Landscape Color and Professional Field Day

Presented by NC State's Department of Horticultural Science and the JC Raulston Arboretum

• Thursday, July 10, 2025 – 8:45 am–4:00 pm

Join us for the 2025 Landscape Color and Professional Field Day for a day filled with helpful information for green industry professionals. The subject matter is across the board, giving professionals a wide variety of interesting topics they'll find useful in their daily tasks.

Registration

8:00 am — Registration opens at the Bobby G. Wilder Visitor Center

Welcome and Introductions

8:45 am — CALS Administration, NC Cooperative Extension and JC Raulston Arboretum

Color Field Trials Tour and Landscape Professional Sessions

9:00 am–12:00 pm – Concurrent Sessions (Color Field Trials and Horticultural Field Lab)

Each session runs about 50 minutes and will be repeated three times throughout the three-hour period.

1. Group One at Station One at 9:00 am–9:50 am, then proceeds to Station Two from 10:00 am–10:50 am, then ends at Station Three from 11:00 am–11:50 am
2. Group Two at Station Two from 9:00 am–9:50 am, then proceeds to Station Three from 10:00 am–10:50 am, then ends at Station One from 11:00 am–11:50 am
3. Group Three at Station Three from 9:00 am–9:50 am, then proceeds to Station One from 10:00 am–10:50 am, then ends at Station Two from 11:00 am–11:50 am

Topics and Speakers

"It's All about Color"
Bernadette Clark & Tim Alderton, JC Raulston Arboretum

Tour the Color Trials, see the new plant introductions, and vote for your favorites.

"Chainsaw Safety Features and Safe Operation"
Travis Black & Nathan Trull, Bartlett Tree Experts

These professionals will share with you the technology that protects you while using a chainsaw. They will also provide some great tips on the most efficient way of handling the machine.

"Beating Weeds in the Landscape without Glyphosate"
Patrick Anderson, Director of Research & Arborologists, Rainbow Ecoscience

Managing weeds in the landscape has always been a challenge and is becoming more difficult in instances where glyphosate cannot be used. This hands-on demonstration will showcase practical techniques for applying non-selective herbicides, including those with pre-emergent properties. This session will cover best practices for targeting unwanted vegetation in various landscape scenarios — such as hardscapes, fence lines, and ornamental beds — while minimizing off-target damage. Attendees will learn about timing, application methods, safety considerations, and how to integrate these tools into an overall weed management strategy.

Lunch

12:00 pm–1:00 pm

Box lunches and drinks served at the Bobby G. Wilder Visitor Center patio area.

Landscape Professional Sessions

1:00 pm–4:00 pm – Afternoon Indoor Sessions (Ruby C. McSwain Education Center)

"Praemonitus praemunitus"
Dr. Matt Borden, DPM, Research Scientist-Plant Pathologist with Bartlett Tree Experts

The beech trees are dying from worms? A colorful fungus is blowing up in the mountains? Even hornbeam now have issues? In this session we will cover several emerging woody plant diseases that you should be aware of and able to recognize by their signs and symptoms. Further, we will discuss what is known of early management approaches and their rationale. It is not all doom and gloom of course, and to be forewarned is to be forearmed.

"Liquid Labor"
Patrick Anderson, Director of Research & Arborologists, Rainbow Ecoscience.

Do you struggle with having enough labor to keep up with landscape maintenance demands from your customers? During this discussion we’ll discuss the latest technologies that can help you keep up with maintenance spikes, increase your profitability, and improve your customer satisfaction. We’ll discuss the science of how these tools work, how to implement them into your current maintenance schedules, and how to get started. We will discuss:

• How shrub growth regulators can reduce trim cycles by up to 70%.
• Incorporating novel pre & post-emergent weed control with fast knockdown and long-lasting pre-emergent control to help with labor and client satisfaction.
• Using tree growth regulators to reduce pruning cycles, improve tree health, and lessen impacts to infrastructure.

“Building a Better Business Plan with a Marketing Mentality”
Jodi Driedger, Director of Undergraduate Programs, NC State Dept. of Horticultural Science

You got the art and science of landscape horticulture down pat. However, we all know it takes more than that knowledge to keep your company afloat. Every successful business has someone at the helm that knows a little about running a business. Jodi will discuss the key elements necessary for you to run your business to be profitable and long-lived.

Final Wrap-up

4:00 pm

Continuing Education Credits

This course was approved by the NCDA for three (3) pesticide credits, and the NC Landscape Contractors' Licensing Board for four (4) practice CEU credits and two (2) business CEU credits.

Cost

Registration through Sunday, June 29, 2025: $50.00.

Late Registration and Day of Registration (Monday, June 30 through Thursday, July 10, 2025): $60.00.

Registration includes attendance at all of the sessions and a boxed lunch with drink.

Registration

Advance registration is requested. Register online using our registration e-store. Registration is limited and is considered complete when payment is received.

Note to NC State University & NC State Extension employees: P-cards cannot be used to cover the registration fee for this event. To set up an Interdepartmental Sales Transaction, please email jcraprograms@ncsu.edu with your department name, your bookkeeper’s contact information (name, email, and phone), the fund number, and the amount to be charged.

Cancellation

Program cancellations can be made up to two weeks before the program's start date. A 15% cancellation fee applies.

Location

JC Raulston Arboretum at NC State University, 4415 Beryl Road, Raleigh, NC 27606.

Directions

Need directions? Click here.

Parking

Free parking is available at the JC Raulston Arboretum and along Beryl Road.

Questions

Contact Barb Fair at barbara_fair@ncsu.edu for more information about this field day. For help with registration, contact the JCRA Education Team at jcraprograms@ncsu.edu.