Armstrong Nurseries responded to my last post here. I appreciate their response. Commenter Michael White expresses his feelings, as well as mine concerning how this turned out. What's fascinating are the possibilities inherent in the use of social media by companies that truly want to participate. You can build your business on input from the customer faster than ever before. Both positive and negative feedback if acted on can help business avoid larger problems later. Inviting the customer to provide input via social media opens all sorts of possibilities for collaboration. It is after all the the customer that makes or breaks any business. A customer who feels they have made a positive change in their local business will remember that and spread the word.
We await Armstrong Nursery's response...
Imagine just a few years ago. The largest nursery chain in California runs an ad in the local paper extolling the virtues of the pesticide Sevin. In the ad they say, "Garden Tip: Do you have bug problems in your garden? Try Sevin Insect Control. It's OK to use on edibles and is environmentally-friendly." How would you have responded if you disagreed? Write or call. Even if you got the company to listen it's doubtful the company would have printed a retraction or printed your feelings. In the old days the advertisers controlled the message. Of course things have changed. Companies want to jump on the social media bandwagon and use it to get their message out. Twitter is one such medium that many companies are starting to use. The difference these days is the audience can comment back.
Armstrong Nurseries tweeted the other day that the pesticide Sevin was,"OK to use on edibles and is environmentally-friendly."Â When Farmer Fred and myself Tweeted our concerns we we're directed to this paper. According to the paper Sevin or Carbaryl is not very environmentally friendly. "Direct contact of the skin or eyes with moderate levels of this pesticide can cause burns. Inhalation or ingestion of very large amounts can be toxic to the nervous and respiratory systems resulting in nausea, stomach cramps, diarrhea, and excessive salivation. Other symptoms at high doses include sweating, blurring of vision, incoordination, and convulsions." The paper continues, "Carbaryl is lethal to many non-target insects, including bees and beneficial insects."
Since there is no definition of "Environmentally friendly" it's left to the advertiser and reader to make that distinction. What does "environmentally friendly" mean? If one of the most toxic insecticides to bees can be called environmentally friendly, where does it end? We saw this coming a couple of years ago as advertisers of all stripes jumped on the ecological and environmentally safe bandwagon. The terms have lost their meaning.
As more and more advertisers use social media to make claims, it's up to the users of that social media to speak up when they disagree with those claims. While most advertisers would prefer that those they are advertising at remain silent and do as they are told, others will relish the idea that they now have a forum to discuss these claims. People are searching for the truth and will reward those companies who speak the truth and are not afraid to fess up when they are wrong. We all make mistakes, and these days the price of making those mistakes right are a lot smaller. No more expensive print or TV ads explaining the mistake. Now it's just a matter of Tweeting, blogging, or Facebooking the response. It's a win-win for the customer as well as the company.
Another customer of Armstrong Nurseries Tweeted , "Is it o.k. for pet's, too?" Armstrong Tweeted back, "The powder form can be applied on dogs for flea control. Pets should be kept away from the area when using the liquid form." Why should pet's be kept away when using the liquid form? If the product is "environmentally friendly", why keep pet's away?
We await Armstrong Nursery's response...
The insecticide Sevin is "environmentally friendly"?
I have written a few times on the current trend to call everything "environmentally friendly." The use of the words "eco" and "environmentally friendly" are used by marketers for everything from a new car, to new clothing. They are buzz words and can be used to describe just about anything we want to sell. It all in how you look at it. Sure, a Prius might be more environmentally friendly than another car, but it's less environmentally friendly than biking or walking to work. It's all relative. Farmer Fred Hoffman alerted me to this Twitter feed from Armstrong Nurseries, the largest independent garden chain in California. According to the feed, "Garden Tip: Do you have bug problems in your garden? Try Sevin Insect Control. It's OK to use on edibles and is environmentally-friendly. via HootSuite." I suppose a vegetable garden sprayed with Sevin is more environmentally friendly than that same area covered in concrete.
What's really neat is how people like Fred can catch stuff like this now. No longer are advertisers going to be able to make claims without being called to task. It's good for the public, and good for business. It's even good for Armstrong Nurseries, as they now have a forum to tell us about their claim.
Getting the word out, one Google search at a time
I am getting more visitors coming to this site from this Google search Home Depot tomatoes. The playing field is becoming more even between large corporations and the smaller players. The moral is, if you have something to say, say it! You can make a difference. Home depot is pushing the Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter again this year. As we discussed last year, these things are not the best choice for our low humidity, hot temperature summers. Never the less they will most likely sell thousands of these things.
You heard it here first
Lifehacker has been doing more and more posts on gardening. They mentioned Smart Pots at a post of March 29th, 2010. We talked about them here, August 29th, 2009! That's o.k. Got to get that cutting edge info from somewhere. Now here is something I haven't seen. A tackle box planter. They also talked about a shoe organizer planter in July of 2009.
Are these things practical? Doesn't matter, as they show an increased interest in all things gardening. From these crazy or not so crazy ideas will come the next big thing(s).
Box stores and independents, two different worlds
I had a lady stop in yesterday to buy a pot and some soil for a plant she picked up at the Lowe's in Folsom. She found a standard (shaped into a tree form) Scotch Broom in the garbage hopper behind the store. The only reason it was in the hopper was it had gone out of bloom. The plant was in fine condition and she planed on putting it in a pot until she could figure out where to plant it. It's a evergreen shrub, not a annual. She mentioned that they wouldn't let her just have it. They charged her $5, even though they we're throwing it out. This is wrong on so many levels.
Why was Lowe's throwing this healthy out of bloom plant out? Most likely they received credit from the wholesale grower who didn't want to pick it up. Pay at scan means the box stores don't pay for unsold merchandise. They simply don't pay the wholesale nursery for it and the wholesale nursery pick's it up or they just dump it.
Why did they charge this lady $5 for a plant that was headed for the landfill?
Why is Lowe's selling what my county El Dorado considers a noxious weed? Sacramento county does not consider it a noxious weed. Noxious pest in one county, but not the other?
My local Home Depot in Placerville has it's shelves filled with summer color and vegetables. Interesting thing is we are expecting snow today. These plants are not in a greenhouse, but on those Bonnie Plants supplied kiosks. When they die from the cold, Bonnie will pick them up and bring in more. Unsuspecting customers will assume that the nursery people at the Home Depot wouldn't be selling these plants unless it's time to plant them. If they die just bring them back in for credit. No responsibility by the box store for selling plants too early. No responsibility by the wholesale supplier for churning this stuff out and not holding the box stores responsible. And lastly no responsibility by the consumer who will just bring the plant back to the box stores for a replacement. No responsibility by anyone in the chain of events.
It has become clear that the only way for smaller independent nurseries to survive is to do the exact opposite of the box stores.
Sell plants that are appropriate for the seasons, despite what the local box store does. Yes, we have tomatoes, but they are inside and protected from the cold. You see, we have to grow and buy the plants we sell. We can't just stick them outside and return them to our vendors when they die.
Don't sell invasive pests, whether our county say's it's o.k or not.
Give people the right information to help make them better gardeners. Not just move SKU's that can be tossed in the garbage when done.
Don't buy from vendors that supply the box stores. They are as responsible as the box stores for the careless attitude that allows healthy plants to be junked.
Box stores, the vendors that supply them, and customers that shop there are not going anywhere. No sense in getting upset. We just try to find plants, vendors, and customers who do things differently. We want to partner with organizations that care about what, and who they sell to. We want customers that accept some of the responsibility for their actions. No, I should not have to replace that plant that the deer ate or the cold killed.We told you they we're deer resistant, not deer proof. We don't plant out tomatoes until May, and at least we told you when you bought it.
The future of garden retail will be the tale of two different way's of doing business. The box stores and their suppliers, and on the other side the independent nursery and their suppliers. One represents big business, throw away culture, and little or no corporate or personal responsibility. The other side represents small business, re-use and recycle, as well as personal and corporate responsibility.
It's your choice.
Famous Bay Area nursery in foreclosure
Just read that a Bay Area landmark nursery Western Hills has closed, and is going through foreclosure. According to The San Francisco Chronicle “the nearly 50-year-old nursery and garden, designed and built by San Franciscans Marshall Olbrich and Lester Hawkins, cultivated and popularized many of the plants that thrive in Bay Area gardens today.â€
According to the Chronicle “Hawkins died in the mid-1980s, followed by Olbrich in 1991. The partners left the property to a longtime employee until she could no longer care for it. She sold it to local partners Robert Stansel and Joseph Gatta in 2007.†The paper continues, “Stansel and Gatta admittedly had no professional experience running a
It’s interesting to read the comments. Everything from, “blame the native species movement for the demise,†to “it can't be THAT popular if it can't even rustle up a few local volunteers for upkeep and 1.5 mil†and “on the positive side, I sincerely hope this is an indication of a turning away from the introduction of lovable exotics. Perhaps this should be viewed as the end of one era, and the beginning of another.â€
Gardening is fragmenting into different niches. That’s neither good nor bad, but does have serious implications for anyone wanting to get into or continue in the garden business. Which niche do you decide to service, and which to ignore? Not always an easy choice.
Smaller and faster is cool
Our small garden business has sure changed over the last few years. Since we opened the nursery over five years ago the idea of what constituted a garden center has changed. Where as in the past we focused on ornamental's we now focus on edibles, or consumables. This was a survival move, and one that was made easier by being a small operation. The ornamental market here in northern California is decimated. In the past people would spot some cool ornamental plant, fall in love, purchase it, and then figure out where to plant it. Now the plant has to match a need the customer has. Screening a neighbors junk pile, providing shade, or preventing erosion, etc. Much less in the way of impulse sales. In this new world the hardest part for myself is letting go of past ideas of what a garden center means. With change coming faster and faster every year it's a good to be a small operation that can make those changes quickly. Being a small operation does not mean you can't have a big impact. Through the internet our reach grows every day, yet the physical operation actually gets smaller. This is a trend that I believe will continue. We prefer buying from smaller operations that are closer to our business model. The box and chain stores continue to consolidate who they buy from. It seems that soon only the largest wholesale operations will be able to service the box stores.
We have noticed an increase in people looking to buy from small, locally owned business. They even make a point of saying they are doing it. Perhaps people have finally seen the relationship between where they buy, and the local economy. Shop at the larger stores and where does the money go? Buy from your local, smaller operation and you can see the results. Of course you have to have what people want, and at a reasonable price. Pull that off and folks will respond.
Thinking of starting a small garden business? Now is the time. Don't wait for the economy to improve. If your idea has merit then it will work no matter what the larger economy is doing. If you can start and survive now, when the economy does improve you will have no where to go but up. More and more people are realizing that the only really work security comes from owning your own business. At least you know your success or failure is your responsibility, not some unseen bureaucrat at corporate headquarters. It is a bit scary at times, but so many good things come from doing things that are a bit scary. Fear is a great motivator.
17th century coffehouses, portable farms, and your local garden center
We are at the cusp of a gardening revolution. Every where we look new ideas and people are invigorating the field of horticulture. Some feel threatened by the changes, others look forward to the next development. As a nurseryman for over 30 years that I have felt both feelings lately. There is no better time to be in the garden center business than right now, yet that does not mean there are not great challenges to be faced. There will be many more small, medium, and large nurseries that will go out of business. Anytime there is a revolution the world as we know it gets turned upside down. Rather than pine for the old days of the garden center world, better to ride the wave into the future. What does the future hold for us? Ideas that at first seem outlandish, then come to make sense. My last post dealt with window farms. Window farms? How can you have a farm in a window? The idea that it is even a farm is a revolutionary idea. We all have a picture of what a "farm" is, and most of us would not think of a small window garden as a farm. This is one of the big changes we are talking about. It's the change we make in our own minds. A farm is a state of mind. Yes, you can be a farmer and live in the city. How about portable farms?
Check out the website, Portable Farms. They claim, "A Portable Farms& Aquaponics System is a onsite, food-production facility that ensures food security." Key words,"food security". One of the reasons we are seeing a resurgence in home-grown food gardens is concern about how commercial food is being grown and distributed. By growing your own you are in control. Just the idea of "portable farms" is intriguing. The use of hydroponics is growing by leaps and bounds. The necessary changes are coming that will allow us to grow tasty food hydroponically. The taste of commercial grown hydroponic (hot-house) food has been poor, just as commercially grown in soil food is never quite as tasty as home-grown.
Portable Farms makes use of hydroponics and aquaculture. I cannot vouch for the results of this system, yet it seems to me a great idea for producing food using modern technology. Here is a description of the system, and the inventor Colle Davis. Colle and his wife Phyllis claim, "they enjoyed all the organic table vegetables, berries, tomatoes, and fish they could possibly eat with enough surplus to feed 50 people daily vegetables and one serving of fish per week, per person, for an entire year."
This is only the beginning. As Colle says, "Sometimes, all it takes is one simple idea that leads to other ideas and then on to other answers . . . it is in that collaboration that people will solve the problems of the world". In my last post about window farms the idea of collaboration was key. One person has an idea, its spread through the internet where someone else improves on the idea, and so on. The pace of change is what is so exciting. Ideas that took years to find an audience in the past now just take days, if not hours.
Just as coffee houses in the 17th century became places for discussion and world-changing ideas, the small local garden center should become its 21st century equivalent. Places for the community to gather and share ideas that will change the world. It's coming sooner than we think.
The death of the traditional garden center?
Interesting post the other day at This Garden is Illegal. The New Urban Allotment Garden: Your Window?As Hanna say's, "...I have a yard and a garden in that yard. This is not something I am needing all that much right now. But, the system intrigues me for the winter when I want to grow fresh herbs and the like." Her post is about making a window garden, out of garbage. Be sure to watch the video. According to our.windowfarms.org window farms "are suspended, hydroponic, modular, low-energy, high-yield edible food gardens built using low-impact or recycled local materials. This site is the online community of window farmers, where we share our development processes and design innovations. The designs evolve through this online collaboration of individuals." The system uses "hydroponics", "low energy, high yield food gardens", and "recycled materials". It's an "online community", of "window farmers", using "online collaboration". Watching the video at This Garden is Illegal you find out they are also using LED lights, which we talked about here. Important point for garden center owners, did you once hear "bought at my local garden center?" No, it's bought at the local hardware store, hydroponic store, and using ideas from online collaborators.
Watching the video I was also intrigued in how city dwellers can call themselves, "urban farmers". It's a state of mind, being a farmer. The next gardening generation has no problem tossing aside traditional ideas of what a "farmer" is. They also are not afraid of technology. If you think that the trend towards organic products meant a return to the 70's idea of gardening you we're wrong. Notice who is in the video and who is at windowfarms.org., generationX and Y. It is the very demographic that has the nursery industry perplexed. We are told they don't want to garden, because they are not flocking into our traditional garden centers. How many items in the video does your garden center carry? LED lights? Those little clay balls they are using instead of soil are called Hydroton. Got those? Air pumps? The seed are being started in root cubes. Got tubing?
The video and people behind it inspire me! After thirty years in the garden business you can sometimes get a bit burned out. In addition, being told that generation x and y don't want to garden get's old. Watching the video leads me to believe that the best is yet to come. How exciting to see the younger generation thinking outside the box and coming up with solutions that are changing the gardening world. It also shows a way forward for garden businesses that and are not afraid to jump into the future, and leave tired old assumptions behind.
An interesting trend
Listening to the radio the other day a new book became the topic of discussion. According to NPR radio, "James Wong is an ethnobotanist. He trained at the Royal Botanic Gardens in London, and he's written a medicinal recipe book called Grow Your Own Drugs, an offshoot of his BBC television series." Wong says, "I want to make people think differently about plants – growing all around us are plants that could make you feel better." Interestingly Amy Stewart has been awarded The American Horticultural Society book award for her book, Wicked Plants. "A tree that sheds poison daggers; a glistening red seed that stops the heart; a shrub that causes paralysis; a vine that strangles; and a leaf that triggered a war. Stewart takes on over two hundred of Mother Nature's most appalling creations in an A to Z of plants that kill, maim, intoxicate, and otherwise offend." Sounds interesting.
I believe we are witnessing a new attitude towards the garden by a small group of people. From this small group of people larger trends will develop. From the "grow your own movement" which is exploding in interest as week speak a small niche is developing. An interest in plants that can change our perceptions, cure illness, and kill. One of the most interesting manifestations of this is the Poison Garden that was built by Jane Percy, the Duchess o f Northumberlund. Inspired by the legendary botanical gardens in Padua where the Medicis plotted the untimely, frothing ends of their enemies, The Duchess created a garden, dedicating it entirely to flora which are deadly and/or narcotic. Guides explain their deadly properties while keeping ne'er-do-wells and curious children away from the plants, warning them: "Do not touch any of the plants, don't even smell them. There are plants here that can kill you."
What's going on here? Why the sudden interest in powerful plants that can both cure, kill, and change perceptions? Some people are beginning to realize once again, the power and potential of plants. This is nothing new, as the history of man has been intimately intertwined with powerful plants. Over the last generation or two we lost site of that, as we turned to taming the botanical world and created the boring ,"safe" suburban yards of today.
The grow your own movement is largely responsible for this. If growing our own food crops is such a great idea, why not grow our own drugs? As James Wong say, "Making your own natural remedies for minor complaints can be easy, cheap and fun. But you must know exactly what you’re using and how to use it..." Most homes in the "old" days had herb gardens that we're used in treating various maladies. As the pharmaceutical industry grew there was less and less interest by people in using natural remedies. Why grow it when you could buy it in a pill form. That attitude is beginning to change, especially when one realizes that so many of our most powerful medicines come from plants.
I believe the use of herbs and other plants that have these powerful properties is going to grow in interest. There is a fascination with this aspect of gardening, especially with the younger generation, who already has experience growing its own mind altering plants. Here in California the big news is the states attempt to regulate and tax our most important mind altering plant. This is very big news here and has already affected the horticultural industry, creating a huge sub-industry.
As more and more people realize the food they grow is healthier and better tasting than what is bought at the supermarket, this interest is bound to extend to plants that affect our psyche and cure illness. I believe the interest in herb gardening well increase, along with the culinary crops. The "grow your own" movement shows no signs of abating.
LED grow lights change everything
One issue with HID (High intensity discharge) indoor grow lights has been the energy use. A 1000 watt light uses just that, 1000 watts. This can add up when it comes to electrical costs. Never the less they are good sellers here at the garden center. You can grow just about any crop under these high powered lights. Now there is something new. LED lights have taken off here. The interest is intense and its for one reason, energy costs. An LED that puts out the equivalent of a 1000 watt HID light only draws 300 watts. Only a third of the energy! The second most popular size of HID lights is 400 watts. A equivalent LED only uses 90 watts. That's one quarter of the energy. Quite a savings.
LED grow lights put out very little heat. HID lights put out enough heat to create an issue as far as having to vent the excess heat. They plug directly into a household outlet, without the need for a ballast like HID lights.
Did you know if we shine white light on chlorophyll, its molecules will absorb certain colors of light? The light that isn’t absorbed is reflected, which is what our eyes see. One reason plants appear green is the color of the light spectrum that is not utilized by the plant is reflected. Sunlight consists of primarily blue and red light mixed together, which is exactly the colors that chlorophyll molecules like to absorb. LED lights put out just light that the plants can utilize, without using energy to shine light that is just reflected away from the plant. That's what makes LED lights up to 90% efficient.
One other attribute of LED lights is their long life, up to ten years. HID lights usually need to be replaced every year, at a cost of between 70 and 120 dollars. If you start adding up the costs of running a conventional HID system, LED's over time will save you loads of money.
As for the initial cost for LED I was surprised how affordable they are. We sell a 400 watt equivalent LED system for under $400. If you add up the costs of a 400 watt HID system, including the light, ballast, reflective hood, etc. LED is actually less expensive at the get go. A 1000 watt equivalent LED system runs$1200, which is a about 1/2 the cost of a HID system. Yet when you factor in the cost of replacing the 1000 watt HID light once a year at a cost of approx $100 each, and the amazing energy savings, as well as no need to vent the heat from the HID light, it will soon pay for itself.
The changes going on in the indoor gardening market are mind numbing. Out here in northern California the market is booming. I have had two new indoor garden centers open within 10 miles of us in just the last three months.The main difference is we are a garden center, with professional nursery people . They operate out of store fronts or warehouses with unknown expertise. We actually grow plants under the lights, so you can see how they work. They don't.
We have talked about this market in the past, and how the nursery industry basically allowed the hydroponic and indoor gardening stores to have the whole market to themselves. The Golden Gecko Garden Center is a new breed of hybrid garden centers carrying horticultural equipment for all gardeners. That elusive garden center demographic of 20 and 30 something males that our industry is concerned doesn't garden? They do. It is now one of our largest customer bases. As a matter of fact, males and females in the 20 and 30 year age group likely account for more than half our business.
Garden Punks, and This Garden is Illegal
After my last post on social media I thought a couple of examples might be in order. The first is an example of how social media makes our lives better. Katie, at Garden Punks is a local garden blogger that has found herself in a sticky situation. She developed bacterial meningitis and is now in the hospital. She is quite literally fighting for her life. I have followed Katie and her blog since the beginning. She has shared the ups and downs of her gardening experiences, which has inspired other young gardeners. She has also shared her life experiences via her blog, and even though I have never met her personally she seems like an old friend. It would appear that Katie has made lot's of online friends. As of this writing she has received over 8000 responses at a website called Caring Bridge. It's a website that informs friends and family about what's going on with someone in the hospital. I receive an e-mail whenever there is an update. What an amazing use of social media. It has to be beneficial to have so many caring people pulling for you. This is an example of why social media is so important in our lives. It connects people in a way that would have been impossible in the past. 8000 responses! Amazing. We're pulling for you Katie!
Another garden blogger has come out of a prolonged hiatus. Hanna of This Garden is Illegal is writing again after a multi-month break. Hanna is an original garden blogger having posted on her blog for over four years. She found it necessary to take a break for various reasons, which she talks about at her latest post. Unlike Katie, her hiatus was for good reasons. Now that she has taken care of some things that caused her to ignore social media, she is writing again.
Social media has changed the world. In Katie's example it has brought together thousands of people who have one common goal, to see Katie through her illness and into good health. In Hanna's case a long break was just what she needed and she can pick up where she left off.
Once the novelty of social media begins to wear off it's true value can be realized. Making connections. Other than that how often you post is up to you. Maybe you only post once and a while, that's o.k. since it mirrors your personality. When you need it, the power of your connections can be utilized. The fact that I don't have to post every day is liberating. Stat counts don't matter as much as they use to. More important is making connections, and not feeling overwhelmed by it all.
Is your offline life suffering?
According to Iconoculture, "while more than 400 million consumers are active online social network users, a growing subset are getting off the social media carousel. Many consumers are quitting online soc nets over concerns they worsen their offline lives." It was bound to happen. Iconoculture continues, "Consumers aren't ditching digital friendship in droves, but they are getting back to the root of BeehivingSM — good 'ol fashioned face-to-face interaction." Social media is not going anywhere, but the need to be constantly connected is starting to change. You can actually spend about half the time and still stay connected. "As online social networks proliferate to the point of bewilderment, consumers are pushing back and reclaiming some of their personal lives from the Web's entanglements."Â
Just like anything new and wonderful we tend to overdo it in the beginning. After a few mornings when you don't get out of your pajamas until noon you start to ask yourself if it's really worth it. As a small business it's important to use social media, yet never forget that the customer standing in front of you is the most important interaction. Do you know your customers name?
In the nursery trades we may see more people than other types of business who want to wean off of too much social media. After all the garden is a place to reconnect with nature, and hanging out inside all day socializing takes you away from that.
Recycle Appropriately!
Came across this novel garden edging id
ea over at lifehacker. It's promoted as a green solution. It just goes to show that with a little imagination anything can be promoted as a "green solution." I like the one commenter that say's,
"Oh. This is a sin. Old wine bottles need to be sent to a friend that makes wine as a hobby and refilled with the results of their best efforts to be enjoyed by you. Re purposing in fine for sardine tins, soup cans, and marinara jars, but wine bottles serve a wonderful purpose in this world and should be used for that purpose. Drink Up Lifehackers! And Recycle Appropriately".Â