The Blogging Nurseryman by Trey Pitsenberger

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.

I wanted to get your opinion. You have just moved here from the eastern half of the country or maybe from the ‘The City’ (San
Francisco) 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?

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.

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 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.

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.

The consumer wants information. The garden center that can supply the most amount of information in an easy to find way will win. We all know the value of an on site nursery professional that can answer a gardening question with ease. But that’s only when they are working, and the store is open. Now people want their questions answered any time anywhere. I do much of my research after hours on the internet. So do my customers.

While it is nice to entice the customer into the store where the potential for greater sales exist is also important to be there when they need help away from the store. I think having the ability to answer questions over the internet is a huge plus for the garden center. We try to answer questions within 24 hours. It’s not always possible but it does seem everyone is grateful for a quick response.

How great is it that we can now have customers e-mail pictures of their concerns so as that we can give them the correct answer. Sure it doesn’t mean a sale today, but by being the expert that can help out anytime they are more likely to come into the store next time around, or buy from our offerings over the internet.

While the idea of being a 24 hour nursery is enough to make a grown nurseyperson cry, we really don’t have to be physically open 24 hours a day. It’s all about perception. If I can ask my question tonight, with the promise of an answer tomorrow before noon that means a lot. The consumer wants access 24 hours a day. Let’s give it to them.

This is one of our most miss-understood native trees, the Horse chestnut (Aesculus californica). This picture highlights why the tree is so miss-understood. It goes dormant during summer and doesn’t come out of dormancy until the rains return in fall. Right now the “chestnuts” are forming and will fall to the ground. There they will sprout and start a new tree. These trees are all over the place in the foothills. It is a common component of the ch apparel. This is a very easy tree to grow.

Of course the problem is it looks like its dying during the summer, yet it is perfectly adapted to our summer droughts. Think about it, when there is no moisture to be had it goes dormant only to come out of dormancy when the rains return in fall. This is one reason we call fall the “second spring” around here.

Trees and plants like this that are so adapted to our climate will never become popular until we re look at what constitutes a “desirable” landscape here. California is a place where just about anything will grow with water. Why would someone moving here from different climates want “dead” looking plants in their yard. Of course styles change when confronted with drought and a lack of water.

What we need here is a garden aesthetic that celebrates our climate. It’s happening on a small scale with xeriscape and like climate gardens but they are few and far between. While the Horse chestnut may not fit into the “look” most people are striving for, plants that are adapted to the dry summers will become more popular as we look for gardens that take less time to maintain.

I came across this little bit of discouraging news from the Pittsburg Post-Gazette. In an article entitled “Bloom is fading for the gardening industry” the paper paints a gloomy picture for the garden industry. According to the paper “Sales at garden and lawn retailers totaled $34.07 billion last year, down nearly 15 percent from 2002’s peak of $39.6 billion, according to the National Gardening Association.”
The paper cites the aging population with “Arthritic 50-somethings throwing down their trowels”. Time crunched consumers are also listed as a reason for the decline. The article goes on to paint an even bleaker view of the Generation X and Y. “We’ve probably lost the X and Y generation, but we’re going after their kids, which is why we do school gardening programs and all kinds of things for children”, says Bruce Butterfield, research director for the National Gardening Association.

Betty Cantalini, owner of Gardenalia, a Shadyside garden supply store says, “We in the garden industry are at a crossroads, people are still gardening, but they’re cutting way back on the size of their gardens and the quantities of plants they buy.”

This is all stuff we have heard before. The garden center business is changing so quickly it’s hard to keep up. What I found interesting was the last part of the article. The silver lining is for specialty retailers that “target gardeners who want and need a lot of bells and whistles in their gardens.” The paper continues “North Hills Water Gardens, which caters to consumers who love running water in all forms, from ponds to fountains, hasn’t been hit by any downturn. If anything, its business is booming, said Tom Buchser, its owner.””We find that a lot of people say these kinds of gardens provide them with a great way to relax,” he said.

We touched on the subject here. We need to fine tune what it is that we are about. I think it will become harder and harder for a garden center to be a one stop shop for all you gardening needs. Instead we will be the one stop shop for all your native plants, water plants, ornamental grasses, succulents, etc. The nursery that has the largest and best collection of whatever their specialty is will win. It may have a series of collections or specialties but trying to have everything for the gardener is the realm of the home stores and they own that turf. Specialties can also include service, personality, information and other non s.k.u. items, but you will have to be the best at whatever you claim for your specialty. If its service it will have to be the best service in your market area to gain attention.

I read optimistic reports on gardening too, but I would have to say that this is the closest to what is the feeling in my industry. Things are scary out there in garden center world. I am hopeful though as it seems to me that when things are getting weird opportunities arise. It will take courage to seize them as we all are entering unknown territory.

A person come in yesterday with tomatoes that looked as if they had a virus. In my attempt to find out what was going on I asked her where she bought them. They were from three different stores, none from us. I guess when things go wrong we are the place to get the answers.

I remember when this would have upset me. They buy the plants elsewhere, have problems then come to us for answers. I even know of a nursery nearby that closed because the owners just got tired of answering questions and then watching the people go to Home Depot, a block away to buy the remedy. Another nursery nearby won’t even answer those questions unless you bought the plants there.

I am no longer bothered by these types of events. We figure that if they think we are the “answer place” that’s at least a step in getting them to be customers. The way in which we answer those questions, without criticizing them for buying them elsewhere is what sets us apart.

We get questions from all over the world concerning gardening. A recent one was from Spain concerning a tree that was lifting the roots of an old villa. Why would I take the time to answer questions from someone who will most likely never shop “in” our store?

We post the questions and then the answers in our e-news in a section brilliantly titled Q & A. Since we are able to measure what sections are read most we have found it has turned into the most popular section of the e-news. I just had someone e-mail me saying that they changed the type of trees they were going to plant based on the Q & A section.

I also like answering these questions because it makes our small nursery much bigger than its physical size. Who in our industry could have dreamed that a small garden center in northern California, or anywhere else would be receiving and answering questions from all over the world? We are turning into an international business.

The other reason to answer these questions is that these people may become customers someday. Who is to say that next year we might be selling online, sending products and information all over the globe? As a matter of fact we are headed in that direction. More on that later.

Just because a nursery is small in physical size does not mean its influence cannot be huge. Why limit our reach to the local clientèle. The world is out there looking for places to trust and spend their money. With the internet we can reach these people and let them know about our unique business. The “locals” will still be the bread and butter of our business, but the definition of local is changing. People who share the same beliefs or interests are becoming members of groups or tribes that are international in reach yet very personable on an individual basis. You may be a resident of your local town but now you can be a resident of of a larger “town” of shared interests or beliefs.