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Problems with material procurement for restoration projects and some solutions.

Pat McNeal, McNeal Growers, P.O. Box 371, Manchaca, TX 78652

Over the last five years there has been an increase in the design and installation on plant systems for containing and modifying urban and suburban stormwater runoff. During that period we have been experimenting with the culture of plant species that fulfill the design requirements of some of these projects in a commercial nursery setting. The design specifications for most of these types of projects area very specialized and exacting. Most commercial growing operations are structured to sell and growplants for a completely different market. This is one reason why there are so few growers willing to make the changes needed to meet the demand. Very little of horticulture as it is taught throughout this country concerns the plant species used in restoration projects. As a result, there is very little expertise in the nursery industryabout even the basic details for the culture of these plants. Most growers who do grow the species used in wetland restoration, have come to the growing business from fields related to ecological restoration rather than the nursery industry.

Another problem in encouraging growers in to this market is the way most projects are designed and the plants are purchased. A good example: we frequently get faxed a plant list from a contractor desperately trying to purchase tens of thousands of a few particular species just weeks before the installation of the project is scheduled to begin. We usually either don't have the species, or do not have it in the quantities desired. These types of projects are not frequent nor regular enough that you, as a grower, caninvest resources (materials, labor, space and care) in anticipation of them. If you do and you don't have a project for them, the plant species are so specialized that you are not going to have another market for them and you are going to lose your investment. One thing to remember is growing plants in containers is that the product is living and dynamic. The product has a limited shelf life. If you do not sell it with in a limited time period the plants overgrow their container and deteriorate unless they are transplanted into a larger container. So the longer you have to hold onto a plant that has passed its peak the less you make on it and the lower quality the plant is. Also the smaller the container the less time you can keep it in that container and remain in peak condition. This means that you have even less time to find a buyer. If you do move it up to a bigger container size, it will cost more and for projects that cover large areas it can be prohibitively expensive to use large plant materials. These factors amount to a large financial disincentive to move into this field.

The normal process for the completion of a exemplary project follows these steps: 1, The determination of need and the allocation of funds, 2 Site studies, project design, 3 appropriation of construction funds and writing bid specifications, 4 putting the contract out to bid, 5 awarding and signing the contract, 6, construction of the project, 7 routine maintenance and project administration. This process is, in most cases, very long and time consuming. Normally the general construction contractor hires a subcontractor to do site preparation work, purchasing the plants and the installation and maintenance for the contract period. Problems arise because the purchase of the plants does not happen until phase 5 or 6 and sometimes even after the actual construction begins. That late in the process it is to late to wait for the plants, the general contractor may even have performance penalties for falling behind schedule. In many cases there is a dependence on one phase of a project being completed before another can be begun and falling behind schedule can have severe repercussions. Before we discuss the solutions for this there are other problems in the way this process progresses.

When a contractor bids for the plants, they must cover the cost of the plants, include the profit margin and cover overhead and unforeseen costs. In many cases the contractor will give a price for cost of plants and installation (which includes installation costs, profit margins, overhead and a percentage for unexpected costs). In many cases when the plants are not available substitutions must be found, this means the designer must go back to the design and try to come up with suitable alternatives. This can go back and forth from the installer to the designer many times causing serious and expensive delays before acceptable species are found in the quantities needed. I have seen projects where the installer has bid on a contract knowing that he can't find the plants or meet the price or both, but bids it anyway, knowing that when contract is signed and project was nearing completion the pressure to finish would mean that project administrators will be more willing to compromise on the species in the design than at the beginning. In most cases the substitutes that the installer does in fact find are cheaper thus making more profit for the subcontractor. All these circumstances run up the cost of completing a project public or private.

There are simple solutions. The contract with the designer should make the designer responsible for the purchase of the plant material needed. This person is the logical choice because if they know the materials enough to specify them they should know enough to purchase them. At the 2nd phase in the project cycle a species list should be produced with the design. At the 3rd phase the designer should contract a grower to produce the plants needed for the project. At this phase there should be adequate time for the grower to do that. In most contract growing situations we ask for a down payment of between 10% to 50% depending on the material and a percentage draw against the total payment at set periods throughout the contract period if that period is long and the numbers of plants are large. We have learned to specify the delivery date and added a cost for care for the plants per month if the delivery time is pushed back. This ensures you are not left holding plants for months later than you thought and paying to take care of them. The results from all this is the cost reduction and a guaranty that the plants specified are ready when they are needed for the project. The cost reduction is a result of reducing the installer's markup on the plants which can be up to 50 % over the grower's price, and a reduction of the costs that are involved when changes have to be made when the original plants cannot be found. This, of course, does not even consider the increase in efficiency resulting from kept schedules and theincrease in success of the project when the best plants for the application are used instead of substitutes.