Open Register

Check out the new and improved Garden Center Web site!

Our new Web site is up, chock full o’ information, interactive sections, video/audio links and the proverbial “more.” All the content from the past is in there; we’ve lost nothing. But we have brought everything together under one roof in an easy-to-use design. New features, such as social networking, forums, blogs, supplier databases, market places and other useful platforms, will be part of the mix in the near future. In the present, we suggest you visit www.gardencentermagazine.com.

-- Yale

Get a load of that Proven Beauty!

The second edition of Proven Winners’ online magazine, Proven Beauty, is now available online. Check it out here.

The folks at PW encourage retailers to include a link to the magazine in their own e-newsletters, Web sites or blog posts. The magazine is packed with tips to help consumers add color and beauty to their homes, decks and patios.

-- Sarah

Coach of the Year

Psssst! Want in on a dirty little secret? Go here. Or here. Or, even, here.

Of course, Kathy Van Mullekom, author/proprietor/blogmaster, hopes you’ll go to all three sites, which represent her foray into the world of cyber gardening. The garden columnist for the Newport News, Va., Daily Press, Van Mullekom recently turned her love for plants into a love for sharing advice and news about plants. Hence, the Internet presence.

Van Mullekom, a.k.a. The Garden Coach, offers her expertise to gardeners of all skill levels, calling on several decades of experience and education to help her help her clients. She is what you might call a self-starter – not to mention someone who connected the dots between dream and reality.

We like people who can connect dots. We’re betting you learn something from this one.

--Yale

Proven Winners launches new retailer certification program

Last week, Proven Winners launched its new iGarden Certification Program for independent garden centers. Formerly known as the Certified Garden Center program, the new training initiative can be accessed online or in hard-copy video format. The program is free to independent garden centers and includes three training modules: plant selling, merchandising and customer-service techniques.

The program offers additional benefits including…

• A free listing on Proven Winners’ online retail locator

• A Proven Winners iGarden certificate and plaque to display

• Free access to print-ready images from the Proven Winners photo library

• News releases announcing iGarden Certification status for local newspapers

More information is available at www.pwcertified.com.

-- Sarah

New research questions benefits of compost tea, mycorrhizal products

In a guest blog post on Garden Rant, Jeff Gillman, associate professor of horticulture at the University of Minnesota, offered a recap of recent research that could impact gardeners today. One study showed that compost tea did not increase yields of certain edible plants. Another demonstrated that adding commercial mycorrhizal products didn’t increase mycorrhizal colonization. Read the complete recap here.

-- Sarah

Le Tour des Plants brings together customers, retailers and growers

The cover story for the March issue of Garden Center Magazine—which should be hitting mailboxes soon—is called “Balancing Interests: Garden retailers weigh the costs and benefits of fighting the big boxes and aligning with other independents” Among the people I talked with for this story was Ann Murphy, director of marketing for Oregon Association of Nurseries. She discussed the organization’s popular Le Tour des Plants event.

Le Tour des Plants, an outreach effort spearheaded by Oregon Association of Nurseries (OAN), has successfully brought together independent garden centers (and growers and customers) for going on four years. More than 25 retailers have signed on to support this self-guided tour of garden destinations in Oregon and Southwest Washington.

This year’s tour is scheduled for Sept. 12-20. During this period, consumers can visit garden centers and specialty nurseries, where they’ll get great deals on plants and the opportunity to attend seminars and demonstrations. OAN produces an e-newsletter and nursery guide to keep consumers up to date on tour events.

The tour was created for many reasons, said Ann Murphy, OAN director of marketing. But it wasn’t really born from a desire to battle big boxes, as much as to generate more interest in gardening.

“It wasn’t competition-driven,” she said. “It was trying to find an alternative to ‘Fall is for Planting’ campaigns, which, from what I heard, haven’t really resonated with the gardening community… We’re using this opportunity to educate consumers.”

Retailers reap benefits that result from this united effort. Murphy recalled a conversation she had with Lora Keddie, director of marketing for Al’s Garden Center with locations in Metro Portland and Salem, Ore.

“She said they alone can’t encourage people to garden more. They can advertise their products, but you really need an industry effort. That’s the role that OAN can play. We can go out and pool some resources to create a louder message than anyone can do on their own.”

-- Sarah

Join Garden Center Magazine on Facebook

We know you're a fan of Garden Center Magazine. Here's you're chance to show it!

The source of smart ideas for independent retailers now has it's own Facebook page...

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Garden-Center-Magazine/56008642029

We'd love to have you as a fan!

-- Sarah

Philanthropic behavior

Tis the season for fundraising. In the past week I’ve been asked by three friends to buy something to support a school band trip, softball uniforms and a trip to Radio City Music Hall.

Reminds me of my days back at the florist. At least once a week someone would come in requesting cash or flower donations for an event or fundraiser. Our store was located just down the street from a major university, so I think we might have received more pleas than some other businesses. It got ridiculous after a while, quite frankly. Once you develop a reputation for generosity everybody begins knocking on your door.

Given the tight economy, I imagine that independent businesses will see even more donation requests this year. Which could put retailers in a sticky situation. You want to help; you want to generate goodwill. But you also have to stick with your budget and protect your bottom line.

Here’s how we ultimately fielded requests at the florist:

1. Make it formal. Folks often came in armed with a brochure and a general idea of the donation they wanted. The manager or assistant manager would then ask them to either mail or drop off a written request outlining exactly what they wanted and any promotional benefits the shop would receive in return.

2. Keep it visible. We made cash donations to a select few organizations. (And typically received mentions in program brochures in return.) But in most cases, we tried to donate loose flowers or arrangements. It was the best way to get visibility for what we do best.

3. Stick with the budget. We had donation dollars budgeted for each quarter. Two large, standing obligations sucked up most of the funds for the second quarter of the year. But regardless, once the money was gone, that was it. When additional requests came in we could say in all honesty that our funds had already been allocated for the quarter.

In talking with garden retailers over the years, I’ve encountered several interesting methods for handling donations. Some stores do contract growing for organizations at a reduced rate, providing merchandise for the plant sales they run. Many donate materials and plants to school gardens. Others sink their philanthropy dollars into community beautification projects like America In Bloom.

Let’s hear from you. How do you handle donation requests? Do you expect more of them this year?

-- Sarah

Gardening coverage gets the axe. Can you pick up the slack?

Newsmakers have been making the news lately. Budget cuts and layoffs at major media outlets have staffs scrambling to report the issues of the day. And it seems like home and garden coverage is suffering the most.

Correction. Home coverage. Goodness knows you hardly see a relevant garden feature in the news these days. So far, I’ve been lucky. My local paper still devotes almost a solid page on Saturday to garden articles most weeks.

That’s not the case in many other markets. When I travel for business, I always pick up a local paper. What irks me is when you open the Home/Garden section and find a plant-related story that was pulled from a national wire service. Too often the article is offering plant recommendations and tips that don’t jive with the local climate. (And then we wonder why newbie gardeners come into stores so confused. Sheesh.)

But, being a media person myself, I know why they just pull something from the wire. It all comes down to time and money. Or lack thereof.

I don’t expect things to improve any time soon. The folks at Garden Rant recently reported that the garden writer for Slate was laid off. Then comes word from The New York Times that Meredith Corp., the company behind Better Homes & Gardens and other specialty titles, has cut 7% of its workforce and is shuttering Country Home magazine.

Hmm. Now we’ve got both national and local media outlets struggling to come up with garden coverage. If they decide to cover this realm at all. Who’s going to pick up the slack?

In many cases, retailers are filling the gap. Sloat Garden Center, a multi-store chain in the San Francisco area, is one business that does a great job sharing information online. The store’s blog and Garden Guru column position the company as a much-needed expert in the gardening world.

Before the spring rush hits, take a look at the gardening news your customers are getting from local sources. Is it good? Is it enough? Could you do better?

-- Sarah

The reviews are in. How do you rate?

I frequently correspond with Pete Bergquist, general manager of Green Arrow Nursery in North Hills, Calif. Recently, he sent me a few links to online reviews of his store. Here’s an example, from InsiderPages.

It’s great to see that Pete and his staff are monitoring what’s being said about them online. More often these days, conversations about customer service—good, bad or otherwise—are happening via the Web.

Seeing as how it’s probably a cold and slow day at the ol’ shop, why don’t you take a moment to do a Google search of your store’s name and see what comes up? While you’re at it, bookmark your listings on some of the more popular review sites, like InsiderPages and Yelp.

It won’t hurt. I promise.

-- Sarah