One (S)hell Of An Idea

I'm a big proponent of the "Buy Local" philosophy. There are food packages a plenty in my pantry and fridge with the words "Fresh From Florida" emblazoned on them. There's a sense of pride that comes with using items built, grown, and/or harvested in your own back yard. I guess it's that kind of thinking that instinctively led me to the Shellscape booth at this year's Landscape Show in Orlando. When I got in for a closer look, I noticed that the organic alternative groundcover product on display was, in fact, shell.

Available in several colors, this mulching option lends a distinct, decorative look and texture to the landscape that is uniquely Florida. Recently, I have become intrigued about mulch alternatives like recycled glass. Colored recycled glass looks really cool, but from what I know, it's kinda expensive and it's not easy to find as I've come up empty trying to locate it at several local box stores and garden centers. The more I saw of the shell product, the more I wanted to learn.

After speaking with Shawn Sundall and Ryan Krinsky of Shellscape, I was able to find out more about the product and its advantages. One big plus is that the shell is a byproduct of mining done right here on the sunny shores of the Sunshine State. A home-grown product. Now you are talking.

According to Shellscape's product literature, some of the advantages of using shell include:

• An organic byproduct from Florida mining (nice plug for those looking for a "green" angle)
  
• Shell can maintain its appearance longer
  
• It does not have to be replaced, just re-colored if desired (good for those looking to reduce costs)
  
• Allows optimal water flow and drainage
  
• Moderates soil-temperature fluctuations
  
• Natural fertilizer: Shell releases nutrients that plants need including calcium and phosphates
  
• Safe for kids and pets
  
• Colored shells can be maintained via spray application of a water-based natural coloring: Shells are colored via a dying process that is totally water based and has no toxins to affect either plant or living organisms
  
• Does not provide a natural habitat for insects and other pests
  
• Retains moisture


• Can be applied around fruit and vegetable plants where other mulch alternatives like rubber cannot
  

Sundall and Krinsky added that they have contacted the University of Florida about conducting research on the effectiveness of using shell as a landscape groundcover. I'm looking forward to those results as it should motivate more people to try shell as a landscape application.

During my booth visit, I was thinking in the back of my mind how this product could complement my landscape. I was able to snag a few hand-size samples (blue, red, and a natural color) and place them in a planting bed mixed with pebbles.

I really like the splashes of color and different texture it adds. Throw in the other environmental and low-maintenance benefits, and I can't wait to see what kind of impact a larger quantity of Shellscape shell has on my Florida yard.

Test Run: KeyPlex H/G

It's always fun going to trade shows and seeing the latest and greatest products suppliers have to offer. After hearing about and reading up on KeyPlex H/G (Home & Garden) at this year's Landscape Show in Orlando, I knew I wanted to try it out. According to product information, the chelated micronutrient and protein-based formula geared to home gardeners is an ideal supplement to a fertilizer program and can be applied to a host of plant material including flowering annuals and perennials, trees and shrubs, fruits and nuts, and veggies. Similar to KeyPlex's other line of products, H/G works by triggering a plant's natural defense mechanism, protecting it from disease and spurring new growth.

When I inquired about the efficacy of the product, Rich Johnston of KeyPlex Direct said, "Try it on anything that's green and grows." Hmmm. I had several plants at home in need of some TLC. So, I decided to take him up on the challenge.

Instead of trying the product on several different plants, I wanted to focus on one plant and take it from there. A pygmy date palm in my front yard was to be the test subject. Despite being on the heels of an average rainy season, the palm had recently started to droop and was displaying browning in the bulk of its fronds. Although the browning was heaviest on the lower leaves, some discoloration had found its way up into the canopy. Yep, this was going to be a good test.

Before applying the product for the first time, I pruned off all the fronds that were completely brown and had no green in them at all. Next it was time to read the directions, lock, load, aim and fire. For sickly looking plants, applying the product directly to the leaves until the point of runoff is recommended for those using the hose-end sprayer method.

About of minute or two of spraying took care of the initial foliar application of this diminutive specimen. The directions call for this same application process once a week until good color and "vigor" is back. Then it scales it back to once every 3-4 weeks for maintenance purposes.

My Impressions And Observations:

The environmentally friendly angle of the product is certainly of value and attractive to the end user. I liked the convenient hose-end sprayer, the lack of odor, and not having to wear gloves or a mask for protection during application.

After five consecutive weeks of applications, I have noticed marked improvement. New leaves have emerged and there are no signs of browning on them. I'd like to see a little more pop, however, before I say we've reached the point of vigorous. But I think we are getting there.

With that, my 32 oz. bottle has run its course. Luckily, I have a second bottle I will continue treatment with on this palm and then try on another candidate.

Stay tuned to see how things progress.

Cool Tools

Reading through the latest issue of Popular Mechanics, I was pleased to see a couple landscape equipment items among the winners highlighted in the magazine's feature on the 10 Most Brilliant Products of 2009. Popular Mechanics describes their list of 2009 Breakthrough Products as: "Brilliant innovations -- most of them, at least, make their greatest contributions once they become products people can buy. This year's winners trim energy use, enhance communication, and just make life more fun."

So what were the "breakthrough" products for landscapers?:

The Hustler Zeon: the world's first all-electric zero-turn radius mower.

The LEHR Eco Trimmer: a four-stroke string trimmer powered by propane.

For me, seeing these products listed is not only cool because tools of the trade for landscapers are getting a shout out, but also the fact that Ornamental Outlook featured both in our New Products section earlier this year.

With advancements in technology continuing at a frantic pace, so does the ingenuity in the tools we use on a daily basis. I'm looking forward to what suppliers have in store for 2010. I'm sure landscape professionals are, too. Keep the good ideas coming.

The Landscape Show-Day 3

Well, another Landscape Show has come and gone. As always, it was fun to walk around the exhibit hall and see cool plants at the displays, learn at informative demonstrations and short-course sessions, gawk at the new, innovative products and have a chance to catch up with everybody I saw.

The overall mood was relatively positive. Of course, I'm sure expectations were low going in. I think it's obvious that acceptance of current marketplace challenges has fully taken place and everyone--myself included---is ready for the healing to begin. When will that happen? If you go by the numbers (see opening general session), we have a ways to go. Perhaps we'll get there faster. The only way that can happen is by sticking together and sticking it out. Showing up and showing your best at an industry trade show is a good way to display solidarity and resiliency. Good show, everyone. Good show.

Show Standouts

Booth Winners

Best of Show: Acosta Farms

Island Display:

Plant, 1st Place: TreeTown USA

2nd Place: Excelsa Gardens

Allied 1st Place: Pottery Patch

Allied 2nd Place: BWI Cos.

300 Sq. Feet+

Plant, 1st Place: Triple O Nursery

2nd Place: Soaring Eagle Nursery

Allied, 1st Place: Larry's Cap Rock & Stone

Allied, 2nd Place: Marshall Pottery

200 Sq. Feet

Plant, 1st Place: American Farms

2nd Place: Hopkins Tropical Fruit Nursery

Allied, 1st Place: AM Leonard

Allied, 2nd Place: Capital Garden Products

100 Sq. Feet

Plant, 1st Place: Tropical Landscapers

2nd Place: Chapman's Orchids

Allied, 1st Place: EcoWalls

2nd Place: Easy Garden Box-A Boman Kemp Product

Most Unusual Plant Specimen:

Wollemi Pine from Beds And Borders South

Click here to see more about Wollemi Pine.

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.

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 industy in particular.

All the numbers and graphs aside, Fishkind says that "there is light at the end of the tunnel." Though, the light is a ways off. He says that numbers indicate that 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.

Reclaiming The Yard--Part II

The last time we checked in on my latest DIY home landscape project, it was just a concept in my head vs. a big mess of vegetation choking out valuable real estate in my back yard. While other duties called and the "rainy season" lived up to its name, any work intended toward this challenge was delayed.

Recently though, there was enough of a break to allow Phase I (clearing and cleaning out) to get under way. The displaced bugs and snakes are a little confused, but they'll get used to it.

The clearing will continue and eventually give way to Phase II (tilling of the soil and plant selection that can complement the big oak, take away attention or conceal the chain-link fence, cope with the shade and other conditions related to my Zone 9B location, and most of all--look good).

No amazing discoveries digging through this jungle yet. I have found a few stray balls that undoubtedly found their way over from my neighbor's some time ago and got lost in my outback out back.

There is some light at the end of the tunnel and it's finally penetrating this area.

Well, one thing at a time. Rome wasn't built in a day and reclaiming this part of my back yard certainly won't be either.

Stay tuned.