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Garden Days 2018

Garden Days is Canada’s nation-wide celebration of the vital role gardens and gardening in our communities and in our lives. Taking place from Saturday, June 16 to Sunday, June 24, this nine-day event presents an opportunity for all Canadian gardens, garden centres, horticultural and plant societies, businesses, and communities to plan activities or events to celebrate their love for gardens and gardening and to share that love with the community.

How You Can Participate

We encourage all of our members to participate in Garden Days by registering your event/activity online. It is free to register. Garden Days presents an excellent opportunity for marketing your business and drawing in new customers. Some great ideas for events include BBQs, tours, planting/landscaping workshops, markets, parades, and so on. A great idea is to make your event family friendly, so that we can encourage all ages to grow to love gardening. Garden Days will also promote your event, so be sure to utilize their social media presence to boost your event’s reach!

Parkland Garden Centre Ltd Awarded Flagship Event for Alberta

During Garden Days, each province receives a designated Flagship Event, as selected by the Garden Days team. We are so pleased to announce that Alberta’s Flagship Event has been awarded to our amazing member Parkland Garden Centre Ltd. A flagship event exemplifies Garden Days, engages a broad diversity of the community, and best promotes gardening and the celebration of our gardening culture. Parkland has long been a supporter of Garden Days and recognized for inspiring youth in their Garden Days programming. Congratulations to Gloria Beck and her team at Parkland Garden Centre!
Find more information on Parkland Garden Centre’s flagship event.

Current Garden Days Events

You can find a full list of events on the Garden Days website.

Garden Days Social Media

Facebook: @CanadianGardenCouncil
Twitter: @GardensCanada
Instagram: @CanadianGardenCouncil

Edmonton City Council Will not Ban Grass Clippings from Regular Garbage Collection

Council backed away from a decision to ban grass clippings from the regular trash pickup. Instead a June utility committee will provide council members with more details on what residents can do with those grass clippings if they refuse to leave them on the lawn.

The City will still consider implementing a separate pickup schedule for spring and fall yard waste starting this autumn. It would be similar to Christmas tree collection, where crews do a separate trip to keep the material out of the regular garbage trucks. This would still allow the trees to be chipped and used for landscaping.

A separate pickup for yard waste would allow the leaves, thatch and other yard waste to be turned into a cleaner, more useful compost with less cost.

Nearly 60 per cent of Edmonton residents already leave their grass clippings on the lawn. City officials have been running an education campaign on the subject for years, arguing the clippings add moisture and nutrients to the lawn.

Read the full article from the Edmonton Journal.

Tree Pruning Workshop – March 28, 2018

Landscape Alberta Tree Pruning Workshop
March 28, 2018
Red Deer Golf and Country Club – 4500 Fountain Drive, Red Deer, AB T4N 6W8

Advanced registration is required before March 22, 2018. Register now

This workshop is for people who work in the nursery industry, as well as professionals who work in city municipal park settings or work on landscape developments that are future city properties.

Attendees will learn about various pruning techniques in a trees life, root development, biodiversity and weed control with pre-emergent chemicals and other intergrated pest management techniques.

The workshop is being led by Arnold Heuver of of Arnold Heuver Consulting who brings over 40 years of industry experience to this workshop.

Tickets:

$100.00 for Landscape Alberta members
$150.00 for non-members

Workshop Agenda:

Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) Updates 2018

Reports out of British Columbia are pointing towards issues with delays in the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP). Applications are taking longer to process and work permits are back logged. Both of these factors are leading to delays in workers arriving in Canada.

  • There is a new application form to use for 2018. Only 2018 forms will be accepted. View the form.
  • You can request an update on the status of your application through Service Canada. Call 1-800-367-5693.
  • Effective January 1, 2018, new requirements will need to be followed to confirm that the housing provided to temporary foreign agricultural workers has been inspected, and that all conditions on the housing inspection report have been addressed prior to obtaining a decision.

For detailed updates visit bcnla.com, or visit the Government of Canada’s website for full program information.

Landscape Horticulture Charge-Out Rates Survey

The Landscape Canada Committee of the Canadian Nursery Landscape Association has created a “Landscape Horticulture Charge-Out Rates Survey”, and are requesting all landscape operators across Canada to take a few minutes to fill out this valuable survey. The purpose of this survey is to gather accurate and reliable information on equipment and job charge-out rates across Canada for landscape operators. Results of this survey will be shared with CNLA and provincial association members, and will provide industry charge-out rate averages for your demographic area.

Surveys will be due on March 31, 2018 – the information/data entered should be effective January, 2018. Only aggregate data compiled from the survey will be communicated.

Take the Survey

Button not working? Copy and paste this link in your browser: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HV5QTTX

Thank you for your time!

Ultra Violet picked as 2018 Colour of the Year

Pantone announced their colour of the year for 2018. With this announcement, there are plenty of ways you can showcase this colour in your work.
“A dramatically provocative and thoughtful purple shade, PANTONE 18-3838 Ultra Violet communicates originality, ingenuity, and visionary thinking that points us toward the future.
Complex and contemplative, Ultra Violet suggests the mysteries of the cosmos, the intrigue of what lies ahead, and the discoveries beyond where we are now. The vast and limitless night sky is symbolic of what is possible and continues to inspire the desire to pursue a world beyond our own.”
Entire article here>

Landscape Company Accreditation

The CNLA Board of Directors has approved the Landscape Industry Accredited Company designation, an international program offered by CNLA and the National Association of Landscape Professionals. This program recognizes lawn and landscape companies for their commitment to excellence.
The landscape horticultural companies that meet the exacting criteria set forth in the application will be formally acknowledged by CNLA / NALP as a “Landscape Industry Accredited Company”.
If you are interested in applying to be a Landscape Industry Accredited Company, complete the application and follow its instructions. Please email Jason Young at jason@cnla-acpp.ca with any questions.
You can download the application form here>

Let STEP Help Your Business

Last summer, almost 1400 employers benefited from the Summer Temporary Employment Program (STEP) by providing about 3000 students with valuable work experience.

This summer, give your workforce a boost by hiring a STEP student. Providing a student with meaningful work experience helps bridge the gap between education and the workplace, and sets them up for success in the future. If you are eligible and approved, STEP offers a wage subsidy grant of $7 per hour.

Applications are being accepted now until February 9, 2018. This is a popular program so apply early. Check the applicant guidelines and download forms at AlbertaCanada.com/STEP.

Get the details at an upcoming webinar
STEP grants provide eligible employers with a $7-per-hour wage subsidy to hire students into summer jobs. You can grow your business while providing a student with valuable work experience and transferable skills.

You will learn about:

  • Employer eligibility criteria
  • Student eligibility
  • Position requirements
  • Application and reimbursement processes

A live Q&A session will follow the presentation.

Who should attend:

  • Small businesses (1-49 employees)
  • Non-profit organizations, public libraries
  • Municipalities, First Nations, Métis Settlements
  • School Boards
  • Publicly-funded post-secondary institutions

When:
Plan to attend one of 4 webinars offered from Jan. 9 to Feb. 1, 2018.

Find webinar dates and registration here. Space is limited – register now!

Landscape Industry Certified Technician Exam

The Landscape Industry Certified Technician designation provides individuals in the green industry with a means of proving a minimum standard of expertise in tasks typically required within the industry. Landscape Alberta provides Certified Technician exam opportunities in four specialty designations: Softscape Installation, Hardscape Installation, Turf Maintenance, and Ornamental Maintenance. Encourage and support professionalism in our industry – it’s a great way to invest in and grow valuable team members. After two years of August tests, the Certification committee took the industry feedback about the the timing of the event seriously.  Working with our great partners at Olds College we are able to once again hold testing during the off-season.

2018 Certification Exam – Alberta
When: February 23 & 24, 2018
Written exam: Friday, February 23 (evening)
Hands-on tests: Saturday, February 24 (7am – 4pm)
Where: Olds College – Landscape Pavilion, Olds, AB

Participants must register in advance – test preparation materials are provided on sign-up, so start the process now and be well-prepared for this upcoming exam opportunity! Register today by contacting Jason Young, Certification Co-ordinator at CNLA: jason@cnla-acpp.ca, or call toll-free 1-888-446-3499 ext. 8620.

Registration Form