A couple of months ago I had a nice lunch visit with Alan Anderson to catch up on all the latest news from him. Alan is always a great source of what’s going on, who has done what, and where so-and-so has gone — all the dirt!

I think I’ve known Alan since my early days of what was then called the Maine Nurserymen’s Association, now MELNA, in the late ’70s or early ’80s. I believe Alan worked for Tuckahoe Turf at that time. This was long before I lived in New Hampshire, the formation of NHLA, and our active days in NHLA. We were both on the NHLA Board as time went on — hard to believe we’ve kept in touch for probably 45 years!

Alan told me, and shortly thereafter I read in the Newsletter, that the Ruth E. and Leon E. Pearson Memorial Scholarship has come to an end. This fund was a very generous gift from the Pearsons, and I’m sure they would be heartbroken to hear the scholarship was terminated. I recall applying for any grant or scholarship I qualified for while in college at Stockbridge and lived in some pretty rough places to survive! Thanks to Alan, Chuck Simpson, and all of you others who have put many hours in over the years to work on keeping these funds available to students as long as you did.

I see quite a few notes from various Maine groups about the concern of Emerald Ash Borer. (EAB ). Fourteen of Maine’s sixteen counties have been found to have EAB, and last I heard all but Coos county in New Hampshire had infected areas. It has spread into Maine from both New Hampshire and Canada. We all have to do our part to inform the proper authorities of signs of EAB when we see it. It is not just the ash trees that are at stake from an ornamental standpoint, but also the spread into forest areas will be very damaging for wood (that could become extinct) that’s used for everything from baseball bats to very high-end native American baskets. Please do your part to keep up on reporting the spread, and maybe we can all reduce EAB a little.

In the Spring of 2024, the City of Portland started to identify dead trees from EAB on “the peninsula.” The peninsula is the area closest to the waterfront that includes many of the tourist attractions such as ferry terminals, spendy hotels, several James Beard eateries, corporate businesses, and the like. With the peninsula being the highest priority area, at least 450 diseased ash trees will be removed in the next 2-3 years by the City. This does not include any privately funded tree take downs.

The peninsula is the most urbanized area of the city. The City is trying to tag the trees with an information tag/small sign about a year before removal to forewarn the public of tree removal as well as enlighten folks that EAB is here to stay. All 450 of these locations will all be replanted, hopefully about one year after ash tree removal.

Many citizens, I’m sure, don’t realize that EAB will be the largest issue we have had affecting trees since Dutch Elm Disease or Chestnut Blight. As I mentioned, the first area to be targeted with a re-planting is the peninsula, which is only from I-295 to the waterfront. Area wise, this is a very small section of the city and not a major residential area.

At one time I subscribed to three or four trade magazines. The primary magazine I read was American Nurseryman which came twice a month and was one that required a paid subscription, but it was the most significant publication of the Green Industry. Like many other publications, I believe they maybe went on line first, and I think they are now out of business.

A couple of free-bees were hard copies (I always preferred a hard copy!), which I still receive. One is Digger, published by the Oregon Association of Nurseries (OAN). I started getting Digger when I belonged to OAN; now they still send it at no charge. Landscape Architecture and Lawn and Landscape are a couple more free-bees. Both of those sometimes contain too much southern or warmer climate info than I care about, but picking and choosing I can find a few good reads. Lawn and Landscape usually doesn’t write that much about landscaping or nursery growing, more about lawn care and maintenance and also quite a few ads, to offset the “no charge,” I assume. I do usually try to kind of thumb through it however. Lately the NHLA Newsletter has mentioned a couple of workshops or publications by Jim Huston. Huston has written an article in Lawn and Landscape for years, which I occasionally read. My interest has always been more toward the nursery and plant areas, but if you are interested in the lawn business, Huston does write some very helpful articles on pricing and estimating.

I don’t think too many people can complain about this year being too wet! For me, if anything, it’s been a bit dry, but early August seems to help green things up a little. I hope you all have had a busy and prosperous year, and make sure to keep up on watering newly planted landscaping jobs.

— by Phil Caldwell is a past president of NHLA (1989) and now lives and works in Maine.