AED Foundation & SkillsUSA Illinois Support Skilled Trades
Jessica Schwartz
Turf June 2022 Issue
Editor’s Letter: June 2022 Issue Not A Drop To Drink I could fill this Editor’s Letter with scary statistics about water shortages and drought, but unless you’re living under a rock within that xeriscape you designed, it’s not news to you. In many areas, we are in crisis with a precious resource not only essential to life, but essential to the landscape trade. “Using clean, filtered drinking water to water landscapes will become a thing of the past,” writes Doug Pushard, founder of HarvestH20 in his article, “Water Harvesting & Reuse.” Though that may seem unlikely, or at least years away, in states blessed with adequate rainfall, landscapers in California are already facing harsh water realities. While smart controllers, drip irrigation, and appropriate plant selection should come into play in any irrigated landscape, firms like CK Landscape in San Francisco are leading the way with fertigation, groundwater use, and graywater systems as standard practices in their stunning designs. It likely won’t be long until many others in arid areas are following suit—by choice or by necessity. Of course, too much water comes with its own set of landscape problems. Storms with deluges of rain over a short time can mean drainage problems. And stormwater runoff is increasingly being scrutinized for its pollutants. I recently spoke with a friend in a neighborhood where his rain garden is a property requirement and subject to municipal inspections and fines. And yet I remember a time fairly recently when few people had even heard ...
Tree Services: Taking Tree Care To New Heights
EDITOR’S LETTER As an editor, you simply can’t be planning a main issue on Sustainable Landscaping and a special issue on Tree Care without Dr. Doug Tallamy coming to mind. Entomologist, college professor, and author of 2020 NY Times Best Seller, Nature’s Best Hope, Tallamy pioneered the concept of treating residential yards as “conservation corridors” within the larger ecosystem. Smithsonian Magazine called the book, “not just a horticultural revolution, but a cultural one, bridging the human-dominated landscape and the natural world,” while the Washington Post described it as “A full-blown manifesto that calls for the radical rethinking of the American residential landscape, starting with the lawn.” His most recent book, The Nature of Oaks, champions the mighty tree species for its ecological benefits. As you can imagine, I was thrilled when Dr. Tallamy agreed to write for Turf on why we should be planting more oaks in our landscapes. When it comes to planting, another college professor, Dr. Bert Cregg, and his team are doing important research on container-grown trees. He shares the latest findings on what transplant methods we should be using for greater success. A selection of tree care equipment and suggestions of tough trees for tough conditions round out our coverage. Happy Spring tree planting! cmenapace@groupc.com TreeServicesMagazine.com Tree Services: Taking Tree Care To New Heights April 2022 • Volume 16 • Number 1 FEATURES Improving Transplant Success Of Container-Grown Trees | The latest research on the most successful transplant methods of container-grown trees. Mighty Oaks ...
Turf April 2022 Issue
Editor’s Letter: April 2022 Issue “It’s not that easy being green.” – Kermit The Frog Perhaps no one empathizes with Kermit right now better than lawn and landscape professionals. Everywhere one turns today there is new green legislation targeting the Green Industry—an irony lost on no one. Gas-powered equipment, neonicotinoids, and even amounts of turfgrass are increasingly being scrutinized for their effects on the environment. It’s a tough position to be in—especially for a group of professionals who love the outdoors so much, they chose it as their workplace. Yet even as work methods and profit sheets hang in the balance, most seem to agree we can do better. And there are those blazing a path for the rest to follow: such as McCoy Horticultural’s commitment to sustainable practices; the use of robotic mowers by Langton Group and others; Southern Landscape Pro’s recycling of yard waste into organic soil; and J.M. Baker Company’s use of a solar charging station co-developed by former University of Tennessee Turf Manager Matthew Layne to support robotic mowers. Then there are the equipment manufacturers, too, who are pushing out bigger and better battery-powered options in an effort to meet the more rigorous demands of commercial users. It’s a lot to take in and we currently stand in the crossroads. Turf’s first issue on Sustainability was an examination of best practices. Just one year later, this issue’s coverage feels more urgent. There’s likely a curve ahead and you can choose to be ahead of it, or behind ...
