Events Calendar

April 12, Save the Date
Beautification Awards Event

entry forms available now

We will be going back to “in person” judging this year! After 2022’s trial of digital presentation and judging we decided it’s more fun to judge onsite. Mark your calendars! May 12 will be our deadline for entering the competition. Judging happens May 24-26, 2023. Drop offs will be at Graniterock locations (Seaside, Salinas and Santa Cruz) and B&B Small Engine Repair (Santa Cruz).

Saturday, June 24th, will be our gala event at Back Nine Bar & Grill. Your contact this year for the Beautification Awards is our new Director of Events, Scott Long of Central Coast Landscape at ‭831-332-4565 or slong@centralcoastlandscape.com.

May 3, Wednesday
Central Coast Chapter Board Meeting

12-1:30 p.m. at Seascape Golf Resort in Aptos

Contact Phil Dundas ‭(831) 750-0447 or phil@thelandscapecompany.com

May 12, Friday
Spring Mixer and Drop-off for Beautification Packets!

6-9 p.m.
at Beer Thirty, 2504 S Main St., Soquel, CA 95037

Come and share some food and a beer, drop off your entry to the Beautification Awards event. Scott Long of Central Coast Landscape at ‭831-332-4565 or slong@centralcoastlandscape.com.

May 23, Tuesday moved to July
Business 101—Managing the Madness

waTsonville (details coming soon)

Another great seminar is coming your way. Registration information, details and links coming next week. Contact Shane White, our Education Director, at ‭(831) 358-8806 or shane@kndlandscaping.com More info coming soon.

June 24, Saturday
Beautification Awards Presentation & Banquet

times TBA
Back Nine Bar and Grill—Inside the Inn at Pasatiempo, 555 CA-17, Santa Cruz, CA 95060

We plan to hold our Beautification Awards gala event at Back Nine Bar & Grill again this year. Your contact this year is our new director of events, Scott Long of Central Coast Landscape at ‭831-332-4565 or slong@centralcoastlandscape.com.

April 2023 Central Coast President’s Message

by Phil Dundas, Chapter President, The Landscape Company

Hello Landscape Community,

Thanks to everyone that attended the Annual New Member’s & Supplier’s Night at Seascape Golf Club. It was a successful event and many good connections were made. The money we raised with a raffle, $388, will be donated to LEAF. The scholarship will help an aspiring student in the Horticulture Department at Cabrillo College.

Everyone should be ramping up and getting ready for the busy season. Our next important event is the 2023 Beautification Awards. The submission deadline will be May 12th, and the event will be held on June 24th. You can drop off your entry forms at the South or North County locations noted on the materials in this newsletter, or at our Spring Mixer at Beer Thirty on May 12th. There’s a new category this year for non-CLCA members so please encourage any C-27s who are not part of the CLCA to participate. We would love to have them as part of this year’s event. We’re hoping that this will create interest in joining the CLCA as well as having a good time with some friendly competition.

We look forward to seeing all of you at our upcoming events and hope you encourage others to join us.

Warmly, Phil

Phil Dundas
President, The Landscape Company
phil@thelandscapecompany.com

C: ‭(831) 750-0447‬ │  O: ‭(831) 476-7070‬

A reminder: this is a great time to register for Partners for Success 2023. Just to make it particularly easy for you here’s a link. Join us in 2023.

Central Coast Chapter Board of Directors 2023

President: Phil Dundas—The Landscape Company

Membership Director: Terri Baker—Graniterock

Secretary: Julia Zuckerman—Delta Bluegrass

Director of Events: Scott Long—Central Coast Landscape

Director of Education/Treasurer: Shane White—K&D Landscaping

Associate Member Director: Bill Bruce—B&B Small Engine Repair

Legislation Director: Regan Barry—Coastal Evergreen

Our CLCA Central Coast Chapter board elections are held each November and will be advertised in our chapter newsletter. Newly elected officers of our chapter were announced in December. If you’re interested in joining the board, just let us know.

By joining our team of leaders managing the Central Coast Chapter you will be helping us bring awareness to the work we do in our community and as C- 27 professional Landscape Contractors.

Volunteer Opportunity

Habitat for Humanity’s Rodeo Creek Project

Who is Habitat for Humanity?

Habitat for Humanity Monterey Bay is an independent locally operated and funded affiliate of Habitat for Humanity International. Our mission is to build decent, affordable homes and provide home ownership opportunities to qualified families who live and work in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties. You can learn more here.

“Our current project is Rodeo Creek Court, located in the heart of Live Oak. It’s an 11 home subdivision that is half-way complete. We have six families currently moved in. Four of people in residence are local teachers, we have one veteran, and one family that was displaced by the CZU fires.

While the backyards are small, RCC (Rodeo Creek Court) will have a beautiful common area with a garden, giving the subdivision a park feel.

We are currently reaching out to see if there are any professional landscapers who would assist us in completing this common area.”

Thank you!
Keaton Port Gaarn, Production Manager
Email: keaton@habitatmontereybay.org

Included below are some photos of the progress on the Rodeo Creek Court project.

If you are interested contact Keaton at the email above or Phil Dundas at ‭(831) 750-0447‬ or phil@thelandscapecompany.com.

2023 Central Coast Chapter Partners for Success Program

It’s that time of year to renew your partnership. Central Coast’s Partners for Success Program provides an opportunity to increase your visibility in the community, to be seen as a leader in the green industry by helping sustain the many educational and enrichment offerings of our association.

For more information, contact Phil Dundas phil@thelandscapecompany.com

register NOW for 2023!

WE love our 2023 partners

PaRTNER’S CORNER

Chris Elliot, Aqua Green

This month Chris Elliot is featured in our “Partner’s Corner.” Read more here.

If you are a Partner, this “Partner’s Corner” feature is a great member benefit. Please contact Bill Bruce at B&B Small Engine Repair if you are interested in being featured on our website in a future “Partner’s Corner.” Don’t miss this chance for some FREE advertising.

Advertise in the Central Coast Seascape Newsletter!

It’s always a great time to Advertise in this newsletter! Reach your target audience monthly. Sign up for large, medium, or small ads. For specs and pricing contact: clcaccc.editor@gmail.com. OR sign up online next week, we’re setting up the pages online.

upcoming EVENT

Beautification Awards 2023!

What a difference a good Landscape design makes!

Please download the entry form from our website, the link is here. All the specific requirements and catagories are on the forms, as well as information on where to submit them when completed. Get your forms in by May 12, at one of two locations, one North County and one in South County, or come to our Spring Mixer May 12 at Beer Thirty and drop it off that night.

This year we’re trying something new and inviting non-members (not members of the CLCA) to participate. We’re excited to see your landscapes and meet you. This also gives C-27s who are not yet members a chance to see why they might like to join us. This event brings the landscape community together for some good friendly competition…and gives you a chance to show off your work.

The Awards Banquet will take place June 24, 2023 at Delaveaga’s Back Nine Bar & Grill, and is always a lot of fun.

Spring Mixer & Beautification Awards Drop Off

May 12, 2023, 6-9 p.m., at Beer Thirty in Soquel

Come join us at Beer Thirty Bottle and Pour House to toast this wonderful Spring weather. Beer Thirty is a low-key, dog-friendly beer garden & eatery serving an array of pub grub, bottles & local brews.

This is also a chance, the final day, for you to drop off your entry form for the Beautification Awards. Hope to see you there!

Good time to visit the ARboretum

UCSC’s Arboretum in Bloom!

There’s a lot of color at UCSC right now, it’s a great time to go up and visit. Lot’s of Protea, and large Pink Protea and the Queen Protea in particular are amazing. Protea cynaroides, also called the King Protea, is a distinctive member of Protea, having the largest flower head in the genus. It has not bloomed yet, but looks like it will soon.

Coastal California is one of five mediterranean climate regions on the planet where these large, showy and texural flowers, the proteas, can be produced. The plant requires full sun, acidic soil, good drainage and air circulation, as well as mild winters, says Pacific Horticulture, read more here.

The Chilean “Puya” is at the height of its bloom and is worth the price of admission all on its own. This Puya has a very unusual flower that is blue-green, looks like it might be manufactured from plastic, and attracts bees (heavy with orange pollen baskets). It is unusual that this Chilean plant is doing so well in our climate, I was told. It has defied the odds and bloomed for a few years in a row now.

Here’s some general info from the internet on the Puya. “…is a genus of the botanical family Bromeliaceae. These terrestrial plants are native to the Andes Mountains of South America and southern Central America.

The species Puya raimondii is notable as the largest species of bromeliad known, reaching 3 m tall in vegetative growth with a flower spike 9–10 m tall. The name Puya was derived from the Mapuche Indian word meaning “point.” ”—Wikipedia

Here’s a link to learn more. Here’s a link directly to the gardens.
If you haven’t visited in a while this is a great time to go.

—Aboreteum photos by Elise Huffman

Greetings Central Coast —CAN YOU HELP?

PhD candidate seeks participants for a research project exploring the role of the manager in the business model innovation process.

To participate in this study, you must have at least five years of experience, be at least 18 years of age, and have a direct supervisory role of some staff in your department or the ability to impact the business model (BM) directly.

Qualified participants may work in sectors of the landscape industry such as:

• Landscape contractors; design, construction, install, or maintenance
• Nursery 
• Irrigation and water management specialists
• Tree service providers
• Pest management 

Participants are disqualified if they have a personal or professional relationship with the researcher, Chaz Perea.

In exchange for a 90-minute interview (can be done remotely), qualified participants will receive a $25 In-N-Out Burger gift card.

The interview will focus on how the participant interacts and experiences the business model innovation process: how participants define their value proposition to the customer, what role they play in delivering customer value, how they grow the business while sustaining the existing services, and other related questions.

If you know someone that may meet this criteria, please email perea_dissertation_email@yahoo.com

Past EVENTS

Membership/Suppliers Night

was held Thursday, March 23, 2023, 6-9 pm

Once again the Central Coast Chapter of the CLCA sponsored our annual new members campaign including a free dinner to C-27 contractors funded mostly by our loyal area suppliers. Much love to you all for your support. The event was held at the Seascape Golf Resort in Rio Del Mar and was well attended considering the nasty wet weather we’ve had recently. 

This year, like many in the past, featured a trade show format with our landscape materials suppliers displaying their latest and greatest wares—from irrigation innovations and battery operated equipment to new varieties of sod, synthetic and natural, and awesome plant varieties. Our hope is that new attendees got a taste of what it’s like to participate in a Central Coast Chapter event, and see the supportive community we have as CLCA members. We enjoyed a great buffet-style meal served for dinner. Please join me in giving a huge thanks to Scott Long from Central Coast Landscape for choosing the menu. Yum. 

The evening closed with a wonderful raffle of landscape items generously donated by our area suppliers. The proceeds of the raffle were be donated to the Leaf Foundation Fund. This fund awards scholarships to students that apply and qualify to help pay for tuition at city colleges offering horticulture classes. 

Thank you to our board of directors, editor/graphic designer, web manager/graphic designer, and bookkeeper for all the work necessary to offer this event. Thank you to all who attended the event and to the California Landscape Contractors Association for creating the opportunity to make our industry stronger.

— Regan Barry

Further questions? Contact Scott Long slong@centralcoastlandscape.com or phone (831) 462-3726 or (831)332-4565.

“Round up your Foursome for Fun and Golf Shenanigans”

Seascape Golf Club at 610 Clubhouse Drive, Aptos, CA 95003
Thursday, March 23, 2023 10:30 am-4:00 pm

Friday, March 23 at Seascape Golf Club, prior to our Supplier’s/New Members Night, we held our Thirsty Thursday Golf Tournament. We really dodged a bullet that day, as the last bit of rain passed by just before our 10:30 am teeoff and the tournament able to be held without downpours.

We ended up with about 32 players out of the 40 promised, missed some of you golfers! However, all who were there had a great time. The format was a 4-person scramble and the sun came out to play as well! Conditions on the course were wet and soggy as could be expected after the record amounts of rain we have experienced lately. You couldn’t deny the smiles, laughter, joke, and heckling seen and heard all around the course. Cart paths only, so most of us got our steps in as well.

The winners that day were: with a score of 8 under 63” were the foursome of Scott Long, Greg Bailey, Billy Waddell and Bill Thompson of Central Coast Landscape. We took the win for the Golf Cart Drive Through Muddy Waters as well!

Closest to the pin on # 8 at 68” went to Billy Waddell.

Longest drive on # 10 went to Ryan Burr on Team K&D. Both players received a $100 gift card from the Pro Shop. All-in-all an awesome day.

We want to thank everyone who came out, as well as the the staff at Seascape Golf Club for putting up with us.

—Scott Long, Events Director for the Central Coast CLCA

It was a muddy day on the links, the K&D and Ewing team played a good round though coming in 5 under par as a group. Everyone contributed with some great shots, but Ryan Burr was the guy with the drive. That guy can crush the ball! Matt Gomez and Jerermy Ross came through with some clutch shots as well, Shane closed out the round sinking a 15-foot birdie put on 18 to finish the day.

Hope to see you at the next one!
—Shane White, Education Director for the Central Coast CLCA

For all who helped to pull “Thirsty Thursday” together a big thank you!
Join us for our next event, it’s sure to be fun.