On Demand Sessions

This presentation will cover the current status of important plant diseases and insects like bur oak blight, Ralstonia on geraniums, oak decline, and root rots. It will also include information on pests “on the horizon” to be aware of such as polyphagous shot hole borer, spotted lanternfly, thousand cankers of black walnut, and laurel wilt.

There is a myriad of new hybrid white oak group selections coming our way. Following a general review of this group, we will dive into a review of the “building block species”. We then will review some to the most promising selections and cover their specific traits to aid in the best landscape placement and use.

60 acres, 200,000 plants, 22 employees, 3 managers, 6 greenhouses and miles of hoses and irrigation! Walk through what it takes to create the Gardens at Ball. Along the way they will highlight some of the history, stories that helped to make the gardens you see each summer and preview the coming attractions for annuals and perennials for spring 2021/22.

Hundreds of new plant varieties are introduced each year. Architects, designers, and buyers know people want exciting new varieties, but they also know that customers want reliable performance. How do you balance the two? Learn about the criteria plant breeders use when making a selection, and why some really great plants don’t make the cut. The next step is the nursery growers who produce the finished plants you use for landscaping and retail sales. Why do growers opt to grow some and not others? What do growers think of some newer varieties, and what do they recommend for both landscape and retail customers? Get some insider knowledge on what will perform well in Illinois and Wisconsin.

In Northern Illinois, our oaks (and other trees) have had a tough couple of years! Learn how to identify early signs of decline, potential management options, and learn how to identify potential forest pest threats and ways you can strengthen and enrich your community through plant monitoring and reporting.

We all have a role to play in getting trees to maturity – the size where they provide the most benefits for cleaner air and water, mitigate the impacts from flooding, and reduce urban temperatures during heat waves all while improving public health and well-being. However, growing the regional canopy means we have to stop planting annual trees. This panel presents a variety of perspectives that can help contractors and designers get trees in the ground correctly and provide proper care after planting. We will discuss a trees’ journey from the nursery to its final planting site, and the absolute vital role the landscape industry plays in our mission to promote a healthy, long-lived forest canopy for the Chicagoland region.

Learn how to remove trees in difficult spots from a 3-time world champion tree climber as he shares tips to make life easier. Mark will cover scientifically sound rigging techniques, the latest gear and tools used by arborists and how to be efficient while following the most current safety standards.

Seasonal plantings in the landscape can offer a significant amount of color from both flower and foliage.  Utilizing annuals in our landscape borders, compositions and containers offers lengthy interest and perhaps includes additional features such as scent, pollinator value and food! We’ll examine a diverse assortment of seasonal plantings, including new selections, that are worthy of consideration for their beautiful impact in our landscapes.  Selections for both sun and shade will be discussed as will annuals that have immense flower power and/or colorful foliage.

Various methods are used to produce landscape trees. Each method is important to understand so you know what you are dealing with when maintaining a specific tree. Learn how to recognize how a tree was started and how this can help you to provide the best care possible.

Most ponds are collection points for sediment and nutrients leading to conditions that increasingly support nuisance aquatic plant and/or algae growth. Decomposing yard waste, fertilizers, erosion, and animal waste accelerate the degradation of water bodies. There are hundreds of species of algae and new aquatic invaders to be aware of. We will review the proactive and reactive approaches to control these invasives, the causes of unwanted vegetative growth as well as the pros and cons of logical options to prevent or control it’s growth will be reviewed in non-scientific terms.

It used to be that shrubs were the bones and background of the garden. They were big plants, that bloomed for two weeks or less, then they faded into oblivion. All that has changed. Plant breeders the world over have reinvented the flowering shrub and with that, the way we used them in our gardens and landscapes. Join Tim as he highlights some of the most interesting breakthroughs in plant breeding and how designers can use these new shrubs to make better gardens and landscapes.

Chanticleer is a pleasure garden but it is also a collection of personalities be they the plants’ or the gardeners’. Learn how they all come together to create “America’s Most Inspiring Garden.”

This inspiring session offers design ideas and showcases beautiful flower varieties that will have you seeing the potential for colorful flowers in all kinds of outdoor spaces, large or small.  Garden designer and flower lover, Jan Johnsen, shares her experience and contagious passion for flower garden design in a beautiful and informative presentation. Learn planting tips as well as container combos, drought tolerant flowers and much more!

Andrew Bunting explores the wide area of magnolias that are excellent for the nursery, landscape and garden installation business.  He will explore a myriad of cultivar and species that offer different colors, flowering times and even those with large leaves that can bring a textural aspect to the garden.  He will review growing considerations, pest and disease consideration and siting suggestions.

What is a “high-performance” urban tree and what benefits do such trees offer our cities? This thought-provoking session will address the key things that designers, property owners and residents want to see from urban trees. Shane will analyze and define the factors that contribute to high-performance trees, and the key to realizing their benefits through design. We will review the best practices and design techniques that successfully integrate trees into urban infrastructure, and provides examples of how high-performance trees have been established in regional and international case studies.

Why do some gardens make us feel so wonderful, relaxed and refreshed? Landscape designer and author, Jan Johnsen, shares her passion for creating serene, contemplative gardens and offers advice that will open your eyes to a new way of making outdoor havens. Explore ideas such as why a gate facing East is considered auspicious, why a golden rectangle is the preferred terrace layout and how to highlight a ‘power spot’. It is based on her garden design book, Heaven is a Garden.

Nature is all around us. Most of what we see in our daily lives is highly manipulated and lacking diversity. What is mixed in though is a patch work of remnant patches of the once unbroken ecosystems that carpeted the area. Learn to identify them and what it takes to bring them back to health. The end result is rewarding for you and your clients.

Jack’s presentation will be available after February 4th. 

The sketch event will cover some fundamentals to creating a realistic scene including the horizon line and vanishing point(s). Participants will learn tips and tricks to quickly draw site entourage like people and plant materials. The course will explore using small thumbnail sketches to study overall compositions before diving into detailed sketches, and we’ll put this all to use by drawing from an international destination image/scene with step-by-step instruction, following along with the instructor’s overhead camera to sketch in real time together.

You’ve encountered this before: new customers want to see results, which may be challenging depending on the status of the property and time of year. And existing customers allow you to program proper timing for herbicide application using the entire calendar. In this session, you’ll learn to develop a herbicide program for landscape management based on pre and post emergent products for existing and new customers, no matter what season it is.

For over 30 years, EQ biosolids have been used for both large- and small-scale projects in the Chicago area, most notably Maggie Daley Park in the city of Chicago has been one example with great success largely due to fast plant establishment and cost saving. The increase in soil organic matter through the use of EQ biosolids also improves soil structure, allowing better root penetration and establishment. This presentation will discuss the benefits of EQ biosolids as organic amendments for landscaping projects and describe how to incorporate these organic amendments into your projects from quick establishment of plants at construction sites to upkeep of healthy vegetation in gardens and other landscaping.

In this presentation we will discuss proper integrated pest management (IPM) approaches to pest management in the urban landscape. We will cover what tools are in the IPM tool belt, how and when to deploy each of those tools, and in what situations which tools need to be deployed.

We all want the landscape vision we present to clients to succeed. Getting there is a balancing act between the ideals of horticulture and the realities of budget and time. Often a one size fits all approach is utilized for materials and practices. While there are some clear advantages to keeping it simple, there are some opportunities that can improve the landscape, increase both efficiency and profit by being more strategic in material choices and horticultural practices. In this talk, we will discuss product options for soils, amendments, and mulches, look at relative costs, review some labor savings and practice strategies that can be applied to different situations that will improve landscape performance, boost profitability, and optimize your labor force.

Relying on referrals is great — if you like constantly wondering where your next project comes from. Learn how to fill your pipeline with Qualified Leads who are warmed up and ready to buy high dollar landscaping projects — so you can confidently say NO to the projects you don’t want.

Let’s explore a number of options of how to structure your design/build team. We will also review the pros and cons of each option. Additionally, we will look at how your operations team and design team can best work together to increase sales and profits and avoid the typical sales vs. production battles.

In this session, Charlie will discuss how last year went for firms in the green industry supply chain, the current economic conditions, the status of the lingering effects of COVID-19, and the outlook for spring 2021 and beyond. He will also incorporate a discussion of the structural changes already brought about by C-19 and the business responses (key success factors) that will influence success in the future green industry marketplace. Are you trying to determine your best strategic path forward? Then you do not want to miss this session!

A title doesn’t make you a leader or guarantee you will keep growing and developing in your career. Learn the laws of growth to live your potential for yourself and for others around you. Many leaders get promoted, get a new title and stop developing, which limits them but also limits their team! Worse even, you may have had the same role or title for a long time but haven’t kept learning and growing, so you’re stuck in a cycle of repeating the same experiences over and over again-which limits your organization’s performance. Keep growing yourself to grow your team, don’t be a lid on your team’s potential. Become the leader you were destined to be, not by chance, but by tapping into your passion, your strengths, and the laws of growth. This presentation is designed for those who supervise or lead others at any level of an organization, regardless of tenure in their role. Learn from a former industry executive with nearly 30 years of landscape experience who has held many different “titles” during his career.

Do you know the bankability of your company? No matter how much financial statements make you cringe, Terry wants to make sure you understand that it’s not about sales and net income. It’s all about gross profit and cash flow. Terry will teach you 10 key financial ratios in a down to earth way that anyone can understand. Learn how to create a debt schedule and what your debt service coverage ratio is. Using real life stories, Terry ties it all together to help business owners easily understand how to improve and measure the financial health of your company.

This presentation provides business owners/office managers with a comprehensive strategy to effectively reduce the frequency of Workers Compensation Claims and control the costs of claims that may arise. It provides a deep dive into various strategies associated with claim mitigation, providing specific ideas/examples of programs that can be immediately implemented to help reduce workplace injuries.

Imagine creating and managing effective and engaging social media campaigns without the burdensome time commitment during the season. In this discussion we’ll identify which social media platforms are right for your business and review the basics of social media advertising. Then we will learn how to create successful and engaging social media content that delivers increased engagement and fantastic returns on your investment!

Growing your landscape business can mean big dividends if done the right way. In this high-impact session, you will learn how to implement proven systems to grow your landscape business, differentiate yourself from the competition, and gain the maximum return on investment and profits by investing your time (and money) in the right places. In this session, we will tour a landscape business and show you a very well managed office/shop, truck and hardscape trailer setup.

Rooftop decks create valuable living and recreational space for building owners, residents, and clients. Accommodating restaurants, hotels, healthcare facilities, and everything from residential to government buildings, rooftop deck systems offer the design flexibility to create versatile, unique outdoor spaces over any structural surface. This course explores the features, surface materials, and design options for rooftop deck systems and provides an overview of recommended planning and installation guidelines.

In this session, we will take a look at some of the most efficient tools available to help you increase productivity and profits while reducing physical labor and the need for more employees to perform jobs.

There are many things to consider when working with natural stone. In this session, Daniel will introduce you to the language of stone, starting from the concept through the design process to project completion and follow up. He will discuss how to assess the site and determine the best stone materials, what information is needed for estimating and pricing, the logistics and installation requirements.

Managing a hardscape business can have its ups and downs. However, when you can learn from other people’s mistakes, you can prevent many of the common pitfalls that often make it challenging to manage and excel in the business. In addition, when you know how to manage and deal with the common pitfalls you can prevent profit loss and ease the challenges at work.

In this session, we look at what counts for successful hardscape installations around fire, water, lighting, sound features and system automation. We will show many profitable yard enhancement options. Learn how to grow your business, expand the range of the services and installations you offer, and how you can reach different markets for better margins and profits.