Learn from the arboriculture expert: Ernest H Rezents. Interview by Hannah Lutgen, CTAHR extension agent Maui I recently had the pleasure to interview Ernest Rezents, a renowned arborist in Maui County and author of Maui County Planting Plan. Let’s meet Ernest and learn about arboriculture in Hawaii. This interview was lightly edited for content. Hello, thanks for meeting with me. Please tell us a little bit about yourself. I was born and reared in Maui. I attended St. Anthony’s school for 12 years and  The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UH Mānoa)  for 5 years where I studied education.  I taught math and science at Honoka‘a and Waipahu High School. I went back to the UH Mānoa  and took physics and biology. Then I taught technical physics, trade science and electricity to train people to become journeyman electricians at Maui Technology School. Then I studied botany UH Mānoa. I returned to Maui and taught botany, physics, trade science  part time, and electricity at night for the apprenticeship program at the... ...

“Chuck with the truck” is a term for a unqualified company pretending to be a professional contractor by having the appearance of being a professional with equipment and vehicles but not the knowledge, training and skills. For the landscape contractor, there is a license administered by the State of Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, but a majority of landscape companies are not licensed. For landscape professional there is no college “Bachelors of Landscape Construction.” Being certified is the best way to differentiate yourself from “Chuck with a truck.” Certification is proof you know what you are doing or at the very least you have minimum competency to perform the task. It provides a foundation and demonstrates your commitment to being a landscape professional. Being certified gives you job mobility and is transferable anywhere in the United States. Certification gives you instant credibility. It gives you a competitive edge for employment and it is the #1 qualification. It greatly increases your chance of promotion and advancement in the industry.... ...

NALP Landscape Industry Guidance for Business Operations During COVID-19 The landscape industry, including lawn care, landscape maintenance, design/build, tree care, and irrigation and water management, takes employee and client safety and health very seriously, employing regular safety training and enforcing strong safety standards on the job, following Federal guidelines. Landscape Industry firms use regularly scheduled employee training and adherence to Federal, state, and local safety and health standards to mitigate hazardous exposures at landscape work sites. Landscape professionals maintain and protect the living environments around hospitals, government facilities, housing areas, parks, schools, and more, protecting public safety by: performing regular maintenance to mow, prune, control weeds, and inspect for safety and security issues; performing essential treatments to reduce the spread of dangerous and deadly diseases transmitted by pests like mosquitoes, ticks, and fleas; removing fallen trees and mitigating overhead hazards from wind effects; providing maintenance and plant removal to assist in fire abatement; managing invasive species; and keeping public and private pathways free from obstruction and potential The nature of... ...

LICT Test 2020               As you might know by now, the LICT Test this year will be a Computer only test that will continue to include the Written Tests as they have been given. Also included will be elements of the Field / Hands-on Test as previously been given but in a new form involving videos, photos, and multiple-choice questions. The PLANET Training Manuals that have been used as study material in our classes state wide will be the study guide for the 2020 LICT Test. Ornamental Maintenance, Turf Maintenance, Irrigation, and Softscape Installation will be the modules offered as in the past. The LICT test is available right now at the NALP web site; https://www.landscapeprofessionals.org/LP/LP/Certification/Enrollment/Certification_Enrollment.aspx BUT you may want to study and take classes before registering for the Test! Also, LICH will be adding the computer only test to our Employment Training Fund Matrix. That means the Workforce Development Division will be able to pay half of the $545.00 Test Fee and half the $140.00 Retake Fee. This process... ...

  The Kona Landscape Industry Certification Technician Test was held on June 13th (written) and June 15th (hands-on). This year marks the very last hands-on test to be given on the Big Island.  Seven landscapers achieved their certification in Kona. Michael J. DiMarco, LICT         Hawaii Lawn & Landscape                  Ornamental Maintenance Cary Freeman, LICT                    Hi Landscaping                                          Ornamental Maintenance Tamara Hynd, LICT                    Tamara’s Fine Gardening                      Ornamental Maintenance Josiah Olival, LICT                      Hawaii Lawn & Landscape                     Softscape Installation David Stubbs, LICT                     Stevenson and Associates                       Softscape Installation Dustin Taka, LICT                        Lono’s Landscaping LLC                         Ornamental Maintenance Joel Woodcock, LICT                 Aikane Nursery                                           Softscape Installation   The Landscape Certification Committee of LICH (Landscape Industry Council of Hawaii), who administered the certification test for NALP (National Association of Landscape Professionals), understands how hard all candidates of the... ...

If you are Landscape Industry Certified you may have had trouble keeping track of your CEUs. Have you ever wished that you could go on a web site and see how many CEUs you have accumulated in the two-year period before you recertify? Your wish has come true. This year LICH will be submitting vendor workshops, landscape classes, conferences and any other event to NALP (National Association of Landscape Professionals) to be approved for Landscape Industry Certified recertification at one CEU per hour of instruction attended. (For more information on the National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP) recertification, please visit the Recertification Center at landscapeprofessionals.org.). If you attend a workshop that is NALP Approved, you can sign the NALP Approved form available with your name; and the form will be sent to NALP, and your CEUs will be added to your account. Don’t have an account with NALP? Call Margo at 703 456-4209 to receive a Username and Password. If you attended an event that did not register to be... ...

The NALP (National Association of Landscape Professionals) Landscape Industry Certified Technician (LICT) will be alive and well for the whole upcoming year. In January 2020, as many of you know, the LICT test will still be given and administered by LICH, but the there will not be a hands-on component to the test starting in 2020. The test skills needed to pass the hands-on questions will still exist, but only as a computer-driven test! The written tests we are used to taking will be a part of that same computer-based test. As the LICT State Administrator, my strong recommendation is that if you have retakes standing in the way of getting certified, take your retakes now and get certified while the test is familiar to you. If you have any misgivings about taking the test on a computer, now is the time to get certified! The LICT designation will continue to exist and be promoted by our industry and LICH will still prepare landscapers to prepare for the test in... ...