Instead of my usual yard-care topic, this week I'd like to talk about the Hawai'i landscape industry and invite you to attend the industry's annual conference and trade show at the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall on Wednesday and Thursday. The trade-show portion of the program is free (except for parking) and features a plant sale, nice door prizes and vendors selling tools.

Unlike the crop production side of agriculture, landscape is not often seen as an "organized" or "unionized" entity. Part of this is due to the diverse parts of what is called the green industry.

In Hawai'i, the green industry comprises interrelated groups of professions — landscape architects; arborists; licensed landscape installers, maintenance and irrigation contractors; plant nurseries, in-house maintenance crews for hotels, resorts and cemeteries; and federal crews that maintain government parks, office buildings and cemeteries.

A recent University of Hawai'i study estimated the total Hawai'i green industry workforce at about 11,000 full-time people. It generates more than $650 million annually to the state economy. That represents more than the total combined workforce and income of both pineapple and sugar during former peak years, and is equal to the total diversified agriculture outputs of today.

In 1986, the Landscape Industry Council of Hawaii was founded with startup money from the Legislature. It is an umbrella organization to help support the individual industry organizations. Since then, the council has grown into two self-supporting nonprofit sister organizations, LICH and LICH Foundation.

LICH Foundation administers landscape training and certification programs to professional landscapers throughout the state. The nationally recognized Certified Landscape Technician program has produced 135 certified professionals in Hawai'i. The training programs are offered to anyone, including nonprofessionals, wishing to receive diversified training in landscape.

If you would like to see more of what the green industry is about, visit us at the 2007 LICH Green Industry Conference and Trade Show at the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall on Wednesday and Thursday.

You will find vendors of irrigation, outside lighting, water features, fertilizer and chemical companies, home and garden, power tools, and lawn mowers. Plant nursery products will be for sale. Special educational and demonstration programs will run periodically.

If you want to hear more about the industry, register to attend the educational portion of the conference. The Wednesday lineup includes an all-day workshop on care of interior plants, presented by Kathy Fediw, interior plantscape consultant and author. Bill Wenk, of Wenk Associates in Denver, will give a talk: "Sustainable design for urban stream runoff and storm water management."

Thursday features sessions on invasive species, landscape lighting, tree protection and risk evaluation, native plants, palms and bamboo.

Pre-registration for this part of the conference is required; go to the LICH Web site for complete program information and registration forms. Take advantage of the early-registration rates by mentioning this article and either fax the registration to 956-2161 or e-mail it to deputy@hawaii.edu. Deadline: Tuesday. Please look me up at the LICH booth.

Jay Deputy is an education specialist in landscape horticulture and turf at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa, Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences, and state administrator for the Certified Landscape Technician program. Got a lawn care or turf question? Write to deputy@hawaii.edu.