Toronto this week: Aug. 10, 2011

Toronto Chapter this week
Add the Toronto Chapter page and the LO events calendar to your bookmark

Heritage Trees: Preserving our natural roots, Aug. 17

What is a heritage tree? Why is it important to protect them? Come hear
Edith George answer these questions and more Aug. 17 at 7pm at the
Hillary House (15372 Yonge Street, Aurora). Learn how a tree can be
designated as ‘heritage’ using the toolkit produced by the Ontario
Heritage Tree Alliance. Edith will focus on how to identify a tree’s
historical and cultural significance. Edith is an advisor to the Ontario
Urban Forest Council and is a past director of the Weston Historical
Society. Seating is limited, please reserve your spot by contacting ahs@aurorahs.com.

Are you Landscape Industry Certified?
The Landscape Industry Certified test in July was a great success with over 40 candidates. On Oct. 24 and 25 we will be testing again, register now to save your spot. To find out more, or register, go to Industry
Certified. Already Certified? Volunteer to judge at the event, because
you need
CEUs to remain Certified! Contact Rachel Cerelli for more
information.

LO this week

Urgent notice for growers
A new US regulation may have serious effects on the export of Canadian nursery stock into the U.S.

Advanced Green Roof Maintenance seminar, Aug 26

Created
to assist designers, contractors and facility managers with an
important, but often overlooked aspect of green roofs: maintenance. The
seminar examines design phase considerations; best practices for
planning, budgeting, and implementing maintenance procedures; and
approaches for rehabilitating green roofs that have been subject to
maintenance neglect. The seminar will take place from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
at LO home office in Milton. Participants will receive a 100-page manual
with detailed case studies. Lunch is not included. Price for LO members
is $249, and for non-members it is $299. To find out more about the
seminar go to green roofs.

Sneak peek at next year’s garden superstars, Aug. 12
This year’s trial garden open house for horticultural professionals will take place at LO the morning of Fri., Aug. 12. Come for an advanced preview of the plants your customers will be asking for next year. A presentation on research into microbial soil additives, of interest to those planting both herbaceous and woody plants, will be followed by tours of the annual and perennial trial gardens. After the tour, take a minute to vote for your favourite garden performer. The program continues in the afternoon at the Guelph Trial Garden at the Guelph Turfgrass
Institute. Updates on turf research will be presented at the Guelph site.

The public are invited to view the LO gardens the following day, Sat.,
Aug. 13 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Guelph trials will be open to the
public on Wed., Aug. 17, from noon until 8 p.m.

To find out more about sponsorship opportunities available with the trial garden, contact Rodger Tschanz at rtschanz@uoguelph.ca or Kathleen Pugliese at kathleenp@landscapeontario.com.

Growers: MTO releases new guide for farm equipment on highways
Farm Guide: Farm Equipment on Highways is
an interactive tool, using a live table of contents and provides
general information and clarification on laws applying to farm equipment
and select provisions applicable to farm trucks. Also available as a downloadable pdf. http://www.horttrades.com/new-guide-for-farm-equipment-on-highways

Tour Cuddy Garden on Aug. 20
Fanshawe College is hosting another open garden event at A.M. (Mac)
Cuddy Garden. The Aug. 20 tour will feature one of the largest
collections of plants in Ontario with over 2000 species displayed in
dry, rock, woodland, perennial, rose and aquatic gardens. In addition,
several plants found in the garden are on the endangered species list
such as the indigenous cucumber magnolia and the yellow trillium. The
garden is located at 28443 Centre Road, Strathroy, and the tour will run
from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Come out and browse the plant sale, and bring a picnic
lunch, rain or shine. Admission is $5. For more information, contact
Lucas Michielsen at lmichielsen@fanshawec.ca.

Help solve the worker shortage
Ontario’s green industry will experience a shortfall of 87,000 workers in the next 10 years. We need your knowledge and experience to address recruitment and retention challenges in our industry. Attend one of four facilitated sessions across Ontario to ensure the success of Ontario’s green industry in the next decade. Click here for locations, dates, times and register today!

Fall seminars now online
A list of Landscape Ontario fall seminars is now available. Courses are
divided into the six pillars with Prosperity Partners: Sales Success,
Financial Health, Operational Excellence, Customers for Life, Leadership
and Technical Education. Check out this year’s seminars and see how you
can improve your path to prosperity.

Smart about Salt essentials training dates
Take a one-day explanatory course on this innovative winter salt management program. Program covers risk management and record keeping, salt science, rates and calibration, materials and tactics, weather principles, storage and handling, and more. Two dates are offered this fall, Tues. Aug. 30 at Landscape Ontario home office in Milton and Wed., Sept. 28 at Waterloo Region Op’s Centre, 100 Maple Grove Rd., Cambridge.

Support Legacy Garden at School of Horticulture
Donations and in-kind contributions are being sought to help create a garden at the Niagara Parks Commission School of Horticulture that will be a tribute to all those working in the horticulture industry. The garden plan’s official unveiling takes place at the OPA/NPC School of Horticulture 75th anniversary celebrations from August 19-21 at the School of Horticulture in Niagara Falls. More information available here.

Greenbuild International Conference in Toronto
For the first time ever, Greenbuild International Conference and Expo
will hold its annual convention outside the U.S. Toronto Metro
Convention will house the event from Oct. 4-7. The latest innovations in
green building will be enclosed within the convention centre. To find
out more about the conference go to Greenbuild.

LO wage survey needs your input
How do your pay rates compare to other Ontario green industry companies? Take LO’s wage survey to enter your pay rates, and see the 2011 averages for a range of horticultural specialties. Information may
be used for benchmarking, and also
helps in promoting the industry as a career choice. The surveys are
completely confidential; only aggregate numbers are reported. Click here to take part in the survey, and view the results here.

Argos offer discount to LO members
The Toronto Argonauts have created a discount offer for Landscape
Ontario members. Various price levels are available. To see more info on
the program, or to order ticks go to
Argonauts.

Attend a landscape design salon
Entitled Four Conservations on Design, landscape architect Chris Clayton
will host four Wednesday evenings, Oct. 5, 12, 19 and the 26, at
his home near the Lawrence subway stop and a five minute drive from the 401.
The only cost to participants is $10 per evening. The event is suitable
for recent college or university graduates, as well as young garden
designers. In total, each evening is likely to span about three hours.
For more information, contact cjclayton@sympatico.ca.