Developing adaptable native shrubs for the green industry

Developing adaptable native shrubs for the green industry

Summary

Twelve growers attended an orientation workshop to learn about novel native shrub crop alternatives to invasives. Five nurseries expressed interest in trialing the new native shrub crops and all five nurseries received starter plant material. Propagation and production research was initiated for seven novel native taxa. Four presentations on this grant project were delivered at nursery and landscape association meetings and symposia. A meeting with the five participating nurseries is scheduled for February 2015 to be held at the University of Connecticut C.R. Burr Teaching Nursery. At this meeting, one of the key growers will be presenting on their experience (propagation, container growing, and marketing) with several of the native shrub taxa.

Objectives/Performance Targets

Five wholesale nursery growers will add six native shrubs to their production lines and market them as adaptable landscape shrubs to replace $500,000 in lost revenue from invasives.

Accomplishments/Milestones

1. Propagation and container production research for the 10 novel native shrub alternatives will be conducted at the University of Connecticut Plant Science Research and Education Facility. (Sept ‘13 – Sept ’16) Initiated July 2014.
2. Twenty growers will attend an orientation workshop at the University of Connecticut to learn about the 10 novel native shrub alternatives and will receive education about alternative native shrubs species using the demonstration plantings on campus. (Oct ‘13) Completed October 2013.
3. Two key nurseries receive 50 liners each of six adaptable native shrubs to grow on at their respective nurseries for establishing future production lines. (Sept ’14). Completed by September 2014.
4. The project leader will visit the two key nurseries and assist growers in developing plans for incorporating these plants into their existing production systems. (Sept ’14) Completed by September 2014.
5. The project leader will visit the two key nurseries and assist growers in developing propagation protocols for the native shrubs received using available facilities and the shrubs themselves as the source of propagules. (May ’15)
6. Growers consult about performance of native shrubs on the farm with the project leader and each other using telephone, email, text messaging, skyping and personal visits. (May ’15 – Aug ’15)
7. Project leader will complete a propagation and production manual for the identified novel native shrubs. (July ’16)
8. Twilight meetings will be held at the key grower nurseries where additional growers will gain knowledge about production of new native shrubs directly from the experiences of the key growers. Attendees will receive the propagation and production manual written by the project leader. (Aug ’16)
9. The project leader will visit five nursery operations and make recommendations to growers about how to incorporate a minimum of six novel native shrubs into their production systems. (Sept ’16)

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

Twelve growers and four extension educators attended the orientation workshop about developing novel native shrub crops as alternatives to invasive species for the green industry held in October 2013. The verification survey of the orientation workshop showed that grower understanding of native shrub features, adaptability, and use as invasive alternatives increased from an average of 2.8 (on a scale of 1 to 5) before the orientation workshop to an average of 4.6 after the orientation workshop. The verification survey indicated that growers are extremely interested in learning more about propagation techniques, plant care and management at the nursery, and effective uses as alternatives to invasives, for the native taxa presented on at the workshop. These results have helped to prioritize research experiments, which were focused on propagation in 2014.

This grant proposal planned for two key growers to trial plants during the grant period. However, since several growers had expressed strong interest in the native taxa presented on at the orientation workshop, I was able to recruit five nurseries to trial select native taxa starting in 2014. The five nurseries received starting material for two to five different native taxa in 2014.

The growers from the five participating nurseries expressed a strong willingness to share their experiences with the native taxa over time. At a scheduled February 2015 meeting of participating nurseries, one of the key growers will present on his experiences with propagation, container growing, and marketing, of the native taxa received. Also at this meeting, to be held at UConn C.R. Burr Teaching Nursery, I will present preliminary findings from propagation trials and we will tour the nursery to examine dormant propagation stock.

To reach a larger cross section of the green industry in 2014, I presented on this grant project at the Connecticut Invasive Plant Working Group Symposium, at the Massachusetts Nursery and Landscape Association Summer Conference and Trade Show, at the Connecticut Nursery and Landscape Association Winter Symposium and at the UConn Master Gardener Coastal Certificate Program. I produced a trade article about native shrub replacements for invasives that was published in the April 2014 issue of Nursery Management (http://www.nurserymag.com/nm0414-shrubs-native-alternatives.aspx) and reprinted in the July 2014 issue of Garden Center (http://www.gardencentermag.com/ll0714-northern-native-plants.aspx). I also wrote a fact sheet in 2014 entitled New England Native Shrub Replacements for Invasive Japanese Barberry and Burning Bush. Various elements of this project are shared on my Facebook page Native Plant Gal (https://www.facebook.com/NativePlantGal), which currently has 246 followers and reaches an average of 200 people per week.

• New England Native Shrub Replacements for Invasive Japanese Barberry and Burning Bush

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