There is still time to apply for a nursery scholarship for the 2018 Global Masterclass in Horticultural Business, with applications closing on Monday, 20 November 2017.

Described as a mini-MBA, the Masterclass runs for 10 months and provides a comprehensive, affordable and accessible program for those looking to take their horticulture career to the next level.

The nursery industry has once again allocated $30,000 worth of scholarship funding towards the Masterclass in 2018. Nursery employers and employees that have a passion for building their skills and the industry’s capacity are strongly encouraged to apply! More

Australians who have perfected their work-life balance are invited to consider addressing another aspect of their lives – their plant-life balance.

A new campaign by the nursery industry is encouraging people to increase the number of plants they have in their homes, workplaces and communities, through selecting species with benefits such as a ‘plant health rating’.

Plant Life Balance includes a free app for plant styling, with seven ‘looks’ to suit a range of design tastes and budgets, as well as to improve air quality and wellbeing.

The campaign has received significant media coverage across international, national and regional media, with the app now reaching more than 184,000 downloads since launching October 30. More

Image courtesy of NGIT

How easily can you differentiate between virus and mite symptoms? There’s help out there, but does your integrated pest management (IPM) plan make use of the resources available to industry?

The call is out for nursery growers in Western Australia, Northern Rivers New South Wales and South-East Queensland to make the most of upcoming on-farm biosecurity workshops, so as to sharpen up on important pest and disease management skills.

Two workshops, to be held in early November, will provide a practical ‘hands-on’ approach to equip production nurseries with the knowledge and resources to confidently diagnose unknown plant health problems. More

Month: October

Pest: Glassy winged sharpshooter – Homalodisca vitripennis

Importance: Major importance as a vector of Pierce’s disease (caused by the bacterium Xylella fastidiosa). This pest is exotic and not known to occur in Australia.

Symptoms: The most characteristic symptom is leaf scorch. Stems often mature irregularly, with patches of brown and green tissue. Flower clusters on infected plants may set berries, but these usually dry up. Symptoms are usually more pronounced when plants are stressed by high temperatures or drought conditions. More

How do you quantify all the benefits of green space when planning a development site, to offset against the cost of buying and maintaining the plants?

A new project co-funded by a developer, CSIRO, Hort Innovation and funds from the nursery levy, aims to find out what information on existing green space and processes for urban development and renewal is available and where gaps may exist. More broadly, it is being funded under the Hort Frontiers Green Cities Fund.

Ultimately, the goal is to understand the flow of information between those proposing a development and those making the decisions, and what information they need to account for the benefits as well as the costs.

This is particularly important where developers are creating a masterplan that includes parks that could be handed over to the local council once completed, becoming an additional responsibility to maintain. More