LICH administers the national PLANET certification (CLT) program in Hawaii. LICH offers four CLT-E certifications are offered: Turf Maintenance, Ornamental Maintenance, Softscape Installation, & Irrigation. Visit the LICH website at www.landscapehawaii.org for a complete listing of CLT landscape professionals in Hawaii. BENEFITS OF CERTIFICATION Certified employees are required for all State DOT roadside landscape maintenance contracts A sense of personal achievement Increased professional credibility, respect & recognition in the industry Increased marketing advantages for your firm by having certified individuals on staff HOW TO EARN THE CERTIFICATION Candidates are allowed to start one certification exam per year. The exam consists of both written tests and hands on field problems. All parts of exam must be successfully completed to become certified in each category. CLT exams are offered once a year on Oahu, Kauai and in Kona. Visit www.landscapehawaii.org for exam dates and registration forms. HOW TO KEEP THE CERTIFICATION Continual professional development activities are essential if certified individuals are to understand and accommodate changes in the green industry. Therefore, to... ...
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New LICT Communication Program
New LICT Communication Program By Chris Dacus Are you LICT or CLT certified and running out of time to complete your 24 CEUs to maintain your certification? Did your your certification lapse? Well don’t worry if you said yes to these questions, there’s a quick path to get your certification current – LICH’s new LICT communication program. Since 1999, LICH has administered in Hawai’i, the PLANET Landscape Industry Certified Technician (LICT) test formerly known as CLT. Over three hundred people have passed the exam with many passing multiple certifications. It’s hard to get certified and important to keep it current. If your certification has lapsed, PLANET at the moment has an amnesty program. Lapsed certifications can be recertified without retaking the exam as long as the LICT professional has earned 24 CEUs in the past 24 month period. For more information on the amnesty program, contact Zane Castle or Sharon Casmay at (800) 395-2522. To better serve our certification community, LICH is launching a LICT communication... ...
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Propagation of Ohia, Metrosideros Polymorpha Using Vegetative Cuttings
At the University of Hawaii in Manoa, we operate a fungal disease laboratory and confirm the pathogenicity of new fungi on local plants. Healthy disease free plants are needed for these tests and plants are propagated by employing clean seeds or cuttings. These healthy plants are required to test the infectivity of new fungi, to document early symptoms and to record disease progress. For ohia or Metrosideros polymorpha, we commonly use seeds for propagation. However, it takes many years to produce a plant ready for pathogenicity testing, as well as for retail or for out planting for commercial operations. Alternatively, by using vegetative cuttings, propagation is faster and clones can be made from valuable plants. The following describes basic procedures used to propagate ohia from cuttings. Gathering cuttings: When going into the field to obtain cuttings of ohia plants, it is important to keep the cuttings hydrated and vigorous. Thus bring a bucket of water to place the cut ends of the cuttings in it. If specific trees are selected,... ...
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Mowing Tips
Proper mowing height is important in maintaining the health and overall appearance of turf grasses. Each kind of turf grass has its own recommended range of upper and lower mowing height. Mowing near the lower end of the range in some species can be beneficial by causing an increase in the growth of the stolons and rhizomes, resulting in increased turf density. However, mowing too low will reduce the amount of leaf area which will decrease photosynthesis. This will decrease the root mass resulting in a reduced tolerance to foot traffic and to heat and water stress, resulting in a brown lawn. Mowing near the lower end of the recommended range is tolerated better during the summer months in Hawaii when our warm season grasses are at their highest growth rate. Home lawns should not be cut lower than ½ inch, very low mowing at ¼ inch or below should be restricted to golf greens and tee boxes, where turf species adapted to low mowing and special professional care and... ...
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Doing Our Part To Plant Pono
It used to be that the Hawaiian ecosystems with the highest diversity of plant species were moist and wet forests. Today, the highest plant diversity can be found in our yards and botanical gardens, and the number of plant species introduced to Hawaii grows each year. Although the vast majority of Earth’s 250,000+ plant species would not be invasive if imported and grown in our islands, a small percentage would be superweeds that alter the ecosystem or natural resources. Plants are not checked for their potential to become invasive when they are imported, and our noxious seed and weed rules regulate less than 100 species of plants, most of which are already present in Hawai‘i. Now, there is a new website that can help everyone make informed plant choices. Plant Pono (www.plantpono.org) provides planting information on non-invasive ornamental plants (pono plants), to help you select the right plant for your yard. These pono plants were selected by noted horticulturist Heidi Bornhorst, and were screened by the Hawaii-Pacific Weed Risk Assessment... ...
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Exceptional Trees
Recently, 22 stately trees at Waimea Valley were approved by the Arborist Advisory Committee to be listed as Exceptional Trees. This program was founded by the State of Hawaii in 1975 to mandate each county to establish a County Arborist Advisory Committee which enacts regulations to protect trees of exceptional stature. Exceptional trees must meet one or more of the following criteria: historic or cultural value, age, rarity, location, size, esthetic quality and endemic status. At Waimea Valley, the new Exceptional Trees include two Monkey Pod (Albizia saman); two Ohe-makai (Reynoldsia sandwicensis); and 18 Wiliwili (Erythrina sandwicensis) trees. These century-old monkey pod trees with 9 feet diameter trunks awe our guests at the visitor center. These endemic ohe-makai and wiliwili trees were used culturally by the Hawaiians. Ohe-makai was used to play a game called kukulu`ae`o (stilts). The soft light wood of the wiliwili is still used for outriggers and occasionally surfboards and was used as fishnet floats. These exceptional trees existed in the Valley before the Waimea Arboretum and... ...
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Study materials donated to libraries
Thanks to a Kaulunani grant, Aloha Arborist Association (AAA), Western Chapter International Society of Arboriculture (WCISA), and Carol Kwan Consulting, the Hawaii State Public Library System (HSPLS) now has the latest Certified Arborist and Certified Tree Worker study materials statewide. Over $1,800 worth of materials, including study guides, ANSI standards, Best Management Practices, and DVDs, were donated. See sidebar for a complete list of materials. The materials were distributed to Hawaii State Library, Kapolei Public Library, Lihue Public Library, Kahului Public Library, Hilo Public Library, and Kailua-Kona Public Library, but they can be requested and picked up from any of the 50 HSPLS libraries statewide. Visit librarieshawaii.org and search on keyword “arboriculture” for a complete listing of available materials. This publications donation was funded in part by Kaulunani, an Urban & Community Forestry Program of the DLNR Division of Forestry and Wildlife and the USDA Forest Service. Carol Kwan is the President of Carol Kwan Consulting, a Certified Arborist, and the Secretary of Aloha Arborist Association The following publications are... ...
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AAA presents Pruning Young Trees and Shrubs workshop
Aloha Arborist Association (AAA) presented a Pruning Young Trees and Shrubs workshop for the Friends of Honolulu Botanical Gardens on Saturday, November 17, 2012, at Ho‘omaluhia Botanical Garden. Certified Arborists Dudley Hulbert and Carol Kwan spoke on behalf of AAA and did demonstrations of proper pruning techniques. Carol Kwan is the President of Carol Kwan Consulting, a Certified Arborist, and the Secretary of Aloha Arborist Association. [You can leave the bio off for this article if you need space] ...
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