Session Descriptions
Keynote
Self-Care for Green Industry Professionals (Josh McPherson)
Positive Coaching is a new way to think about building a better team. You will learn how to invest in your co-workers and find out what is important to them. You will also learn how to transition your team from a fixed mindset into a growth mindset. By focusing on what everyone did right during the day and celebrating the successes without dwelling on the mistakes, everyone will have a better feeling at the end of the day. This presentation will help you discover what you and your co-workers value and how you can use those strengths to guide your short term and long term goals.
Water Management
2-wire Design and troubleshooting (Jonathan Miller)
With the complexity and advanced technology of 2-wire in irrigation, it is vital to know component identification, function and how to troubleshoot issues without wasting time. We will cover the basics of layout and how to locate problems when they arise. Our discussion will include: the electrical components and function of devices within an irrigation 2-wire system. The attendees will learn what a design layout entails, issues that arise from poor installation and how to identify and repair these issues.
3 Main bullets:
- Layout and design of 2-wire
- Product identification and electrical requirements of 2-wire.
- Troubleshoot and repair techniques for 2-wire
Irrigation Service and Overhead (Mark Howell)
Discussion on irrigation services and how to determine what to charge. Overview of what overhead is, how to recover overhead.
3 Main Bullet Points of Talk:
How to determine what your worth and what to charge for irrigation services.
How to grow the irrigation service side of your business.
Review of what overhead is and how to recover your costs as well as discuss the different types of overhead.
Using WiFi Technology to Grow Your Business (Kevin Battistoni)
How to use today's WiFi technology to increase your level of customer service and make your service tech(s) more efficient in the field.
4 Main Bullet Points of Talk
1. IoT Internet of Things, Connected devices overview and market opportunity discussion
2. Wi-Fi 101 the language of and tools needed to be professional in this space
3. What to look for when choosing a wi-fi controller platform
4. How to grow wi-fi controller revenue and turn it into annual profits
Scheduling for Soil Type (Matt Bruns)
Students will learn:
- Fundamentals in calculation of saturation rates in different soil types
- Explore how ET effects water application throughout the growing season
- How to calculate different types of sprinklers precipitation rates to better match run time
- Hands on training with some of the newest products available
Sports Fields
Weather Apps and Weather Decisions, Let’s Make the Most of Both! (Dr. Brad Jakubowski)
There are an incredible number of weather apps out there these days and we usually have at least two or three on our phones at one time! Let’s discuss what to look for in weather apps and web-based information and how to use this information to make the best management, game-time, and event management decisions possible. Be prepared to have your phones ready!!
Three Main Bullet Points:
What functions and data to look for in a weather app. Is it worth it to pay 2 to 10 dollars for an app?
How to make the most of weather radar apps and "making the call" on a game or event
Discuss some weather fundamentals all should know when looking at weather data.
Why Isn’t My Turf Green and What Can I do? (Dr. Brad Jakubowski)
The goal of this interactive seminar is to develop a list of questions to ask when our turf doesn’t look the way we expect it to. We will look at many scenarios and situations and determine what would be the best question to ask to correct the problem or make sure it doesn’t happen again. We will also look at some ideas for improving our turf under tough conditions, like if we are in a no pesticide application zone. Get ready, get set, go!
Three Main Bullet Points:
Identifying maladies or problems in your turfgrass areas. What might be the cause?
Let's figure out what to ask ourselves or someone else if the turfgrass we're looking isn't green!
We will discuss making our turfgrass green again, even with limited pesticides.
Arkansas Razorback Football: Back to Natural Grass (Jeff Salmond)
We will describe the delicate process of removal of the old synthetic field system and installation of the irrigation system and sand root zone and surfaced with Tahoma 31 bermudagrass
Three Main Bullet Points:
1. Preserving existing sand-base sub grade conditions.
2. Irrigation and sand root zone installation.
3. Tahoma 31 bermudagrass with Matrix fiber installation.
Weed and Disease Control Concepts for Sports Turf (Rick Fletcher)
This talk will focus on the basics of weed control planning, with a discussion of product selection for different pre and post emergent conditions, including crabgrass, several hard to control broadleaf weeds, and sedges. We will have a similar discussion regarding disease control, focusing on important diseases such as Dollar spot and Brown Patch and a review of the mechanics of control options.
Golf
How Turfgrass Nematicides Work (Dr. William Crow)
Learn about the major kinds of nematodes that effect turf and how the unique properties of different nematicides can be used to effectively manage them.
Three Main Bullet Points:
1) Know how different kinds of nematodes impact turf.
2) Learn the unique characteristics of different nematcide options.
3) Develop effective nematode management strategies for the nematodes on your golf course.
Why Isn’t My Turf Green and What Can I do? (Dr. Brad Jakubowski)
The goal of this interactive seminar is to develop a list of questions to ask when our turf doesn’t look the way we expect it to. We will look at many scenarios and situations and determine what would be the best question to ask to correct the problem or make sure it doesn’t happen again. We will also look at some ideas for improving our turf under tough conditions, like if we are in a no pesticide application zone. Get ready, get set, go!
Three Main Bullet Points:
Identifying maladies or problems in your turfgrass areas. What might be the cause?
Let's figure out what to ask ourselves or someone else if the turfgrass we're looking isn't green!
We will discuss making our turfgrass green again, even with limited pesticides.
The A-Z of 2019: Angry Anthracnose to Zonked Zoysia (Dr. Lee Miller)
While not as spectacularly stressful as last year, 2019 held a few surprises that should serve as teachable moments for golf course management in the future.
Three Main Bullet Points:
- Weather trends affecting turfgrass health
- Anthracnose on bentgrass can occur on more varieties than previously thought
- 'Meyer' zoysiagrass impacted by wet cold winters and springs more than other winter extremes.
Pollinator Plantings in a Golf Course Setting (Isaac Breuer)
I will be discussing how to take out of play areas and planting them into pollinator plots. I will explain each step on how to accomplish this on your course.
Reconstructing Tallgrass Prairies on Golf Courses (Scott Woodbury)
Would you like to reduce maintenance costs associated with out-of-bounds and buffer areas? Would you like to convert a mowed area into a diverse blooming prairie that reduces cost, increases beauty and wildlife diversity? Come learn how to create a natural-style landscape with high diversity, lower (when established) maintenance and great wildlife diversity. Indoor/outdoor.
3 Main Bullet Points of Talk
1. Converting mowed grass to tallgrass prairie
2. Importance of balanced grass/forb mix
3. Control of common invasive species like Johnsongrass and sericea lespedeza.
Landscape & Design
Native Bees of STL (Dr. Gerardo Camilo)
The majority of the 7.5 billion humans already live in a city. In another 30 years, when the human population reaches 9.5 billion, 66% of people will be living in a city. At the same time, the diversity and abundance of insect pollinating species are declining, threatened or endangered. That can place huge constraints on our food producing systems. The good news is that cities seem to work as a form of refuge for many of the bees species we need.
Xeriscaping in Temperate Climates (Bobbie Schwartz)
We may not live in the desert but we still need drought tolerant landscapes to lower our water bills and create sustainable landscapes that are also beautiful and interesting. Xeriscapes can be created for either sunny or shady sites. The emphasis will be on perennials although woodies are also included.
Three Main Bullet Points:
1.The need for drought tolerant landscapes
2.Why soil amendment is crucial
3.The importance of plant selection
Successful Green Infrastructure and Rain Gardens: Sustainable Design, Plants and Management (Steve Rodie)
Green infrastructure, from small-scale rain gardens to large-scale bioretention systems and wetlands, has become a significant stormwater management practice across the United States. Green infrastructure has the potential to be a cost-effective, aesthetic, functional, and environmentally beneficial enhancement to urban landscapes – if it is designed and managed with sustainable principles in mind. This presentation will summarize a wide variety of green infrastructure successes and challenges experienced over the past ten years in the Omaha region that are applicable throughout the Midwest.
Three Main Bullet Points:
- plants are key to green infrastructure success; their aesthetic and functional qualities, as well as their management, can all be moving targets
- short- and long-term management are critical; there is no such thing as native "no maintenance" landscapes
- public/student education and political/institutional support are critical to maintain current and future green infrastructure success
Landscape Design Combinations for Pollinators (Mark Dwyer)
With pollinators being such an important part of our environments including individual landscapes, selecting and combining appropriate plants and garden features can make for a pollinator-friendly design. We'll discuss a wide range of plants, combinations and additional garden design features to maximize the potential for a "pollinator's paradise"!
Lawn & Landscape Care
Xeriscaping in Temperate Climates (Bobbie Schwartz)
We may not live in the desert but we still need drought tolerant landscapes to lower our water bills and create sustainable landscapes that are also beautiful and interesting. Xeriscapes can be created for either sunny or shady sites. The emphasis will be on perennials although woodies are also included.
Three Main Bullet Points:
1.The need for drought tolerant landscapes
2.Why soil amendment is crucial
3.The importance of plant selection
Pest Management on Home Lawns (Dr. Lee Miller & Glen Kraemer)
Glenn Kraemer and Lee Miller will give the run down on the normal and not so normal pest issues that can ruin the sanctity of a fine home lawn.
Three Main Bullet Points:
- Fertility practices on home lawns can help achieve different levels of quality.
- Gray leaf spot may be a more common disease issue in years to come.
- Cultural practices on lawns can have profound effects on pest occurrence and environmental sustainability.
Native Bees of STL (Dr. Gerardo Camilo)
The majority of the 7.5 billion humans already live in a city. In another 30 years, when the human population reaches 9.5 billion, 66% of people will be living in a city. At the same time, the diversity and abundance of insect pollinating species are declining, threatened or endangered. That can place huge constraints on our food producing systems. The good news is that cities seem to work as a form of refuge for many of the bees species we need.
Recruit Like a Pro for the Green Industry (Kelly Dowell)
Kelly will discuss how recruiting is a marketing function - She will teach participants how to fully utilize the internet to recruit highly qualified lawn care and landscaping employees quickly.
"Recruit Like a Pro for the Green Industry" will include/discuss these 5 sections:
1. Using Online Marketing to Attract New Hires
2. Optimizing Your Website and Free Media for Profits
3. How to Use the “Big Three” for Recruiting (LinkedIn, Craigslist, Indeed)
4. Ways to Excite and Attract Your Best Future Hires
5. Using Technology Tools to Boost Your Results
Plant Resources & Solutions
Painting with Perennials: A Landscape Artist's Perspective on Perennial Garden Design and Maintenance (Bobbie Schwartz)
For years, perennial gardens were designed as side by side blocks of color. Over the past ten to fifteen years, these designs, with European influences, have become more impressionistic. In addition, more importance is being given to foliage, deadheads, and lengthening the seasons of interest. The degree of maintenance is also affected by these changes in design and by plant selection.
Three Main Bullet Points:
1. How perennial garden design has changed
2. How to create perennial gardens that are interesting for twelve months
3. How plant choices affect maintenance
Trees (Colleen Baum)
We will discuss features of tough trees for drought and heat tolerant conditions. Certain trees will be emphasized as "Tried and True" for the future.
The environment is changing, are we keeping up?
Landscape Shrubs For Privacy (Bill Minford & James Van Valkenburg)
A lively discussion as to what plants to use and how to configure a good living screen with evergreen and flowering shrubs.
Best of the Best: New Annuals for 2020 (Barb Giblin LaFerney)
Overview of new annual introductions for 2020, including Beacon Imatiens - resistant to Impatiens Downy Mildew.
Pesticide Recertification
Pesticide Recertification (Skip Kincaid)
Skip will present materials required for recertification of Missouri Pesticide Applicator license in Category 2, 3, and 6. This session also covers the re-training requirement for current pesticide technicians in Category 3.