LANDSCAPER CERTIFICATION
The Grower Program
A 2 hour course that helps landscapers
join the Green Jobs Revolution.
Who's it for?
The Grower Program is the perfect introduction to Productive Urban Landscapes for existing landscaping professionals and those looking to break into the exciting world of ecological landscaping. Take your career to the next level with this first-of-its-kind certification.
What you'll learn.
You'll leave the Grower Program with the knowledge and connections you need to start bringing more
eco-friendly practices to your landscaping business.
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The hidden costs of modern landscaping
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The benefits of Productive Urban Landscapes
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Case studies and examples of PUL's in action
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Practical next steps for maintaining traditional landscapes and Productive Urban Landscapes
EXAMPLE CURRICULUM
Grower Program certification.
Learn the basics of maintaining ecological landscapes with our flagship certificate course.
Plant ID & Health
Plants are changing, dynamic living organisms with a variety of appearances, preferences and seasonality. We realize it may not be a realistic possibility for crews to learn all the plants on their sites, but there are some general knowledge items that will help crew understand the landscape needs better and be able to treat them appropriately to ensure more beautiful and healthy long lasting landscapes.
Bush & Woody Plant Trimming
Bushes grow seasonally and some more enthusiastically than others! Many of our eyes have been trained to see these bushes as rounded/sculpted shapes, but that is typically not what the bushes want to be trained to do! There are many benefits to changing both techniques and frequency for trimming bushes on our sites.
Weed Eating
There are always going to be those plants that stick above the other ones, and there are always going to be dead crowns of plants that need to be removed seasonally. Weed eaters are immensely helpful with addressing these issues. Unfortunately, quite often weed eaters end up eating more than the weeds, but the plants that we want to stay and flourish. There are a few other issues with the use of this equipment that could be addressed so that we get the best use of the this tool.
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Spraying
A plant in a place you don’t want it, is otherwise known as a ‘weed’. Different folks have different perspectives on what exactly a ‘weed’ is, so this leads to confusion and a lot of times. Plants that were planted intentionally get the weed treatment by accident! Herbicides are often overused when they should be applied sparingly. What are the specific problems with improper spraying and how can we change our methods to enjoy a number of benefits?
Mowing
Mowing is a necessary and important part of most landscape maintenance jobs. Over the last few decades, we have changed from using push reel powers to push gas mowers to gas riding mowers. While this allows for quicker turn around on project sites it also has considerable downsides. How can we optimize use of mowers to get the most benefit?
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Blowers
Blowers are a useful tool and can speed up the clean up of sites. They do however, have a few downsides and when overused, both by individual operators and multiple operators at a time, they can create more problems than they are solving. Let’s rethink how we apply this portable tool that freed us (mostly) of the rake.
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Mulching
Mulch is more important than it looks. It helps retain water around newly establishing and existing plants, can serve to deflect the sun’s rays and can also inhibit weed growth in areas where you are not going to mow or do not yet have plants. The decaying material gives the roots of the plants what they need to keep growing. Mulch is both protection and food. Oftentimes people get a little overenthusiastic with their mulching and use too much, or sometimes, neglect mulching entirely. Here are some issues with how mulching is often completed and how we can improve on it.
Tree Trimming
While less frequent than some of the other categories in this list, trimming can have long term effect on the health of the plant. It can solve problems in the future, or when done incorrectly, can create problems in the future that can’t be fixed.
Grower Program Resources
Looking for a few resources to get you started? We got you covered!
Can Urban Agriculture solve job and food insecurity?
Yes! One of the best parts of the Fruitful Communities plan is that it solves for three key issues all governments have: food insecurity, job growth, and community engagement. By converting grassy, resource-intensive spaces into Productive Urban Landscapes, communities can create shared places that create good green collar jobs, provide ample food for struggling residents, and an education and community activation location.
What is a Productive Urban Landscape (PUL)?
Productive Urban Landscapes, at their core, are places with soul, places that use natural processes to minimize work and inputs and maximize everything that makes nature great. PULs are landscapes that promote 3 simple elements: Food, Ecology, and Community. They are dynamic landscapes that integrate some elements of traditional landscaping (like organized planting patterns and areas to sit, eat, and play) but bring in elements of the natural world (like biodiversity, pollinator habitats, etc.) and plants that provide us with food (like veggies, berries, and fruit trees). PULs can help heal our lands and feed both our bodies and our souls.
What is Urban Agriculture?
At its heart, urban agriculture is simply agriculture in urban areas. Although it’s a relatively new term, urban agriculture has been around for as long as we’ve had urban areas. Whether it’s a fruit tree, small garden, herbs in a windowsill, backyard chickens, flowers, or just a good ole pile of compost, there is a long history of urban agriculture, even if we didn’t define it that way. However, when we dig a bit deeper, there are a lot of significant differences between agriculture and urban agriculture.