LICH Landscape Hawaii Magazine - June/July 2011 Issue

S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y I S S U E
RISK
ASSESSMENT
The Invasive Species Initiative is
bringing awareness to the industry
GOING
NATIVE LICH native plant initiative seeks to
reverse the decline of native plants
OFFICIAL
Proclamation
Governor Neil Abercrombie proclaims July
LICH Water Conservation Month
Landscape Industry
Council of Hawai’i
P. O. Box 22938
Honolulu HI 96823-2938
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
HONOLULU, HI
PERMIT NO. 1023
PRESORTED
STANDARD
JUNE | JULY 2011
Teh V ocei o f eht G reen I n dstur y I N H A W A I I $3.95

INSIDE
look
INSIDE
T a b l e o f C o n t e n t s
40
DEPARTMENTS
3 PRESIDENT’S MEMO
4 LICH NEWS
6 TOOL TIPS
8 LICH EVENTS
10 LANDSCAPE BUSINESS
12 FEATURED PEST
18 BOOK REVIEW
FEATURES
14 ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY
16 TRACE
20 AG DAY
22 Lyon’s Legacy
24 Developing Wilt Resistant Koa
28 COMPOST
29 IRRIGATION CHECK UP
32 RAIN GARDEN
34 KAWANANAKOA SCHOOL
36 CLT Certification
& Training Info
38 ‘ILIAHI
40 Keep it local! Ohia
43 BIOSECURITY
COVER STORIES
26 LICH Invasive Species
19 LICH Proclamation
30 LICH Native Plant Initiative
34
Hawaii’s landscape industry
is one of the fastest growing and
largest segments of the green in-dustry
with an economic impact
of over $520 million annually
and full time employment of over
11,000 landscape professionals.
The Landscape Industry
Council of Hawai‘I formed in
June 1986, is a statewide al-liance
representing Hawaii’s
landscape associations: Aloha
Arborist Association, American
Society of Landscape Architects
Hawaii Chapter, Hawaii Associa-tion
of Nurserymen, Hawaii Is-land
Landscape Association,
Hawaii Landscape and Irrigation
Contractors, Hawaii Society of
Urban Forestry Professionals,
Kauai Landscape Industry Coun-cil,
Maui Association of Land-scape
Professionals, Professional
Grounds Management Society,
Big Island Association of Nurs-erymen,
and the Hawaii Profes-sional
Gardeners Association.
Landscape Industry Council
of Hawai‘i
P. O. Box 22938, Honolulu HI
96823-2938
www.landscapehawaii.org
Editor
Chris Dacus
Chris.Dacus@gmail.com
Advertising Sales
Jay Deputy
jaydeputy@gmail.com
Designer
Darrell Ishida
Cover Photo
Richard Quinn
Landscape Industry of Hawai‘i Sponsor
2 LANDSCAPE HAWAII JUNE | JULY 2011

MEMO
president’s
MEMO
b y C h r i s D a c u s
THE VOICE OF THE GREEN INDUSTRY LANDSCAPEHAWAII.ORG 3 photo: Shaun Tokunaga
This issue features some amazing sustain-ability
projects and initiatives happening
in our state. Sustainability is the buzz and
rightfully it does need to be top of mind for
Hawaii and the landscape industry.
n 95% of Hawaii’s energy supply is
imported fossil fuel.
n 1/3 of all endangered species in the
United States are in Hawaii.
n 85% of what we consume is imported.
n 64% of Hawai‘i’s streams are
considered “impaired” by pollutants.
n 90 year decrease in the recharge
of Hawai‘i aquifers.
Since Captain Cook’s arrival in 1778, there’s
been a constant degradation of Hawaii’s
environment. And we have reached a low
point. The facts are stacked against us and
like frogs in water getting hotter and hotter;
we are somewhat desensitized. I know in the
past, I too use to hope things would improve
without me being personally responsible.
The good news is that the Landscape
Industry Council of Hawai’i has worked for 5
years on important sustainability initiatives.
Three LICH sustainability initiatives are fea-tured
in this issue: Invasive Species, Native
I ola ‘oe,
i ola makou nei
“My life is dependant
on yours, your life is
dependant on mine.”
– Hawaiian story of Hi‘iaka
Species and Irrigation Water Conservation. But there remains much sustain-ability
work to be done and being the only tropical state in the nation; we are
literally on our own.
We need each other. Your life is dependent on mine. Each of us has a personal
responsibility.
The efforts on tropical sustainability have for the most part dealt with the
low hanging fruit and resulted in a marginal slowing of the degradation of the
quality of our lives; the environment, the economy and the independence from
imported goods.
We live in times that require great change; a paradigm shift to protect our
very way of life. If we don’t act; who will? If we wait any longer; what will be
left? We cannot afford to wait for someone else to solve sustainability for us.
It’s time to be the great land stewards that we are in our blood and our values
and lead Hawai’i by our example towards an environmental tipping point. Take
a moment right now; today; and everyday to question your way of doing busi-ness.
Ask yourself, what can I do in my next task to achieve zero environmen-tal
impact? Can I take it further and assist in the regeneration of our environ-ment?
My life is dependent on yours. Be a passionate leader :)
Aloha,
Chris Dacus
LICH President

Have you visited
landscapehawaii.org
recently?
Our web editor, Cory Blumerick of
Performance Landscapes has been
hard at work adding interesting
landscape stories to the homepage
and posting events on the event
calendar. Learn what’s happening!
NEWS
NEWS LICH
Wh a t s H a p p e n i n g
Mark your calendar!
The 2011 LICH Conference is scheduled for October 6, 2011 at the
Neal Blaisdell Center. Sign up now for the free electronic edition
of the conference proceedings by sending your email address to
chris.dacus@gmail.com.

Students landscaping a campus area. From left to right; Steve Moulden, Vernon Jarvis, Michael Bascuk, Cris Montalla,
Kaleo Kahawaii, Rance Watanabe, Shane Miekle, Steve Yoshida.
Photo by: David Ringuette
Landscape Program at Windward Community College
work is integrated with field
work on and off campus. Training
and education are interwoven for
students to begin their careers in
the landscape industry, enhance
their employability, and/or begin
a business. This is an educational
program with a training compo-nent.
“Training without education
leads to robots. At the same time
education alone leads to waste.
Training and education are twins:
both are needed” (Dr. Alex Shigo).
This approach to learning is the
umbrella philosophy of the pro-gram.
If plants are your career
choice, join us in August.
Dave Ringuette is a professor
and coordinator of the Landscape
Program at Windward Community
College.
CONGRATULATIONS Landscape Industry Council of Hawaii
Celebrate LICH’s 25th Anniversary
Contact our advertising sales manager
Jay Deputy at jaydeputy@gmail.com
Advertisements due by July 1st
25thA N N I V E R S A R Y
The Landscape Program at Wind-ward
Community College offers
an accredited Certificate in Plant
Landscaping, Turfgrass Manage-ment,
and Arboriculture. For pro-gram
requirements go to (http://
windward.hawaii.edu/Academics/
Agricultural_Technology_CC.php).
The program takes a learn-by-do-ing
approach to education. Class-room
Upcoming Issues
Tell a great story.
Email the editor at
chris.dacus@gmail.com.
August/September 2011 Issue
Theme: 25th Anniversary
Story Deadline: July 1
October/November 2011 Issue
Theme: LICH Conference
Story Deadline: September 9
October 10th
Electronic Edition only
Theme: Conference
Proceedings
Proceeding Deadline:
September 22
Send us your email address to
chris.dacus@gmail.com if you
wish to get a copy.
LANDSCAPEHAWAII.THE VOICE OF THE GREEN INDUSTRY ORG 5

of how it works. Until some key questions have
been answered you are not ready to attack the TOOLS
6 LANDSCAPE HAWAII JUNE | JULY 2011 his IT JUST
is the first in a series of articles
starting with troubleshooting and
ending with how to replace the
broken tool: 1. It’s broken, 2. Now
what—repair or replace; 3. so what
should I buy? We hope that
you will be able to relate to
these situations, and that the
suggestions will be helpful to
you.
WHAT? IT’S
BROKEN!
You’re sitting in your office
or driving to your next job,
when you get the dreaded
call—your employee says
the piece of equipment
he was using stopped
working—“it just died”.
Your first question—what
happened? The invariable re-sponse,
“I don’t know; it just stopped”.
THE NEXT FEW QUESTIONS ARE
THE KEYS TO UNRAVELING THE
MYSTERY.
1. What stopped? Did the engine stop? If
it’s a mower, did the mower blades stop? Was
it under load when it stopped? It is essential to
narrow down the problem. the more specific you
can be, the closer you can get to the source of
the trouble—ask the right questions.
What were you doing when it stopped? How
long was it running before it stopped? Was it
running properly before it stopped? Did it really
stop, or it never started? Prior to stopping was it
hard to start? Asking the right questions requires
that you, as the boss, have some working knowl-edge
of the machine, and basic understanding
TIPS tool
b y P h y l l i s J o n e s
BROKE Quick assessment in
troubleshooting the problem
makes all the difference

*Offer good from June 1 to August 31, 2011 on select new models at Hawthorne Cat.
Offer is available to customers in the USA and Canada only and cannot be combined
with any other offers. Suggested retail 60-month payment does not necessarily reflect
the exact model and configuration shown. The preconfigured machine represents financ-ing
through Cat Financial and does not include taxes, freight, set-up, delivery, additional
options, or attachments. Financing and published rate are subject to credit approval
through Cat Financial. Lease usage (hour limits) and application restrictions apply. Leases
require a minimum of $1 million in liability coverage. Additional terms and conditions
may apply. Subject to change without prior notice.
A NEW
WAY TO
RENT
LANDSCAPEHAWAII.ORG 7
rowed down to two or three possibilities.
4. “Now what boss?” Is the machine fix-able
in the field or does it need to go back
to the shop? In either case zero in on what
you think the problem is. Be prepared
with alternatives to resolve the problem,
and you can start working in that direc-tion.
BROKEN EQUIPMENT IS MONEY
AND TIME WASTED. The sooner
you can solve the problem and get the
machine running properly, the better.
Troubleshooting takes practice, and
requires that you have a working un-derstanding
of what makes the machine
run, and the variables that can affect its
performance. Good, regular maintenance
greatly reduces breakage, but as machines
age breakdowns become more frequent.
(Remember, warrantees do not cover
abuse or lack of maintenance.)
Boss, HAVE YOU DONE YOUR
SHARE? Do you know your machines
history—age, previous repairs or major
problems. How much money has been
spent on repairs? In the next article, we
will discuss—it’s broken; now what. We
will discuss some of the factors to con-sider
when confronted with this problem
and where to look for help.
If you have any questions, or would like
clarification on anything
discussed in the article,
please feel free to contact
me at atozhi@yahoo. com. I
welcome your feedback. See
you next time.
Phyllis Jones, A to Z Equip-ment
and Sales, formally
A to Z Rental Center, in
business for over 25
years.
DAYS OF
SUMMER SAVINGS EVENT
THE
The summer’s best
prices on the industry’s
best machines.
Call or stop by Hawthorne Cat® today
to take advantage of special summer
prices on these machines and more!
Backhoe Loaders
Compact Track Loaders
Compact Wheel Loaders
Mini Hydraulic Excavators
Multi Terrain Loaders
Skid Steer Loaders
Small Hydraulic Excavators
Small Track-Type Tractors
Small Wheel Loaders
www.hawthornecat.com
808-677-9111
www.catrentalstore.com
/hawthorne-rent-it-service
problem. As a matter of fact, you may be
creating an additional layer of problems
which may be totally unrelated to the
original problem.
2. What part of the ma-chine
has the problem—the
engine or the part that
does the work? If the
engine stopped in the
middle of the field while
he was mowing, this leads
you in one direction. If it
stopped two minutes after
it started you might want to
know how it was running the last
time it ran. Or more commonly
– It never started. “I pulled and
pulled, and then the starter broke.”
(Hint: there was a problem, which
caused it not to start. so now you have
two problems—a broken starter and an
engine problem.) Always confirm when
the last regular maintenance was done,
and how it operated at that time. Did any
parts need to be changed, and why.
3. “Boss, I don’t know; it just stopped.”
By this time, and after asking all these
questions, you should have a mental list
of where to start looking for the problem
–fuel, air, ignition, engagement, electrical,
carburetion, etc. If you don’t, keep asking
questions until you have the problem nar-
THE VOICE OF THE GREEN INDUSTRY

8 LANDSCAPE HAWAII JUNE | JULY 2011 EVENTS
LICH Hilo Host
EVENTS
Horticultural
Conference
“Sustaining Hawaii’s Green Industry from Farm to Market”
is the theme of the 16th annual Hawaii MIDPAC Horticul-tural
Conference and Expo being presented by the Hawaii
Export Nursery Association on July 21st at the Komohana
Agricultural Complex in Hilo. Topics to be covered in the
conference range from composting in Hawaii to market
research, California and Hawaii quarantine issues (including
a coqui frog update), vegetable research in Hawaii, regaining
Hawaii’s strategic position in the global market, as well as a
buyers’ forum to update growers on what the current trends
are in the marketplace. Concurrent to the conference will
be the HENA Agricultural Marketplace in the courtyard of
the Komohana Ag Complex. The Marketplace was debuted
at last year’s MIDPAC Expo and will include displays of
products from our growers and farmers including foliage
and flowering plants, fruits, vegetables and coffee as well as
educational exhibits from County, State and Federal entities.
HENA members will open their nurseries and farms on July
20th and 22nd for visitors to tour their facilities and have
one-on-one discussions on the superior quality and beauty
of their products as well as care and handling and to take
orders. The MIDPAC Expo will close with our annual Net-working
Reception being held the evening of July 21st at the
Hilo Yacht Club. All of the MIDPAC events are sponsored by
industry and the Hawaii County Department of Research
& Development, Hawaii Department of Agriculture, UH
Manoa CTAHR and UH-Manoa CTAHR Cooperative Exten-sion
Service. For more information on the Hawaii MIDPAC
Conference and Expo, please contact HENA through email
to info@hena.org or HENA’s website, www.hena.org.
Plant Doctoring
Workshop
A r o u n d T o w n
The Aloha Arborist Association (AAA) and Western
Chapter International Society of Arboriculture (WCISA) will
be hosting a workshop for landscape professionals, Plant
Doctoring: Science vs. Snake Oil, on August 24, 2011, in
Honolulu at McCoy Pavilion. Dr. Jim Downer of the U.C.
Davis Cooperative Extension Ventura County will be the
lead speaker, assisted by local talents Steve Nimz and Dr.
Scot Nelson. Pesticide CEUs will be applied for in addition
to ISA CEUs. Registration will open about a month prior to
the event on www.wcisa.net.

Hundreds of forestry and natural resource
professionals will convene on O‘ahu during
November 2nd to 6th, 2011 at the Hilton
Hawaiian Village and the Hawaii Conven-tion
Center.
The event will open with Hawaii’s own
Nainoa Thompson, Program Director of the
Polynesian Voyaging Society, and the closing
keynote will be the US Forest Service Chief,
Tom Tidwell.
The contemporary challenges our profes-sion
faces are serious and the content of the
event will be as well. There will be more than
250 sessions on topics such as:
n Pacific Rim Forestry — Ecological, eco-nomic,
energy, and resource management
issues of common interest around the Rim.
n Urban Ecosystems — Opportunities
in urban and community forestry to create
healthier, more livable, and sustainable com-munities.
n Agroforestry — Economic or ecological
interactions between woody perennials and
crop and animal production systems.
n Biosecurity — Forest health and long-term
sustainability of forests.
This event also will offer:
n Solutions for invasive species, water-shed
and ecosystem management, and rare
species conservation
n Regional insight into new global models
for sustaining forests
n Integrating traditional culture and
knowledge with modern science
n Geospatial applications workshops
Anyone interested in forests as a source of
global health and human welfare is welcome
to attend. Registration and full event details
are available at www.safconvention.org.
Early-bird discounts end August 26. For
questions or to request a brochure, call (866)
897-8720 or e-mail membership@safnet.org.
Tall, straight forest grown Koa (Acacia
koa) of the type used for canoe logs.
Mauna Kea, Hawaii Island.
Photo credit: Dr. J. B. Friday,
http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/forestry/
LandscapeHawaii.org Calendar
June 16th
1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
LICH Meeting on O‘ahu:
Industry Research Needs
June 23rd
1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
LICH Board Meeting on O‘ahu
July 21st
16th Annual Hawaii MIDPAC
Horticultural Conference
Komohana Agricultural
Complex in Hilo.
August 24th
Aloha Arborists Association
Plant Doctoring: Science
vs. Snake Oil
Honolulu
at McCoy
Pavilion
October 6th
LICH Annual
Conference
at the Neal
Blaisdell
Center
November 2
to 6th
The Society
of American
Foresters
National Convention
Hilton Hawaiian Village and
the Hawaii Convention Center.
The Society
of American
Foresters
National Convention
Arrives in Hawai‘i
November 2011
Check the website for full event details

BUSINESS
ing obvious is that saving money and
using BMPs does not have to be an all
or nothing activity. For example, some
people push native vegetation. If the cus-tomer
accepts this practice and it fits the
intended use of the property that’s great.
However, if you want to have other plants
like turfgrass, what needs to be taken into
consideration is the correct variety for the
climate and its location in the landscape.
Then, you should consider how it is cared
for and what inputs are needed.
Sustainability is defined as, “The ability
to continue a defined behavior indefi-nitely.”
However, sustainable practices
are defined as, “Meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability
of future generations to meet their own
needs.” Another fundamental way of
looking at it is doing unto future genera-tion
as you would have them do unto
you. Architect William McDonough and
chemist Michael Braungart talk about
sustainability as cradle to cradle practice.
“It is time for our civilization to rethink
the way we live, work, travel, design,
build, and consume. To think that we
are doing our part simply by driving
a hybrid car and recycling our paper,
bottles, and cans is a dangerous
landscape
BUSINESS
b y T om D e l a n e y What is your
definition of
sustainability?
eing sustainable means many
things to many people. As a
business person, what is your
definition of sustainability? Do
you practice sustainability? Do
your customers care about your
sustainable business practices? Have you
told them about your practices? Is there
a connection between sustainability
and government affairs?
The answer is yes there is.
One of the key aspects of
sustainability in govern-ment
affairs activity is in
using best management
practices (BMPs) in your
agronomic or environ-mental
practices. Many of
the best practices have to
do with the protection of
water quality; some with
saving water through
how the landscape is
designed. Within the in-dustry,
many are concerned
that if these practices get de-fined
for us by others, it’ll be
through laws or regulations.
Some people think they can
save money by close scru-tiny
and adoption of
the right BMPs.
What is
becom-
“It is time for our
civilization to
rethink the way we
live, work, travel,
design, build, and
consume.”

illusion. For years, environmentalists
We should also add “Reduced govern-ment
n only 29 percent planted shade trees
have been telling us to do more with less
intervention,” which is a necessity
to lower energy costs.
in order to make change happen. This is
to all green industry members. But where
n 23 percent used maintenance
simply not enough. We are going to have
is the public on this sustainability. An
methods that reduce fuel consumption,
to fundamentally change the way we
Oct. 4, 2008, the American Society of
exhaust, and emissions, such as using a
design our products, industries, and cities.
Landscape Architects (ALSA) Landscape
rake instead of a leaf blower.
Our current recycling methods are inef-ficient
survey revealed the following about those
n 15 percent harvested rainwater or
and only serve to perpetuate the
with yards, lawns, or gardens and their
used recycled water for watering plants.
“cradle-to-grave” manufacturing model
take one sustainable landscape practices:
n 11 percent used drip irrigation.
we’ve been using for hundreds of years.
n 13 percent disagreed with the state-ment,
What we can glean from this data, is
PLANET’s Crystal Ball Report #30
“I would use more ‘green’ yard prac-tices
that change, for everyone, is hard, and in-dividuals
— Innovate (or Die): How Green Indus-try
if I knew more about them.”
and businesses have to evaluate
Companies Will Thrive in the New
n 16 percent disagreed with “Using
their own situation. Following that evalu-ation
Economy, talks about sustainability as
‘green practices in my yard takes little
a measurable plan must be made to
meaning good business:
extra effort and time.”
achieve the results, and, more important-ly,
n Reducing operating costs
n 19 percent disagreed with “Using
along the way, we have to reevaluate
n Better risk management
‘green’ practices in my yard saves me
and consider what is best for us and our
n Creating value through enhanced
money.”
companies at the present time.
and positive customer response
n 96 percent of U.S. adults have
n Increased ability to attract and retain
personally adopted sustainable or energy
employees
efficient practices at home, comparatively
Tom Delaney is the PLANET Director of
n Continuing innovation and im-provement
fewer (58 percent) use energy or water
Government Affairs and writer for PLANET
saving techniques in their yard, lawn.
News.
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THE VOICE OF THE GREEN INDUSTRY LANDSCAPEHAWAII.ORG 11

PEST
PEST featured
b y C h r i s t y Ma r t i n
PEST
ROUNDUP
reventing new pests from
entering our islands pro-tects
our environment,
economy, and health, and
it is a building block to a
sustainable Hawai‘i. Here are some
prevention initiatives.
New Pest Poster Available
The landscape industry provides
our state with more than 11,000 on-the-
ground eyes and ears that can help
protect Hawai‘i from new pests. To help
identify some of the most unwanted
landscape and nursery pests in the United
States, the University of Hawai‘i Col-lege
of Tropical Agriculture and Human
Resources (CTAHR) has produced a new
poster. The poster contains photos and
descriptions of sixteen insect pests, their
host plants, and known distribution.
Some of the featured pests include palm-killers
like the red palm weevil (Rhyn-chophorus
ferrugineus) and coconut
rhinoceros beetle (Oryctes rhinoceros),
and the lobate lac scale (Paratachardina
pseudolobata), which officials in Florida
consider one of
the
most devastating pests of trees and shrubs
ever introduced. New detections of these
or other pests should be reported to the
Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture Pest
Hotline at 643-PEST (643-7378). For a free
copy of the poster, please contact your
nearest CTAHR Extension office or email
Dr. Arnold Hara at Arnold@hawaii.edu.
Saving the Ōhi‘a
HDOA has announced its intention to
go through the formal rulemaking process
to restrict the importation of Myrtaceae
(myrtle) family plants, which are known
to carry Ōhi‘a rust (Puccinia psidii). One
strain of Ōhi‘a rust entered Hawai‘i and
killed virtually all of the rose apple trees
statewide, and this rust was intercepted
several times on cut flowers in the myrtle
family. Research confirms that there
are multiple strains of this rust, and the
fear is that new introductions of the rust
could prove devastating to Ōhi‘a trees.
HDOA will be working with CTAHR and
nurseries to provide local-grown alterna-tives
to high-risk imports. Work is also
underway to look at a diagnostic tool that
may be used to screen commodities like
imported eucalyptus seeds for the forest
industry. Your help is important! Please
refrain from importing myrtle family
plants, consider providing local-grown
alternatives, and participate in the
public meetings that will be held in
each county later this year.
Christy Martin is the Public In-formation
Officer for the statewide
Coordinating Group on Alien Pest
Species (CGAPS), a public-private partner-ship
working to protect Hawai‘i
from invasive species.
12 LANDSCAPE HAWAII

Stan Oka explains past management practices for the Exceptional
Ironwoods (Casuarina equisetifolia) along Kalakaua Avenue and
the City’s current management plans for these historical trees.
Instructor Brian Gilles discusses a Rainbow Shower Tree (Cassia
x nealiae) with a spiraling wound along the trunk located by the
walkway to a comfort station.
PHOTOS
[ TRACE
]
held
The Hawaii Society of Urban
Forestry Professionals (HSUFP),
WCISA, and Pacific Northwest-ISA
presented a Tree Risk Assessment
Course & Exam (TRACE) on April
18-19, 2011, in Honolulu. Twenty
arborists participated from across
the State. Instructor Brian Gilles
gave a whirlwind tour of the
subject matter to help attendees
prepare for the exam. Check out
photos of the event.
Carol Kwan is the President and
Certified Arborist of Carol Kwan
Consulting LLC.
14 LANDSCAPE HAWAII JUNE | JULY 2011 p h o t o s C a r o l Kwa n

While the mature coconuts at 70’ plus trunk height are assessed
regularly and removed when warranted, a grove of younger coconuts
grow as companion plantings along the beach in Waikiki.
Sergio Vasquez resonance tests a lower
trunk wound on the shower tree while Lake
Gibby probes at the base of the wound.
Sergio Vasquez flashes a shaka and a smile
through a cavity in the buttress root of the
Moreton Bay fig.
Abner Undan and Steve Nimz share their
experiences in assessing Coconut Palms
(Cocos nucifera).
Steve Nimz tests the Moreton Bay Fig (Ficus macrophylla) with a
Resistograph while participants check out the graph results.

ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY
16 LANDSCAPE HAWAII JUNE | JULY 2011 PM (integrated pest manage-ment)
is a good choice for
sound solutions in dealing with
pests. IPM promotes safe, least-toxic
solutions to both pest and
pesticide problems.
What can IPM do for you? IPM
helps you deal with pests, insects, and
plant diseases with methods that help
keep health and environmental risks as
low as possible. IPM is integrated because
it brings together, or integrates, a range of
biological, organic, cultural, mechanical,
and chemical options for pest problems.
And it’s about management because you
can only manage pests, you can’t elimi-nate
them.
Integrated pest management rarely re-lies
on just one tactic, it integrates tactics
to reduce pests to levels you can live with.
The basics of IPM are as follows:
n Step 1: Be prepared, know your pests:
What pests can you expect and how
can you avoid them? Learn which tactics
work, and under which conditions, when
pests show up in your landscape. Learn
about the beneficial organisms that can
help you out.
n Step 2: Think prevention:
It’s the first step in IPM. Don’t
provide safe harbor for pests, keep
landscapes clean, and remove dead
and dying foliage. Keep plants and
lawns healthy so they can resist pests
better.
n Step 3: Monitor your landscape,
no surprises:
Scout routinely, keeping tabs on
potential pests. Know your thresh-old,
the point when a few pests
become a few too many.
n Step 4: Analyze, think
strategy:
Every tactic costs something.
Will your benefits justify the
costs? Know all the options before
you commit.
n Step 5: Manage, choose and
use:
Choose tactics and tools that
provide the best results while
keeping environmental costs as
low as possible and staying within
your budget. Whatever option you
settle on, do it right.
n Step 6: Apply, think
again:
photo: CHRISTOPHER McCULLOUGH

How did it work? What did you learn?
How much has the situation changed?
Now let’s break down each step in
detail.
Step 1: Prepare: Know your pests
n Which pests can you expect? What
do they look like? What kind of damage
can they cause? When and how should
you watch for them? What can you do to
avoid them? Which tactics should you use
to manage them? What are your strengths
and limitations in terms of skill and
equipment? What beneficial species will
help you?
n Think of pests as populations in-stead
of as individuals. Populations have:
density, how many are in the lawn and
garden, and age distributions, a pest may
be susceptible to treatment at one point
in its life cycle, but not at another, and are
the pests at that point, or not?
Step 2: Prevent:
Protect landscapes for the long term.
Learn what pests need to thrive, then
don’t give it to them. Examples:
n Remove hiding places, thin orna-mentals
n Mow correctly to keep down weeds,
help prevent diseases, and keep lawns
healthy.
n Promote biological diversity in the
landscape to give beneficial organisms a
helping hand.
n Utilize plant varieties that resist
common disease and insect pests.
n Improve your soil for healthier
plants.
Step 3: Monitor
Scout landscapes to find out which
pests are present.
n Landscapers can use University of
Hawaii, Landscape Hawaii and CGAPS
reports to decide if, when, and where to
scout.
n Monitor plants and turf regularly to
determine new infestations or the status
of existing infestations.
Step 4: Analyze:
n Your scouting data, your IPM
threshold, tells you if it’s time to act.
Many ornamental plants can tolerate
some pests before you incur losses. Will
your benefits justify the costs? Know all
the options before you commit. Changing
the planting to an insect resistant type of
plant is an option.
Step 5: Manage
If action is called for, choose among
those that provide the best balance of
economic and environmental cost and
effect while reducing risk. Examples:
n Plant disease-resistant, insect resis-tant
plants and turf (genetic).
n Judicious, careful use of herbicides,
insecticides, and fungicides (chemical).
n Release parasitic beneficial insects
(biological).
Step 6: Apply
When management is justified, do it
right.
n If you use a pesticide, be sure you
READ THE LABEL, follow the directions,
and wear protective clothing and equip-ment.
n Pesticides may only work during a
certain part of a pest’s life cycle.
n Biological control agents, “good
bugs”, need to be released in the proper
place, at the proper time.
Integrated pest management can be an
effective tool for landscape maintenance
specialists to maintain high quality land-scapes
in a sustainable manner. Through
the use of IPM we can all malama our
aina and be a part of a greener future.
Christopher McCullough is the Head Hor-ticulturist
for DFI Resources LLC and past
president of HILA.
EKO Compost is made in Hawaii. It’s an integral part of the
islands’ ecosystem. It’s also one of the Founding Members of the
U.S. Composting Council’s Seal of Testing Assurance Program.
You can find EKO Compost at :
Maui EKO’s Plant
Central Maui Landfill - Pulehu Rd. Puunene
808-572-8844
Hawaii Grower Products
Maui , Lanai & Molokai : 808-877-6636
Big Island: 808-326-7555
Pacific Agricultural Sales & Service
Oahu & Kauai : 808-682-51 13
M a d e
O n
M a u i
to provide airflow.
C O M P O S T I N G
USC O U N C I L
Seal of Testing Assurance rubens.mauieko@gmail.com
Puunene, Maui

REVIEW
book
allows one to picture how the textures,
colors and sizes of plants combine in a
visually appealing garden. Substituting
tropical plants would be fairly simple for 18 LANDSCAPE HAWAII JUNE | JULY 2011 he water that runs off
roofs, driveways and other
hard surfaces in our landscape
is both a wasted resource and a
potential problem when it carries
soil, nutrients and other pollu-tion
to streams and coastal waters. This
colorful and readable how-to guide on
designing, constructing and maintaining
rain gardens provides a solution to urban
and residential runoff by focusing on the
use of that water in an attractive garden
feature. Rain gardens are being designed
and built across the country but are new
to Hawaii and this book written in non-technical
language and lavishly illustrated
is a good introduction for home garden-ers
and landscape designers. As stated by
the authors, “… a rain garden is designed
to capture rainfall flowing through
your yard (known as runoff), store that
water to nurture its plants, and cleanse
runoff, thus removing the pollution it
carries with it.” It’s informative, but
also presents rain gardens in a way
that gets you excited to build one.
Written by two North Carolina
State horticulturists, the book
focuses on environmental con-ditions
and plants appropriate
to the southeastern states, but
its usefulness extends beyond
southern gardens. The book pro-vides
details on soil assessment,
garden design and placing a rain
garden in a typical suburban
lot which can be applied to any
climate. While the plants listed and
described are mostly unfamiliar in Hawai-ian
gardens, the full color illustrations
REVIEW
Buying the Book
Soft cover:
7.5 x 9.25 inches, 144 pages
9 color plates, 127 images
Retail price:
$19.95 plus shipment
To order:
www.enopublishers.org./Site/
Rain_Gardening.html
To get a feel for the text and
beautiful illustrations see:
www.enopublishers.org/Site/
RG_pages.html
b y C a r l E v e n s e n an experience local gardener. Clearly and
simply described landscaping principles
can give gardeners and homeowners
insights into creating their own rain
gardens. The illustrations and plant lists
focus exclusively on ornamental gardens
using perennial plants and considerations
for edible plantings are not provided.
Readers are provided step by step
instructions on siting the garden (taking
into account slope, water flow and build-ings),
preparing the soil, selecting proper
combinations of plants (including shady
and sunny locations), and troubleshoot-ing
problems like drainage, excess runoff,
and dying plants. Photos of rain gardens
at planting time as well as several years
later are shown to illustrate how they
mature and fill in over time. One weak-ness
of the book is that the sizing of the
rain garden was presented in a rather
confusing way (with detailed calculations
or an optional table of sizes to capture an
inch of rain). Due to difference in soils in
Hawaii, a simple infiltration test should
be conducted to both pick the site and
size the garden. Also, the book did not
adequately discuss how to deal with ex-tremely
heavy rainfall and how to channel
excessive runoff safely. But for a simple
and beautiful presentation of the value,
design and care of rain gardens, this book
is a great introduction and a worthy addi-tion
to your library.
Carl Evensen, Associate Director of Exten-sion
at the University of Hawaii College of
Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources
and a member of the LICH Board of Directors.
Rain Gardening
in the South:
Ecologically Designed Gardens for
Drought, Deluge, and Everything in
Between.
By Helen Kraus and Anne Spafford
2009
Eno Publishers
Hillsborough, North Carolina
144p.

PROCLAMATION
t our October 2009
LICH conference, at
the Blaisdell, while still
LICH President, I called
for a new committee
to see what could be
done to improve water
conservation, especially in landscape uses,
for Hawaii. Several dedicated commit-tee
members stepped up, including Alan
Schildknecht, of Irrigation Consultants,
Mel Villoria of HISCO, Lanky Morrill of
DLNR, Cat Sawai of BWS, and Neal Fujii
of the State Water Commission.
We met every month and discussed
what could be done. I was especially
interested in finding ways to encourage
the use of simple but effective sensors
and new timers that automatically adjust
watering cycles to local weather condi-tions.
Others who came and participated
in the discussions included Richard
Quinn of Helber, Hastert & Fee, and Matt
Flach, the landscape architect for Pearl
Harbor, ands at the 2010 conference,
Elson Gushiken of Irrigation Technol-ogy
Corporation. We participated in the
County of Maui’s development of new
landscape codes. We provided text for a
possible Hawaii legislative resolution in
2010. After Chris Dacus came on board,
we surveyed LICH members and others,
created extensive lists of possible BMP’s
(best management practices), then ranked
them for ease of early adoption or im-portance
for eventual adoption. This list
was referred to in another, 2011, proposed
resolution for the Hawaii legislature.
Neither resolution went through, but
now, at President Chris Dacus’ request,
the Governor has officially proclaimed
July “LICH Water Conservation Month,”
a milestone in public recognition of our
conservation efforts. Also, and in part due
to these discussions, Neal Fujii conferred
with the State Water Commission and
the result is that this year a contract has
been let through the Corps of Engineers
to prepare a statewide Water Conserva-tion
Plan as called for in the 1978 Hawaii
Constitutional Convention.
In my own company we helped the Ke
Kumulani community retrofit to one of
the latest low-cost sets of conservation
tools: we installed flow sensors, master
valves, evapotranspiration (ET) sensor/
calculator units, and new timers capable
of interacting with these. Besides saving
water we saved a lot of customer grief:
formerly various minor mishaps or worn
out sprinkler heads would cause geysers
at night that would fall into residents’
yards down below, sometimes even enter-ing
homes through open windows. Now
the zone valve for the section with a gey-ser
is re-tested, then shut and bypassed,
when the excess flows from the geyser
occur and are confirmed, while
the timer contin-ues
to water the
rest of the zones.
The cost was
affordable and Ke
Kumulani’s Board
and management
has fewer after-hours
headaches,
while watering at
night for lowest
evaporation losses,
can continue.
Each of us can
find ways, in our
nurseries, through
the Natural Re-source
Conservation
Service, or in our
golf courses or land-scapes,
through our
irrigation suppliers,
to install water saving
equipment. When we
design a system, for
example, we can make
appropriate use of drip
irrigation, especially
for shrub or certain
groundcover plantings,
and low-flow efficient
stream-spray nozzles,
now newly more reli-able
and effective than
some of the earlier versions. Let’s all do
what we can to observe LICH Water Con-servation
Month in July 2011, and use our
normal landscape activities to further the
cause of water conservation, effectively
and systematically, in Hawaii.
Together we can make outdoor water
conservation something that is built into
our landscapes, not just the outcome of
often-disregarded rhetorical admonitions.
The day when a geyser along a roadside
has to be called in, again and again, to the
BWS trouble-call line, can come to an
end: the sensors & timer will do it for us!
Boyd Ready is the Vice President of the
Landscape Industry Council of Hawaii and
also Vice President, RME, Certified Arborist
of Akahi Services, Inc.
Governor Abercrombie proclaims July
LICH Irrigation Conservation Month

ICH members spent the
morning of March 30th
talking to legislators and
their staff promoting
the landscape profes-sion
during the annual
HFBF Agriculture Day at
the State Capitol. Every year the
Farm Bureau hosts Ag Day at the
capitol during legislative sessions.
It is the most popular event at the
Capitol every year as the top chefs
support their local farmers and
cook up a storm of ono delights.
The event featured many booths
with agriculture, related green
industries and government agen-cies.
For three hours the Capitol
is buzzing with activity.
The LICH booth gave away
over 330 native plants as hun-dreds
of legislative staff members
stopped by and talked story about
their landscapes. The landscape
industry really showed up and
made a great impression on our
policymakers. Plants really do
bring out the best in people.
The plants were propagated by
Lelan Nishek of Kauai Nursery
& Landscaping, Inc. and Rick
Barboza of Hui Ku Maoli Ola.
Leland brought native white
Hibiscus Kokio Keokeo (Hibiscus
arnottianus subsp. Arnottianus)
from Oahu and native red Hibis-
20 LANDSCAPE HAWAII JUNE | JULY 2011 AG DAY AT THE STATE CAPITOL
Landscape and green industries promoted at annual
event during legislative sessions on March 30
‘Uki‘uki plants with the LICH tag.
photo: Chris Dacus

photo: Matt Lyum photo: Matt Lyum
cus clayi found in the wild only at the
Sleeping Giant on Kaua‘i. Rick provided
‘Uki‘uki (Dianella sandwicensis), Poly-nesian
introduced ‘Uala or Kaneohe Red
Sweet Potato (Ipomoea batatas), and
Naio (Myoporum sandwicense).
It was a real team effort our members
and a lot of fun. Josh Sand from Foster
Botanical Gardens provided table cover-ings.
Josie Hoh from Waimea Valley
Hi’ipaka LLC beautifully decorated
the booth with cut flowers including
Heliconia, Ti leaf lei and Erythrina flow-ers.
Madeleine Shaw from Basic Office
Services created over 330 laminated plant
tags with the LICH logo and the web ad-dress.
Boyd Ready of Akahi Services Inc.,
Cat Sawai of Honolulu Board of Water
Supply and Matt Lyum of Performance
Landscape helped to attach to all the
plants.
A LICH delegation including Cat,
Boyd, Lelan and Chris visited the ten
Senators of the Energy & Environment
Committee and Public Safety, Govern-ment
Operations & Military Affairs
Committee promoting the Senate
Concurrent Resolution 12, promoting
the LICH irrigation water conservation
measures. The following week both
committees unanimously passed SCR12
making it to the cross over to the House
Committee for their review.
Chris Dacus is a Landscape Architect
and Arborist for the State of Hawaii
Department of Transportation and the
President of LICH.
The LICH Booth at Ag Day Josie Hoh, Cat Sawai,
Matt Lyum, Madeleine Shaw (Left to Right)
photo: Chris Dacus
Josie Hoh talking to Leslie Iseke of the Plant Quarantine branch of Hawaii Carl Evensen and Chris Dacus talking to a booth visitor.
Department of Agriculture

22 LANDSCAPE HAWAII JUNE | JULY 2011 LYON’S LASTING LEGACY
The effects of Dr. Harold L. Lyon vision
can still be felt by Hawai‘i’s horticulturist
and landscapers
story and photos: Chris Aguinaldo
Dr. Harold L. Lyon suggested to the
Hawai‘i Sugar Planters Association that
they donate their Mānoa Arboretum to
the University of Hawai‘i in 1953. When
they agreed, he became its director
while continuing his botanical research.

t’s like a green oasis on an increasingly
urban island, a mecca of serene beauty
and fruitful research over the last cen-tury.
It was a place that was near and dear
to Dr. Harold L. Lyon’s heart and is still
held in great regard by many green industry
professionals today.
We are, of course, talking about Foster Botanical
Garden in downtown Honolulu.
“Without him, there would be no Foster Gar-den,”
asserted Lyon’s friend and colleague Paul
Weissich. “That was the first link in the chain of
Hawai‘i’s botanic garden system.”
Today, that system, through Weissich’s work as
its longtime director, encompasses four additional
sites on O‘ahu — Ho‘omaluhia Botanical Garden,
Koko Crater Botanical Garden, Lili_uokalani
Botanical Garden and Wahiawa Botanical Garden,
each in its own unique climate. Those, in turn,
influenced the highly regarded National Tropical
Botanical Garden on Maui, Weissich said.
Weissich, of course, acknowledges the impact
of that other place named after Lyon, nestled in
Mānoa Valley, too.
The Lyon Arboretum still shines as a bastion of
tropical plants and flora, where samples of Lyon’s
acquired trees that helped to save Hawai‘i’s water-shed
can still be seen. But Weissich would like his
forward thinking friend to be equally credited for
the beginnings of our botanical gardens.
“It was his kernel of an idea to put several exist-ing
resources together — Foster Garden, what is
now Lyon Arboretum, the library at HSPA (Hawai‘i
Sugar Planters Association) and Bishop Museum —
to turn it into a cooperative group to create a huge
botanic garden system,” he said.
Weissich ran with that “kernel,” carrying on the
legacy of a man who he only knew for a brief time.
“I met him in 1950. He died in ’57.”
But that time made a lasting impression on him
and many working in Hawai‘i’s landscape — from
arborists to botanists to orchid growers to horti-culturists
and more.
“Lyon had an overall vision. He looked at the big
picture and was a living scientist, who influenced
Hawai‘i’s green industry,” said Heidi Bornhorst,
former director of the Honolulu Botanical Gar-dens,
horticulturist and landscape consultant.
“It was he who helped convince Mary Mikihala
Robinson Foster that if she wanted her garden
to be perpetuated, she should give it to the city
with an endowment and a caveat that it remain a
botanical garden in perpetuity,” she explained.
Yet it’s still his work as a plant pathologist for
HSPA, then heading the Department of Botany
and Forestation for the Territory of Hawai‘i, and
his time in Mānoa Valley, that are widely known —
and for good reason.
According to Lyon Arboretum records, in 1922,
Lyon became the head of the
124-acre tree experimental sta-tion
in Mānoa. Lyon noticed
that native plants could not
grow in the soil that was
trampled on by cattle.
For the next three decades,
he experimented with many
different introduced plants
to find ones that were suit-able
for reforestation, and
the goal of HSPA, of find-ing
trees suitable to build a
watershed, was achieved.
“Lyon went all over
the world to reforest
(Hawaii’s) barren areas,”
Weissich said.
Lyon suggested
to HSPA that
they donate their
Mānoa Arbore-tum
to the Uni-versity
of Hawai‘i
in 1953. When they
agreed, he became
its director while
continuing his bo-tanical
research.
After Lyon’s death,
the facility was re-named
in his honor.
And today, it’s still
carrying out vital
work, helping those
working in Hawaii’s
tropical landscape.
“My hope is that the
forests of Lyon Arbo-retum
and Botanical
Garden will continue to protect and
preserve our vulnerable water supply,”
said Karen Shigematsu, Lyon Arboretum
research associate, botanist and plant
record keeper. “Our growing O‘ahu popu-lation
needs reliable water and agriculture
to be sustainable. That was the original
goal of the founders of what was Mānoa
Arboretum, and then Lyon Arboretum, and
it is just as essential today as in the past.”
“The Arboretum’s forest restoration areas
and native Hawaiian plants offer opportuni-ties
for more research and understanding
of how all these things work together,” she
added.
“Hawaii’s green industry can, in fact, have
an active role in assisting the arboretum’s fill
See Lyon’s legacy on page 46
Courtesy : Lyon Arboretum
photo THE VOICE OF THE GREEN INDUSTRY LANDSCAPEHAWAII.ORG 23

24 LANDSCAPE HAWAII JUNE | JULY 2011 n DEVELOPING
Hawaii, Koa (Acacia koa) is a
valuable tree species economi-cally,
WILT RESISTANT KOA
ecologically, and culturally.
Koa’s natural distribution ranged
from lowland to montane areas
and dry to wet forests. As Hawaii’s
largest native tree, it provides
habitat for many native birds, insects and
plants, some of which are endangered
and is also the primary nitrogen fixing
species in native forest ecosystems. Koa is
Hawaii’s premier timber tree and is used
to produce furniture, musical instru-ments,
bowls, surfboards, and craft wood
items. Koa has deep cultural significance
to the native Hawaiians and was the focal
point of many traditional ceremonies.
The resurgence of interest in Hawaiian
voyaging and racing canoes using tradi-tional
methods has led to a greater public
awareness of the scarcity of trees suitable
for “canoe Koa” and the importance of
renewing this depleted resource.
With major land use change and
declines in sugarcane, pineapple, and
cattle production, there is an opportunity
and keen interest in utilizing native koa
in reforestation and restoration efforts.
However, moderate to high mortality
rates in many plantings have impeded
past efforts. Currently, many landown-ers/
managers are reluctant to reforest
story and photos: Nick Dudley
Ruptured vascular system with fermented sap.
with Koa in many eco-regions due to
high mortality rates. The primary cause
for this mortality is thought to be Koa
wilt, caused by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp.
koae (FOXY). F. oxysporum is a relatively
common agricultural and nursery soil-borne
fungus, but the origin of virulent
strains of FOXY infecting Koa in Hawaii
is unknown.
Identifying and developing Koa popula-tions

that are genetically resistant to
virulent strains of FOXY may be the key
to successful Koa restoration and refor-estation.
Great differences in mortality
among seed sources in young Koa field
trials planted in the 1990’s were the im-petus
for developing a seedling screening
test and investigating naturally occurring
genetic resistance to FOXY.
A state-wide survey was conducted
to determine distribution of Koa wilt/
dieback disease across the four main
Hawaiian Islands: Kauai, Maui, Oahu and
Hawaii. A total of 386 samples were taken
at 46 different sites covering approxi-mately
13,830 acres of natural and planted
Koa forest. Koa trees and seedlings
infected by F. oxysporum were found
on all of the major islands in forest tree
seedling nurseries, natural, and planta-tion
forests. From these samples more
than 500 isolates of F. oxysporum were
obtained. Of these, 160 isolates have been
tested for virulence on Koa seedlings in
controlled greenhouse inoculation tests.
From isolate screening tests, 12 highly
virulent isolates have been identified for
use in screening selected Koa families for
disease resistance.
Between 2006 and 2010, more than
250 Koa families were evaluated for their
potential FOXY resistance in greenhouse
tests. Most of the seed lots came from
wild populations. However, several seed
lots were from survivors of family level
progeny trials at the HARC’s Maunawili
Field Station. All seed lots were open-pollinated.
A composite of five virulent
isolates of FOXY were used for inocula-tion.
Seedling wilting and mortality in the
greenhouse was monitored over a 90 day
period for each test. Seedling mortality
among seed lots varied widely (4 to 100%)
and averaged 61.5%. These initial results
indicate that natural resistance to FOXY
is low within native Koa populations.
Continued screening of additional Koa
families for pathogen resistance, retesting
putative resistant families, and develop-ing
Koa seed orchards with disease-resis-tant
stock are either on-going or planned.
Specifically, this project will use
HARC’s methods to identify resistant
Koa seed sources for use in reforestation
and restoration. This will provide project
partners the opportunity to plant geneti-cally
adapted, eco-region specific, disease
resistant koa seedlings.
Nick Dudley is a Forester and manages
the Hawaii Agriculture Research Center
(HARC) Koa wilt resistance project.
Discolored branch of an infected koa.
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LICH’s Invasive
Species Initiative is
raising awareness
t’s been seven years since the
industry was first introduced
to the University of Hawaii
Weed Risk Assessment, a tool for
predicting the potential invasive-ness
of plants. In the beginning,
the green industry struggled with
the weed risk assessment, but a lot has
changed since 2004.
In 2006, the landscape industry started
an initiative to determine which poten-tially
invasive plants have greater risk
than benefit. The initiative included
broad outreach with numerous meetings
on all islands including the Hawaii Island
Landscape Association, Kauai Landscape
Industry Council, Maui Association of
Landscape Professionals, Oahu Nursery
Growers Association, The Outdoor Circle,
Hawaii Society of Urban Forestry, Aloha
Arborist Association, Hawaii Landscape &
Irrigation Contractors and the American
Society of Landscape Architects.
After three years of meetings and
lengthy discussion, the industry came
together and agreed that of the 168 plants
listed as potentially invasive, that 80%
would not be utilized. The Landscape In-dustry
Council of Hawaii Invasive Species
Guidelines and Invasive Plant List became
on effective May 1, 2009. The list and the
guidelines are online at www.landscape-hawaii.
org.
It’s now been two years and I am sure
many folks are wondering just how
successful is the implementation. Are
we walking the talk and what’s the next
steps? Well some preliminary statistics are
now available on a handful of landscape
nurseries from the Islands of Oahu and
Maui. We do not currently have statistics
for Kauai or the Big Island. This statis-tics
exclude national big box stores that
typically do not participate in our local
industry.
On the Island of Maui, botanists found
11 of 134 LICH invasive plants or 8% being
propagated and sold at local landscape
nurseries. The 11 LICH invasive plants
include: Asparagus setaceus, Cleroden-drum
quadriloculare, Cyperus involucra-tus,
Hedychium gardnerianum, Psidium
Hedychium gardnerianum
This fragrant and showy ginger from the Himalayas, with bird-dis-persed
seeds, is capable of invading the understory of intact native
rainforest and of preventing almost all native seedling recruitment with
its thick foliage and dense root masses.
See Report Card on page 47
REPORT
CARD: INVASIVE SPECIES INITIATIVE
photos: Forest & Kim Starr

CYATHEA COOPERI
The fast-growing Australian tree fern
spreads high into native watersheds
via millions of wind-dispersed spores,
forming dense thickets that eliminate
understory plants and mosses needed
to capture and slowly release rainfall.
LANTANA CAMARA
Listed as one of the World’s 100 Worst
Invasive Alien Species by the IUCN (In-ternational
Union for the Conservation
of Nature), this bird-dispersed thorny
neotropical shrub can invade and form
dense thickets in native forests and
pastures, crowding out native and
other desirable plants and poisoning
livestock with its leaves and seeds.
SCHEFFLERA ACTINOPHYLLA
This is a fast-growing Australian tree with bird-dispersed seeds
that forms dense stands in lowland forests and crowds out other
vegetation, including rare and endangered plants.
TIBOUCHINA URVILLEANA
This Brazilian ornamental shrub has invaded native rain forests
on Kauai, Oahu, Maui and Hawaii, forming large, dense monotypic
stands to 16 ft (5 m) in height by vigorous vegetative reproduction.
CLERODENDRUM QUADRILOCULARE
A tropical shrub from the Philippines that spreads by both seeds
and root suckers and has formed dense thickets in the forest
understory on Pohnpei, Guam, similar to habitat found in the
Hawaiian Islands.

See Compost on page 45
MOTHER
NATURE’S RECIPE photos: Liana Bisch
he Forest Floor. Decom-position.
Green, lush trees
and plants. The fallen leaves
make the ground layer of the
rainforest. Although it is often
a dark and humid place with
almost constant shade, the forest floor is
an important and vital part of the forest
ecosystem.
How does the concept of the forest
floor relate to our landscaping and nurs-ery
practices, you ask? Implementing the
use of compost is much like that of the
forest floor. Compost supplies beneficial
microorganisms to the soil, it supplies a
variety of macro and micro nutrients, and
it also supplies significant quantities of
organic matter.
In Hawaii, we are challenged with very
over-farmed soils that are usually very
low in organic matter, making them hard
packed, low in nutrients, and hard to
use. Plants need food; and most chemical
fertilizers are not able to supply complete
plant nutrition…that is why the use of
compost is much like the theory of the
forest floor.
Composting is derived through a
natural biological process that accelerates
the breakdown of waste materials. This
biological process of composting is the
transformation of organic material with
the help of invertebrates (insects & earth-worms)
and microorganisms (bacteria &
fungi). This works best when moisture
and oxygen levels are maintained. This
accelerated, aerobic (oxygen rich) process
naturally generates heat which must be
monitored and controlled; these high
temperatures also sanitize the finished

IRRIGATION SYSTEM CHECK UP
s we head into the dry
summer season, it is
absolutely essential
that a complete check
of your or your client’s
irrigation system be
among your top prior-ities.
The worst thing you can do for your
landscape is to wait until the last minute
when you need the system operating to
find you have problems.
Scheduling a thorough inspection and
run-through of irrigation systems in
advance of when needed will save time,
money and headaches associated with
malfunctions.
Recommended Irrigation
Check List
n Is the controller working properly?
An unresponsive controller may be an
indicator of damaged components or
improper voltage required to perform
successfully. If your controller should be
operating at 120 volts, and a simple
check if it’s operating at an over
or under voltage condition
which will cause harm
to the controller.
On larger
systems, check the communications
between the controller and the central
control system computer to make sure
everything is communicating properly.
n Check each zone. Valve wiring are
generally the first function of the control-ler
system to malfunction. Typically these
failures are caused when a wire from the
controller to the control valve is broken
or has a poor splice. However, even a nick
can cause a system which had been work-ing,
to fail when the soil dries out.
Having the proper tools on hand to
assist you in locating wire issues will help
save time and reduce labor. The follow-ing
are essential items for your irrigation
toolbox:
n Voltmeter. A voltmeter is a tool used
to measure voltage. If a particular valve is
not coming on, check to see if you have
the proper voltage to the rotor or valve.
n Clamp-on Amp Meter. An amp
meter measures current flow in amperes
through a wire. It can isolate a specific
wire in a bundle that may be causing the
problem, or possibly rule out wires and
solenoids that are functioning, meaning it
could be a hydraulic issue at the rotor or
valve itself. It can also detect if a solenoid
is drawing above the normal amperage
load and in need of replacement before
damaging controller components due to
overstress.
n Wire locator. A wire locator is
a tool used to help you quickly
locate a wire path/run.
This tool can save a lot of time and ag-gravation
if another project is going on in
the area and wires and pipe needed to be
avoided. This is also a great partner tool
to be used with a Pulser and A-frame.
n Pulser and A-Frame. This tool is
wonderful in finding breaks or nicks in
wires that can cause low voltage in wire
runs, and can find a bad spot in a wire
down to the inch — avoiding unnecessary
guessing and replacement of entire wire
runs.
n Sprinkler adjustments. Make sure
each sprinkler is properly adjusted to
irrigate the intended area and that the
nozzles are not clogged or missing.
Consider replacing older low-efficiency
nozzles with more efficient nozzles which
are available today. If you do this how-ever,
change out the entire circuit not just
one or two sprinklers as they may have
slightly different precipitation rates. Most
older spray nozzles from 5 years ago oper-ate
at 45 to 60% efficiency where some of
the newer sprinklers can operate in the 75
to 80+% efficiency range today.
When the sprinkler is popping up, is
there too much flow-by from around the
stem indicating a wiper seal needs to be
replaced or debris is inside the sprinkler
body.
n Piping system. Check for leaks or
wet areas after you’ve run the
system to make sure
See Check Up on page 47

NATIVE PLANT
INITIATIVE
LICH LAUNCHES A
COMPREHENSIVE
10 YEAR PLAN TO
REVERSE DECLINE
30 LANDSCAPE HAWAII JUNE | JULY 2011 ormed in 2006, the
LICH foundation has
provided educational, pro-fessional
development and
advocacy for LICH and has been
instrumental in the development
of industry advancements. In just
five years, the LICH Foundation has tack-led
three core sustainability initiatives;
LICH Invasive Species List & Guidelines,
LICH Irrigation Water Conservation and
now the LICH Native Plant Initiative.
The Landscape Industry Council of
Hawaii Native Plant Initiative is an in-novative
10 year strategy that seeks to
reverse the decline of native plants by
promoting the use of native plants in
their original range of distribution and
One of the many expeditions. (left to right: Amy Tsuneyoshi,
David Orr, Josie Hoh, Joel Lau, Andy Williams, Steven Connolly,
Chris Dacus, Leland Miyano and Jeff Preble)
within 30 years to increase native plants
in the built environment from less than
1% today to 30%.
The LICH NPI strategy includes four
core goals:
1. Increase native plant selection
and supply
2. Foster environmental responsibility
3. Create greater awareness
4. Nurture future green stewards
Each goal includes measurable objec-tives
and desired outcomes. The four
goals include a total of 69 objectives. The
objectives include such items as develop-ing
popular native propagules, publish-ing
comprehensive technical resources,
establishing visible native exhibition gar-dens,
develop a native plant ‘Buy Local’
cooperative retail program, and nurture
tomorrow’s green stewards.
The LICH Native Plant Initiative (NPI)
perfectly compliments existing conserva-tion
efforts occurring in Hawaii’s forests
by addressing the source of invasive
photos: Richard Quinn
plants which is in the built environment.
The built environment currently acts as
land that invasive species pass through
to get to the natural areas but could be
a buffer. To some extent, native plants
has been used by the landscape industry
but when you think about it only a select
group of ‘bulletproof’ native plants is
utilized; ten or less. The LICH NPI will
expand the selection, knowledge and
guidelines for propagation and proper
usage. The LICH NPI first ten years is
projected to cost $52 million.
To get started we brought together a
diverse set of leading professionals from
the landscape industry, conservation,
forestry, agricultural, government, educa-tion
and science. This group is a core of
individuals that have unique expertise
and a strong commitment. Team mem-bers
include Rick Barboza of Hui Ku
Maoli Ola, Heidi Bornhorst, Susan Ching
of DLNR, Carl Evensen of UH CTAHR,
Josie Hoh of Waimea Valley Hi‘ipaka, Liz
Huppman, Nellie Sugii & Steven Con-nolly
of Lyon Arboretum, Josh Sand of

the C&C Honolulu Botanical Gardens,
Joel Lau, Ken Leonhardt of UH CTAHR,
Richard Quinn of Helber Hastert & Fee,
Leland Miyano, Garrett Webb of Hawai-ian
Islands Palm Society, Amy Tsuneyo-shi
of HBWS, Jeff Preble of Hawaiian
Botanical Society, Jane Beachy of U.S.
Army Environmental, Adam Williams of
Koolau Mountain Watershed Partnership
and Chris Dacus of LICH.
Not waiting for funding; the task force
began with a pilot project for one of the
69 objectives - developing popular native
propagules; to show future funders the
breadth of expertise, dedication, inno-vation
and collaboration of the LICH
NPI. The task force developed a collec-tion
strategy and chose Oahu’s iconic
Pritchardia species - Pritchardia martii,
P. kahukuensis, and P. Bakeri. Two of
Oahu’s Pritchardia, P. Lowyerana and
P. Kaalae require additional measures
due to their extremely low numbers in
the wild and efforts for these two will be
explored at a later date. The low recruit-ment
of all Pritchardia in Hawaii is due
to rats eating pretty much all the mature
seeds. Very few new recruitments are
found for any Pritchardia.
With the collection strategy developed
the LICH NPI met and developed an
outline for a comprehensive approach
for the use of native plants in their
original range of distribution utilizing
Oahu’s Pritchardia species as the pilot.
The strategy includes protecting wild
plant populations (in situ) by developing
built environment plantings (ex situ) of
known lineage that are well curated in an
appropriate locations to ensure genetic
biodiversity. It also includes promoting
needed research and guidance for plant-ings
in the built environment.
The following components are includ-ed
in the pilot project:
• Research Compilation
• Research
• Collection Techniques & Curation
• Protection of In Situ populations
• Propagation
• Industry Standards & Guidelines
• Distribution
• Ex Situ sites on publicly
accessible lands
• Education and Advocacy
• Ex Situ plantings maintenance
With the collection and pilot strategy
developed, the task force shared its vision
with DLNR and after numerous meetings
the LICH NPI obtained a collection per-mit.
Rick Barboza and Leland Miyano at a Pritchardia martii.
For the past 3 months, a dedicated,
experienced and fun group of collectors
have been pioneering the collection
effort. Each has been carefully planned
and has been a true team effort and a real
adventure into beautiful wild portions
of the Ko‘olaus. Every trip the collection
team improves.
After each expedition, the collection
is curated with the LICH NPI database
modelled after the Hawaii Rare Plant
Restoration Group Rare Plant Forms. The
collection progress has been slow but
encouraging with the effort on sched-ule
to meet it’s collection goals of seeds
for propagation and tissue samples for
research purposes.
Concurrently, the task force has been
working to identify and fund the research
needed to support the LICH NPI. Exten-sive
research is needed to understand
if and which native Pritchardia cross
pollinate to prevent cross pollination and
homogenization of distinct Pritchardia.
Research is also needed on the flower
biology and propagation techniques.
While the research is a long term project
the outcomes are critical.
Presentations on the LICH NPI will be
made to the broader conservation and
landscape industry this summer and fall.
A forum with discussion will be held at
the Hawaii Conservation Conference
2011 and a similar presentation for the
LICH 2011 Annual Conference.
Work has also begun on develop-ing
industry Pritchardia standards and
guidelines. These will include concise
guidelines for identification, propagation,
biodiversity, original range of distribu-
tion. proper use of each species, land-scape
maintenance, and curation.
The immediate goal after collection is
completed is to propagate 500 one gallon
potted O’ahu Pritchardia for distribution
in the Summer of 2012. Distribution will
be prioritized to botanical gardens for
preservation and education purposes and
to publicly accessible sites (ex situ) for
perpetual seed collection which should
help to minimize illegal wild collecting.
After these two, it will be provided to
conservation for out plantings (in situ)
and also to the landscape industry as seed
stock. For the first time, certifiable one
gallon Pritchardia stock will be available.
Publicly accessible sites will be grow-ing
an appropriate diverse genetic set of
Pritchardia found in that locale. And you
will be able to visit these sites in approxi-mately
5 years and collect seed for your
nursery seed stock.
There will be a distribution to indus-try
at a LICH NPI Pritchardia workshop
which will include presentations on the
Pritchardia standards & guidelines and
nursery curation. Participants will receive
select certified Pritchardia. An announce-ment
will be included in a future issue.
The LICH NPI and its partners will
continue to maintain and monitor these
publicly accessible planting sites (ex situ).
Management will include rat population
control to ensure to maximize seed col-lection.
This initiative has been inspiring, col-laborative,
innovative and inclusive. It
demonstrates how allied professionals
See Initiative on page 47

A Hawaiian Rain Garden Māla Ua:
32 LANDSCAPE HAWAII JUNE | JULY 2011 t one time, rainfall
percolated into our
island aquifers or
flowed relatively
clean into nearby
water bodies as
part of the water cycle. As our lands
have become developed, the installation
of impervious surfaces, which prevent
runoff from infiltrating into the ground,
has changed the way water interacts with
the environment. As a result, less water
is reaching our aquifers and an increased
amount of polluted storm water is reach-ing
our streams and ocean.
Following rain, storm water picks up
pollutants such as fertilizers, trash, and
sediment carrying these to storm drains
which empty directly into our streams
and near shore marine environments.
Hui o Ko‘olaupoko (HOK) is working to
address these issues by installing rain
Rain garden at He’eia State Park.
photo: Kristen Mailheau

LARGEST NURSERY SELECTION ON KAUAI
60,000 SF Greenhouses 150 Acres of Plants & Material
3-1550 Kaumualii Hwy
Lihue, Kauai
HI 96766
CERTIFIED EXPORT NURSERY
INTERISLAND SHIPPING
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
& DESIGN/BUILD
RESORT, COMMERCIAL
& RESIDENTIAL
INSTALLATION / MAINTENANCE
CERTIFIED LANDSCAPE TECHNICIANS
ARBORISTS
IRRIGATION DESIGN
INSTALLATION/REPAIR
gardens and other low-impact retrofits
throughout Ko’olaupoko.
A rain garden is a shallow, flat-bottom
garden bed designed to serve as a collec-tion
and treatment site for storm water
runoff from rooftops, driveways, walk-ways,
streets, or parking lots. Through the
process of infiltration and phytoremedia-tion,
rain gardens can remove pollutants
from runoff before water recharges aqui-fers
or flows into our streams and ocean.
On March 25, 2011, a demonstration
rain garden was constructed at He‘eia
State Park as a joint effort between HOK,
Kama‘āina Kids, University of Hawai‘i Sea
Grant Program and Oregon State Univer-sity
Sea Grant Program. With the help of
a number of volunteers, the rain garden
was constructed and planted in just one
day. The site is open to the public and
was constructed to provide an example
what rain gardens look like and how they
function.
There are several factors that need
to be addressed before a rain garden
is installed. Typically, a rain garden is
sized so it is between 10 and 20% of the
impervious surface you are treating and
between 6 to 24 inches deep. The size will
depend on the area’s rainfall regime and
soil conditions. Additionally, rain gardens
should be placed in areas with well drain-ing
soil so water drains within 48 hours to
prevent mosquito breeding.
Plants installed in the garden should
be chosen according to the climate of the
region but also according to their abil-ity
to withstand periods of drought and
inundation. Plants in the basin of the rain
garden and near the inflow point should
be water loving as they will be wet for
the longest periods of time. Plants on the
slope should be water tolerant and have
deep or sprawling root system to help
hold soils in place. Plants on the berm
should also have sprawling growth char-acteristics
to hold the edges of the garden
intact, but these plants should be slightly
more drought tolerant. During the period
before the rain garden’s plants are mature,
maintenance will consist of occasional
Volunteers installing rain garden.
Diagram: Cross section of rain garden
watering, weeding and replacing dead
vegetation.
HOK is developing the State of Hawai‘i
Rain Garden Manual for homeowners and
landscape professionals to use as a guide
when installing rain gardens. HOK is
funded under an EPA and State of Hawaii,
Polluted Control Runoff 319 Grant to de-velop
the Manual as well as the installation
of several rain gardens in Ko‘olaupoko. The
program is a cost share for landowners to
encourage them to install rain gardens to
project streams and oceans. Manual is due
for completion in early 2012.
For more information about Hui o
Ko‘olaupoko visit www.huihawaii.org
and for photos of the He‘eia State Park
rain garden installation visit http://www.
facebook.com/huiokoolaupoko
Kristen Nalani Mailheau is the Commu-nity
Coordinator for Hui o Ko’olaupoko
LIC.ABC-10825
808-245-7747
Mon. - Fri. 7:30-5 / Sat. 7:30-4
WEB: www.kauainursery.com
MAIL: knl@kauanursery.com
Toll Free: 888-345-7747 Fax: 808-245-9289

photo: Lester Inouye Kawananakoa Middle School principal, Sandy Ishihara-Shibata (left) wields an o‘o to plant an ohia lehua tree while
Prince Kawananakoa (middle), and Alapaki Luke (right) wait their turns.
PLANTING
WITH A GRANT
PROJECT
AND COMMUNITY
LEADERS HELP
KAWANANAKOA
NATIVE TREE
MIDDLE SCHOOL
HAS 24 NEW NATIVE
TREES ON CAMPUS
hanks to a grant from Kaulu-nani
attended lectures about the importance
of Urban Forestry (Stan Oka and
Urban & Community
of trees and training on how to plant
Brandon Au), during the three weeks
Forestry Program and the
trees given by industry leaders from
prior to the tree planting. Those same
efforts of Lester Inouye and
Landscape Industry Council of Hawaii
industry leaders were there along with
Drew Braley of Lester Inouye &
(Chris Dacus), The Outdoor Circle (Mary
Lester Inouye to guide the students as
Associates, Kawananakoa Middle
Steiner), American Society of Landscape
they planted the trees, assisted by over a
School now has 24 new native trees
Architects Hawaii Chapter (Dr. Andy
dozen volunteers from Hawaiian Electric
growing on campus.
Kaufman and Drew Braley), Kaulunani
Company. In addition, Green Thumb,
“This has really been a huge coordina-tion
Urban and Community Forestry Pro-gram
Inc. provided men, materials, and equip-ment
effort between us and the school,”
(Jackie Ralya and Teresa Trueman-
to assist with the planting and
Lester commented, “but I have to say, I’m
Madriaga), the nursery industry (Rick
Kona Irrigation donated the irrigation
very happy with the results.”
Barboza), Aloha Arborist Association
equipment.
The entire student body (880 students)
(Steve Nimz and Carol Kwan), and the
of sixth, seventh, and eighth graders
City and County of Honolulu’s Divi-sion
See Planting Project on page 44 34 LANDSCAPE HAWAII JUNE | JULY 2011

LICH president, Chris Dacus (right), supervises students moving the tree to the planting hole.
photo: Lester Inouye
photo: Lester Inouye photo: Carol Kwan
Dr. Andy Kaufman (left) and students work to get their tree
out of the container.
Steve Nimz (left) gives students tips on how to shovel as
they backfill around the tree.

LANDSCAPE INDUSRTY
CERTIFICATION PROGRAM INFO
ICH administers the national
PLANET certification (CLT)
program in Hawaii. LICH of-fers
four CLT-E certifica-tions
are offered: Turf
Maintenance, Ornamen-tal
Maintenance, Soft-scape
Installation, & Irrigation.
Visit the LICH website at www.land-scapehawaii.
org for a complete listing of
CLT landscape professionals in Hawaii.
BENEFITS OF
CERTIFICATION
n Certified employees are required for
all State DOT roadside landscape mainte-nance
contracts
n A sense of personal achievement
n Increased professional credibility,
respect & recognition in the industry
n 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 individ-uals
are to understand and accommodate
changes in the green industry. Therefore,
to retain PLANET certifications, individu-als
must accumulate 24 CEUs every two
years and submit a completed Continuing
Education Units (CEU) Submission Form
to the PLANET office by the end of their
recertification period. A PLANET wallet
card issued to each CLT upon certifica-tion
containing the “Recertification
Required BY Date” which indicates when
the completed recertification form is due
to PLANET with a $75 recertification fee.
It is the responsibility of the CLT land-scape
professional to collect documenta-tion,
record and submit the recertifica-tion
forms to PLANET by the due date.
Failure to submit a timely recertification
form will result in losing the CLT certi-fication.
PLANET only requires that the
completed Continuing Education Units
(CEU) Submission Form be submitted for
recertification, along with the Recertifica-tion
fee. However, certified individuals
must keep a file of their CEU documenta-tion
because a percentage of forms will be
audited each year.
CEUs can be earned in both Education-al
and Service categories. For complete
information visit the PLANET web site at
http://www.landcarenetwork.org/certi-fication/
recertification.cfm. A total of 24
CEUs must be earned over the two year
cycle. These can be all in the Education
Category or may include up to 8 CEUs in
the Service Category.
The most common
ways to earn CEUs
in the Education
Category
Documentation necessary to collect
and record for Education units includes
event brochure or program and proof of
registration; certificates issued; and book
report for articles you read.
Educ 1 earn 1 CEU per hour
of instruction
This includes educational classes in
green industry related subjects at confer-

FARM CREDIT
ences, seminars & workshops presented
by green industry associations. Examples
are the annual LICH Conference, CPS
seminars, arborist workshops, CLT train-ing
classes or pre-approved in-house
training programs conducted by your
employer.
Educ 2 earn 15 CEUs per credit hour
Completion of College course work or
on-line college distance learning in busi-ness
management or horticulture only
of instruction
Completion of education supporting
green industry license or renewal – pesti-cide
applicator or contractor license
Educ 4 earn 8 CEUs per new
certification
Successful completion of additional
PLANET CLT certification
Reading and reporting on articles
in green industry magazines, books &
journals
Reports are entered on special Book Re-port
forms and submitted with all other
recertification documentation
The most common
ways to earn CEUs
in the Service
Category
Documentation necessary to collect
and record for Service Category includes
certificate issued by LICH for judges and
judge technical advisor (JTA); Official
roaster of committee members; and
speaking documentation form.
Serv 1 earn 0.5 CEUs per hour on site
Serve as judge, JTA or other of-ficial
capacity at the CLT exam
on test day
Serv 2 earn 0.5 CEUs
per hour
Serve on board or com-mittee
for green industry
organization
Serv 3 earn 0.5 CEUs
per hour on site
Serve as ICC Evaluator to a CLT
exam on set up and test day
Serv 4 earn 1 CEU per hour
Teaching or presenting at schools,
conferences workshops or other
green industry programs.
Oahu Landscape
Training
CLT Training Classes begin June 29
on Oahu at the Urban Garden Center in
Pearl City
Landscape Maintenance classes will be
held Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday from
5:00 pm to 8:30 pm from
June 29th to July 28th.
Advanced Irrigation School will be held
Friday & Saturday July 29 & 30 from 8:00
am to 4:00 pm
Download registration forms at
www.landscapehawaii.org
Jay Deputy is the state administrator
for the Certified Landscape Technician
program and a member of the LICH Board
of Directors.

photo: he ‘Iliahi tree (Sandal-wood)
nourishment from the host (or multiple
is a remarkable,
hosts). That would seem like a big disad-vantage
valuable, and fascinating plant
for the host plant, but the reality
that can play a vital role in na-tive
is more complex and there may be shared
landscapes.
benefits. It could be that ‘Iliahi was an es-sential
‘Iliahi trees (Santalum spp.)
part of the mesic forests of Hawaii
are hemi-parasitic and require
as a unifying element helping to balance
a host plant to help them grow. Their
resources.
shallow roots graft onto roots of other
Four species of Sandalwood are listed as
plants through a sucker-like organ called
endemic to Hawaii, including Santalum
haustoria which enable them to take
ellipticum, S. freycinetianum, S. haleaka-lae,
38 LANDSCAPE HAWAII JUNE | JULY 2011 Forest & Kim Starr
and S. paniculatum. ‘Iliahi has few in-sect
pests, is drought tolerant (particularly
S. ellipticum), has attractive reddish new
leaves and flowers (particularly S. freyci-netianum),
and has a slow to moderate
growth rate with ultimate height varying
between species and planting locations.
Historic records and other evidence
shows that ‘Iliahi was a common me-sic
forest plant on all the main Hawaii
islands from sea level to about 8,000 ft
‘ILIAHI THE FOREST
MEDIATOR photo: Richard Quinn

elevation, particularly on leeward and
dryer slopes, but in wetter areas as well.
Populations of ‘Iliahi had been decimated
by clearing for agriculture, demand for
fire wood, the voracious appetite of cattle
and goats, decline of pollinators, and
from seed predation by rats. But certainly
the most devastating effect on ‘Iliahi was
the Sandalwood trade of the 1800’s, which
resulted in immense quantities of the
trees being cut for trade to China.
Research with tropical Sandalwood
species has shown that nitrogen-fixing
legumes tend to make the best hosts. This
indicates that native plants such as ‘Ohai,
Maiapilo, Wiliwili, and Koa might be good
candidates for bonding, although some
growers in Hawaii have found that just
about any shrub or tree species will do.
The uptake of nutrients from the host
plant is very selective, meaning that ‘Iliahi
only takes what it needs and apparently
reduces its uptake if the host plant is
overly stressed. It might also be possible
that a host plant can get some nutrients
and moisture from ‘Iliahi, in a reverse
flow. Research has been directed at what
hemi-parasitic plants take from their
hosts, but very little is known about how
the host plants or surrounding ecosystem
might be benefiting from hemi-parasitic
plants. For example, can ‘Iliahi transfer
fluids and nutrients from a deep rooted
Koa tree to a nearby shallow rooted Lama
tree seedling that it is also attached to?
The synergistic relationship between host
and parasite and the implications of to a
forest community is an important topic
needing additional research and verifica-tion.
Even if there is not a transfer of nu-trients
from one host to another host,
‘Iliahi might still be helping its neighbor-ing
plants in subtle ways. Nitrogen fixing
legumes like Koa and Wiliwili would have
a distinct advantage in any plant com-munity
as they can out compete rival
plants that cannot fix nitrogen. Research-ers
have suggested that a beneficial role
of hemi-parasitic plants like ‘Iliahi is to
help maintain species diversity in a forest
community by reducing the competitive
advantage of nitrogen fixing legumes by
“relieving” them of some of their bounty
thus reducing their vigor and enabling
other plants to better compete. Also,
perhaps ‘Iliahi can help attract pollinators
and seed dispersers that can be of benefit
to the host plants, for example by helping
to support a more diverse bird population.
To grow ‘Iliahi from seed, recommen-dations
vary and include de-pulping the
seed, nicking the seed coat and soaking in
water, or treating with 0.05 percent gib-berellic
acid. Hui Ku Maoli Ola, a native
plant nursery on Oahu, reports good suc-cess
with S. ellipticum by planting fresh
untreated seed directly in a sterile potting
mix, with germination within a month
or two. Research from the University of
photo courtesy: Richard Quinn
Hawaii has shown that adding chelated
iron can help significantly for the success-ful
growth of ‘Iliahi in containers.
Richard Quinn, ASLA is a landscape
architect at Helber Hastert & Fee and a
member of the LICH Board of Directors.
The author inspecting an ‘Iliahi.

RESEARCH SUPPORTS KEEPING IT
LOCAL!
USING NATIVE HAWAIIAN PLANTS
IN LANDSCAPING WILL PROMOTE
AWARENESS AND CREATE NEW
DEPOSITS OF NATIVE FLORA
lant local! We know there’s debate about how
strongly native Hawaiian species like ‘Ohi‘a lehua
should be emphasized in local landscaping proj-ects.
Often plants are chosen based on availability,
popularity, ease of growth and economics. Here’s
another consideration that hits closer to home. Hawaii’s na-tive
plants face a multitude of threats in their natural envi-ronments
(fueling our infamous title of “endangered species
capitol of the world”). Use of native species in landscaping
efforts will not only showcase and promote an aware-ness
of the unique beauty of Hawaiian flora, but done
wisely can also create “repositories” of genetic stock.
However, given the findings of our research and
related studies on the evolution and biogeogra-phy
of Hawaii’s flora, we strongly urge the land-scape
industry to keep native species as local
to their source as possible and leave genetic
introductions to conservation managers.
Hawai‘i is an unprecedented natural
laboratory for experiments in local adap-tation
and speciation (the emergence of
new species from existing ones), drawing
scientists from all over the globe to study
its flora and fauna. The islands are the
most geographically isolated archipelago in
the world and support a surprising diver-sity
of environments; Hawai‘i Island alone
encompasses eleven of the world’s thirteen
climate zones according to one classification
system. The islands boast over a thousand na-tive
plant species that derive from an estimated
263 unlikely, accidental colonists. These colonists
traversed the Pacific by wind, sea, or bird within
the past several million years. Plants that managed to
establish multiple populations and spread to new areas
found themselves in a range of environments and some-times
even isolated on new islands. Exposure over thousands of
generations to Hawaii’s diverse environments, along with isolation
photos: Forest & Kim Starr

of populations on separate islands, have
shaped the morphological and genetic
diversity that we see today in Hawaii’s
native plants.
‘Ohi‘a lehua (Metrosideros polymorpha)
is Hawaii’s most abundant and variable
tree and a striking example of diversifica-tion
within and among islands. While
variation in the lehua flower color is what
most people notice, the more impor-tant
variation within this species is in
its vegetative and ecological characters.
‘Ohi‘a is actually a member of a larger
group, Hawaiian Metrosideros. According
to Diana Percy and colleagues, Metro-sideros
arrived in the Hawaiian Islands
very roughly four million years ago on
the island of Kaua‘i. Over its roughly
4-million-year history in Hawai‘i, Metro-sideros
has colonized every high island
and diversified into five named species,
including the hypervariable ‘ohi‘a lehua.
The eight varieties of ‘ohi‘a lehua differ
in their vegetative characters, and they
specialize in different habitats. Many are
single-island endemics (occurring on
only one island), while a few have broader
distributions. Collectively, the ecologi-cal
amplitude of these varieties helps to
explain why ‘ohi‘a can be found in bogs
and deserts, new lava flows and old for-ests,
and in a continuous stretch from the
Puna coastline to 8,100 feet on Hawai‘i
Island. Because of its diversity, ‘ohi‘a is an
excellent model for those of us who are
trying to understand precisely how a di-verse
environment can drive new species
to emerge from an existing one.
Our lab group at the University of
Hawai‘i Hilo has been using ‘ohi‘a to
try to understand how speciation hap-pens,
how long it takes, and what genetic
changes are involved. Our work ranges
from tests of reproductive barriers (such
as flowering time variation, pollen tube
or embryo rejection, or hybrid inviability
or infertility), to studies of morphological
and genetic variation among populations.
Our studies began with a test of cross-fer-tility
between the two most common va-rieties
at middle elevation on east Hawai‘i
Island. We wanted to know what barriers,
if any, existed between the successional
varieties, var. incana (colonizer of new
lava flows with hairy leaves) and var.
glaberrima (dominant on old substrates
with naked leaves). We quickly discovered
we were in a hybrid zone with abundant
first-generation, and apparently less
common second-generation hybrids. We
found that hybridizing these two varieties
is easily done, which was not surprising
given the high frequency of first-genera-tion
hybrids at the study site. Our results
also revealed, however, that these hybrids,
especially the second-generation hybrids,
had reduced fertility. These hybrids
would not make good seed (or pollen)
trees in forest restoration program! The
late-acting reproductive isolation we
observed between these two varieties of
‘ohi‘a indicates that they are significantly
genetically diverged from each other and
part way along the speciation process. In
a more recent greenhouse study of the
seedling ecology of these two varieties,
graduate student Keenan Morrison dem-onstrated
differences not only between
varieties in their responses to different
levels of light and soil nitrogen, but also
among same-variety populations taken
from different elevations on east Hawai‘i
Island. For example, seedling mortality
in response to light and nitrogen actually
flip-flopped between two populations
separated by just 500 feet of elevation.
These results are highly consistent with
other observations that identify elevation
as a major driver of differentiation within
Metrosideros. Taken together, these ob-servations
at both the adult and seedling
stages indicate clearly that these two
common varieties harbor a tremendous
amount of functional genetic variation
within just windward Hawai‘i Island. This
photo: Jennifer Johansen
does not begin to consider the variation
within populations on the older islands of
Maui, Lana‘i, Moloka‘i, O‘ahu, and Kaua‘i,
where these two varieties are also found.
Importantly, these are the varieties being
sold for landscaping throughout Hawai‘i!
We’re just beginning to uncover the
mysteries of this dominant species and
its cousins, but all the signs we have to
date indicate that local adaptation within
Hawaii’s diverse landscape has played a
significant role in the diversification of
this group. By working with our environ-ment
and keeping native species local to
their source, the landscape industry will
help prevent homogenization of native
species. So, just as we know it’s good for
our health and the environment to “eat
local,” it’s clearly just as important to
“grow local and plant local!” Let’s work
together to landscape Hawai‘i natively
and wisely!
Elizabeth Stacy is an Associate Professor
of Biology and Tropical Conservation Biol-ogy
and Environmental Science at the Uni-versity
of Hawai‘i Hilo; Jennifer Johansen is
Field Technician at UH Hilo and Founder
of Ho‘oulu Lehua “inspiring growth in the
native forests and youth of Hawai‘i”. Lab
website: http://www2.hawaii.edu/~estacy/
index.html
Metrosideros polymorpha variety incana (left), glaberrima (center), and hybrid
(right).

BIOSECURITY Legislators SUPPORT BETTER
LAWMAKERS
PASS TWO BILLS
THAT WORK TO
STRENGTHEN
BIOSECURITY
awai‘i Depart-ment
of Agriculture
(HDOA) continues
to work towards
implementing their
new Biosecurity
program, including
building joint federal-state inspection
facilities at each port. It is clear what
a difference properly planned and
staffed inspection facilities can
make. Between July 1 and Decem-ber
31, 2010 there were just 87
pest interceptions at Honolulu
International Airport. During
that same time period at the new
Kahului Airport inspection facility,
inspectors made 639 pest intercep-tions,
despite receiving less than
5% of the goods that Honolulu
receives (federal funding supports
some inspectors at Kahului, thus
inspection capacity has been less
impacted by state cutbacks).
Legislators again showed their
support of the Biosecurity
program with
the pas-
photo courtesy: HAWAII.GOV
inspectors would have lost their jobs in
May 2012. Instead, HDOA can begin re-building
the program by hiring additional
inspectors.
Christy Martin is the Public Informa-tion
Officer for the statewide Coordinating
Group on Alien Pest Species (CGAPS), a
public-private partnership working to pro-tect
Hawai‘i from invasive species.
03-10-09/0000229489
3009 PMP-PENARO Proofed By: jmahoney
KOOLAU SEEDS & SUPPLY R 2.00 X 2.00
Susan Owen
Manager
Contact
(808) 239-1280 Office
(808) 239-2151 Fax
E-mail
owens001@hawaii.rr.com
48-373 G Kamehameha Hwy
Kaneohe, Hawaii 96744
sage of two key bills for inspection facili-ties
and inspection staff. One bill awaiting
the Governor’s signature at press time
is HB 1568 CD1, which clarifies the need
for building and operating inspection
facilities at each port for imported and
exported commodities, and identifies the
Hawai‘i Department of Transportation’s
responsibilities in assisting HDOA. A sec-ond
bill, HB 865 SD2 was signed into law
as Act 36, increasing the fee as-sessed
for the inspection, quar-antine,
and eradication of
invasive species contained
in any freight from 50
cents to 75 cents for
every 1,000 pounds
of freight or part
thereof brought
into the State.
Without this bill, more

Kawananakoa Middle School students backfilling around koa tree.
Planting
Project:
670 N Perkins 800-548-3424 Email: info@prestogeo.“We were greatly honored to have
Prince Kawananakoa, a descendant of
Prince David Kawananakoa for whom
the school is named, participating in the
ceremony as well,” added Lester.
Just to keep things interesting, the tree
planting was held on Friday, May 6, 2011,
during a week of stormy weather. As the
assembly prior to the tree planting was
finishing, the skies opened up once again
to flood the already soggy planting areas
and many of the prepared planting holes.
The students took to the tree planting
like ducks to water, bailing where neces-sary
Continued from page 34
44 LANDSCAPE HAWAII JUNE | JULY 2011 before and after planting the trees,
and having a lot of fun in the process.
This project was made possible by
Kaulunani, an Urban and Community
Forestry Program of the DLNR Division
of Forestry and Wildlife and the USDA
Forest Service.
Carol Kwan is the President and Certi-fied
Arborist of Carol Kwan Consulting
LLC.
photo: Sam Nichols

LICH Landscape Hawaii Magazine - June/July 2011 Issue

LICH Landscape Hawaii Magazine - June/July 2011 Issue

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LICH Landscape Hawaii Magazine - June/July 2011 Issue