By Bruce McTavish, president, Canadian Nursery Landscape Association (CNLA)

There are a number of trends taking place in society and the economy that will set the stage for the beginning of the millennia for the gardening industry.

     The most important influence on the sales of gardening products and services is the baby boomers moving into mid life and old age. This very large bulge in the population will drive increased demand for our products and services for the next 20 to 25 years. This group tends to be affluent, either through their own work or via inheritance from their parents. Most of the baby boomers have either paid off their mortgages or soon will and therefore have significant amounts of disposable income. This disposable income is being spent on leisure pleasures, of which gardening is high on the list.
     Unfortunately, much of this affluent gardening public are still relatively novice gardeners and somewhat ignorant in what constitutes quality plants and quality landscaping. Therefore, one of the critical objectives of our industry must be to not only increase the quality of the product and services we offer, but to educate the public on the reasons for purchasing plants or services from "professional companies." The Canadian Nursery Landscape Association (CNLA), in conjunction with all of the provincial associations, have made steady progress in the area of quality with the landscape and retail certification programs throughout the country. Certified Canadian Horticultural Technicians (CCHT) are now starting to hit a critical mass, where there are enough in most provinces to start promoting them to the general public.

     The CCHT program is, however, just a start down the road of providing quality products and services for our customers. Owners and managers need to upgrade their skills in areas from customer relations to finance and human resource management. Canadian nurseries have to look at ways of increasing and maintaining the quality of their nursery stock.

     Success in the modern wholesale nursery operation is becoming more dependent on the ability of the industry to export products to the United States (U.S.). Even if your nursery does not export, the fact that exports have increased so dramatically in the last five years has a tremendous impact on all companies. The growth in the export market has resulted in reduced supplies and increased demand; thus prices have finally started to improve for most growers. Consequently, any reductions in exports will also be felt by companies in the industry.

     In general, the export market demands high quality plants that are delivered on time. This leads to the question of how does our export customer ensure quality? Do we continue with the age-old philosophy of "buyer beware," or has the time come with the new millennia to consider setting enforceable quality standards for nursery products? There are many examples of other industries benefiting from the use of quality standards. Throughout the world, many organizations voluntarily pay to have their operations audited by the International Standards Association to achieve the ISO stamp of quality. They see this as an effective marketing tool that allows them to promote their products around the world. I believe the time has come for a similar approach in the nursery industry to improve quality, increase exports and increase profits.

     There will always be those companies that make the decision to produce or purchase lower quality stock for lower prices. However, there must be a method for the high quality producers to differentiate their products and, therefore, justify their higher prices.

     Exporting of more plants also implies a greater exposure to risk from foreign import regulations, potential phytosanitary problems and use of regulations as a basis for foreign companies to retaliate against Canadian exporters gaining market share in their country. It is critical that there is a strong national voice both in Ottawa, within NAFTA organizations and, if need be, at the WTO that ensures the interests of Canadian producers are protected. To ensure that trade continues without undue restrictions, CNLA maintains an active dialogue with a number of agencies in Ottawa. It is represented at the North American Plant Protection Organization (NAPPO) which sets phytosanitary standards for implementation by Canada, U.S. and Mexico, and it maintains close contact with the American Nursery Landscape Association (ANLA).

     The other major influence on our industry is the growing impact of the environmental movements. The increased public activism of environmental groups, increased general public awareness and the willingness of governments to respond by legislation and regulations, have a tremendous impact on various sectors of the industry.

     Over the last two years, the CNLA and the provincial associations have been at the forefront of serious public environmental issues. These include the attempted banning of various types of two cycle motorized equipment such as leaf blowers, the banning of the use of pesticides and herbicides on private and public property within municipal boundaries and the removal of spray permits for the use of Btk for the control of Gypsy moth in British Columbia. These represent just the beginning of the impact of the environmental movement on our industry.

     We have a choice to be reactive and continually fight large, well-funded environmental groups and government, or become proactive and take the lead in positioning our selves as a "green industry."

     The irony of our recent fights with environmental groups and governments is that we are, in fact, the greenest of industries. We are in the business of growing, selling, installing and maintaining plants that are the lifeblood of the planet. We must, however, implement a new approach that effectively communicates that our industry is a key element in the maintenance and improvement of the environment in the next millennia. This means we must not only develop and implement a communication strategy, but also become more aware of the positive and negative impacts we have in the environment.

     Companies must implement IPM strategies, both in the production and landscape sectors of the industry. This does not mean the elimination of chemicals but the appropriate use of chemicals, cultural and biological controls. We must be aware of and mitigate potential nutrient leaching problems that impact surface and ground water. Finally, we must be prepared for potential attacks on our industry by the highly radicalized fringes of the environmental movement.

     The final issue to consider as we approach the millennia is how we can ensure that our national and provincial associations have adequate resources to effectively represent members in the rapidly changing environment. We have seen how quickly our operational environment has changed in the 1990s; this pace of change will only accelerate in the new millennia. Our individual and collective ability to respond will be a function of our allocation of appropriate resources. Without some type of stable funding at both the provincial and national level, many of our associations will continue to struggle with lack of money and staff to deal effectively with the critical issues we will face.

     When we are dealing with groups such as the Sierra Club, Greenpeace, World Trade Organizations, Environmental Law Society and the news media, our resources are very inadequate. We send volunteers to deal with Sierra Club lawyers; nurserymen to deal with paid U.S. Trade negotiators, and landscapers to deal with well-funded anti-noise groups. Although stable funding via national or provincial check-off systems has failed, some system must be devised to provide stable funding or we will all pay a very high price for our failure!