Moving into the Future with Consumer Horticulture

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Strategic Plan

Mission:

Growing a healthy world through plants, gardens, and landscapes.

Vision:

Use stakeholder partnerships to increase the percentage of U.S. households participating in Consumer Horticulture to 90 % by 2025.

NICH Releases The Power of Plants: Enriching Lives, Creating Jobs, Building Wealth, Saving Money

*Authors, References, Credits, and More Information

The benefits of consumer horticulture are spotlighted in “#PlantsDoThat, Horticulture: The Art, Science, & Business of Plants,” from the National Initiative for Consumer Horticulture (NICH).

As the #PlantsDoThat infographic shows, plants benefit society in many ways:

Plants in the workplace reduce employee sick time by 14%
Well-landscaped homes are more valuable; since homes represent 25% of personal wealth, outdoor plants pack a powerful personal finance punch
American’s are growing more of their own food—25% of all Americans grow berries, veggies or fruit trees
Shaded roadways save 60% of repaving costs
America’s public gardens generate $2.3 billion in tourism spending

The #PlantsDoThat infographic was developed by the NICH Economic Committee using data gathered by Dr. Charlie Hall, the Ellison Endowed Chair in International Floriculture at Texas A&M University. It’s the first of a number of infographics to showcase the growing evidence base of the power of plants to improve life.

The infographic series is available to companies, institutions and individuals for use in outreach to horticulture industry and non-industry members to grow a healthy world through plants, gardens, and landscapes.

Press Release: NICH Releases The Power of Plants: Enriching Lives, Creating Jobs, Building Wealth, Saving Money

Our Goals

Cultivating Healthy, Connected and Engaged Communities

Objectives

Educate the public on nutritional, physical, psychological and social benefits associated with Consumer Horticulture.
Provide policy makers with current scientific information that supports the social, health, economic and ecological impacts of Consumer Horticulture.
Strengthen the adoption of Consumer Horticulture as an effective tool for improving human health and well-being.
Motivate a diverse U.S. population to adopt Consumer Horticulture as a means to address culturally relevant needs and increase community participation.

Recognize Consumer Horticulture as a Driver of the Agricultural Economy

Objectives

Document, comprehensively measure, and disseminate the economic impact and benefits of consumer horticulture.
Create a united and recognized voice by building partnerships among all sectors that contribute to Consumer Horticulture.
Train our existing and future workforce to be more professional, knowledgeable, skilled, and safe.
Help retail operations and consumer service providers succeed and increase their profitability through the development of better economic management tools and technologies.
Stimulate entrepreneurial opportunities in Consumer Horticulture.

Consumer Horticulture Restores, Protects, and Conserves Natural Resources through Research and Education

Objectives

Communicate the environmental benefits of Consumer Horticulture.
Develop and promote sustainable practices specific to Consumer Horticulture.
Educate practitioners on appropriate use of production and management inputs.
Identify and implement the positive environmental impacts of Consumer Horticulture on water quantity and quality resources.
Identify and develop plants, products, and technology appropriate to the diversity of landscape and gardening practices to enhance ecosystem services.
Forge a collective strategy with sectors of Consumer Horticulture to proactively address important issues such as the importation, introduction, and spread of invasive species.

Definition and

Core Values

Definition:

Consumer Horticulture is the cultivation, use, and enjoyment of plants, gardens, landscapes and related horticultural items to the benefit of individuals, communities, and the environment. These activities rely on the understanding and application of the art and science of horticulture.

Gardens encompass the growing of all plants; whether one or many, indoors or outdoors and includes ornamentals, edibles, natives, or crops.

Landscapes encompass the integration of the essential features of larger gardens with horticultural items to create artistic environments that are shared across the community.

Horticultural-related items encompass the tools and technologies that benefit gardeners or promote a greater pleasure of gardening itself. These include garden sculpture, structures such as sheds, patios, hardscapes, masonry, and water features such as ponds and fountains.

The establishment and care of gardens and landscapes often requires services of arborists, turf grass care providers, landscape and nursery industry professionals, and others. This creates the need for a consumer knowledgeable about the cost and skills required to provide these services.

Core Values

Diversity and Inclusion – all welcomed and valued/individuals can make a difference
Service – for the common good
Research, Education and Extension/Engagement – for positive change
Environmental, Social and Economic Focus – address all aspects of sustainability
Innovation and Creativity – for real world challenges
Accountability – demonstrate the ownership necessary to achieve desired results
Relevant – in responding to the needs of, and communicating with, our clientele

Leadership and

Organization

Goal Committees and Councils populated by volunteers
Chairs, Co-Chairs and Scribes selected from within group
Once formed, Executive Committee drafts bylaws and SOPs for ratification by NICH membership at large

Leadership

Executive Committee

Chair: Casey Sclar, Ph.D., Executive Director, American Public Gardens Association
Co-Chairs: Dr. Ellen Bauske, University of Georgia Center for Urban Agriculture; and Tom Underwood, Executive Director, American Horticultural Society
Secretary/Treasurer: Dr. Gail Langellotto, Associate Professor, Oregon State University Urban and
Community Horticulture Extension, Statewide Master Gardener Coordinator
USDA Liaison: Tom Bewick, National Program Leader, USDA

Committees and Councils

Community Committee

Chair:

Pam Bennett, State Master Gardener Volunteer Program Coordinator, Ohio State University

Members:

Gary Bachman, Mississippi State University Extension
Mud Baron, Muir Ranch
Natalie Bumgarner, University of Tennessee
Sheri Dorn, University of Georgia
Katie Dubow, Garden Media Group
Brie Gluvna Arthur, Garden Industry Communicator
Teresia Hazen, Legacy Health
Nicole Martini, Washington State University Extension
Cynthyia Nazario-Leary, University of Hawaii Cooperative Extension Service
Jessica Romer, Denver Urban Gardens
Jennifer Tedeschi, KidsGardening.org
Mary Wilson, Michigan State Extension

Economic Committee

Chair:

Debbie Hamrick, Director of Specialty Crops, North Carolina Farm Bureau Federation

Members:

Bridgett Behe, Michigan State University
Natalie Bumgarner, University of Tennessee
Jill Calabro, AmericanHort
Janet Carson, University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service
Danny Gouge, Willoway Nurseries
Charlie Hall, Texas A&M University
Penny McBride, Vertical Harvest
Marvin Miller, Ball Horticultural Co.
Dawn Thilmany McFadden, Colorado State University

Environmental Committee

Chair:

Julie Weisenhorn, Associate Extension Professor, Department of Horticultural Sciences, University of Minnesota

Members:

David Close, Virginia Tech
Toby Day, Montana State University
Richard Durham, University of Kentucky
Cynthia Haynes, Iowa State University
Esther McGinnis, North Dakota State University
Bodie Pennisi, University of Georgia Extension

Marketing Committee

Chair:

Susan McCoy, President, Garden Media Group

Members:

Brie Arthur, Brie Grows
Gary Bachman, Mississippi State University
Ellen Bauske, University of Georgia
Natalie Bumgarner, University of Tennessee
Mason Day, GrowIt!
Leslie Halleck, Halleck Horticulture
Carol Miller, Meister Media Worldwide

Academic/Government Council

Co-chairs:

Richard Durham, Extension Professor and Master Gardener Coordinator, University of Kentucky
Margaret Pooler, Research Leader, USDA/ARS U.S. National Arboretum

Commercial Council

Chair:

Clint Albin, President, Clint Albin Consulting

Members:

Bill Calkins, Retail Business Manager and Product Marketing Manager at Ball Horticultural Company
Carol Miller, Meister Media Worldwide
Seth Reed, GrowIt!

Nonprofit Council

Co-chairs:

Shannon Spurlock, Director of Public Affairs and Policy, Denver Urban Gardens
Tom Underwood, Executive Director, American Horticulture Society

Members:

Linda Adams, Florida Nursery, Growers, & Landscape Association
Kirk Brown, GWA – The Association for Garden Communicators
Rima Green, Growing Gardens
Nancy Hargroves, National Garden Clubs
Laura Kunkle, America in Bloom
Sam Lemheney, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society
Laura Seabaugh, American Rose Society
Renee Shepherd, Home Garden Seed Association

Our efforts are supported by:

Craig Regelbrugge and Jennifer Gran, AmericanHort and the Horticultural Research Institute
Todd Jarret, Arbor Hill Nurseries LLC
Michael S. Dosmann, The Arnold Arboretum, Harvard University
Marvin N. Miller, Ball Horticultural Company
J. Landon Reeve IV, Chapel Valley Landscape Company
Jose I. Smith, Costa Farms
Sandra L. Reid, The Davey Tree Expert Company
Brie Arthur, Designing Solutions, DBA Brienne Gluvna Landscape Design
Bill LeFevre, Sarah P. Duke Gardens
Katie Dubow, Garden Media Group
Jessica Romero, Denver Urban Gardens
Edmond Snodgrass, Emory Knoll Farms, Inc.
Thomas M. Foley, Euroamerican
Bryan Tolar, Georgia Agribusiness Council
Neil W. Norton, the Georgia Arborist Association
Danny Summers, The Gardencenter Group
Heidi Heiland, Heidi’s Lifestyle Gardens
Renee Shepherd, Home Garden Seed Association
Jim McCutcheon, HighGrove
Jennifer Tedeschi, Kids Gardening.org
Jim Sulecki and Richard Jones, MeisterMedia
Danilo Maffei, Maffei Landscape Design, LLC
Grace Chapman Elton, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden
D. E. McCorkle, Jr., McCorkle Nurseries, Inc.
Mark Highland, Organic Mechanics Potting Soil
Ed Carpenter, North American Training Solutions, Inc.
Peter Moe, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum
Rose Eggert, Minnesota State Horticultural Society
Cassie Larson, Minnesota Nursery & Landscape Association
Larry B. Wooten, North Carolina Farm Bureau Federation, Inc.
Steve Castorani, North Creek Nurseries
Lloyd R. Traven, Pease Tree Farm LLC
Angela J. Palmer, Plants Nouveau
Rick Smith, The Pruning Guru Inc.
Susan E. Yoder, Seed Your Future
Debra Prinzing, Slow Flowers
Teresia Hazen, Registered Horticultural Therapist
Sean M. Haggerty, Sage Vertical Garden Systems, LLC
Penny McBride, Vertical Harvest Jackson

Leadership Team

Clint Albin

President, Clint Albin Consulting

Ellen Bauske

Center for Urban Agriculture,University of Georgia

Pam Bennett

Associate Professor, State Master Gardener Volunteer Program Director, Ohio State University

Richard Durham

Consumer Horticulture Extension Specialist,Co-coordinator, Master Gardener Program,Department of Horticulture,University of Kentucky

Debbie Hamrick

Director of Specialty Crops, North Carolina Farm Bureau Federation

Gail Langellotto

Associate Professor and Extension Specialist,Urban and Community Horticulture,Oregon State University

Susan McCoy

Queen Bee, Garden Media Group

Margaret Pooler

United States National Arboretum,Agricultural Research Service,United States Department of Agriculture

Casey Sclar

Executive Director,American Public Gardens Association

Shannon Spurlock

Director of Public Affairs and Policy,Denver Urban Gardens

Tom Underwood

Executive Director, American Horticultural Society

Julie Weisenhorn

Associate Extension Professor, Department of Horticultural Sciences, University of Minnesota

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