Sunday thoughts

If you tied to e-mail me lately you might have found a message "mail box full". I ignored, this since I had sent messages read to the trash bin. Well apparently I needed to empty the trash bin! Thanks to those who took the time to call and let me know. I try to monitor people who have linked to me, and return the favor by linking back to them via my blogroll. Its gotten hard to keep up these days, as there are so many new blogs out there! My only criteria for linking to another web site via my blogroll is a shared mutual interest. Mostly its garden related, but it could be just about anything. If you have linked to my blog and I missed it shoot me an e-mail and I'll be sure to link back to you. Quality links are what makes the blog world go round!

Want to thank Zoey Farms who took the time to attend our Hyper-tufa pot making workshop. It was the first time they had visited and it was a result of our web page and blog. Yea, it works. Zoe farms is one of our growing community of vegetable farmers in the area. They have been around for a few years and sell their vegetables through a subscription service. We are seeing an increase in interest in growing your own vegetables as well as selling the excess or all of it at farmers markets or through a subscription service. I found out about them because they had linked to my site mentioning they were going to visit. I try to keep my eyes open for people talking about us. I have Google alerts set up for our names, business name, etc. When I saw their link I was able to visit with them before even meeting them in person. This is what all small business needs to do. You can start a blog for nothing but the time it takes to nurture it.

We in the blog world sometimes expect things to happen over night. That's seems to be the nature of the world today. We want it now. Some things take time though and I believe that we have only started to see the effects of all this blogging. To those that said blogging was not something business needed to think about, your wrong! It empowers not only the customer, but connects businesses to the customer as well as other business. I find talking with other garden centers around the world empowering. Its amazing how small garden centers in all different places are facing the same concerns and possibilities. I find it comforting that a garden center in England has many of the same issues we have here. It means we are not alone, and through collaboration can come to solutions that benefit us both.

I hope I am right, but the era of small personalized business may be coming back. Right when we thought that the world was going to be dominated by mega-chains that crush the little guy, the little guy gets a voice! The really neat thing is that people are starting to listen and respond. I don't need a huge percentage of the gardening public to shop our store. What I need is a smaller, more passionate group of people that will respond to our message and spread the word. When small business will really start to reap the rewards of keeping up the conversation is when the customer starts to spread the word. And when that customer has a blog of their own, look out!

I am a nursery customer

Some posts just keep on giving. My post about Hines Nurseries being de-listed at the stock exchange was written on August of 2007. I just received a comment from Texastim, who apparently works at Hines. His comment is mostly directed at other commenter's who might have worked at Hines in the past. What I found interesting is that it took someone at Hines this long to speak up. If you Google Hines Nurseries my blog post comes up right after Hines nurseries own web site.

His comment concludes with “hines is still going strong so someone was wrong. you people that have left hines need to quit being angry and actually reasearch more than one site before talking.”

The problem is there are no other sites to research, other than business sites that just list company info. There is no Hines blog where they can explain their side of the story. I get people searching for hines nursery blog and they end up at my site.

Does Hines have to blog? No. Should they have a blog? Yes, if they want to get their side of the story out. Do they need to get their side of the story out? After all I am just one potential customer with a blog and they are a multi-million dollar company.

Welcome to the new world. Ignore just one potential customer (in this case me) and the next thing you know they are writing about your business. Try Googling Home Depot tomatoes and see what comes up. The only reason I knew my site was coming up was people have used the search, home depot tomatoes in the past and ended up here.

I appreciate Texastim taking the time to address his concerns about my post and some of the comments. Companies will have to do more of this in the future. I find this great news. It allows the customer to have a say, good and bad about their experiences. If the company has done everything they can to address the customers concerns, then they will have nothing to fear from this new media. Instead use this media to express what the company stands for beyond a corporate web page. Let's hear from more businesses!

Whats with the tree in the picture? Its an "Arkansas Black" Apple growing in my yard. I planted it about twenty years ago. Just thought it looked cool.

Pictures of some cold damaged plants

Here are some pictures of the type of cold damage we experienced. The Japanese Maples, especially the fine leaf varieties look like they will have to loose all the leaves before they get new leaves. Some of the "Bloodgood" varieties seem to have escaped the severe damage. The Hydrangeas got hit but will recover. Unfortunately they we're loaded with flower buds which are now destroyed. There goes Mother Day sales of Hydrangeas. The last picture is of some Pieris "Forest Flame" with the new red growth burned. This is the highlight of this bush. I went through and cut off all the new growth. Hopefully most of these plants will recover.

The problem is these plants will now be sitting around right through the important spring season. By the time they recover we will be in summer. What to do? Buy in more replacement stock to sell until the others recover? Sorry, can't do a lot of that. Already spent the money to get these plant here. Can't just order more. I also don't think leaving these plants in the sales area is good business. We could have a "cold snap" sale but who is going to buy damaged looking plants? This kind of damage, at this time of year will cut into sales. I hear the story in Oregon is much the same, with spotty but serious damage depending on the nurseries location.

Huge losses for northern California agriculture

After all the discussion about planting tomatoes too early we here in northern California have been hit with a cold snap much worse than expected. Not only were tomatoes planted too early killed our agricultural community has been hammered. We just had the most damaging late season frost in thirty years! Vineyards have suffered anywhere from a 15 to 100% loss. Almonds, peaches, plums, and other early season crops have been decimated. Some peach farmers are saying the loss is 100%. I don't know about nursery losses but can say we got “nailed” at the nursery.

Sure the vegetables were in the tent and escaped damage but even hardy plants that had new growth were damaged. Other than a bunch of marigolds and cosmos we had to dump most of the plants will recover. The problem is they will have to be set aside while we wait for new growth the replace the damaged growth. Even trees like crape myrtles had all the new growth damaged. Don't even mention the hydrangeas or Japanese Maples that will take at least a month to recover.

When we came back to work Monday you could see right away that we had an event that was going to effect the spring sales season. It got down to 30º F. It's weird walking through the nursery smelling the rotting foliage that was killed by the cold. We only have so much time to sell these plants and now they will have to be set aside while they recover. Never the less they will recover this year. The farmers that have lost their entire crop will have to wait till next year.

Your going to hear more about this cold spell as the damage is assessed and reported. A conservative estimate is the damage to grapes in Napa, Sonoma, and here in El Dorado County could reach $80 million! Thats just the grapes. Add all the peaches, plums, almonds, and other crops grown around here and the dollar loss will be HUGE.

We still have plenty of plants that we will be able to sell, so in our case the damage was bad but not devastating. Now we are staring straight into the high 70'sºF by the end of the week. We are going to be answering a lot of concerned customers questions in the next couple of weeks.

Why I don't sell tomatoes early, part II

In this post we had a discussion about why we don't sell tomatoes early, and my disappointment that the local box stores were selling all the warm season vegetables way to early. That post was March 26th. Here we are at April 19 and check out the forecast for Placerville for Sunday. Check out the overnight low. Get those frost blankets out! Sunday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 56. Calm wind becoming west between 6 and 9 mph.

Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 32. West southwest wind 5 to 8 mph becoming east southeast.

We did finally bring in some warm season vegetables this week for sale, but we keep them in our event tent where they are protected, and we still don't recommend planting until May. It will be interesting to see what happens to the vegetables sitting out exposed with no cover at Home Depot. Don't fret though, if they all die Home Depot won't pay a thing. The vendor will eat the loss. What about all those people who bought them early and planted them outside. They will dig them up, and return them for a replacement.

What a waste of time.

It does matter WHERE you buy your garden supplies

This is why I say it does matter where you buy your garden supplies. We work hard at our nursery to keep all the plants that we have looking great. Have we ever had to throw out or give away plants? Yes. All nurseries have at one time or another had to get rid of plants that were diseased, or just in really poor shape. We have however, never thrown away plants that were still salable just to get credit from the wholesale nurseries. You see, we have to buy the plants before we sell them. If they die because of something we did we “eat the loss”. No credit from the wholesale nurseries for the small independent nursery.

Now read Freda's comment at my last post. She says she worked at Lowes' so her description of what goes on is interesting. Then I found a Google alert that sent me to Garden Web and a thread on plant practices at Home Depot. It's worth reading too. What I like is the comments from various folks in response to bestestmommy and her post.

Like many of the commenter's to bestestmommy I agree that chain and box stores are not evil, just ruthless. Like one of the commenter's said, its often the local manager that makes the difference in the shopping experience. Some of the commenter's said they are tired of hearing about this issue. If you like the boxes so be it. If you don't, don't shop there.

My complaint stems from the view of a small independent garden center. I realize that the volume these box stores and chains do is the reason they get preferential treatment from the wholesale nurseries. I just don't understand why the box stores get plants to sell and don't have to pay for them until they sell them (pay at scan). Why not offer that to the independents? We take better care of the plants, and I would guess that the percentage of plants that would be “tossed” would be lower. It's almost as if these wholesale nurseries have been working against the independents. Of course many have! We are small! Smaller loads, more deliveries, more little businesses to deal with. It's all so much easier when its big stores taking volume.

Now we hear that Hines wants to court the independent because we account for a “strong 25% of their sales”. Not only that but it would appear that Lowes' is in some financial difficulties, and Home Depots sales may be down due to the slow down in the economy.

We are just 40 miles from Sacramento and 12 miles from the nearest Home Depot and in the four years we have been in business here I have never seen a sales rep from Hines. Not that I would buy anything from them anyway.

Gee, what fair weather friends we have.

So now you want our business

According to Todays Garden Center Hines' Nurseries says, "Tom Batt, was promoted to vice president of sales and marketing last week." Hines Nurseries has for years been one of the major suppliers of plant material to the box and chain stores. Now after a couple of tough years they have re-discovered the independent nursery. According to the article “most of Hines’ business is with home improvement chains, mass merchandisers and supermarkets, independent garden centers represent a strong 25 percent of sales with about 8,000 retailers.” We independents are "strong 25% of sales". According to Batt, “Independents are important to us and our industry. While a lot of our volume goes to the box stores, independent garden centers are a significant piece of our business. Some of them are big movers of products.” Batt, according to the article “brings more than 20 years of experience in the horticulture industry and was most recently national sales director, managing the Lowe’s account for Hines.” This explains why he said of independents that, “many of them are big movers of product.” I guess if your not a big mover of product then good luck. It also explains why they have suddenly found an interest in independents. Batt was responsible for the Lowes accounts at Hines, and as I understand it Lowes is having some financial problems right now so it makes since to make this move, as independents are a strong 25% of Hines sales.

We talked before how the wholesale suppliers of the box stores were going to come calling on the independents now that their biggest customers are not buying as much. I guess we are suppose to be happy that after years of neglect the big boys are sniffing around for business from the lowly independent. I don't think they will call on us as we are not “big movers of product”. In addition, being in northern California we might have more wholesale operations to choose from than other areas. It may be easier for us to not do business with nurseries that sell to the chain stores. I wonder if the strong 25% of independents get the same "pay at scan" deal that Home Depot and the others get. It was my understanding that a wholesale nursery like Hines is not paid for its plants until the box store scans the plant at check out. If the plants don't sell, Home Depot does not have to pay for them. Hines eats the loss. Is this still true?

Organics, Scotts Miracle-Gro, Home Depot, and your local independent nursery

My friend Angela at Garden Bliss asked some questions of me in the comment section of a recent Garden Rant on Scotts Miracle-Gro support of the GWA Garden Writers of America. She wanted to know if independents garden centers have a co-op that could buy organic fertilizers and sell them at a price that is comparable with what Home Depot sells Scotts Organic Choice Lawn Food for.

Angela's comments concerned how she had bought a bag of Scotts Organic Choice Lawn Food at Home Depot at a price that the local independent garden center couldn't match. Her point is that if she can buy a organic product that is produced by Scotts at a low price why not buy it? Is she suppose to ignore, what in her eyes is a quality product, just because its produced by Scotts and sold in Home Depot? Shouldn't we be supporting this chemical company in its efforts to supply the world with its organic products, weaning them of their synthetic products. She asked if the independent nurseries had a co-op that could produce an equal or better product for the same price.

There are nursery co-ops. One of the biggest, and the one I am most familiar with is 600 member Master Nursery Garden Centers. I had been member of this organization in the past. They do offer their own brand of products as well as central billing which helps independents get a better price on its products. There is also the GCA (Garden Centers of America) which I am not as familiar with.

To put this 600 member buying power in perspective the Home Depot has 2,234 stores. Over three times the number of outlets. When The Home Depot goes to Scotts and asks for a deal do you think they get one? I would suggest that with that number of stores the discounts would be deep. Add Lowes, K-Mart, Wal-Mart, and the rest, and you can see the chain stores are a big portion of the business Scotts does. Why would an independent even consider carrying Scotts products under those circumstances?

Here is how it works. If we order one pallet of planting mix (50 bags) we pay one price per bag. If I buy three pallets per load I get a better price. The discounts continue as you buy more and more pallets. I might have a delivery every two weeks during spring of maybe 10 pallets per load. During that same moment in time the 2,234 Home Depots are receiving 10 pallets or more every week at each store! You do the math. I would guess I am way underestimating the amount they receive. Scott's offers big discounts to big buyers.

This is why most independents carry something different than Scotts products. I do know that many nurseries carry Scotts with the assumption that while they might not make as much per bag as Depot does , it beats having the customer go elsewhere to buy. Think about it, if the independent wants to sell Miracle-Gro at the same price that Depot sells it for the independent may have to price it FOR LESS than they can buy it for. Yes, its that crazy! In many cases we can't buy it for what the box sells it for. The same for plants. My post on redwood trees and Leyland Cypress at Costco is a great example. They we're selling the plants for less than I could buy them for. Of course the quality of the trees being sold is not the quality we would carry, but the buying public doesn't know about that. They see big redwood trees at amazing prices. They don't see crappy soil, forced growth with high nitrogen fertilizers, no watering while sitting in the warehouse, etc. They just see an amazing deal!

As far as nurseries lowering their prices because of bulk buying of organics, its not going to happen. It's not so much the price of organic products thats the problem, but rather the freight charges incurred in the delivery of the product from warehouse to store. Remember that 10 pallets of material that I buy every two weeks in the spring? The freight charge to get it here is picked up by us. Either in the pricing of the product to us, or in a flat delivery fee tacked on the end. As a matter of fact it's quite trendy these days for suppliers to tack on a surcharge during “these unusual spikes” in gas prices. They say that as soon as gas prices fall they will get rid of the surcharge. Yea, right. Freight charges are eating away at the slim profits we make. Any extra savings in bulk purchasing is eaten up by the freight charges.

There is another problem for the small independent. Where to store the pallets of material that we bought so as to get the bulk savings? A store like Home Depot will blow through those pallets in no time. The independent has to store the extra product somewhere. Meanwhile the bags start to get bleached in the sun and soon enough the extra savings that was incurred in bulk buying is lost in product that looks like its been sitting around and needs to be put on sale to get it out of the store. Still want to start that small garden center or nursery?

Angela's argument concerning Scotts Organic Choice at Home Depot being a better deal than the more expensive alternative at the local independent only holds true if we are comparing like products. Sure Organic Choice might be a good product, but is the more expensive independent product better? I don't know since I haven't had a chance to compare. I think that since I have the day off, and my chores involve a visit to town I'll check out the local Home Depot and see what's up. I'll report back.

The wealthy gardener?

When one of the most read Bloggers mentions blogging and gardening I take notice. Seth Godin has a post today called The Wealthy Gardener. He pretty well sums up the gardening professions. Seth says, "my guess is that the people who do make money gardening probably didn't set out to do so." About blogging, "benefits kick in best when you don't set out to achieve them." My take on this, love what you do or do something else.

Courage

Courage is something that seems lacking these days. The courage to speak you mind, the courage to try something new, the courage to admit mistakes and move on, etc. So its great to hear of stories that involve courage and overcoming fears. Pam at Digging has such a story about her recent public speaking event. Great story Pam!

If we are going to get more people interested in the joys of the garden its going to be up to us to have the courage and spread the word. If those of us in the blogging world don't do it then we will be left to places like Sunnyville at the Lowes web site to do the job. Or Scotts new web page with people like “Fear the Vest” telling us when the next application of Halts needs to be made.

Don't underestimate the power you have to make change. Do you want a world where our kids learn about gardening from computer created Sunnyville or Scotts weird blogger page? I would rather spread the word via our blogs where real people reside, through public speaking to small groups that want to learn, and at your local quality independent garden center. Each one of those endeavors require a certain amount of courage. Are you ready?

We're in this together

Being located outside of metropolitan regions makes our choice of growers who will call on us a bit more limited. While there are a number of bedding plant growers who do call on us only one really has the quality that is necessary to set us apart from the Color Spot fare offed at the chains. So when that one grower we have come to rely on decides not to grow the early spring annuals, that effects our bottom line.

A couple of years ago we had a very cold a rainy spring. Our grower found themselves with lots of pansies, violas, snapdragons, etc. that we're not selling. Eventually the weather changed but by then the summer annuals were happening so they had to get rid of all those flats. That must have hurt. So naturally they are a bit weary about these early season flowers. In addition they realize that perennials command a higher price so they have focused on those plants. Their perennials in 4” pots are the best! But so where their annuals. Their flats of pansies were to die for.

This year they decided not to grow the spring annuals, which meant that we had to scramble to find another source, which we did but the quality is not as great. The only other quality source of flowers said they were not taking on any other business right now, and in addition we were to far out of their way. So we got stuck.

It's got me to thinking how tied into a few growers and suppliers we are. When you shop quality the choices of suppliers is greatly diminished. Remember we do not buy from anyone who supplies the chain stores, so those suppliers like Color Spot are out. In addition if one of those suppliers makes a strategic, or not so strategic move it becomes our unwanted not so strategic move. We could have been selling tons of the best quality pansies and violas yet because of our suppliers decisions we found ourselves lacking.

What happens if that vegetable grower with the really nice vegetable starts goes out of business, or the water plant supplier changes focus, or the major plant grower decides to move operations. We end up paying the price. If we are going to offer something better than they box stores we have to rely on those key growers and suppliers.

I think that its time for the growers who supply the small and medium sized independents to start filling us in on what there plans for the future are. We independents need to speak up and tell the growers and suppliers that we need to be let in on their (our) future plans. What are your plans for next year and after? It's not just our bedding plant supplier, but a lot of suppliers that make decisions regarding what it is they are going to carry and not carry that affects us. Maybe if these companies had blogs they could fill us in on what the boss or bosses have in mind. The blogs could be private for customers eyes only, but some type of ongoing conversation with the customer would be nice. After all its our shared success that is at stake.

Who do you love?

After my last post and looking around my own area I realize that "would you miss..." is not enough. You gotta have love. You might miss a place once it is gone but would you go out of your way to patronize a place because you love it? I would miss the local Borders store if it closed, but it wouldn't ruin my day. The local magazine store on Main St. in Placerville, Placerville News, which has been in business for over a 100 years is such a part of the community that if it closed it would be a real disappointment, a lost love. I love that place for its old wood floors, huge selection of magazines, location right downtown, and the way it makes me feel. I would miss Borders, but I love Placerville News. This is that undefinable quality that Barb mentioned in the last post. We need customers that love us and are proactive. While it would be nice to be missed, I don't want to find out how much we were. We need customers who would go out of their way to visit because they "love" what we do. They tell their friends about us because they want to spread "the love".

Think about places in your area that you "love". The kind of place you drive right by the competition to get to. The kind of place you tell all your friends about. Are there any where you live? When I get down to it there are only about 3 places in my area that I "love". There are lots of places I would miss, but the list of places I "love" is small and special.

Of course to be loved you have to "love". Do you love your customers or do you find them a pain in the "you know what". I know of nurserypeople and other businesses who actually feel that way about their customers. They look at their customers as a distraction instead of the whole reason for their business "being". I think those places have a short lifespan. There are just too many choices of where to shop to patronize a business that doesn't "love" its customers, and let them know it every time they come in the store. Not a smothering love, but a unspoken agreement between our customers and us. They know they are loved, they don't have to be told.

In you area what places do you love? If their are few or none, that means there is a business opportunity for someone!

Would you miss The Golden Gecko Garden Center?

Over at Brand Autopsy the author John Moore has been running a series called, “Would you miss...” The latest post covers Pizza hut. Does Pizza Hut provide such a unique experience that if they were gone tomorrow would you miss them? Do the workers at Pizza Hut have such a great working experience that they would have a hard time finding any other work that would be as great? What about the customer experience? Is it so fantastic that people would miss this company if it was gone? John covers other companies as well, including Walgreens, Polaroid, Cost Plus World Market, etc.

I thought about our company, The Golden Gecko Garden Center. Would people miss us if we we're gone tomorrow? If we closed up shop would there be no where else people could go to have the experience they get here? How about your business?

Its an interesting question. If what we are offering can easily be replicated somewhere else why are we still doing what we do? If your plants are brought in from the same places that the local box store gets theirs what makes you so special? Same with the fertilizers and other items for sale in the store. Are the employees so good that the service they provide couldn't easily be found somewhere else? Is the atmosphere at the garden center one of a kind?

This is why I feel its so important to be truly independent, and offer something besides what is being offered everywhere else. Another reason why I have no sympathy for the small or medium sized garden centers that don't offer a completely different experience from the big box competition, and the other garden centers in the area. This is also why I think we are seeing so many small garden centers going out of business. Are they just offering the same old thing or a completely novel and wonderful experience. I think if they we're really offering a unique experience they wouldn't be out of business.

I am going to start asking the question “Would you miss the Golden Gecko if it were gone tomorrow?”. Is our service, plants, people, and gardens really so special that people would be upset if we were gone? If the answer is no, then we are just spinning our wheels. I would like to think that we would be sorely missed, but I am going to take an honest looks today and see if that is really true.

Hope for a nurseryman's daughter

I receive comments all the time from people thinking of starting a small nursery or garden center. My latest was from Allison who wrote “I'm wondering if there is any hope for a nurseryman’s daughter to take over his family-owned retail business. I’ve grown up living beside my family’s 100 year old nursery my entire life. Recently, my dad has decided that it’s time to get out. He’s not making any money, and competition is getting all the business due to a better location. I feel that my dad is losing business due to his lack of motivation, but he blames it on the location. He’s let the nursery lose its charm that it once had. His heart hasn’t been in the nursery for a while. I, on the other hand, can’t stand to let the nursery go, and would do anything to keep it around. We have great wholesale contacts. My dad’s been a loyal customer to some for more than 30 years. My cousin lives down the road and sells wholesale. Our annuals come from the very best in the country. We are also very competitive in pricing. Why is it so hard to make this business thrive? Is this a completely a lost cause, or is there something I can do? Any advice is appreciated.”

I also received a comment earlier from Lorna that more or less asks the same question. I e-mailed Lorna mentioning a online resource she might like The Art of running a small garden center or nursery.

The nursery business is changing, along with most business theses days. I started in the nursery business during the last era of the garden center business. The era Allison's dad remembers. Things were different. No box store competition, no Internet, gardening clubs that were growing, etc. Now there is competition from box stores, the Internet, and shrinking garden clubs. In addition there are so many other ways to spend your time and money than digging in the earth. I understand Allison's dad being burned out and wanting out. Meanwhile Allison and Lorna see possibilities but little or no help from the older generation of nursery people who are as confused as to what to do next as the rest of us.

Other than the conversations we have here I don't have any specific advice other than keep the positive vibes and energy. Running a successful business requires both. My wife and I have a couple of commercial rental units that are vacant and need filling. A young lady came in the other day asking about them. She had ideas about what she wanted to do as far as a business but said everyone she talked to said this or that business had been tried here, and failed. I guess the people she was listening to figured if it was tried once that was it. What they don't ask was “were these new businesses that failed run properly?" Maybe that coffee shop should have served better tasting coffee, or that take and bake pizza place would have been more successful if the service and pizza was better. Just because it was tried once doesn't mean it was tried right.

My advice is to live the dream. Sure there are all sorts of business details that need to be factored in but optimism and enthusiasm mean so much. These days people feel bombarded with so much information, and so much negativity that they are dying for an optimistic message. Just by being enthused and optimistic you can attract like minded people who are looking for that positive message. I believe that there will a resurgence in the small garden center business led by people who refuse to be brought down by bad news, and instead want to make their own positive news. That's why I think that word of mouth advertising, supplemented by a great in store and online experience is the small businesses best hope for getting the word out.

There are of course many details that can affect your business, location, local economy, weather, business skills, etc. I do believe that the first requirement however is enthusiasm for what we do and optimism in the future. When challenges arise these traits will come in real handy. I believe that the smaller garden center can provide a refuge from the hustle and bustle of modern life. Rather than just a place to buy plants it is a place to become rejuvenated, and learn about the natural world. You enter the garden center tired and burned out and leave enthused and excited about creating change in your own world, via the magic of the garden. Tell me why a business that provides those valuable benefits wouldn't be a success?

Choices

Michele is concerned about how the slowing economy is going to affect her gardening budget. We in the garden center business are also concerned. We know when money is tight, or it seems tight that the first place we cut back on is what we consider extras. These non-essentials of course vary from one person to another. While I might think of the garden as an essential, others consider it a luxury. Now is the time for people to make some choices. What is worthy of spending your hard earned money on, and what really isn't. Should you buy and plant those cherry trees, or put gas in the fuel tank. Should you spend more time in the garden, sunshine, and fresh air, or is it time to hunker down in the house reading the latest depressing economic news.

Choice about how to spend you money and time are even more important during economic down times. Yea, the housing market is down. That house you we're going to “flip” and make a bundle on is now what it should have been thought of as all along, a home. It's time to put some thought into our gardens, and design ones that bring joy and nourishment, rather than just heighten “curb appeal”. Get rid of the front lawn and put it in the back, where the kids can actually play on it. Turn the front yard into the envy of the neighborhood. I remember just having moved out of my parents house into a duplex with a small front yard. My room mate and I turned it into a vegetable garden. We had lots of fun hanging out there talking to people walking by. We need more of that stuff.

Time to learn how to grow you own vegetables. Not because it's cheaper than buying them at the store, it's not! It's because growing your own food brings you closer to the essence of life. Invite the neighbors over for a dinner party held in the garden, using food that you have grown in that very garden. Fruit trees, berries, and vegetables can be incorporated into almost any garden plan.

I think this will be the “trendy” thing coming down the garden pipeline. To entertain, have fun, and serve the freshest food, all the while living the “good” life in our own yards will be where it's at. The ability to enjoy life and spread that joy to our friends and family during the good and rough times is the true measure of success.