Green Works/Vermont Nursery and Landscape Association is pleased to announce the winners of their annual awards. Winners received these awards at the recent 2014 Green Works Winter Meeting & Trade Show held on 2/13/14 at the UVM Davis Center. The award winners are as follows:
Green Works/VNLA Horticultural Achievement Award
This award is given to individuals connected to the horticultural industry in Vermont, who are over 40 years of age and whose accomplishments have advanced our industry educationally, by plant development or growing, through literature, or through outstanding personal effort. This award is the most prestigious and distinguished that can be received from Green Works/Vermont Nursery and Landscape Association.
WINNER: Leo Roberts, Horsford Gardens & Nursery, Charlotte, VT
Nomination Information: Leo has worked at Horsford Gardens & Nursery since 1969 with three different owners to help keep Horsford’s successful and a unique business, and the longest operating nurwery in Vermont. Leo has done it all – from growing annuals in the greenhouse, potting plants, digging trees and shrubs, to landscaping and sales. Besides being a great plantsman, Leo has also been a tremendous teacher to the hundreds of employees and thousands of customers who have visited Horsford’s. It is still very common to hear someone ask “Does Leo still work here?” or “I have a question only Leo can answer”. Leo has served generations of gardeners in Vermont.
Environmental Awareness Award
This award is given in recognition of an individual that has implemented an environmentally sound practice that contributes to the protection of our environment.
WINNER: Sarah Salatino, Full Circle Gardens, Essex, VT
Nomination Information: Sarah earned her degree in Plant Biology at University of California, Santa Cruz. She did her thesis work on the vegetation and flora of ecologically sensitive alpine and river drainage regions around Big Sur, CA. While still out west, Sarah held teaching positions and did landscape/gardening work.
After moving east, she kept busy as a landscaper in the Berkshire region of Massachusetts, providing personal service to her clients until 1999 when she married and moved to Vermont. Sarah resumed her landscape business and started growing plants, when she couldn’t find available from commercial sources. Soon, more and more people started asking to buy her quality plants and in 2009, Full Circle Gardens was officially launched. In 4 short years the product offering has multiplied fivefold and she now grows over 700 perennial varieties in addition to annuals and herbs.
In the meantime, Sarah continues to give to the community with donations, talks and seminars for Master Gardeners, the Hort Farm, community organizations, and her customers. She was President of the Board at the Hort Farm for 3 years and has been invited to lecture at UVM for the Osher Lifelong Living Institute.
Sarah uses and promotes environmentally friendly practices (IPM, composting, recycling, etc.) at her business and her nursery has been designated a “Wildlife Sanctuary” by the National Wildlife Federation. As she says, ”Full Circle sits astride a divide for two important watersheds, so it’s a no-brainer to do the right things”.
She is a Vermont Certified Horticulturist and a warm and caring individual, ready and willing to help others.
NENA Young Nursery Professional of the Year Award
This is an annual award established by the New England Nursery Association. Its purpose is to reward, to honor and to encourage participation, achievement and growth by an individual who is involved in a related horticultural industry and has not reached the age of 40 years, who has shown involvement in his or her state and/or regional nurserymen’s association, has contributed to the growth and success of their company of employment and has portrayed an image to the public of what our products and services can do for them.
WINNER: Jason Koicuba, Cobble Creek Nursery, Bristol, VT
Jason is the container production manager at Cobble Creek Nursery and has worked there for over 10 years.. He studied in Pennsylvania, where he received a degree in landscape contracting. He completed a course in herbal studies with Rosemary Gladstar. Jason’s expert knowledge on plant material, his work ethic and integrity, and his participation in the advancement of the horticultural industry in Vermont has earned him this award.
Retailer of the Year Award
This award will be presented annually to a retail garden center or greenhouse operation that stands apart for their excellence in any or all of the following categories: customer service, quality of plant material, knowledge of staff, creativity and innovations in marketing and presentation of retail space, and overall customer experience and satisfaction. This is a new award this year for Green Works.
WINNER: Tobi & Sally von Trapp, von Trapp Greenhouse, Waitsfield, VT
VON TRAPP GREENHOUSE has supplied gardeners for the past 33 years. von Trapp Greenhouse nursery business was founded by Tobi and Sally von Trapp across the road from the family dairy farm on Waitsfield Common in 1980. Tobi had grown up on the farm and therefore brought an agricultural expertise to the new business, and Sally was a graduate of the Horticulture Program at Temple University in Philadelphia. From the beginning, the business had a challenge though. The site was beautifully situated for a retail nursery and garden center (as one can see from the website photos of the display gardens with western mountains as a backdrop.), but local agriculture zoning mandated that they could only sell what they grew upon the premises. They did not have the option of buying-in plants that were ready-for-market to buffer against possible greenhouse crop failures. They could not supplement their business income with the sale of fertilizers, amendments, tools or supplies and accessories of any kind. But rather than being hindered by this challenge, the circumstances actually focused Sally and Tobi"s energy on providing the local gardening community with the highest quality plant material grown from seeds, cuttings or divisions that they could offer.
These are incredibly hard working folks. They have sustained that reputation of quality plants and growing practices from the founding of their business to the present. Now they supply regionally and beyond rather than just locally. Von Trapp Greenhouse offers over 550 cultivars of annuals; 600 of perennials; 100 of herbs & vegetables.
Von Trapp Greenhouse is in fact 6 greenhouses - 14,000 square feet of growing space - not to mention a great network of cold frames that give them added growing efficiency in Vermont"s short growing season and flexibility with their diverse offerings of plant material. Additionally, Von Trapp Greenhouse has done its part to strengthen the economic health of the Mad River Valley. The business has consistently employed 4 full time and 3 part time employees seasonally. The fact that most all of these employees return each year speaks to the rewarding nature of that employment...an excellent reflection of the healthy culture of the business.Von Trapp Greenhouse has from the beginning been on the cutting edge of their industry. Not only do Sally and Tobi keep abreast of best growing practices, they are an excellent source of horticultural advice for homeowners and landscaping professionals in the area . Sally and Tobi have been long-time members of the VT Nursery and Landscape Association as well as The Hardy Plant Club and the Perennial Plant Association.
A UVM Student Merit Award of $350 was awarded to John Davis, Hopkinton, MA. This student was recommended by the Plant and Soil Science Committee at UVM.
John is a Senior in Sustainable Landscape Horticulture and anticipates graduating in Fall 2014. He comes from Hopkinton, MA. Although John initially entered UVM in liberal arts and then switched to business, he was not happy with what he was studying, until he took the class, Home and Garden Horticulture, where he enjoyed the mix of hands-on learning coupled with a solid understanding of the science behind it. John has never looked back after switching into Plant and Soil Science.
In addition to his coursework, John has been a teaching assistant for two courses at UVM: Woody Landscape Plants and Commercial Plant Propagation. Outside of UVM, John has been working for Evergreen Gardens in Waterbury for the past two summer seasons. He has learned a great deal about landscape design and installation from Mike & Carol. He plans to continue working with them this coming season and hopes that he will be able to gain a full-time position in the future after graduating.
A Vermont Technical College Student Merit Award of $350 was awarded to Kim Cayer, Bethel, VT. This student was recommended by the Landscape Design & Sustainable Horticulture Department at VTC.
Kim is a sophomore in the Landscape Design and Sustainable Horticulture program and she is planning to continue in the program to earn the new Bachelor's degree. She is an excellent and dedicated student, maintaining a high GPA and showing passion and talent for design. Kim is from Bethel, VT, and completed an internship with S and D Landscapes in Essex, VT last summer.
Green Works/Vermont Nursery and Landscape Association, celebrating its 50th year, is a non-profit, statewide organization representing Vermont’s garden centers, greenhouses, landscapers, landscape designers and architects, nurseries, arborists, plant maintenance experts, turf care and irrigation specialists, horticultural educators and researchers, and other plant professionals.
