By Don Canning, Microsoft

How much is your lawn worth? Interesting question if you considered the time, effort and cost to replace it. What about your trees and flowers, even if you’re in a Madison Avenue high rise sporting a balcony with exotic shrubbery, you probably have a vested interest in that question, moreover the answer.

We all know property value increases over time, but how can you correlate the value of the property with its esthetic curb appeal and landscaping. How does landscaping contribute to the bottom-line when selling or appraising value? Ask a real estate or insurance agent one year ago, the reply would have been “you can’t” – it’s all subjective and primarily tied to market conditions and location, location, location.

Well today it’s possible to assess and insure your green assets according to Bill Glynn, chairman with CollectiveIQ.com and co-founder of Horticultural Asset Management Inc. (HMI) http://www.moneygrowsontrees.com. “This ‘green’ industry business is shaking up insurance, real estate, finance and the nursery and landscaping industries,” he says.

Essentially, HMI ["Money Grows On Trees"] is the only company that can provide an accurate assessment of the present and future value of landscaping assets, which can be used to support, even boost real estate values. HMI also has helped design landscaping insurance products with its major products and is already working on warranty and other niche financial products for this undervalued - underinsured asset class. As the real estate market is in decline - the real estate, appraisal and insurance industries have taken hold of business.

This is particularly significant since major insurance groups like AIG, Chubb and Fireman's are currently in the process of rolling out high-end insurance products across the country based on HMI's assessments.

Such coverage is another testament to how big the opportunity has become.  Already over 25,000 realtors, 600 nurseries, all the major Green Associations, financial services and the major green industry partners have joined the ranks of many HMI supporters and partners.

Glynn’s message is clear, “We want to keep everyone informed and provide a clearer understanding that this ‘green’ play - is not just an advertising slogan - we believe HMI is the underlying value proposition for a large portion of the green industry,” he says.

Reports indicate an ever expanding network of realtors grows everyday and HMI now has several of the world’s largest insurers, realty and arborist companies moving the products into 13 markets initially as of last week and all groups are preparing for more national launches over the next six months.

The management team of Horticultural Asset Management, Inc. has built this platform using 100 percent Microsoft technology, patented IP and built a system to effectively value the trees and shrubs on properties across the country. The system and valuation methods are part of the largest database of horticultural assets and information in the world. The HMI standards have been adopted by green industry associations and businesses, participating in $39 billion of new landscaping installations and maintenance annually. HMI is now commonly referred to as the "Kelley Blue Book" of installed landscaping, with the capability of measuring and assessing replacement costs for 1000's of different plant types, for up to five years of growth.

AIG is leading the way by launching an insurance product for high-value horticultural investments that will allow individual plants to be insured for up to $100,000 each. Other major insurers are following suit along with several of the top 10 insurance brokerages in the country. With this insurance industry recognition, landscaping is moving from an expense (a "spend") to an asset or as the industry has noted an "investment" or capital improvement. HMI's service also includes a proprietary health assessment, which offers property owners and insurance companies an opportunity to mitigate losses through the identification of potential health or other concerns with the plants on a property. The company is now launching with many of the top realtor groups in the country and is supported nationally by one of the largest arborist, inspection and remediation businesses in the country.