BEING A NURSERYMAN is much like a two-edged sword. One side of the
blade has all the training and learning to become state certified. There is always something new. New concepts and plant varieties are always on the menu. Continual education is required to remain a Michigan Certified Nurseryman.
We learn landscaping skills as well how to identify plants by looking at
crowns, rhizomes and bulbs. There are proper pruning techniques, when, where,
and what to prune. We are expected to understand decease
and fungus and hopefully how to heal or control them much like a doctor.
Understanding chemicals and when and where to use them. Yes, we are
plant doctors.
Customers ask many questions and we are expected to know what they
want and where they want it. We are expected to know the type of soil in their
yard and how much sun or shade it has. It is a good feeling when you know you've
helped a customer get that special plant or design their yard. Not everyone
who calls themselves a nurseryman is really a "Nurseryman."
The other side of the blade. Nurserymen are trained the prim and proper
procedures of landscaping. Your typical nurseryman know very little about
landscaping or gardening for wildlife. Keep the bushes pruned nice and tight
to look pretty. Do you have insects? No problem, put this on it and that will
take care of the problem.
There is little concern or worries what that pesticide is doing to the rest of
the wildlife that may inhabit the yard. Bees and butterflies are killed off. So
are the ladybugs and spiders. What about the birds that also eat the insects?
Little children and pets that play in the same areas.
Herbicides, no worries. Spray this or dust that and your weeds will wither
away just like the insects that are killed off. Nothing is mentioned about
these chemicals finding their way to our waters and food sources. Little
is mentioned about possible dangers.
As a newly "Certified Wildlife Habitat Naturalist" and a "Michigan Certified
Nurseryman", I can make a difference by offering and suggesting alternative
and more natural ways of landscaping and keeping the unwanted under control.
Yes, being a nurseryman is much like a two-edged sword. However, now my
sword serves good on both sides of the blade. Yes, I garden for wildlife and love
it.
Ronald Patterson
WindStar Certified Wildlife Habitat Naturalist
Michigan Certified Nurseryman
Kentwood, MI
"THANK YOU for coming up with the National Master Naturalist course. I like that fact that you have the workbook. It helps me plan what I should do next on my own property. I really enjoyed the DVDs. I used the Insect DVD in my Master Gardener entomology class last fall. (I was asked to teach it last year and the DVD fit right in. I also present a segment on backyard habitats that the coordinator has added to the course.) Thanks again for having this course available--it's a great resource and I recommend it whenever I can.
