I have never hired a nursery consultant to come to my nursery. Over the years I have listened to a number of well known consultants via nursery trade shows and nursery association meetings. I have read their writings in the many trade publications I receive. Most of the time I have enjoyed listing and reading about various ways to improve our business.

My wife and I used a general business consultant once when we were in the middle of a very messy partnership dissolution. By having someone who was divorced from the emotional involvement my wife and I were in he was able to steer us in the right direction, which to this day was a defining moment in our lives. It set us on the course we find our selves on now. So the right consultant can make a world of difference.

My generalization of what we are being told by “nursery consultants” in my last post is not based on any particular consultant or a personal experience with a nursery consultant. Rather it’s based on what I read in various trade publications that feature from time to time the views of various consultants. They are either paid by the publications or perhaps do the work “pro-bono” for the media exposure. So when I say, “We read the trade magazines, listen to the consultants, and go to the trade shows which only confuse us more,” it’s not that any one consultant is confusing, but the cacophony of consultant voices coming out of some media outlets does at times confuse.

On another note, my blog was featured last week at Sara’s Green Space Blog. Sara is managing editor of Greenhouse Grower magazine. I found out about her blog before she featured me. We don’t even have a greenhouse, yet because she is out there blogging I check back. She is not going to want to hear this but I would have probably never read the magazine in the past, since I just don’t do any greenhouse growing. Yet by reaching out through her blog she has managed to snare me as a regular reader which is good because it introduces me to a whole aspect of horticulture that I had no interest in before.

Finally, I encourage comments on my posts. Be aware that the first time you comment at the blog I have to approve your comment before it gets posted. Once it’s approved every time after that your comments will appear on the blog right after you hit “submit comment”. It’s an anti-spam measure as so far it’s working!