as more scrutiny is being put on the quality of material that is going in to landscapes.

Veggie Gardening By The Square Foot
Kevin and Theresa Riley from Rockledge Gardens led a demonstration titled "Gardening by the Square Foot." Edible landscaping is a hot topic right now and this presentation showed an easy way for IGCs and/or landscapers to provide a "full-proof" way for a client/homeowner to succeed in veggie/herb gardening and for green industry professionals to take advantage of a profitable niche.

Kevin built a small, 2x2 garden box as Theresa discussed some of the advantages to creating a veggie garden this way. It showed how easy it was to construct it and then to accentuate it to produce a managable landscape element that can give back. Lots of interest and questions from attendees.

"The number one goal for us is for our customers to be successful," Kevin said.

Stay tuned for video clips from these presentations to appear on OOTV.

Speaking Of Recognition ...
The Landscape Awards of Excellence event was held tonight. The Roy Rood Award went to the creative team behind the beauty of Aquatica. The Worlds of Discovery team took home a few other awards, too. Click here to see a complete list of winners.

Another full day in the books. Tradeshow fatigue is starting to set in. One more day to go.