Buckeye Yard and Garden onLine (BYGL) provides timely information about Ohio growing conditions, pest, disease, and cultural problems. Updated weekly between April and October, this information is useful for those who are managing a commercial nursery, garden center, or landscape business or someone who just wants to keep their yard looking good all summer. The first edition of the 2015 BYGL begins April 9th. The newsletter is available via email, contact Cheryl Fischnich fischnich.1@osu.edu to subscribe or it can be found weekly at http://bygl.osu.edu/ .
The 2014 BYGL Subscribers Survey showed that the Ohio State University Extension Nursery, Landscape, and Turf Team (ENLTT) newsletter, the Buckeye Yard and Garden Line (BYGL), has a significant economic impact on Green Industry businesses in Ohio.
The calculated value of the information that BYGL provided to horticulture professionals in 2014 was 2.45 million dollars. This value was largely based on changes made to customer service, plant problem diagnostics, and pesticide use.
Money Saved: $792,420
- 85% said BYGL saved them money by “improved horticultural practices.”
- 83% said BYGL saved them money by “improved plant problem diagnostics.”
- 72% said BYGL saved them money by “improved timing / effective use of pesticides.”
Increased Sales: $898,749
- 85% said BYGL increased sales by “improved plant problem diagnostics.”
- 80% said BYGL increased sales by “improved horticultural practices.”
- 75% said BYGL increased sales by “improved customer service.”
Increased Profits: $755.655
- 79% said BYGL increased profits by “improved plant problem diagnostics.”
- 79% said BYGL increased profits by “improved timing / effective use of pesticides.”
- 71% said BYGL increased profits by “proper selection of pesticides.”
How Useful is the BYGL to the Green Industry?
- 96% of the Green Industry professionals who subscribe to the BYGL said “BYGL information was useful to my job, business, organization, or personal interest.”
- 93% said “I have improved my general horticultural skills through knowledge gained from the BYGL.“
- 87% said “I have improved my plant problem diagnostic skills through knowledge gained from the BYGL.”
BYGL Impacts Pesticide Use
BYGL has a significant impact on pesticide usage: 79% of the horticulture professionals who subscribe to the BYGL make pesticide recommendations or apply pesticides. Of these, 76% changed their pesticide usage or recommendations based on knowledge gained from the BYGL and 76% of these subscribers reduced pesticide recommendations or usage by refining their diagnostic skills (95%) and/or application timing (91%).
BYGL Supports OSU Extension Master Gardener Volunteers and eExtension’s “Ask an Expert”
59% of the BYGL subscribers in 2014 were horticulture non-professionals. The majority (58%) of the non-professionals were OSU Extension Master Gardener Volunteers. The “Ask a Master Gardener” online horticulture help-desk provides objective, research-based one-on-one answers to everyday gardening questions. 80 OSU Master Gardeners based in 30 Ohio counties staffed “Ask a Master Gardener” in 2014.
Comment about the BYGL newsletter from a Master Gardener Volunteer:
— ” I like BYGL since it is a forum for allowing Master Gardeners to stay connected with the “experts” at OSU and keep us up to date with the current issues, pests and problems gardeners in our community are facing..“
BYGL is Multi-State
Although 94% of the BYGL subscribers were based in Ohio, 6% were from 8 other states including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, and Tennessee.
Comments about the BYGL newsletter from Green Industry professionals:
— “I think our usage of the valuable information has helped in sales and customer service. I know we often are told that the customer selected us over other companies because of knowledge of certain problems that other companies did not point out.”
— “The BYGL is the single best source for information and more importantly knowledge. I recommend it to every customer I deal with. This helps me to solve their problems, as it (BYGL) empowers the customer to better see what’s happening in their landscape. As a result they bring in the samples and/or photos that enable me to diagnose the problem. Correctly I might add. Using the BYGL has created added trust and faith in my customers, that they are getting factual, accurate, and current information … All I can say is: KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!
The BYGL Multiplier Effect:
BYGL is delivered via e-mail to 2,804 subscribers every Thursday afternoon:
1,011,937: the number of people who directly received all or parts of the BYGL each week from BYGL subscribers.
5,030,883: the number of people with whom BYGL subscribers shared their knowledge gained each week from the BYGL (e.g. television, radio, newspapers, etc.).
BYGL Web Statistics:
BYGL is available online at bygl.osu.edu. The site was visited over 30,900 times in 2014 with visitors spending 458 hrs. accessing BYGL information.
The BYGL Writing Team:
Curtis E. Young (Lead Editor) young.2@osu.edu
Pam Bennett bennett.27@osu.edu
Joe Boggs boggs.47@osu.edu
Jim Chatfield chatfield.1@osu.edu
Julie Crook crook.46@osu.edu
Erik Draper draper.15@osu.edu
Gary Gao gao.2@osu.edu
Ashley Kulhanek kulhanek.5@osu.edu
Cindy Meyer meyer.842@osu.edu
Amy Stone stone.91@osu.edu
Nancy Taylor taylor.8@osu.edu
Marne Titchenell titchenell.4@osu.edu
Danae Wolfe Wolfe.540@osu.edu
Ohio State University Extension embraces human diversity and is committed to ensuring that all research and related educational programs are available to clientele on a nondiscriminatory basis without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, or veteran status. This statement is in accordance with United States Civil Rights Laws and the USDA.
Keith L. Smith, Ph.D., Associate Vice President for Agricultural Administration and Director, Ohio State University Extension
The BYGL is produced and distributed weekly from April thru October.
To be added to the BYGL E-Mail Distribution List, just send an e-mail message to Cheryl Fischnich: fischnich.1@osu.edu