Climate and Economic Impacts on the Plant Sector: Nursery

1
Climate and Economic Impacts on the Plant
SectorNursery Landscape Perspective

• Warren A. Quinn, Esq., CAE
• Vice President for Operations
• American Nursery Landscape Association
• wquinn_at_anla.org
• March, 2012

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Approach

• Horticulture in the US Function to Aesthetics
  to Infrastructure
• Consensus Value of Plants in Designed
  Ecosystems
• Challenges and Solutions Whats Next?
• Provocative?

3
Evolving use of plants

• Fruit trees and windbreaks/Major estates
• Middle class homeownership suburbia
• Garden center retailing
• Disneyland
• 70s Highway beautification
• 80s Commercial suburbia and office parks
• 90s Curb appeal, status
• 2000s Staycations, outdoor rooms, etc.

4
Increased Understanding of Benefits

• Greening of the cities
• Parks greenbelts
• Urban villages
• Green buildings
• Landscape restoration and rehabilitation
• Horticultural therapy

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Now Green Infrastructure

• Warming Energy savings, reduced
  evapotranspiration
• Storm severity/floods Stormwater management
• Drought Water retention, re-use, green roofs,
  engineered soil profiles
• CO2 Carbon sequestration
• Extinction Managed biodiversity, engineered
  wetlands

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2002 Data Nursery Landscape Industry

• Business and governmental units
• Growing, distributing, installing, maintaining
• Trees, plants, landscapes and related equipment
• 148 billion (95 billion value added)
• 2 million jobs, 64 billion labor income
• 2011- New York Restoration Project, Vibrant
  Cities Urban Forests

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Consensus and Challenge

• Those engaged in the conversation are convinced
  of the value of green infrastructure
• So . . .
• We dont need more data . . .
• We dont need to spend time/effort trying to
  convince each other

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Consensus and Challenge

• Those not engaged are either
• Not interested
• Threatened
• Not reachable
• So . . .
• No amount of research or talking will convince
  them!

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Challenges (1)

• Entrenched officials and engineers (irrelevance
  unemployment
• Outdated building codes Local!
• Researchers need to do research (solutions
  unemployment)
• Every organization wants to lead and get credit
  true collaboration is difficult

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Challenges (2)

• Non-profit and Govt suspicion of for-profit
  sector
• Plants are always the LAST consideration
• The Green Industry will respond to the market
  but will not lead it
• Grower commodities versus bio-diversity
• Landscape fragmented, limited influence
• LEED minimum not aspirational

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Solutions (1)

• Improve plant education for landscape architects
  and civil engineers
• Cradle to Cradle Change goal from less bad
  (LEED) to sustainable sites even net benefits
• Need POTUS dedicated to change through leadership
  not regulation
• Public gardens public education POWER

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Solutions (2)

• Project timelines and specifications
• Include green machine concepts early
• Sole source (like high-tech)
• Contract grow diverse species
• Government continuing education (Local!)
• Sustainable profitable (dont rely on
  government funding)
• No new regulations Market-driven!

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Its a Movement

• Plant more plants