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TThe credential becomes part of your marketing excellence and quality service, is that the plants look every
program. When I started out, I displayed my creden- bit as good as the day they were installed. I called this “The
tials on business cards, name badges, letter head and Nursery Fresh Appearance.” Thus, I cite Richard Gaines from
Yellow Page Ads. The NCCIH logo was prominently his book: Interior Plantscaping, building design for interior
displayed on my trucks. foliage plants: “No Interior plant project is any better than the
maintenance it receives.”
These ploys, more often than not, engendered ques-
tions and conversations about what the initials meant. This book was published in 1977, right in the middle of my
What was needed to get the CLP-I or CLT- I credential graduate studies. The text became my main source of infor-
and so on. Ultimately, my prospective clients left our mation for my research. It was one of very few tomes written
meeting exceedingly impressed. for my area of study because the study of Acclimatization was
in its genesis. With the advent of the election microscope,
Part of my advertising used words such as “Quality we had visual proof of the physiological and morphological
and Excellence”, “There IS a difference!” “You get what changes plants underwent during Acclimatization.
you pay for.” “Healthy plants, happy people!” These
slogans and others, led me to jobs. As a newcomer As you can discern, I’ve introduced a number of topics of
to the industry, I had that, sort after, “edge” over my which I will explain in greater detail, later. The point I am
competition. making is that the degree of professionalism with which
you meet your clients often will be the deciding factor as to
I pushed the “SCIENCE in the METHOD.” I went to whether or not you beat the competition. I marketed Interior
interviews equipped with my light meter. Yes, I even Plants as a separate and distinct science. At that time as the
measured the light levels at each proposed plant demand grew, for indoor Plants, some Landscapers started to
placement. The wide eyes of my clients were price- dabble in Interior projects.
less. “Wow, I never saw anyone do that before!” When
working for designers or from floor plans, I always Their specialty, of course, was landscaping. Some Interi-
asked when I may analyze the environment of the orscape companies, on the other hand dabbled in Land-
space. That led to another conversation. Why do you scape Projects. Both groups inevitably, realized that the two
need to analyze the environment? sciences were completely different, requiring different crews,
different material and different tools. While a certain amount
One must realize when I started out there was NO of muscle is needed to move plants around, it was clear that
scientific approach to Interiorscaping. No light mea- the labor for Exterior gardens was intense, even backbreak-
suring, no window exposures, no attention at all to ing. The thinking was doing indoor stuff was a piece of cake.
what the plants will need in order to work well. Again, Easy money.
I capitalized. “If your plant people are NOT measuring
the available light, and noting exposures, your plants That was until they realized it was more difficult to keep
will not do well. plants alive, indoors. It truly was a separate and distinct sci-
ence. Interior gardens need special planning, special instal-
What I knew early on was, nobody wants sick and lation practices and special maintenance, ultimately special
dying plants in their home or office. It’s a royal turn off, education. This brings me back to why getting certified is so
especially if the plant people don’t change the plants important.
when they start to decline. Sick plants are a visual
sign of bad service. We all know that immediately Having the infamous “I” after your credential tells the market
after installation the plants look healthy and attrac- that you are a Specialist. You have explored and learned the
tive. However, as I posed to my perspective clients, science of Interior Plantscaping and should be recognized as
what will these plants look like after three months? an expert in the field.
Six months? Or even one year? The true judge of

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