Ryder, former president of the The Stone Trust (TST) and current Level 2 Instructor, gathered a team of volunteer Level 1 and 2 experts to build a 32-inch, four-foot-tall round dry stacked stone pillar as a permanent display at the Belknap County Fairgrounds in Belmont, NH. The pillar is one of several features used in testing for Level Four testing for stonework proficiency. Ryder donated most of the materials.

This is the third year The Stone Trust and NHLA have offered a live demonstration for Field Day, providing active, hands-on experience for landscapers to experience dry stonework. The past two demonstrations included building a 30-foot retaining wall outside the fairground administration building and the following year a large Goshen flagstone patio behind the wall.

David DeJohn, a Level 1 mason who is also a former president of NHLA, and Mike Barwell, a board director of both TST and NHLA, as well as chair of the NHLA Education Committee, helped coordinate all three events.

TST experts helping with the build were Level 2 masons Lu Booth, who shaped two of the top features of the pillar; Andras Lazar, who demonstrated stone shaping of the Goshen stone; Jordan Keyes, Level 2 representative of Trow and Holden; and Level 1 worker Matt Humphrey.

Brian Post, current treasurer and former executive director of TST, joined the build after giving a well-attended hour-long workshop entitled “Why Use Real Stone in Landscape Design.” Post is a certified landscape architect and Level 4 instructor and tester for the Dry Stone Walling Association of Great Britain (DSWA).

TST board member Duncan Murphy also attended the event.

Observers that day included new TST Executive Director Christine Frost, who started her new role only the week before. “I was impressed not only with the quality of the work being shown but also with how many young people and women were involved and interested in doing stonework.”

“This is the type of retail marketing the TST needs to do,” said Barwell. “When people can really get their hands on stone they understand the beauty and durability of using natural stone in their landscape projects. We need to be out there building enthusiasm.”

~ by Mike Barwell

The post NHLA Field Day: The Stone Trust Leaves Lasting Impression appeared first on New Hampshire Landscape Association (NHLA).

The NHLA Certification Program has a very thorough ID course in both woody and perennial plants, as I recall, but not a lot of landscapers highlight horticultural related services. Maybe they should. Unique design work, proper planting, pruning, and maintenance almost seem to be less common.
I don’t mean to belittle or neglect the site work or hardscape segment of our industry. They play a vital part and generate a large percentage of the revenue, but these multi-million dollar corporations seem to be weaker in the plant business as more and more mergers take place.

I’ve noticed this consolidation of landscape companies, nurseries, and other horticultural businesses all across the country…. It’s not just a New England thing. It will be interesting to see where things go.

~ by Phil Caldwell, a past president of NHLA (1989) who now lives and works in Maine.

The post Point of View: Landscape Company Trends appeared first on New Hampshire Landscape Association (NHLA).

In the early stages of building a company, owners wear every hat. From sales and marketing to pricing, scheduling, and recruiting, they become the engine behind every function. This all-hands-on-deck approach is often necessary—but it’s not sustainable. As the business grows, so does the complexity of leadership. The real shift happens when owners move beyond delegating tasks and begin delegating roles—freeing themselves not just from doing, but from deciding what needs to be done in the first place.

At this stage, the owner performs many tasks and fills many roles. Approving payroll, signing checks, and creating estimates are tasks. Creating and executing the marketing and sales plans, being the financial leader (pricing model, reporting, profit margin optimization), and creating and executing the crew recruiting strategy are examples of roles. Tasks are well defined; roles usually require analysis, creativity, planning, and leadership.
As leadership expert John C. Maxwell put it, “If you want to do a few small things right, do them yourself. If you want to do great things and make a big impact, learn to delegate.”

Delegating tasks is an important first step. However, the real value in delegating comes from delegating roles. When delegating a task, an owner is free from doing. When delegating a role, an owner is free from both thinking and doing because the person in the delegated role determines the tasks that need to be done to achieve a desired result.

Delegating in Five Steps
Here are five practical steps to help make this transition:

1. Inventory Your Tasks and Roles. Determining tasks is easy; create a list as you perform them. For roles, you might want to think about what executives and managers work at a $50 million landscape company. It is easy to see those roles by reviewing a company’s website or looking on Linked In. Small companies have the same roles; the difference is that people, including the owner, are attempting to fill multiple roles.
2. Begin to Delegate. Determine tasks and roles to delegate to existing employees.
3. Focus on High-Value Activities. Determine what you enjoy and where you excel – areas that have the biggest impact on growth or profit. Prioritize those roles and let go of the rest. You can also think five years ahead. How do you want to spend your time? That envisioned future helps identify what to delegate.
4. Your Next Hire. Determine what role(s) you would like the next management level hire to fill.
5. Outsource Strategically. Determine what roles can be outsourced to a specialized firm or a freelancer (contractor) through a marketplace like Upwork.

Outsourcing
Peter Drucker put it simply: “Do what you do best and outsource the rest.” That statement is true at the personal level as well as for the company. Outsourcing is the most overlooked opportunity for delegation.

When outsourcing roles, you will want to find people who are masters of their craft. Many owners have decided to outsource marketing and IT services. Clients of The Herring Group decided to outsource portions of their financial leadership (pricing, operational reporting, incentive plans and business strategy). The key to the successful outsourcing of roles is to make sure responsibilities and expected results are communicated clearly. When done well, the return on investment will be significant.

Marketplaces like Upwork provide opportunities to find freelancers for virtually any type of task and even some roles. Just post your project, review freelancer proposals, and choose the best fit based on profiles and ratings. Collaborate and pay securely through the platform by the hour or by the project. At The Herring Group, we have used many freelancers with great success. By leveraging freelance platforms, even a small company can tap into a vast network of professionals.

Ultimately, owners have a choice: they can delegate roles and grow, or they can keep their current roles and stop growing. What is your choice?

~ The author is the CEO of The Herring Group, a professional services and data analytics firm providing data and outsourced financial leadership to the landscape industry. We are on a mission to improve the profit margin of companies, the life margin of owners and executives, and the autonomy of employees. 

The post Beyond Tasks: Why Delegating Roles is the Key to Growth appeared first on New Hampshire Landscape Association (NHLA).

Edging forward in the horticulture career path, she found a part-time job working in the UNH greenhouses. Slowly, presented with research opportunities as a supportive technician, she was introduced to the processes of plant breeders’ work and the study of genetics in plants. In this role, she was exposed to more depth in the study of plants, and her college course load slowly migrated from business to the background businesses in the horticulture industry.

Amy’s face lights up and she’s adamant about the rarity of true blue flowers. Explaining her role in the UNH research on Nolana plants, (Solanaceae/nightshade family) growing in the Atacama Desert of Chile and extending into Peru, she describes it in almost poetic terms.

The bulk of the time you might talk to Papineau about plants you will notice her keen ability to speak in accurate botanical terms, using technical language, as well as her ability to bring her conversation to the level any audience can understand. She’s a natural teacher, wanting her audiences to grasp the concepts she’s sharing, and understand the research she’s now sharing from the UNH Cooperative Extension Service.

But, it’s the Nolana flower with its eerily true blue hue that puts her conversation on a different level. While explaining how she worked with seed germination projects from colleagues collecting the seeds in the mountains of Peru, it’s clear she was deeply concerned about seed viability and germination processes. “In the end, we just decided that since time after time, the results were not yielding the flowers as they were found in the mountains of South America, the project concluded. The Nolanas we were working with just weren’t content and not going to grow in containers as we wished they would.”

In talking about that long run research project, she didn’t lament that she hadn’t gone to South America to collect the seeds, but she shared the spark she feels living in New Hampshire, on a lake not far from UNH! It’s clear, as the conversation evolved about her career, that New Hampshire mirrored “There’s No Place Like Home” adage heard from Dorothy Gale in the Wizard of Oz.

Once fully enveloped in the greenhouse industries and projects UNH conducted for business applications, she wanted to gain more knowledge and experience which could be offered through an internship at Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania. Her assignments there included breeding pitcher plants – with what we might call “extreme pitcher plants” reaching heights of 4′-5′! Pitcher plants of that size were sought after by landscape architects and plant enthusiasts for massive containers and use as design elements in large scale corporate locations.

Blue flowers crept into Amy’s professional work palette again while at Longwood. Another part of her work there included working with Cineraria flowers – which bloom in many bright colors, but her tasks revolved around the care and breeding of the lavender and blue-hued blooms. Along with Cineraria (Asteraceae/daisy family, originally from the Canary Islands,) her internship included working on Clivia with double flowers. There’s a theme of these extreme colors or sizes of plants, which is a contradiction to Papineau’s unassuming, calm, and confident nature.

With a smattering of work on big trees, and what conditions might bare root or pot-grown trees be preferred for healthier street trees written in to municipal plans, Amy has a diverse background with this wide range of plants. Biomes and plant purposes are in her professional experience bank. She has also worked on some proprietary plant introductions with perennials, shrubs and specifically some roses. Involving induced mutations, her expertise in botany and how plants work led to some commercial viability for her employers after the Longwood Gardens internship.

Still in Pennsylvania, she found herself driving as frequently as possible back to New Hampshire – enjoying her old stomping grounds, and the sights, sounds, and smells of New Hampshire trees and the lake she was so fond of. Never out of contact with her UNH professors and greenhouse professionals, she was able to truly reconnect with the university’s greenhouses, and research projects through the Extension.

Amy Papineau admired and speaks highly of the days working with Dr. Cathy Neal, Dr. Stan Swier, and Brian Krug. Between Swier’s background in entomology, Krug’s expertise in growing Poinsettias for research or commercial production, and Neal’s vast array of projects, Amy fit right in! It was with Cathy Neal that Amy’s work in meadows and meadow design and upkeep might have the strongest connection to the UNH Landscape Association. “Many people want the casual, natural look of a meadow,” Papineau cites, “but they are a lot of work. I mean a LOT of work.” She goes on to explain the natural progression of the plants and flowers in a meadow, and how some just naturally take over – some are “aggressive” and shade out others, while some have simply a shorter lifespan. Seed dispersal along with effects of dry weather or too much rain affect the meadow’s natural evolution. “I know landscapers have a hard time describing this to clients. It’s tough to explain that what you see in a professional botanic garden takes a lot of maintenance, patience, and even some ability to pivot on your expectations,” she clarifies, as she discusses her multi-year affiliation with Dr. Neal on the research conducted at Woodman Farm, UNH Campus, on plants that might be preferred in a meadow design and upkeep plan.

The meadow project began in response to questions from landscapers looking to the Extension to help with frequent client requests. Many NHLA members have benefitted from that project, by attending several twilight meetings at Woodman Farm over the duration of the project.

Her interest in big trees – landscape trees – with stronger root structures for successful transplanting continued with other UNH Coop Extension projects. Certain mesh bags have been studied, showing how the need for a tree spade is eliminated, making larger trees more accessible to landscapers and their respective clients. She’s interested in the resurgence of interest in native trees, such as the oaks and birches, which play an important role in our ecosystems.

Studying trees for municipal uses, she reports she wished people knew more about what goes on below ground for tree success as well as other plants and long-term viability. Soil biology, and root development are the basis for any plant’s health and street appeal. Papineau is also interested in what she feels is a misconception about lawns. Lawns don’t need more fertilizer; they need healthy soil! She can outline the multitude of reasons this is the case, based on her understanding of the mindset and tension between those who want rich, deep green grass and those who tolerate “weeds” in their lawns and replace some grass with perennials or shrubbery for wildlife. She is very articulate about property owners’ needs varying over time and being mindful and respectful of when a lawn brings joy for playing outdoors, giving respite from a busy day by offering an expansive green vista, or offering a pleasing backdrop for a larger view of trees lining a property boundary. She shares the multifaceted view about lawns and would like people to know grassy lawns do a lot to have healthy root structures keep soil lightened up and provide the biome needed for other insects and beneficial aspects of the active habitat where we never see it. A healthy lawn can even out compete weed seeds when blades of grass are allowed to grow to a 3” height and shade out seeds, even protecting against erosion when other plants (some clover for instance) die back after frost.

Amy Papineau is well-known for her work spanning New Hampshire from the Canadian border in the north, to the seacoast and fully east-west, as well. While we might think of her as a strong team member and major contributor to NHLA’s Education Committee, her job title is “Extension Field Specialist in Landscape and Greenhouse Horticulture.” That is nearly as varied as the territory she serves!

When asked about her typical day, she makes sure it’s clear there is no such thing as a typical day, and because of the variety of projects, advice, presentations, and people she meets, she loves her job. When asked about what sort of things she does in the field, her answer is quick and surprising. She recently was in Jefferson, NH, at Santa’s Village. She was there to help the groundskeeping staff learn more about pruning the plants which are integral to the soft, lush nature of the park. She helped the staff consider things while pruning, such as clearing sight lines on pathways and sidewalks, along with the care of plants.

This is just a smattering of what she does in the field and hearing her talk about it, you could almost be jealous of the team at Santa’s Village getting to learn firsthand about the various considerations beyond simply deadheading flowers. Her knowledge comes from the early days at UNH, through her internship at Longwood Gardens, and work in the private sector and landing back “with us” working in NH.

Amy Papineau, as an advisor, committee member, and professional, embodies that title of her first class introducing her to her career, “The Power of Plants.” We’re sure glad that calculus class was full and in that filler class, she found her Super Power!

~ by Cris Blackstone. Chris maintains her NHCLP #97 through numerous presentations on some of her favorite landscape themes, for garden clubs and other professional organizations. Her garden and landscape photography has earned awards from Mass Hort Society as well as the National Federation of Press Women. She’s an appointed member of the NH DES Waste Management Commission, keeping in line with her interests in conservation and ecology representing conservation commissions across the state. With no favorite season, she says each offers time to read, write, and take photographs.

The post All Because of a Calculus Class appeared first on New Hampshire Landscape Association (NHLA).

I joined NHLA back in the late ’80s, not long after I started my business. I attended anything and everything that NHLA and its close partnership with the NH Cooperative Extension put on back then. Dinner meetings, seminars, design classes, and demonstrations from pruning to wall building. Since I was at most everything NHLA put on I became a fairly familiar face and was eventually recruited to the Board in 2003. Since then I’ve been vice-president, president, and past president three times and still try to attend just about everything NHLA offers. The Association has been, and continues to be, integral to my continuing education and career.

Although my business has always encompassed full landscaping services my favorite thing to do was and is to build stone walls. When I first started in landscaping in 1979 I was hired by Rick Rideout (a past president of NHLA) who had just started his company, Three Season Landscaping. Rick was a pretty accomplished wall builder, and he taught me the basics of wall building. During those first few years I was never allowed to place a face stone. My job was tending, backfilling, and watching.

Occasionally Rick would farm me out to other wall builders like Derrick Owen’s crew where I got to learn from Kevin Gardner who has since written several books on wall building and the history of stonewalls in New Hampshire. When I finally went out on my own I had a good foundation for most aspects of landscaping, and when I joined NHLA I just continued learning everything I could through the Association, UNH, NHTI, and anybody that would answer my questions.

Fast forward to today. I’ve been in business now for almost forty years and I think I have a pretty decent portfolio of work and walls that I’ve built. In 2023 I was lucky enough to be asked to submit a bid on reconstructing a wall in the oldest section of Blossom Hill Cemetery in Concord, NH. The wall sits below the White Family mausoleum which was constructed for Armenia and Nathaniel White sometime in the 1870s. Over time, of course, the land above the wall shifted and started to erode putting pressure on the wall and causing it to fail. In 2016 jersey barriers were put in place and backfilled with 3/4″ stone to keep the wall from pushing out any further.

At the end of 2023 I was informed that my bid had been accepted and I began the dismantling of the wall and excavation at the end of August 2024. The wall on the east side of the steps leading up to the mausoleum was dry laid with field stone and the section of wall to the west of the steps was mortared granite block. I carefully dismantled the 250′ wall placing the stones and blocks in order so that the capstones were at the back of the windrow and the base stones were at the front ready to be placed back into the wall. I discovered while taking the wall apart that there was no backfill stone whatsoever and the huge base stones/blocks had been set directly in the soil. No gravel base like we do now. I excavated and prepared a gravel base that was 4′ to 5′ wide and 18″ deep. The cemetery crew had to excavate the slope on the west side of the steps as there were several grave sites that were 2′ from the cut and no one was quite sure if the graves had slid over the years. We were lucky though, and nothing was found or had to be moved.

After the base was prepped and compacted with 1 1/2″ gravel the base stones started going back in and construction began. 80% of the stone taken from the wall was reused as well as granite foundation block that I purchased, and that luckily matched the original stone perfectly. At the back of the cemetery there are several small quarries, and I hauled several loads out from them. Using feather and wedges I cut and shaped a lot of the pieces that are now in the wall. It took about 7 months to construct the dry laid wall working mostly by myself with my excavator and help from a friend of mine. I finished the wall itself at the end March, but I had to pull off the project to get started on another job on lake Winnipesaukee. Here we are in July and I’m back to Blossom Hill to cap the wall and get started on another wall in the same cemetery. I’m honored to have been chosen to rebuild this historic wall and hopefully it will there for another couple of hundred years.

by Dave DeJohn, NHCLP, NHLA past president

The post Reflection appeared first on New Hampshire Landscape Association (NHLA).

What are the hazards the landscape crew faces during summer heat and humidity? You have probably faced many of those hazards and understand the importance of frequent breaks in the shade, staying hydrated, and preventing sunburn. You might erroneously think this is healthy, but the UV radiation builds up over the years making skin cancer more likely. Sun exposure requires more concentration on staying hydrated. Loss of liquids through sweating is healthy, but in high humidity for example, the sweat/evaporation loss is diminished and that makes it harder for the body to cool down. Knowing your body’s reaction to heat is essential for maintaining a healthy approach to your work outdoors in the summer and heat of autumn days in New England.

Training new crew members at the beginning of the season and offering review courses is helpful for returnees or seasoned landscape crew members. But it is important to think about heat related illnesses during the mid-season, where we find ourselves now. Some habits which were instilled at the early part of the season may have fallen off the daily check and balance lists at this point, with everyone feeling confident and comfortable with their knowledge and current practices. Facts show that the training at the beginning of each season is only as effective as the refresher courses are to rekindle the health and safety mindset of employees.

It’s not an act of bravery to brush off early signs of heat exhaustion. It should be constantly discussed that at the first sign of a headache, muscle aches or nausea, careful attention should be paid to those symptoms. Rest breaks in shade or air-conditioned vehicles are important, especially when there are multiple consecutive days of high heat or humidity. Crew members should look out for each other. At this point in the busy season, it’s unlikely that muscles are aching from using certain tools – everyone is probably well-conditioned to those early season muscle aches or tired feeling. Recognizing any type of fatigue is imperative to ward off heat related illnesses.

Various prescribed medications can affect the ways our bodies react to extreme heat or repeated long hours outdoors and sunlight. While medical records and prescription information are certainly confidential, it is up to each person to be aware of and to follow the instructions or recommendations on prescriptions, to avoid the problems associated with the warnings about sunlight or heat. Open-minded confidential conversations with crew captains or supervisors should be encouraged and respected in our workplace. Remember, if a company’s culture isn’t being fair and communicating effectively with clients, customers, and team members, and a crew member is out with a medical problem, heat-induced, that could have been avoided, the rest of the crew is taking on additional work.

Keeping a safe and healthy workplace environment will also mean word travels fast – you want to be associated with a company other people want to work for and not the company people want to avoid.

Some professionally vetted sources for training and understanding heat related illnesses and prevention include:

• OSHA – many training modules with one particularly interesting item available — the Heat Safety Tool App for smartphones. This offers the user the way to calculate the heat index factor for their worksite and provides information on that risk level for outdoor work. (OSHA.com)
• CDC (Center for Disease Control) has a heat risk dashboard which offers recommended actions for preventing heat related ill effects (CDC.gov)
• NSC (National Safety Council) offers resources on heat exhaustion and gives first aid recommendations for outdoor workers exposed to heat and sun. (NSC.org)

Speak up for health and safety and in doing so, you show your team members, crew members, supervisors, and even company management how much you care about being the best employee you can be and caring for your colleagues, too. It will soon enough be time for training to switch gears and we’ll discuss hypothermia and frost bite! Don’t wish summer heat to disappear, just wish it to be safe and fruitful!

~ by Cris Blackstone, NHCLP

The post Midsummer Reminders About Heat-Related Illnesses appeared first on New Hampshire Landscape Association (NHLA).

A dataset created by Charles Robertson, originally from Blackburn College in Carlsville, Illinois dating 1887 to 1916, proved the missing link to identifying long-term insect loss. What was extraordinary about Blackburn’s studies was his extreme thoroughness. He studied all the ecosystems – forests, prairies, roadsides, and fallow fields – to ascertain a wholistic picture of the insects that abounded, the plants they visited, and the quality of these interactions. Students at the University of Washington recorded a 50% loss of bee species when they compared a modern dataset to Blackburn’s.

The 2013 study also found that today’s flowers neither bloom as long, nor flower as reliably. What’s more, bees visit flowers less frequently, fly fewer days, and carry less pollen than their early 20th century counterparts. Declining flower productivity and bee activity are illustrative of a weakened pollinator-plant network.

The tenuous plant-pollinator relationship holds the backbone for ecological systems – as plants need pollination to complete their reproductive lifecycle. If these interactions don’t happen successfully and abundantly, then humans and animals lose biodiverse food systems and things get very bland. As one scientist noted, if we don’t have pollination, then our diets will get very boring – relying on wind-pollinated grass species such as wheat and grain for food. People need variety and pollinators need robust plant systems.

If pollinators thrive, we all thrive. To be effective, pollinator gardens must use native plants to a fantastic degree. Leveraging the ecosystem to benefit pollinators requires us to know native plants, to identify the conditions under which they prosper, and to rebuild large ecological communities. Simply planting more pollinator gardens will not resolve pollinator decline. Instead, we need to place pollinating plants so they grow and multiply robustly.

There is a symbiotic relationship between the environment and humans. As plants and animals exist harmoniously – so do we. Last summer, I taught landscape design to UNH Sustainability Institute interns. We evaluated the site as a living, breathing thing, as well as an architectural space for people to interact with. This project allowed students to create their own garden concepts through a set process. In the Nesmith Hall garden design, for example, the students created a bloom palette of flowers visible to bees – they can only see yellow, orange, and purple – and chose interesting textures for humans to enjoy.

Pollinators are declining. They fertilize the plants we grow, improve the quality of human lives, and give our landscape meaning. Every yard needs a butterfly flitting across it. Regenerating natural systems is often a simple first step. UNH took the first steps to regenerate pollinator support networks when, following a series of budget cuts, we stopped weeding our beds. Goldenrod and Aster emerged everywhere. Planting pollinator gardens, engaging the public, and experimenting with design are other considerations. If your ideas aren’t aligning with the site – try letting things grow.

— by Chadd Hippensteel

The post Pollinator Networks Needed to Support Robust Human, Plant Systems appeared first on New Hampshire Landscape Association (NHLA).

One of the printed newsletters I still get is from the Oregon Association of Nurseries. It is actually more like a magazine, 40-50 pages. The fact that Oregon has such a large newsletter, which actually includes growers (both nursery and greenhouse) and landscapers, is due to the fact that Oregon is the country’s largest nursery state. I no longer belong to OAN, but they’ve been sending it to me free of charge for about 25 years.

The NHLA Newsletter, I guess you could say has always been a little close to my heart. Sounds a little weird as I re-read that statement! In the early days of NHLA I played several roles. The landscape industry was in it’s early stages, customers were no where near as apt to spend money on plantings, hardscapes, or maintenance. Obviously the economy was much different and landscaping was not as high a priority for consumers.

My memory voids are becoming wider, so dates are harder to remember, but I think it was about a 10-year period that I replaced Peter Kidd, who had been the original newsletter editor. He wrote most of it, the president sent in his column, then off it went to the printer, hopefully with a couple of contributing articles now and then.

At that time there was no position called “business manager.” Most of this work was done by the board president, called the executive director, and/or the secretary treasurer. After I’d been the newsletter editor for a while, the executive director stepped down and I offered to take that job. I drove a hard bargain, however. I asked for a raise; I think I was asking $8/ hr rather than $6, and I needed a new typewriter . All correspondence was either by phone or USPS — very few people had computers at that time. I was the only person that was paid by NHLA, and the only other costs were the newsletter final fine tuning and printing costs. In those years NHLA was operating on a shoestring budget and quite a bit of the work was done pro bono as an attempt to get the organization off the ground and even help boost the industry.

At the monthly board meetings we tried to come up with a program for future months so that I, as executive director, could contact speakers, find places to have dinner meetings when needed, and in winter months contact locations to hold the meetings. Over the years we had some pretty informative speakers such as Mike Dirr. We had meetings almost every month, outside in nice weather and inside in inclement months. I don’t recall the exact timing, but I also served as president at some time.

I can’t remember the exact set up, but after I stopped writing the newsletter, Chuck Simpson took over and his sister Ruth Sterling started doing the editing, layout, and production of the whole publication. Shortly after, Carolyn Isaak took over that role. I think by this time I was back here in Maine and I kind of lost touch with NHLA for a short while, but Carolyn has done an excellent job with the changes over the years managing the whole operation.

I’ve noticed a bit of a change in the membership. Because larger companies seem to be present in the industry, not as much focus seems to go into the actual “Green Industry”aspect of the industry, but toward the maintenance end of the business. Plants (trees, shrubs, perennials) don’t appear to be as high a priority as they were 20+ years ago. Many people seem to think bigger is better and I see companies becoming bigger and “more corporate” and as a result some of the workers I talk to don’t know why they are still mowing at the same height in a hot August as they did in a cooler time when grass was growing at a faster rate. Oh well, Maybe I’m still in the 1970s time warp and short cut August lawns are now the correct way!

This turned into a long side track from the Newsletter going to four issues a year and no longer in print form. Time for me to face the 21st century, I guess! I’m sure it will work out fine and I urge members to write articles and share the strengths they have in different area . There is a lot of talent out there!

— by Phil Caldwell, a past president of NHLA (1989) now living and working in Maine.

The post The NHLA Newsletter Takes on a New Form appeared first on New Hampshire Landscape Association (NHLA).

In a letter from the Department Head states that “The Academic Affairs of NHTI, as result of letters of support from Alumni, have stated that the Landscape and Environmental Design Associates Degree will continue with “Monitor “status. The Landscape Design Certificate will be moved from “on hold” to reactivated with “Monitor” status. At this point the NHTI is not seeking the closure of these programs but rather, in partnership with the department form a plan to explore ways to increase the enrollment of the Associates Degree and Certificate programs.”

The Environmental Landscape Design Program provides the student with the following aspects of good design:

• A landscape designer that has had some educational support should be able to develop creative designs and designs spaces that reflect the home owner’s vision as well as take advantage of the site’s natural features.
• In approaching a site a good landscape designer can analyze issues around drainage, types and quality of soils and micro-climates on the site that will sustain the design for years to come.
• Good design includes site functions that assure that site items as seating, spaces and pathways are blended together and function as a unit in a seamless way.
• A site design takes into consideration colors and textures that work together and form a pleasant space to be in. Within that same design the landscape designer develops focal points using water features, sculptures, and emphasizes views on and off site. The designer also has plant knowledge to choose plant material that offer year-round appeal for every season.
• In that seasons and climates are changing Landscape designs should use native plants that sustain change in climate, include forms of water harvesting to reduce the need for artificial irrigation and the use of permeable surfaces allow water to permeate back into the ground to assist in recharging the ground water systems.
• Finally a good design should add value to the property, allow for mental well-being and environmental impact that contributes to biodiversity and good health to the ecosystem of the local.

All these items above and more are taught in the Environmental Landscape Design Program at NHTI, without this program persons interested in the landscape industry and wanting to have an education in Landscape Design would have to go out of state for educational opportunities.

The Environmental Landscape Design Program at NHTI should be a partner with NHLA. Employers in the landscape industry should be encouraged to assist their employees to gain knowledge of good landscape design and take advantage of the classes in the Environmental Landscape Design offerings. A student can take just one of the classes offered, sign up for The Certificate Courses that cover the “core” classes or sign up for the Associates degree program that is more comprehensive.

Without the support of NHLA, landscape contractors, landscape designers and others, the Environmental Landscape Design Program at NHTI — that has taught students for 38 years — may no longer be available to persons wanting to further their education in the Landscape Industry.

So, let us find a way to work together to have a better educated work force in New Hampshire’s Landscape Industry and keep the Environmental Landscape Design offering at NHTI for another 38 years.

—by Bob Pollock, Adjunct Professor NHTI for 38 years

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As milestones go, 25 years is a mark that has a generational feel to it. The New Hampshire Landscape Association (NHLA) has recently reached the 25th Anniversary of its Certification Program. What began as an idea grew into a valuable educational opportunity and program supported and contributed to by so many people over the last 25 years that it merits recognition.

The thought of a landscape professional certification all started with a conversation sometime around the mid to late 1990s. A couple of landscape industry professionals and NHLA members, Dave Alessandroni and Rick Rideout, saw each other shopping for plants at Millican Nurseries. They started talking about what they did every day and how things were going in general. The conversation moved quickly to how professionalism can shape the public’s perception of the landscape industry. After many more discussions, a committee of volunteers organized and developed a process for the certification of a landscape professional. The newly formed committee then had to pitch the idea to the NHLA Board and essentially market the idea to the membership.

The original Certification Committee was formed by a group of educators and professionals: Dana Sansom (Thompson School of Ag), Anne Colby Hines, Betsy Hoffman, Dave Alessandroni, Kiki Bean, Chris Beasley, Sandy Burt, Paul James, Chuck Simpson, and Kerry Stefanski. With a Certification Committee in place, the New England Certification Council was joined to gain information on how the process was implemented in other New England states. The next step in the process was writing a manual and then an exam, given in two parts – one part on the manual and another on plant ID. As Dave Alessandroni recalls, there were several other NHLA members involved all, lending their time and efforts to develop portions of the manual to be reviewed by the committee.

Getting approval for the Certification Program by the NHLA membership was not a forgone conclusion. I remember going to an annual meeting in the late ’90s and listening to a round table discussion about adopting the program. I was shocked that there was pushback from some accomplished company owners. One of the objections questioned the need for an exam, and how it could lead to the NHLA using the certification program to issue a ‘license’ for some landscapers and not others just because they didn’t participate. I thought as I sat there, that there seemed to be a mistrust of the education process, perhaps born from a general fear of taking exams? Eventually, by making the program voluntary and giving the NHCLP designation to individuals, it ultimately brought enough support for the program to overcome any resistance.

I asked some of the people who were in the original group who became Certified Landscape Professionals about their impressions of the process then and how they felt about the program.

Paul James said that he didn’t know what to call himself since there was no licensing at the time, there was no pre-eminent suffix to add to his title. Being able to say, ‘I’m an NHCLP’ was important. The networking that followed became a regular event as Paul chaired the Certification Committee for several years to follow.

Kerry & Sean Sweeney, who both became NHCLP’s in the first year it was offered, have now also been certified for 25 years. They cited networking, enhanced expertise,and recognition in the industry as ways to stand out in the market. The certification program gave them that.

Elizabeth Stavru became an NHCLP while working for Pellettieri Associates and remembers studying for hours with Kerry and how proud they both were when they passed the exam. Elizabeth, now as a business owner, encourages her employees to get certified.

The support the Certification Program has received from businesses over the years is incredible and key to its on-going success. With professionalism at the forefront, the Certification Program is plainly a win-win; boosting your employee’s sense of value while adding a knowledgeable employee to your team. This resource for growth and development in landscape is a benefit all NHLA members should take advantage of.

So here we are, 25 years later. The process is essentially the same. Each year there is a written exam given in March and an ID exam in September. Each year roughly 20 people take the exams. Those that pass each exam burst with excitement and pride, especially once both exams are passed and the NHCLP title is earned. 195 people have become NHCLPs over that time and there are currently 68 active NHCLPs. Every year the NHCLPs can renew their certification, and most do.

What has changed over the years? Some people have left for other industries, others have retired. Sadly, some are no longer with us. The UNH Horticulture program that used to host our exam has closed. Thanks, and props to the nurseries that sponsor our process. Thanks as well to the companies that keep encouraging their employees to sign up to become certified.

There is still a Certification Committee that meets regularly. The committee is made up of NHCLPs that help to continuously update the process and manual. It is, as it has always been, made up of a group of volunteers dedicated to the process, whose efforts I appreciate each time we meet (mostly remotely, but live). Thank you – Dave A., John, Jenny, Emily, Daisy, Kristy, Riley, and Amanda. And of course, a big thank you to our coordinator and the person who essentially does everything, Abby Z. Thank you, Abby, for all you do! We welcome anyone who is an NHCLP, to participate on the committee; our door is always open.

by Malcolm ‘Mac’ McPhail is the Current Chair of the NHLA Certification Committee

NHCLP Anniversaries

The NHLA Certification Committee would like to acknowledge the anniversaries of these NHCLPs. This achievement reflects their commitment to continued leadership, learning, and engagement in the landscape industry. We appreciate your continued leadership!

25 year
Dana Sansom #1
Thompson School of Applied Science – Retired,
Epsom, NH

David Alessandroni #3
Individual Landscape Designer – Retired,
Wolfeboro Falls, NH

Kiki Bean #4
Surfside Landscape, Hampton, NH

Paul T. James #11
Landscape Matters, Hampton, NH

Elizabeth Stavru #16
Stone Blossom Landscape & Design, Manchester, NH

Kerry Sweeney #17
Blue Ribbon Property Improvements, Goffstown, NH

Sean Sweeney #19
Blue Ribbon Property Improvements, Hooksett, NH

20 year
Malcolm McPhail #49
United Ag & Turf, Pembroke, NH

15 year
Elene Arguropoulos #79
DS Jolie Landscapes, Raymond, NH

10 Year
Mark Ernst #141
Rochester, NH

5 Year
Tim Ross # 162
Carroll County Landscape, Gilford, NH

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