Changes with the blog

We are making changes to the blog. While we are doing that you may find yourself re-directed to the new blog under construction, or even our home page for the nursery. This change over from Blogger to Wordpress is giving my webmaster headaches. We are moving along and hope to have the issue resolved shortly. Thanks go to Charlie in The U.K. for giving me the first heads up on the problem! What an amazing world we live in when friends across the world can have an impact our lives so quickly.

The era of the citizen journalist

A while back I was interviewed by a trade magazine about blogging. One question was whether garden centers should monitor the internet for negative reviews. My answer was no, just get in on the conversation and occasionally Google you name and business name to see what comes up. I didn’t want to make it sound like you have to sit in front of the computer constantly checking on what people are saying. Maybe I should have said not to make it an obsession but yes, check regularly to what is being said about you.

Here is an unhappy consumer living in North Carolina that makes sure to let everyone know of their disappointment. It’s the second post down. What’s interesting is the $400 Holly trees we’re planted by Paradise Gardens Center for the former owners! Now the new owners have moved in and say all four Holly Trees died, and want the nursery to replace them. The new owners figured that the one-year plant warranty came with the title to the house . You can read the post, but you can’t comment as that function has been turned off.

I like this comment from the consumer, “the 2 center trees of the 4 which are planted in a row, came back to life and are doing great, do to constant care and the use of Miracle Grow.” Amazing how the two dead trees came back to life only with the help of Miracle-Gro” and constant care.

As a nursery person this makes me laugh. As a business person I would be aghast to see this when I Googled the company name. This complaint shows up right under the stores web page! With the comment feature turned off there is no way for the garden center to respond. All the work on the company web page just went down the drain.

If the events happened the way the consumer says, the nursery blew it! Actually it doesn’t matter whether it happened the way the consumer says, since the negative review is out there staring potential customers in the face.

The era of the citizen journalist is here. Everyone has a voice now and there is no way to control the conversation. This of course frightens business people. What happens if somebody with their own motivations decides to deride your company. What if everyone that comes through your store is pleased except for that one "pain in the you know what"? They decide to start a campaign of negativity. It could very well affect your business and the bottom line.

If the affected nursery wants to explain their side of the story what do they do. Put it on the front of their web page? I don't think so since thats like putting a notice of the event on your front door. What you want is a way to take this consumer aside and see if you can come to an agreement. The problem here is we don't know the identity of the person complaining. No way to get a hold of them.

If this isn't a wake up call for how we run our businesses I don't know what is. Are your return policies fair? Hows the consumer interaction going on at the cash register? Whats the cost of replacing two $400 hollies with the cost of repairing your image? Are we checking out whats being said about us on the internet? Do we have a way for disgruntled consumers to reach the owner, when it seems the other employees don't care? What if this consumer could have spoken directly with the owner on his blog?

This kind of thing is going to happen more and more. The best way to prevent it from happening is having an open door policy both in the store and on the internet. Check out what's being said about you now, before you hear it from someone else.

Small wineries and nurseries are a lot alike.

Small wineries and nurseries have a lot in common. How do you get them into your facility? You can buy plants at Home Depot or Wal Mart just like you can buy wine at BevMo or Costco. You don’t even have to go into the winery or nursery. There are lots of cheap wines that are drinkable just as there are lots of cheap plants that work. Most people will never try a fine wine or fine plants, the cheap stuff is good enough. How do we get them into the store and our world?

Wineries are huge fans of direct mail. I receive a number of snail mail as well as e-news letters from various wineries. One I receive is from Bonny Doon Vineyards in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Randall Graham who is the owner is a well known figure in the wine industry. Besides being a bit of an eccentric he was one of the first wine makers to promote the twist top on wine bottles. He found that there was no difference and actually an improvement in the quality of the wine when twist tops are used instead of cork. He realized that people associated cork with quality wines, but he stuck to his guns. Of course now twist tops are common with wines from Australia, and are starting to be accepted by others. Let’s face it I would rather twist the top on and off a bottle that fussing with the cork. While people will still associate screw tops with cheap wine the members of DEWN (distinct esoteric wine network) know better.

For years this winery and wine maker have stuck to their philosophy while the rest of the industry ignored them. Over the years they have built up a loyal following. They have done this by producing quality wines, ignoring what the industry told them, and following their own muse. The one thing that pops out from a visit to their web page is a sense of fun and experimentation. You need this since it can take quite while for good ideas to be accepted. Be sure to watch the “Vive le screwcap” video under “The Dooniverse” section entitled “Learn our ways”.

I can see so many ways this type of marketing can work for the small garden center. Wineries and nurseries both need to educate the consumer without making it seem boring. I think Bonny Doon does it better than any other winery.

Keep your options open.

Keeping you options open is a good idea for the small garden center. What you thought you would be about when you started may not be what you are about now. This story from the Macon Telegraph on Green leaf Nursery illustrates that. This family run nursery was “opened… on April 9, 1994, concentrating on growing and selling bedding plants and perennials.” The nursery “has consumed their time ‘from dark to dark’ ever since, said Nancy Lawrence, co-owner.

When husband Ray Lawrence bought $500 in statuary with only $300 in the till he took a chance. “I'm independent," he said, grinning. “I'm a renegade." Apparently the decision was a good one as they quickly sold those pieces and ordered several thousands of dollars more.

Here is where they realized that in their particular niche they needed to take “the business away from growing so many plants” and concentrate “on sales of garden ornaments and statues.” Even better “Ray soon became dissatisfied with the quality of purchased statuary, and he began studying all facets of production. In 1997, he bought his first molds and began pouring and finishing his own statuary - some of it his own designs. Now he owns more than 1,000 molds.”

They have even started custom work. According to The Telegraph, “They pour and install tiered fountains all over Middle Georgia. Their largest fountain bowl weighs 1,160 pounds. ‘Last year, we installed a fountain every eight days,’ he said.”

This nursery has the same concerns most of us have. According to The Telegraph, “Big box stores such as Lowe's and Home Depot have made the garden center business tough for local owners, and several in this area have gone out of business in recent years. And fewer young people are as interested in gardening as their parents were.”

This is an interesting take from Ray Lawrence, “nostalgia brings some people to gardening, when their mothers die,” he said. “They'll come in and say 'My mother raised this flower, or that flower, and I want to plant some in memory of her.'"

He is a great example of looking at the surrounding business climate, changing assumptions about what your garden center is about and going for it. Sometimes our stubbornness at running our businesses they way we think they are suppose be run blinds us to the opportunities that are available elsewhere.

Sunday ramblings

We just got the latest issue of Garden Design Magazine and in the “shopping” section an article titled “Urban Outfitter” talks about San Francisco’s newest nursery, Flora Grubb. The article says the opening “raises the bar for garden centers everywhere”.

We talked about this nursery back in June and again in July. In the article the author Donna Dorian calls Flora, “California’s horticultural fashionista”. The nursery “announces the new age of the urban nursery-and raises the bar for garden centers everywhere.”

This is a bit much. It’s a beautiful facility, bright, airy, and new. The plant selection consists mainly of succulents, acacias, agaves, and other succulent type plants. Most of these won’t grow outside the frost free climate of The Bay Area. So to call Flora California’s “fashionista” is a bit over the top. Maybe "San Francisco's fashionista" would be a better title. Of course this is what folks living in San Francisco would think as anywhere outside" The City" most likely doesn’t count. Hey I lived there, I know.

Recent issue of Wine Spectator has a great article on “The Wide World of Olives”. There are so many types available now, along with oodles of different types of olive oil. We had Gold Hill Olive Oil Co. at our recent Creekside Festival. What an eye opener for me. The flavors of all the different artesian olive oil are so different in a good way, than plain old olive oil. Tasting olive oil you dip a small piece of bread in a bowl of oil and eat.

I remember when people couldn’t pull olives out of their yards fast enough. Twenty years ago all fat was bad and olives have fat. Plus the olives dropping on patios stained the concrete. The nursery industry answered by creating fruitless olives that had the beauty of the tree, but no fruit. Then about 10 years ago people started to realize that the fat in olives is a good fat, plus Americans started to see small batches of artesian oils turning up and liked these new flavors. My how things can change in a few short years, you can now buy full size fruiting olive trees and have them trucked to your villa.

Our county, El Dorado has over 50 wineries located inside its borders. We have about 12 within 15 miles of here with three within 6 miles of the nursery. While Napa and Sonoma get the lion’s share of interest it’s the other wine regions in California where the action is.

Here you have small operations where the wine maker is often the person pouring the wine. We had Mari Wells from David Girard Vineyards at the nursery for our Creekside Festival. The winery is planting more Rhone varietals which perform well here in the foothills. Originally most of the wineries here planted the common grapes that you would see in Napa, Cabernet, Merlot, Chardonnay, etc. While our wineries still have lots of these varietals planted our winemakers have finally started planting varieties that do well here, rather than what does well in Napa and Sonoma. Now this region will start to really shine as we express the “terroir”of the region.

I wonder if Eliz at Garden Rant has ever had an El Dorado appellation wine. She has a new section called “Drink This” where she plans on “visiting wineries near and far and interviewing growers and winemakers (New York State and Southern Ontario both have well-established viticultural regions).” She continues, “The category won’t be limited to wine, though; it will include any agriculturally produced liquid that one can ingest without serious harm.” I say as long as no "serious" harm is done, lets get pouring!

Hines nurseries gets de-listed at stock exchange

It looks like Hines nurseries are having further troubles. The second largest wholesale nursery in the country was just de-listed on the New York stock exchange according to Open Register.

Well over a year ago we discussed the problems at Hines. I said then, “We don’t have too much sympathy for Hines. We don’t buy from them as they are thick in the box stores. Could this be that the boxes are squeezing the wholesale nursery trade? I know that at Home Depot, vendors like Hines, don’t get paid until the product is sold at the retail level. If the plants remain unsold for any reason, Home Depot does not pay. Considering the care plants receive at my local Home Depot I am not surprised that there are many unsold plants. I wouldn't get the same treatment from Hines or any of my vendors. I have to pay, and then do my best to sell them.”

One of the reasons I have a negative reaction to “Urban Outfitters” getting into the garden center business is because it’s a publicly traded company. Stockholders don’t have a lot of patience when it comes to rainy springs, hot summers, the real estate market slowing, and other common problems that our industry deals with. How do you explain to them that next year, if the weather co-operates share prices might go up?

I hope Urban-Outfitters stores make it. It’s just that pressure to have an up season every year makes companies do strange things. Hines and other wholesalers not being paid until the product is sold is one example.

Is this true?

Adrian Higgins has an interesting article in The Washington Post titled “How to be a better plant buyer”. The Post has “put together an illustrated tutorial available online” he says. Where online is hard to say as I could not find a link anywhere in the article.

What caught my attention was a quote by Warren Quinn, vice president for operations of the American Nursery and Landscape Association. According to the Post “Quinn edits the American Standard for Nursery Stock, a trade manual that establishes standards, specifications and guidelines for nursery plants as they make their way through an industry with a lot of middlemen and players. The holly you buy at the garden center may have been through three growers and two or three nurseries before it reaches you”.

While I am familiar with the nursery industry in California I don’t know a lot about the rest of the country. Is this true that a plant goes through three growers and two nurseries before it’s sold at retail?

Here in California the Wholesale Nursery, let’s say Monrovia grows its plants from cuttings, tissue culture, etc. Once the plant is the right size it’s shipped to the retail store where it’s bought by the end consumer. Now in some cases Monrovia sells liner sized plants to re-wholesale operations that then grow the plants to size and sell them, two steps not the five that Warren mentions.

Are plants going through that many outlets in the rest of the country? If they are going through five different middlemen I can see all sorts of problems that would cause. If I we’re a nursery person where this is going on I would be working as hard as I can to eliminate some of those middlemen.

In California this doesn’t happen. Generally the consumer is two steps from the grower, maybe three. I am curious, nursery people from east of The Sierra, is this true?

Garden Centers need to be the connection

While writing an article on “Fall is for Planting” for our local paper I came across this quote from Don Hinkley. He says “The usual approach to horticulture, if written in equation form would, sadly, read something like this: {long colorless winters} x {lack of connection to natural world} + {visits to nurseries exclusively in spring} = gardens that stop entertaining much too early in the season.”

We have been trying to encourage people to check out the garden center and its offerings during the other seasons for years. The problem is spring planting is a “biological” urge. The warmer weather returns and you just “feel” like planting where as fall is “intellectually” a better time to do planting, especially here in California. The cooler fall weather doesn’t seem like planting time, but rather a time for storing our nuts for winter.

Here, fall is really our second spring. I would feel more successful if we could get people to shop and garden in fall. We don’t get any rain all summer so the return of fall with upcoming rains and cooler temperatures is an ideal time to plant and garden. The CANGC (California Association of Nurseries and Garden Centers) for years ran a somewhat effective campaign called “Fall is for Planting”. I don’t know if they still do it as I don’t belong to this organization any more.

So the problem is how do we get people interested in the year round garden? How do we get people to visit nurseries during the three other seasons besides spring? How do we help people connect to nature so they can have an appreciation of our gardens in winter? There is no excuse here in California for gardens to not have interest and beauty the year round. It certainly isn’t the climate.

Part of the problem is we in the nursery business sometimes seem like where closing down for the fall. We’ve talked about this before and its one reason the fall season doesn’t garner as much attention. Of course the reason there is not more to buy in fall is there are not enough people coming in the nursery to warrant having so many plants available then. What doesn’t sell in fall will have to be overwintered at the nursery, where it just sits. Inventory sitting around all winter is not good.

Hinkley is right! The “lack of connection to the natural world” part of the equation is the most important. Here in California it’s especially prevalent since our “natural world” is very different than the rest of the world. A real connection to the “natural” here would involve the realization the fall is a better time to do major landscaping. Spring should actually be the second garden season here. Living here and being connected to the natural world would bring the realization that plants from other Mediterranean climates where no rain falls in summer are a better choice than the plants we see in many of the garden magazines from other regions.

This is a huge opportunity for the garden center. Where as in the past we thought of ourselves as places to buy plants, we should now see ourselves as places to connect with nature and learn how to work with it. For some people the garden center is the closest thing to “nature” that they will experience. Our job now is not just to sell plants but also be a place to ask questions and get answers. We need to be the place to explain and share in the joy of gardening in the “off season”. We need to keep communicating with our customers via newsletters and e-news all year. We need to have fun events like our Creekside Festival that is not about gardening, but enjoying the ambiance of the garden and connecting with others.

Let’s quit selling plants and start selling a more natural lifestyle. The more we can be seen as a “nature connection” rather than a “store” the better. Many people are interested in learning to live closer to nature but don’t know where to start. How can I garden with the wildlife? How can I garden using less water and more in tune with the Mediterranean climate we enjoy? I want to cut down on the chemicals I use in the garden, show me how. The box stores aren’t doing it so those of us with smaller garden centers should step up to the plate. With all the interest in eco-logical issues right now we are in an enviable position of becoming the nature experts if we want. Get people in tune with nature and the garden center business will thrive. Maybe not in the way it use to, but in a new and different way we are just starting to imagine.

Adopt a nursery

Here is another blogger that takes the time to visit and then talk about the nurseries she visits. Jodi DeLong of bloomingwriter in Nova Scotia has quite an extensive list. I actually ended up here from a Swedish web site Indoor Gardener. This page is in English. The home page is in Swedish which Babel fish will not translate.

The page I wish I could translate is about how to “adopt a nursery”. Jodi has quite a list of nurseries while Indoor Gardener has just started. She has a poll up this post on steam trains in nurseries, which her “adopted” nursery has.

I like this as it is a way for gardeners to spread the word about garden centers they like. This is going to happen in every town eventually. These reviews will help to drive new business to these stores, or if your bad away. First hand accounts from bloggers that are trusted will eventually be more important than all the other ways we try to get the word out.

I have started a section called "Blogs with reviews of garden centers and nurseries" in the link section. If you write nursery reviews or know of someone that does let me know and I'll include a link to it.

It seemed like a good idea.

When I drive to work I pass by this house that was just completed a year ago. The owners have put in a nice fence which I assume is to keep the kids in check. Soon afterword I noticed the grass growing all through the yard. The owners had planted a lawn. It’s a natural inclination. The Blue Oaks (Quercus douglasii), and Live oaks (Quercus agrifolia) which were here before the house are picture perfect with the fresh lawn planted underneath.

Blue and Live Oaks are native throughout the foothills of the Sierra Nevada as well as the coastal range. Being native they have been living with the yearly drought every summer that is a fact of life here. No water, except for the occasional shower falls all summer until mid fall. Well meaning landowners plant lawns under these trees and then irrigate throughout the summer. The irrigation they provide is out of synch with the oaks natural habit of summer drought. As such these oaks have a good chance of dying within 10 years or sooner. They can develop disease associated with the summer irrigation. Suddenly the lawn which accented the oaks picturesque beauty now stands responsible for its death.

It’s an odd feeling driving by this house. It seems to be a young couple with kids who simply wanted to provide a safe and beautiful space. If you are unfamiliar with our native plants it’s easy to change the landscape in such a way as to kill the very trees that give our area its character.

Welcome the the foothills of The Sierra.

I wanted to get your opinion. You have just moved here from the eastern half of the country or maybe from the ‘The City’ (SanFrancisco) or Los Angeles. When you moved in it was spring and there was a beautiful tree with lush green leaves and even fragrant white flowers. It looked like this.

Now its summer and fall and it looks like this. You soon find out that it’s supposed to look like this during the summer and fall. Its not dead!

The hills are full of these trees. It’s California Buckeye (Aesculus californiaca). It’s a main component of the chaparral in these parts. During the summer it goes dormant with the dead leaves hanging on the tree for a couple of months. It’s not endangered yet, because its so prevalent. These people have left in their yard. Would you?

Small in size doesn’t have to mean small in influence.

I may have shared this e-mail from a fan before, but I think it really underscores the changes taking place in the garden center business.

"Mr. Pitsenberger and all at Golden Gecko,

My name is Nicky O'Sullivan, living in Glanmire, County Cork, Ireland. I am relatively new to gardening and I would most sincerely like to congratulate you on your website. It has fascinating topics, tips, guidance and gardening plans, in fact all you need to know and has kindled my interest in gardening. If circumstances would allow I would most certainly purchase my garden requirements but all I can offer is my appreciation and ask that you keep up the good work.

Regards, Nicky O'Sullivan"

Nicky says, "If circumstances would allow I would most certainly purchase my garden requirements (from us)". Now the challenge for us it to figure out how to facilitate his wish!

I think there are more Nicky's out there. For whatever reason they might gravitate towards your business. Maybe they don't have a great garden center in their area. Maybe they just feel more connected to your business because of your web page and blog.

There is a huge opportunity here for small nurseries to connect with people all over the globe. People are connecting across borders and will show loyalty to the business that speaks to (with) them.

Helping our customers spread the word

I came across this post on e-newsletters at Katy’s “Getting to the Point Blog”. I thought it timely as I had been thinking about taking our twice monthly e-newsletter and making it a shorter version, but send it weekly.

What I take away from the post is the idea of a “story” with each e-newsletter. I think this “telling of a story” fits in perfectly with our goal of a starting and nurturing a conversation with the consumer. The small garden center can be a great story teller. Our everyday experiences are stories waiting to be told

Our customers have stories to tell too. How about putting the customer’s story in the newsletter? People love to read reviews and hear “stories” from other consumers about businesses. Sounds like a good way to actively involve the customer in “spreading the word”.

I’ll try to be better

I feel like a chastised kid. Reading a blog about blogging it talked about how important it is to answer your reader’s comments. I always e-mail if its a specific question someone has but I haven’t been very good at continuing the conversation in the comment section. I realize I am missing a huge opportunity.

I seem to get a lot of traffic from people typing in different search terms. So your first taste of my site might be a post from a year ago. I think it’s important to make sure the subject has a beginning, end, or a way to the next discussion. Answering comments in the comment section will make sure everything has been addressed on my part.

So let’s continue the conversation. Please check back in the comments if you have left one. I’ll answer you.

Why I don’t carry the brand heavyweights

I have received a few e-mails and comments from fellow nurserypeople about how hard it is to give advice to the customer, only to see them walk out the door to the local Home Depot to buy their recommendation. This is a common theme in our business. I know of one nursery that said that was the final straw in their decision to shut down.

Just for the record this irritates me too. That’s why I don’t carry or recommend what the box store has! I don’t have to worry about them walking out to get it there! It also fun showing people an alternative to the mass produced and hyped products. Now I know many, if not most nurseries and experts disagree. Yes, the national brands have a huge leverage on the buying public. I see the pallets of Scott’s Fertilizers going out the box store doors and realize my way is like fighting a tidal wave. Why don’t I just give in and carry these national brands?

I don’t know. There is a real argument for having the big names and your own smaller labels side by side. Maybe I can convince them to try ours, and if I don’t at least they bought the Miracle-gro and kept the cash flow going. It’s just that I like being different! That doesn’t make it good business sense. That just makes it me.