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S&S Knows How to
Test for
Success
© 2001 Wendy Dager
Situated behind the nondescript buildings of an industrial complex, right next to the remnants of long-abandoned train tracks, is a grassy area that looks a lot like family picnic grounds.
But it isn't.
No, this eye-pleasing plot of land in Camarillo, California has much more humble and more ambitious origins. It's the official testing grounds for the seeds you purchase directly from S&S.
Were very conscientious when it comes to supplying good products, so we rely on tests for decision-making on seeds, said Paul Albright. That's one of the reasons so many of our products have received such high ratings from the National Turfgrass Evaluation Program (NTEP).
While NTEP tests are initiated, established, maintained and evaluated using standardized testing protocols (see LEAF-let, Jan./Feb. 2001), the S&S Camarillo test garden is run just a bit more casually, including the welcome influx of many volunteer plants, such as the colorful poppies that have migrated into the area by way of Ventura County's gentle ocean breezes.
Despite the glorious color these flowers provide in springtime, the testing grounds, including an additional 26 plots at S&S's Carpinteria facility, remain a serious business.
S&S is doing extensive erosion control testing on our plots in Carpinteria, said Paul. We're carefully recording an ongoing history of the effectiveness of a number of products, including Tackifires, Fibers, and BFMs (Bonded Fiber Matrix). The flowers, fescues, and other grasses are also closely monitored to ensure that our customers get premium seed products. Longevity, in particular, is an important factor in the maintenance of the gardens.
We've been at the Camarillo location for about fifteen years, said Paul. And we've had the garden there for ten years, keeping the layouts and history so we can watch the progression of reseeding.
Seeing those long-term results is very important to David Snow, S&S customer and owner of Thousand Oaks-based The English Arbor Company.
I'd rather see the garden than just get a seed mix and look at a small photograph on a package, said David. The nice thing about the S&S test garden is you can really see what the seed plots are going to look like in three months. It's great to be able to go down there and look at what's growing well and what plants do well together.
David, whose company specializes in creating English gardens for his Southern California customers, likes the fact that he can send a client directly to S&S to check out specific wildflower blends.
Everyone gets excited about wildflowers this time of year, but by the summertime they get burned out, said David. You have to be careful when you're selling wildflower mixes, because, sometimes, customers think they'll have them twelve months out of the year. But the nice thing about the S&S test garden is you can go back and look at that mix in August or September and see how it's doing.
Of equal importance to David is the customer care S&S provides by utilizing the data from its test gardens.
I can come in and talk to Paul any time, said David, and know that he has firsthand knowledge about water and fertilization requirements.
A springtime view of the S&S test garden in
Camarillo
Photo By Paul Albright
Albright Seed is a Division of S&S Seeds.
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