Planttalk Colorado™, is an online service that provides reliable, timely information on more than 500 horticultural topics. This is information companies can use to help customers understand why the work they are doing or recommending is important. 

The Planttalk web site features tip sheets about planting native perennials, waterwise landscaping, identifying and dealing with pests, and design. Landscape companies can share this information with clients throughout the process of a project to give them a better understanding of why the professionals have made the choices and recommendations that they did.

Explaining the principles of Xeriscape or why you've chosen a grouping of plants for a landscape can take considerable time. By sharing these online resources (or reproducing them from a resource binder, available for purchase on the site), landscape business owners can allow their customer to take their time and read about the benefits of their new landscape. It can save the landscape company time that they can spend insuring that the project is completed correctly, efficiently, and within the time frame set for the job.

For employees and clients who prefer to learn in Spanish, there is Planttalk en español. Some of these Spanish-language segments are also available for listening via the online audio archives.

In addition to the web site, Planttalk maintains a playlist on YouTube with 51 videos that illustrate some of the gardening and landscaping information they provide. There is also a Pinterest account with 14 boards and counting. Professionals and consumers alike can view additional images related to the guides on the web site.

Planttalk is a service of Colorado State University in partnership with Denver Botanic Gardens and Green Industries of Colorado (GreenCO).

Read more in this issue of Colorado Green NOW:
Consumers want digital communication
Free EAB detection & ash tree assessment workshops
Could a failing mall become a model for landscape efficiency?
Be sure to include interns in payroll budgeting