Open Register

Retailer shares a garden moment

Jeff Griff, owner of Lowe’s Greenhouses, Florist & Gift Shop in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, shares some thoughts on a recent morning spent wandering through his own garden. His essay is also slated to appear in a local newspaper.

God is calling… are you in?

This morning I heard a tree fall in the woods… because I was listening.

It was going to be a busy day, so I didn’t have much time. I poured a cup of coffee and headed out into the early morning sunshine to walk the yard. The bluebirds were taking turns delivering nest materials to their box. Grasses from the edge of the woods seem to be their order of the day.

I was worried that my peaches may not be pollinated for the lack of bees, but was pleasantly surprised to find a bumble busy at the task. The wild dogwood at the edge of the woods has more flowers this year than last. It is happy in its home.

Consumers consider environmental impact of garden products

A majority of American households are concerned about the environmental impact of gardening products, according to the 2008 Late Spring Gardening Trends Research Report released by Garden Writers Assoc. Foundation.

The survey found that 68% of households were either very concerned (34%) or somewhat concerned (34%) about the environmental impact of gardening products they buy. Respondents also said they’re recycling more: 48% always recycle plastic nursery pots/trays, 48% always mulch or compost grass clippings and 41% always mulch or compost waste.

Additional findings:

• Weed and insect control continue to be the top two activities Americans are planning for their lawns this year (48% and 32%, respectively).
• One out of three (33%) said their primary reason for gardening is better mental health, nutrition or fitness.
• The number of gardeners planning to add more perennials to their properties this year continues to grow, increasing from 31% in 2005 to 41% this year.
• Blogs have a strong following among gardeners, with 23% reporting they read blogs of all types. Among those who read blogs, 27% said they read garden-related blogs either frequently (5%) or occasionally (22%).
• Fertilizing is the number one activity for this spring and summer, cited by 31% of respondents. Working in manure and compost comes in a close second with 28%, followed by the addition of store-bought soil mix (25%) and peat moss (14%).

-- Sarah

Warming trend shifts hardiness zones

Dueling maps have gardeners questioning plant hardiness zones, USA Today reported. A growing number of experts said that because of the warming climate, the 1990 USDA map doesn't reflect a gradual shift northward of growing zones for many plants. A map published in 2006 by the Arbor Day Foundation shows marked movement of zones.

-- Sarah

Bloomin’ fun

In this day and age of technological everything, I am what’s known as a point-and-dig as opposed to point-and-click.

Spring is here in Texas and my mom has decreed it to be planting time. However, since she’s getting to be up there (you don’t have to tell her I said that!) and likes to see me sweat, I get to do the digging and planting. On the other hand, since I have killed just about every plant I’ve ever put in ground or pot, she claims dominance on the caretaking.

I will admit to a seasonal bit of envy, though. Whenever we do our garden center buying, I’m always tempted to buy and plant something myself. Having learned the hard way that it only brings heartache for me and death to the plants, I refrain.

I want to grow huge blooms of something (besides weeds!) like marigolds or morning glories or something big and bright and beautiful. Or herbs that I can use to cook with. Or cacti – seriously, how much water and care do they need?

Unfortunately, all my flower colors appear to be black.

Good thing I can dig, I suppose.

-- Jennifer

Garden writer offers plant picks from MANTS

New York Times garden writer Anne Raver visited the Mid-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show in Baltimore earlier this month. Check out which plants she’s bringing to the attention of consumers in this article.

-- Sarah

Stoke the spring fires

It gets cold even in Texas. And during chilly weekends there’s nothing better than curling up with a good gardening catalog. Right now, I’ve got the latest catalogs from Plant Delights Nursery, Park Seed and Jackson & Perkins stacked on my desk at home. Maybe I’ll get around to them on Saturday…

And, like so many other gardeners, I’m dealing with a deluge of promotional e-mails from the mail order companies. They’re kind of annoying, but I still end up opening them. (Hey, I’m working. I’m doing trends research. Yeah. That’s it.)

I’m a sucker for full-color photos and dreamy plant descriptions. I make wish lists and complete order forms that I may or may not actually send in.

In the midst of these mail-order missives, I stumbled across a postcard from one of my favorite local garden centers.

Was it offering a sneak preview of the best new plants for spring? An overview of hot perennials for 2008? Nope. It was a friendly reminder that they offer free soil testing.

Don’t get me wrong, this is a valuable and useful service. (Which confirmed last year that my soil has enough clay to start a pottery factory.) But there’s nothing fun or exciting about soil testing. It’s certainly not a message that got me in the mood to buy. In fact, it dampened my enthusiasm. It got me thinking about all the soil amendments I need to bring my front flower beds up to par. Sigh.

I know retail reality hits hard this time of year. Most businesses are just trying to keep the lights on and key staff employed until spring rolls around. But here’s my point: If you’re going to invest money in early season marketing, make sure you do something inspirational.

Take a cue from the mail-order catalogs and create something that whets the appetite. Sure, you can mention the houseplants, soil testing and stuff that will bring in a trickle of customers now. Just do yourselves a favor and give people a reason to rush in right after the last frost date. You’ll be glad you did.

-- Sarah

Fiskars to award gardening grants

Fiskars Garden & Outdoor Living has launched Project Orange Thumb, a grant program designed to encourage community gardening.

Ten grants will be awarded to community organizations, schools, gardening clubs and other groups. Recipients will receive up to $1,500 in garden tools and $800 for plants.

Application deadline is Feb. 15. Winners will be announced March 15. Complete details are available here.

-- Sarah

Leaf-thieving, a grand Texas sport!

Recently I was initiated into the art of leaf-thieving. For those of you not in the know, this is when you drive around your neighborhood -- or the one a few streets over -- and scope out bags full of leaves.

With casual subtlety, you park your car near the bags of leaves, flip your hazards and nonchalantly start tossing bags from the curb into the back of your car or truck. Then, giggling like a school kid and waving at the stumped neighbor across the street, you jump back into the car and take off.

Once at home, you haul your booty -- and the leaves -- to the backyard where you fling them mightily over the 6-foot fence and hope they don't come back to smack you in the face. Ugh, tastes like dirt.

The purpose of leaf-thieving? Mulch of course! Pour out the bags on the lawn, mow them into a fine blend, add some grass clippings for good measure and you have something worth growing in!

-- Jennifer

Do your customers need a coach?

Sometimes good ideas have to hunt you down and club you over the head. That happened to me in July when I was reading the lively gardening blog Garden Rant.

Allow me to give a little background. In mid-June, The New York Times published an article about the rising popularity of garden coaches. Coaches are usually experienced gardeners, many with an official horticulture background, who hire out by the hour to travel to a newbie gardener’s home and advise him or her on how to grow plants and design a landscape.

The article reminded me of the Budding Gardener series in The Washington Post, which follows the progress of a new homeowner as the newspaper’s resident garden expert, Adrian Higgins, leads her through the joys and labor of her first year as a gardener. But that’s about all the thought I gave it.

Then a month later, I saw that Garden Rant was revisiting the garden coach topic. Did any idea about how our industry can cash in on the trend even glimmer in my mind? Nope. That idea didn’t dawn until the writer, Susan Harris, specifically said she would visit Open Register and tell retail nurseries that they are perfectly positioned to offer garden coaching service.

As I said, the idea had to knock me upside the head.

The garden center-based coach

So how would a garden coach service work at a garden center? It seems to me such a service would center on three things: employees who want to participate, scheduling and prices.

Employees. If you encourage employees to gain state nursery or master gardening certification, then those employees should be the first to approach. For one, certification would give the service added legitimacy. For another, your state association may count acting as a coach toward the points needed for renewing certification. If you do not have certified nursery professionals on staff, then turn to your most friendly and knowledgeable employees. As far as the new gardener is concerned, the person you send to their home will define your store.

Scheduling. When employees visit customers, they should obviously be considered on the clock, including travel times. If you have a tight schedule for employees, be careful to not overburden those who remain at the garden center during coaching sessions. And it would be a good idea to double check liability issues for your coach.

Pricing. Make sure you charge enough to cover the cost of the employee’s salary, as well as a fee for expertise. It wouldn’t be a good idea to charge too steeply unless there is such a demand for coaching that you want to use cost as a way to control demand.

-- Carol

The growing season

Last month, the Youngblood family reached a milestone. The first of the offspring to say, “I do,” said, “I need to talk about plants, Dad.” Of course, he then proceeded to say, “where’s Mom?”

Smart lad, that Aaron Youngblood. He realized that, when it comes to things green and colorful, the family matriarch is THE resource of choice. A gardening “lifer,” my wife has forgotten more about plants than I’ll ever know. And when our son and his wife decided to landscape their new yard, she was at the ready to pick out items that would grow and flourish in the garden spot known as Waco, Texas.

We recently visited the newlyweds to check out their fresh handiwork. It was an amazing vision -- loropetalum (Chinese fringe plant) was mixed artistically with some lantana and several dwarf nandinas in a bed that fronted the porch. The unsightly fence that had marked the front yard when they first moved in was gone. In its place was an unobstructed view of a landscape in the making … with fresh-shorn grass and colorful flowers and bushes. Four months earlier we had been there, celebrating the fact that they had put a down payment on a house.

Now, we all agreed, they had themselves a home -- “their” home.

I’m not going to lie to you. It made me well-up. As a father, I’ve spent most of my adult life wondering if I did it right, wondering if I even had a remote clue about how to do it right. I mean, you birth ‘em, you burp ‘em, you bring up as best you can, and then you pray that you didn’t screw ‘em up. I took one look at my son’s yard, and at how proud he was to show it off, and I knew that I probably hadn’t.

Or, at least, that I had married the right woman.

-- Yale