El6-Grower & Marketer, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 1,2003
Hort Expert: Get To The ‘Root’ Of A Plant’s Ills
(Continued from Page El 4)
Bates noted that while
water is becoming a more val
uable commodity, he said,
managers have to deal with
drought. “Drought should be
expected,” he said.
For Christmas tree growers,
the past year has been “devas
tating” for planting ever
greens. Everybody was out
early in the spring, with May
the perfect month to start, but
then the drought struck.
In one area after a May
planting, 80 percent of the
Douglas Fir was dead by Au
gust, and “this is a drought
tolerant plant,” Bates said.
2003 Mid-Atlantic Winter
Brambles Conference Feb. 7-8
LEESBURG, Va. The
North American Bramble
Growers Association - Mid-
Atlantic region and Virginia
Cooperative Extension will
sponsor a Bramble meeting
Feb. 7-8 here at the Holiday
Inn at Carracdoc Hall.
This event will offer high
quality information to existing
producers as well as individu
als interested in a thorough in
troduction to the various is
sues affecting the production
of blackberries and raspber
ries. Brambles are a crop that
can match agricultural pro
duction interests from the
smallest farm sizes to larger
operations.
The conference has a focus
on subjects most currently
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“It was a very significant
drought,” Bates said. “If noth
ing else, we can plan on it
happening.”
For nurseries, there is sim
64 Anybody feel like you are doing it and
doing it and doing it and you’re tired? 9 5
ply “no reason not to use irri
gation,” he said.
At the workshop, Don Mar
tin, director of learning re
sources at the Kutztown Uni
critical to the production of
bramble fruit (blackberry and
raspberry) and factors affec
ting the viability of individual
farms and the growing indus
try.
Key topics include season
extension, irrigation in heat
and drought, nutrition, in
depth cultivar discussion, spe
cifics of insect pests, direct
marketing, wholesale market
ing, and grower profiles.
Speakers include Dr. Rich
ard Funt of Ohio State Uni
versity, Dr. Harry Swartz of
the University of Maryland,
Bryan Butler of Maryland Co
operative Extension, Dr. Doug
Pfeiffer, and Dr. Tony Bratsch
of Virginia Tech, Dr, Bill
Cline and Dr. Zvezdana Pesic-
TECH 7 GENERATOR SYSTEMS
versity Small Business
Development Center (SBDC),
spoke about creating a busi
ness model for landscaping
enterprises. ,
Don Martin
Director, Learning Resources
Kutztown University SBDC
“You’re in business for
get the landscaping,” Martin
said.
He pointed out how impor
tant it is to focus on the busi-
VanEsbroek of North Caroli
na State University, Dr. John
Halbrendt of Pennsylvania
State University, Mike Droney
of the Virginia Department of
Agriculture, and discussions
with individual growers.
Information including con
ference schedule and registra
tion can be obtained at http://
www.ento.vt.edu/
Fruitfiles/
Hotßramble.html and
http://www.nabga.com;
or by contacting Jason
Murray at jamurray@v
t.edu and (703)
737-8978,' or Richard
Fagan at rfagan@mind
spring.com and (301)
724-4085.
1-800-779-8809
isif)
RACTI
ENERATOP
12-100 KW
V. -f ' J
ness and creating a plan, rath
er than simply, by rote, going
about the small tasks.
“Anybody feel like you are
doing it and doing it and
doing it and you’re tired?” he
said. He challenged landscape
business owners to transform
their business and find out
how to shorten the workdays
and “get your life back.”
Martin, who ran a land
scaping company for a num
ber of years, in addition to
several sole proprietorships,
worked for General Motors in
the ’Bos.
What he noted, in running
the new Kutztown SBDC, was
that 80 percent of all small
businesses fail in five years.
After 10 years, only a small
percentage survive.
“Eighty-four percent of
those working with us in five
years are still in business,” he
said.
The key: establishing a busi
ness or marketing plan to help
the business grow. “You have
to plan growth,” said Martin.
“It won’t happen without it.”
An unexamined business is
not worth conducting, accord
ing to the audience who par
ticipated in the roundtable
type discussion.
Martin pointed to the fol
lowing books helpful for small
business owners:
• “The E-Myth Revisited,”
by Michael E. Gerber, pub
lished by Harperßusiness,
1995, ISBN 0-88730-728-0. In
cluded is a quote from Aldous
Huxley: “They intoxicate
themselves with work so they
won’t see how they really
are.”
• “Who Moved My
Cheese?” by Spencer Johnson,
M.D., published by G.P. Put
nam’s Sons, 1998, ISBN
0-399-14446-3.
• “The Seven Habits of
Highly Effective People,” by
Stephen R. Covey, Fireside/
Simon and Schuster, 1989,
1990, ISBN 0-671-70863-5.
Martin outlined the Busi
ness Plan For Success site that
can be used as a planning tool.
Check out the Kutztown
SBDC Website at http://
sbdc.kutztown.edu.
There are 750 members of
the Pennsylvania Landscape
and Nursery Association,
according to Gregg Robertson,
PLNA president. PLNA is lo
cated at 1707 South Cameron
St., Harrisburg, PA
17104-3148, (800) 898-3411 or
(717)238-1673.