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Q. Are most growers willing to work with you in regards to producing different plants that they don’t normally grow?
A. In my experience, most growers want to try new plants, but without a history of demand in our area, many have been reluctant. Fortunately, the growers I use do some experimenting on their own to increase their knowledge of plant materials.

The process I developed in experimenting with new plants did not happen overnight. It really started out of necessity. At first, I needed larger quantities than what the nurseries were normally growing.

I am also the kind of person who likes change. I got tired of the same plants year after year. And many of the standard bedding plants offered in our region — marigold, periwinkle, begonia, etc. — really are not suited to our very hot and humid summers. So I started to research seed sources for plants that were either underused or new to the region. You have to understand, though, I didn’t just start calling growers saying, ‘I have all these great ideas on new plants I think you should grow!’

The growers who trial new plants have an amazing knowledge of what works and what doesn’t in our area. By taking the time to visit nurseries, talking with growers and listening to them, I learned a lot.

Whenever I find receptive growers I acquire seeds or plugs for new or underused plants and have them shipped directly to the grower. Often the growers like the results of the new introductions and add them to their regular growing list. Some examples are Sorbet viola series, Touch of Red calendula series, Ruellia humilis ‘Blueshade,’ antique roses, Zinnia linearis, Heliconia psittacorum, ‘First Love’ and ‘Miss Kobe’ dianthus and Ligularia tussilaginea.

Q. How receptive are your commercial and residential clients to trying something different with designs and plant material?
A. I think the reason I have long-standing commercial clients is that over the years my landscape designs and unusual plant materials have a signature that makes people notice. For my commercial clients the designs have become positive public-relations tools for them.

My main commercial client is McDonald’s restaurants. McDonald’s restaurants are in very visible locations and landscaping is part of advertising each restaurant. The main office receives calls on a regular basis about plants at the restaurants that customers have never seen before and want for their yards. Customers comment on the unusual designs and plant materials at the restaurants and remember McDonald’s. As a side benefit for me, customers often ask who did the landscaping and hire my firm to develop planting plans with the unusual plant materials. And I find that once my clients see how successful these underused or new plants can be in our area, they are receptive to more experimenting.

Q. Do you think the fact that you are a landscape architect and landscape designer gives you more credibility when it comes to dealing with clients and growers?
A. Most definitely. Clients trust that I can handle the project from design to installation. As a landscape architect, growers know that I have an appreciation for the potential aesthetic use of the material. As a landscape contractor, growers also know that I can follow through in giving the plants proper care to help them flourish.

Q. Are growers doing a good job of marketing to landscapers?
A. There is too much passive interaction among landscape architects, landscape contractors and growers. The attitudes of ‘I’ll buy what is being grown’ and ‘I’ll grow what people are buying’ do nothing to generate new sales. Chiltern Seeds in England has a motto: ‘Grow something new from seed.’ Designers and growers should take that to heart.

Q. You said that you use your customers’ plantings to trial different material, plants that may not be commonly found in the average landscape planting. What are some of the plants you have tried?
A. When I studied planting design at Louisiana State University, a professor of mine, Max Conrad, told me, ‘Always try one or two new plants in every project.’ Well, I listened and I still always try something new on every project. Sometimes, it is only a different cultivar, sometimes a new genus.

I guess the successes are the easiest to remember. Some of my favorites are Chionanthus retusus (Chinese fringe tree), Magnolia virginiana ‘Australis,’ ‘Tardiva’ (tardiva hydrangea), antique roses (‘Maggie’ and ‘Natchitoches Noisette’), Ligularia tussilaginea (straight species without spots), Erigeron karvinskianus ‘Profusion’ (daisy fleabane), ‘Goldsturm’ rudbeckia (black-eyed susan), Ruellia humilis ‘Blue Shade’ (ruellia vine), Sorbet viola series, Heliconia psittacorum, dianthus cultivars ‘First Love,’ ‘Miss Kobe’ and ‘Kurokawa.’

Mostly, I would attribute the failures to planting in locations that were not appropriate. For example, I found that Cassia alata (candlestick plant) planted in rich garden soil will in six months grow more than 15 feet and flower very little. In poor soil, it will grow to 4-5 feet and flower profusely.

Aesculus parviflora (bottlebrush buckeye) will nearly die if planted in exposed windy locations. In shady, moist conditions it will thrive with fine blooms, growing more than 10 feet.

Q. Do you think that the image of landscapers has improved recently?
A. I believe the image of the landscape industry as a whole is improving. I think there is a growing public understanding of what the landscape industry can and should do. Clients seem to be a little more sophisticated in their awareness of plant materials. And they are beginning to sense the value of a landscape plan as an integral part of new construction. Licensing laws are important to safeguard the industry and should be maintained and strengthened.

Q. You landscape 30 McDonald’s restaurants. Do you try to give each one a distinctly different look or does your client want them to look similar?
A. I’ll preface my answer by saying that the Valluzzo family, who owns and operates 35 restaurants, is a unique commercial client. The Valluzzos are enthusiastic supporters of our community and go well beyond what the corporation asks of an owner-operator. The restaurants’ exteriors reflect that.

Why should beautiful plants be locked behind estate walls? The McDonald’s plantings are there for the average family to enjoy every day.

Given my own interest in experimenting, the Valluzzos have encouraged me to use the broadest range of plants that possibly will work in our region. I usually try to make each restaurant’s planting different by varying the design, scale of plantings and plant materials. But the restaurants do have a certain ‘signature’ that ties them together. The signature comes from the diversity of unusual plants, the masses of blooming annuals and perennials and the fact that each season there are always plants putting on a show.

Q. What type of plant material do you predominantly use in your commercial and residential plantings?
A. I try to include a wide variety of plants, from trees to bedding plants. The climate in south Louisiana allows for the use of many evergreen herbaceous perennials. I am also not afraid to use perennials or tropicals as annuals.

If a beautiful perennial does poorly in our summers, such as foxglove, I just make sure I plant it in early winter so it can put on its show through April and May. If a blooming tropical (heliconia is a good example) can’t make it below 40ºF, I treat it as a summer annual and get a lot of impact in our hottest, most humid months when most plants around here are all worn out. In early winter, I pull it out. In all cases, I select the majority of the plant materials for the projects. Of course, if clients have plants they like or dislike, I encourage them to let me know.

Q. What do you think are some of the biggest mistakes made by landscapers when they do a planting? Are these problems that growers could help the landscapers overcome? How?
A. The biggest mistake made by landscape architects and landscape contractors is in not understanding the plant materials they work with. Too often mature size and cultural needs of plants seem to be completely ignored. Landscape architects and contractors need to educate themselves and ask more questions of growers concerning plant suitability and availability.

Many growers are forced into the economics of keeping a wide range of customers satisfied. The problems could be greatly overcome if each group in the industry keeps the others in the profession advised of cultural requirements, care, current plant use trends and feedback about the success or failure of materials purchased. The result would be clients who are more satisfied with landscape plantings over the long term encouraging repeat and new business.

Q. The landscape business seems to be very cyclical. When the economy is good, homeowners and businesses seem to do more landscaping. Has this pattern changed much? Is there anything that growers and landscapers can do to change this pattern?
A. I think the pattern has remained roughly consistent. In good times, new commercial projects and new housing are the main markets for the landscape industry. But when new market growth slows, the industry has to concentrate its efforts on promoting the benefits of improving existing landscaping to maintain an investment in one’s property. The industry, through advertising and support of local garden shows, could also help generate enthusiasm for gardening by educating the general public about the landscape potential of exciting new plants. The public has to see local examples of success stories to get a sense that beautiful and unusual landscapes can be accomplished within their means.

© 1998 Branch-Smith Publishing