TECHNICALLY SAVVY


EVALUATING NEW PRODUCTS E


very year manufacturers bring new improved products to the market and promote them


Barry Troutman, Ph.D., NALP


Technical Advisor


heavily, often promising that it will revolutionize your business or you may have a friend in the industry who has tried something new and is excited to share his success with you. Your job is to confirm that these products indeed work in your business model. How should you evaluate new products?


DO THEY WORK AS WELL OR BETTER THAN EXISTING PRODUCTS? The “Gold Standard” of effectiveness is replicat- ed trials conducted under controlled conditions by a reliable third party. Often this means the product’s efficacy has been demonstrated by testing done by scientists at a land grant univer- sity. Manufactures often supplement this testing with their own test data but should be anxious to share these results with you. These tests are carefully designed to eliminate false positives caused by weather conditions, application rates and maintenance factors. Beware of testimonials with no support from controlled studies such as those men- tioned above. There is no shortage of really committed people who believe in their prod- uct but are just wrong about its efficacy. Often products are compared with treatments done in a different year or different location. In these cases, it’s impossible to say that differences weren’t caused by other factors, such as weath- er, soil types or other treatments not mentioned. Studies done in other countries on other crops are of little value. You need to know what differ- ence this product will make in your landscape and whether or not it will increase your value to your customer.


If it sounds too good, it probably is. You are apt to hear some incredible claims about products that will totally eliminate this problem or that. You may get an intricate and confusing description of how the product is supposed to work. Be skeptical and if you are in doubt consult an expert. Beware of claims that the university or a leading company is working with the product, often this means that have been sent a sample of the product and may or may not testing it.


32 THE LANDSCAPE PROFESSIONAL > JULY/AUGUST 2016


How do I test a product reliably? You can conduct your own controlled study on small treated areas within existing landscapes. The trick is to test the new product against your cur- rent standard treatment with the only difference being the inclusion of the new product. You can compare 10 foot sections of hedge alternat- ing the standard and the new treatment while leaving an untreated control section as well. Doing this at several locations and on several plant species strengthens your conclusions. You can do the same thing by splitting lawns with different treatments. You should share your plan with the property owner, who may be impressed with your innovation. The hardest part of these evaluations is making sure they are not accident- ly retreated by your regular service technician during a schedule application which would make the test invalid. Often your supplier will provide a research sample of product for these evaluations.


What will it cost? This is the scariest part. It’s pretty easy to get sticker shock when you see the container cost of new products. With 2.5 gal- lon jugs of material hitting 4 figures you have to wonder if the product is suspended in gold dust. The cost has to be reduced to cost per 1000 sq. ft. These costs have to be compared to cost of treatment and retreatments with your current product. If the new treatment will do in one application what it takes two more treatments with your current system in might be a good investment. 7


Barry Troutman, Ph.D., is a technical advisor for NALP.


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