Damon E. Abdi and Jeb S. Fields

A primary goal of the LSU AgCenter Hammond Research Station team is to expand educational offerings to green industry professionals throughout Louisiana with an emphasis on ensuring that all regions of the state are represented. The green industry comprises businesses and individuals who support ornamental horticulture and growing and maintaining the plants, landscapes and environments that beautify our state. Expanding educational offerings for these businesses in all regions of Louisiana has manifested in the development of the “Landscape Professional Education Series,” a unique, daylong event centered around addressing the issues that are most relevant to the respective host regions. With the support of the Louisiana Nursery and Landscape Association, this event has been held in several different areas, including Lafayette and Ruston in 2022 and Lake Charles and New Orleans in 2023. Each event engages with the audience by providing a panel of speakers throughout the day, discussing their respective topics of expertise and focusing on how it can be applied to the local stakeholders.

Speakers hail from academic institutions throughout Louisiana as well as state and federal employees who offer their insights to the audience. Presenters from the LSU AgCenter faculty and extension personnel included the Hammond horticultural team of Damon Abdi and Jeb Fields, along with Aaron Ashbrook, an assistant professor of urban and peri-urban entomology. Visiting faculty served as presenters as well with Paul Jackson, from Louisiana Tech University, who discussed landscapes for north Louisiana, and Anna Paltseva, from University of Louisiana Lafayette, who discussed managing urban soils. Presentations in New Orleans included installing landscapes in close quarters and finding innovative methods to reduce landscape maintenance costs. Feedback is solicited from attendees, with comments reflecting an overwhelmingly positive response to this educational effort and assisting in guiding the future direction of the program.

By developing these workshops specifically for green industry professionals and delivering them directly to those stakeholders on their home turf, hundreds of professionals in the landscape, nursery and allied trades have been served. Reciprocally, the organizers and the rotating roster of presenters have the privilege of getting primary insights from the professionals in the field, furthering their understanding of what challenges they face, and, in response, using that information to refine their research and extension programming.

These educational events are not solely to support continued learning but are also designed to foster camaraderie among contractors. Intermittent informal discussions and post-event social gatherings contribute to the development of an ongoing dialogue for industry professionals to discuss challenges and opportunities within their region. This networking provides the chance to exchange ideas, contacts and even contracts for jobs that they can work on together.

As the educational series expands to new locations throughout Louisiana, the focus remains the same: Deliver timely, actionable information to support Louisiana’s green industry and make sure that every region is represented. We look forward to continuing to provide this service to our stakeholders as we all come together to create a greener, more sustainable Louisiana.

Damon E. Abdi is an assistant professor of landscape horticulture, and Jeb S. Fields is an assistant professor and ornamental horticulture specialist, both at the LSU AgCenter Hammond Research Station. They are the organizers of the “Landscape Professional Education Series.”

This article appears in the winter 2024 edition of Louisiana Agriculture magazine.

Dan Gill, retired horticulturist from the LSU AgCenter, shares information with green industry professionals at an educational event held in Lafreniere Park in Metairie, Louisiana, on Sept. 12, 2023. Photo by Damon Abdi