October 15, 2008
By Lynn Lane

The Certified Horticultural Technician (CHT) evaluations in eastern Ontario were held on August 14th and 15th for a second successful year at the University of Guelph’s Kemptville Campus, near Ottawa. A total of 15 candidates challenged their skills in Hardscape Installation, Softscape Installation, Ornamental Maintenance and Turf Maintenance.

CHT is good for individuals, companies and the industry. CHT designation provides individuals employed in the lawn and garden industry with a means of proving they work at tasks typically required within the horticultural industry at a standard of expertise. For companies, having CHT-certified personnel is a tool that can help win contracts, avoid costly mistakes and downtime, and help retain staff. For the industry, certifying qualified personnel raises the level of professionalism in the industry, which allows all companies to ask fair compensation for their work.

CHT requires many volunteers. These are professionals committed to the advancement of the industry, and they have volunteered their time to ensure the success of CHT. The eastern Ontario CHT committee members, all volunteers themselves, are Richard Rogers, CHT, Tim Kearney, CLP, Shane Jordan, CHT,  and Paul Doornbos, CLP,CHT who would like to thank the many judges and volunteers who helped: Dan Clost, CHT, Matt Goodfellow, CHT, Ben Winsor, CIT, Matt Dekking, CIT, John Taylor, CHT, Richard Coleman, CHT, Donna White, CHT, Chris Klingbeil, CHT, Suzanne Nadeau, Carl Gagnon, Chad Smail, CHT, Mike O’Neil, Andrew Boyd, B.Sc.F., R.P.F., Sonja Hirsig CHT, Steve Barker, CHT, Brad Koski, CHT, John Bloski, Chris Burns, CHT, Brian Cocks, CHT, Jeff Lowartz, CHT, Jeff Gilberds, CHT, Tim Dyer and Welwyn Wong.

We salute and thank the many companies who are committed to bettering this professional industry, and who show their support concretely by sponsoring a CHT station and/or donating equipment and time: Allan Johnston Repair and Sales, B & T MacFarlane Ottawa, Battlefield Equipment Rentals, Cansel Survey Equipment, Clintar, Ganden Landscapes, Garden Creations of Ottawa, Geosynthetic Systems, Greely Sand and Gravel, Greenscape.ca, Gro-Bark, Jim Tubman Motors, Manderley Turf Products, Mathews Equipment, Permacon Group, Peter Knippel Nursery, RJ Rogers Landscaping, Upper Canada Chapter of Landscape Ontario, Viking Distribution, and VIP Lawn Care.

Thank you to all … and watch for the next CHT evaluations at Kemptville College in August, 2009.

Caption: Those taking part in the CHT evaluations at Kemptville take time out for some photographs.