20 / SEEDWORLD.COM OCTOBER 2017 A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN ERNST PLANT MATERIALS SPECIALIST As a plant materials specialist, Greg Kedzierski manages the bioengineering materials unit for Ernst Conservation Seeds in Meadville, Penn. The company supplies native seeds and live plant materials all over the Eastern United States for ecological restoration, sustainable landscaping, reclamation, wetlands and natural resources conservation. Bioengineering materials are natural materials used in stream and land reclamation. On any given day, one might find Kedzierski troubleshooting with customers, recommending plants or seed mixes, or on the road conducting a site visit or consultation. Depending on the year and the scope of a project, Kedzierski estimates he works through 50 to 100 projects. “Some will be more in passing and others, I will be directly involved with,” he says. Some projects are land rehabilitation, such as Bowman Creek, and others are corporate landscapes or behind someone’s house. “It’s important for me to know whether you are trying to make the area aesthetically pleasing, and if there’s wildlife or habitat that you’re looking to enhance,” Kedzierski says. Ernst has about 300-400 different custom stock mixes from which Kedzierski modifies for specific projects. In putting together a seed mix, Kedzierski takes special note of the amount of sun, the slope and the soils, as well as the overall environment. “Basically, everything you can think of that you would want to know when it comes to the environment, I try to think through,” he says. “All of this must be taken into account before you can make a good mix and match it to the environment.” But the work doesn’t end with formulating and shipping a mix. Kedzierski also talks clients through how to install a wattle, living branches bound together in long tubular bundles that are placed in shallow trenches across the slope of a bank to protect it from erosion and create a sediment trap. He also helps clients calibrate their equipment, from no-till drills to hydro seeders and hand-spin spreaders. “It’s a lot of handholding because it’s not something many companies do day-in and day-out,” Kedzierski says. “It’s specialized work.” This can make for some difficult conversations, as designers and landscape architects often know exactly what they want to achieve a certain “look” for their customers. “The customer is always right, to a point,” says Kedzierski, who’s been working with Ernst for 15 years. “Sometimes you know a species won’t grow in a specific environment – that conditions, whatever it might be, just aren’t right. Then, it’s a matter of slowly convincing the customer that there are other options.” He does this by sharing information and pictures of similar projects that have been successful and talking through the process and post-installment maintenance. “The industry has changed,” Kedzierski says. “When I first started, it was mainly restoration of highways coming through and naturalizing mine lands. In the past eight years, the work has shifted more toward landscapes for corporations and houses … and there’s a bit more convincing that has to be done in these areas.” But Kedzierski says, he’s learning through the process, too. Now that he’s seen more landscape-type projects and their successes, he listens better. “I really try to listen to the designer to understand their true wishes and really help guide them to species or mixes that will meet their needs,” he says. “For me, it’s always trying to get the customer pointed in the right direction with the right materials for a successful project.” to store it to maintain vigor and germina- tion and what to watch. The steep banks were cultivated by hand and then seed was broadcast over top. After that, Nordfors crew applied a light mulch and the action of them walking over it packed the seed down in the soil. Today, you’d never know the creek- bed had eroded after 2 severe floods and then been moved and reconstructed. “There’s never enough money to fix all the land that’s degraded right now, but if you can establish seed quickly and effec- tively, you can get rid of things like jute mats and reduce your costs by $5,000 to $6,000 here and there,” Nordfors says. Financial sustainability is just one more thing that Nordfors is keenly aware of — for both clients, as well as the viability of his own business. Kedzierski adds: “You couldn’t do these kinds of restorations with these results without quality seed. This comes from having good integrated pest man- agement in the fields to good field scout- ing, and from harvesting techniques to seed cleaning and storage.” SW As of July of 2016 — four years after rehabilitating the creek by shifting its bank by about 90 feet, installing a matrix of materials to kickstart the ecosystem and planting native seeds — this section of Bowman Creek can better withstand nature’s elements and is home to a diverse habitat.