The Blogging Nurseryman by Trey Pitsenberger

I received a e-mail from a friend who owns a garden center back East. I took the name out but here is the e-mail.

“I’ve been trying to do some research on what the standard rates are in our industry and how big of a raise people give.  Have you ever found a discussion of this anywhere?  I’m not active on Linked In, but I thought maybe I should try asking there.  What do you think?

We give raises in June, and are at the point where giving everyone a .50 to $1 an hour will really push everyone very high and we can’t afford it.  We’ve had a very good spring, so I’m thinking bonus with a small raise would be more appropriate.  (Wish I had been a business major!)  (Or experience as a manager somewhere else).”

This is my answer.

“If you cannot afford to give raises, then let the crew know why, and don’t give them. We are all in this boat together and if giving raises means we might have to lay you off later then to what use? A one time bonus and a party, BBQ, or something like that might show how much you appreciate their hard work, better than a raise.

Is everyone pulling the same weight? I would concentrate on giving the most valuable people the raises or bonus, and not to the others. The day’s of getting a raise just because it’s that time of year again is over. It must be performance driven. Yea, we had a great spring, what comes next? The constant drip, drip , drip of money going out. These days I would be happy to have a secure job working for people who care, rather than a 50 cent raise.

I think a bonus based on performance is the way to go this year. That being said, if you have a super valuable person you don’t want to loose, then give them a raise. I am sure not everyone deserves the same increase in salary?

It needs to be explained that while we have had a great spring, it follows some tough times and we need to make it up. That means automatic raises are just out.

This is just my 2 cents and not based on any studies.

Let me know what you decide to do. We have worked to hard over the years to just see the profits go to raises that are not affordable. You said it! You cannot afford the raises! So explain it to them, and let the chips fall where they may.”

I thought I would post this here, and see if you folks had any suggestions. This is of concern to lot’s of garden centers where we have had a great spring, but are trying to make up losses from earlier. Employees often don’t see the long view, and wonder why if it was so busy this spring they are not sharing in the (supposed) wealth? What’s your opinion?

A comment from Marie at 66 Square Feet finally stirred me from my daze. Yes, I live and breathe! This has happened before, and been noted by readers like George Ball, “…As expected, he blogs depending on time available.” Lately there has been little time, and no energy to write. As is the nature of my profession we live the saying, “make hay while the sun shines”. This spring has been especially busy, and as such I have been working seven days a week. Thanks to good weather, this has been a great year, but the go, go, go, does wear on you after a while. It won’t be much longer, so we put our heads down and keep going.

There is so much going on in the world of reatil horticulture that you don’t know where to start. It’s going to be really interesting to see who grows and who doesn’t after the spring season. If you grow shrubs and trees here in California you are wondering what to do with all that inventory. My suppliers have inventory lists that are longer than they have ever had. My guess is that we see some more wholesale nurseries going under as the glut of plant material grows. I receive calls from nurseries in Oregon, who we have never done business with, calling looking for orders. What with the wretched winter they had, with greenhouses being destroyed by snow, and now the slow shrub and tree market, Oregon wholesale nurseries must be struggling.

This year is a homeowner inspired market. Vegetable sales have been through the roof, and our gamble of carrying a huge selection this year has paid off. My guess is that this summer we will be having record sales of organic fertilizers and pest controls as people look to maintain their hard work in the garden. Small 4″ perennials, $3.99 to $4.99 have been selling well. Even some specialty plants, coral bark maples, Bloodgood maples, bamboo, etc are selling as people look to feather their nest. They are not buying complete landscapes, but rather special plants that make them feel good.

As tired as I feel, the rush of watching our little business finally getting it’s stride keeps me going. Before Christmas the mood was doom and gloom. Now in the middle of one of the worst recessions in years we find ourselves bucking the retail trend, and actually doing better than the year before. I know summer is coming. The slowdown that accompanies it will arrive, but this year people will be coming in all summer with plastic bags filled with all sorts of pests and diseases that need diagnosing. People will be coming in to buy fertilizers and compost to support that plant growth. We have huge opportunities this summer to teach people how to be more successful in their gardening.

I have come to the same conclusion that I have come to in the past. Being a small garden center is where it’s at. Sure we all have had delusions of grandeur at one time or the other. Building a second or third store. Growing to be a million dollar a year business, etc. By staying small we made changes this year, that a larger concern would have a hard time doing. Vegetable and fruit tree gardening looked big this year, so we invested in those areas and not in the landscape plants or materials. Our decision to invest in organic fertilizers and pest controls a few years ago has started to really pay off. As a matter of fact that is the one area that beat vegetable sales this year.

As tired as I feel some days, the knowledge that we are entering into a new era for gardening and garden retailing helps keep me going. Our Linked Group, “Garden Centers, Nurseries, and New Media” is nearing it’s 400th member. We are at 395 as of right now. You can join! The groups strength is the wide range of people that are members. Anyone who has an interest in garden centers or nurseries can join. This is not a trade group, but a group of like minded individuals connecting and changing the world.

Yes Marie, I live! My job is not so much a job, but a lifestyle. Like most people involved in agriculture there are times of intense work, followed by slower periods. Right now the intensity is just starting to wane, and soon we will be ensconced in the lazy days of summer. It’s tremendously hard work not suited for most people. Yet it’s quite satisfying, and these days having work that is satisfying, while being able to pay the bills is rare. Just a year ago who would have though the independent garden center would lead the way in gardening for 2009? What a great time to be a nursery professional.

I received a response from Home Depot concerning my post yesterday, “What a mess”. Sarah, who works in Atlanta for Home Depot commented at the post. She say’s, “I work at The Home Depot in Atlanta and would like to thank you for bringing this to our attention. I was alarmed when I read your post and saw your pictures. As a result of your blog we’ve alerted the stores in your area, our local leadership and our merchandising teams. This care and condition is not acceptable for the plants we sell and is not what our customers should find when they visit our garden area.”"We have made many improvements in the last couple of years under new leadership in the appearance of our stores and the availability of our associates. Feedback from customers (and competitors) like you helps us understand where more resources are needed. We’ve heard a lot of very positive feedback on the changes we’ve made, and we remain committed to working on other areas that still need improvement”

“I would like to ask you and your readers to contact me at anytime if you have a questions or concern for The Home Depot. I am a gardener myself, but work in corporate communications by day. Please, come back soon and let me know if we’ve improved.”

Thank you –
Sarah
Home Depot Communications

Thanks Sarah for the gracious response!

We wanted the Big Boys to listen to us, and they are. This kind of back and forth could have never happened a few years ago. Yes, Scotts- Miracle-Gro, Home Depot, Lowes, etc. are listening, reading blogs, Tweeting, Facebooking, etc.

I have shopped at Home Depot many times in the past. I do try to use my local, smaller hardware stores when I can, but sometimes The Big Orange Box has what I need. The day I went into the local Home Depot I picked up some spray paint for the parking lot lines. Inverted spray paint was only available there. So I picked it up, and some florescent lights, and headed to the garden center where I saw the scene. I always try to check out the garden center since they are my biggest competition in the area, and I want to know what’s going on.

The comment from Plant Lover is interesting since she  claims that I am, “contributing to the degradation of this planet by selling your vegetables in a plastic none biodegradable pot. As a plant lover and along with that hopefully an environmentalist you would realize the benefits of Home Depots pots. I personally don’t mind paying the mere 99 cents extra it costs to make this planet a better place for my children and yours.” Plant Lover, our pots are continually recycled as much as possible. That plastic pot will hold another plant, or be recycled into something else plastic. In addition I have personally planted or helped plant thousands of trees and shrubs over the last 25 years, hardly degrading the planet. She continues, “As for the undercutting of prices by ‘Big Box Stores’ on your competition, what do you think is going to happen to you when Home Depot catches word of this? I feel like you are going to suffer the same fate. I hope you are starting to look for a new job.” Plant lover, I am confused. Why  should be concerned when Home Depot finds out about this, which apparently they have? Are they are going to run me out of business? I can see it now in Atlanta, “Hey guy’s, let’s put that Blogging Nurseryman out of business . He’s a real thorn in our sides”.  I am the last person they should be worried about. As a matter of fact, according to Sarah they are going to try and straighten things up. Oh, oh, maybe I just created a new monster our business will have to deal with. A new and improved garden department at the Placerville Home Depot. According to Sid’s comment, you as a gardener should be applauding me for helping The Depot improve their garden department, and thus helping gardeners like you. As for a new job, I am not going anywhere. What am I suppose to do, sell the business, property, and get a job at Chrysler? Besides, it’s not a job, it’s a lifestyle!

Plant Lover, I am thrilled you wrote. I like it when people disagree with me, and post their thoughts. It makes for a more lively  blog, and gives people who disagree with me something to cheer about. I have to this date posted every comment made at this blog, no matter how much people disagree with me. I do think however that your comment that, “I have been to your Golden Gecko Garden Center in Garden Valley and I have to say that Capital Nursery is a much better garden store then yours”, is too open ended. To compare my little 2 acre, foothill located store to them is flattering to say the least.  Can I ask you for another comment? Would you kindly tell me why Capitol Nursery is a better place? What are they doing that I could do that would make for a better experience at my store? Does Capitol Nursery sell vegetables only in bio-degradable pots? Is that why they are better?

What I have learned is a big concern like Home Depot can be a lot more gracious than some individuals.  Sarah at Home Depot should be congratulated for taking the time to respond to customer complaints. I don’t like seeing plants in the condition I saw them in. It’s poor plant husbandry and needs to be addressed. I hope Home Depot does address this issue at our local store. As Sid said, “Every dollar they get is a financial drain in the short and long term. In the long term consumers who buy inferior and improperly cared for plants have less success and are averse to continuing to spend their time and money on something they are not good at without ever knowing they were destined to fail.” According to Sid, a well run, clean Home Depot will create more successful gardeners, that may shop at my store, too. I don’t know if I completely agree with Sid, but the point is well taken.

Visiting my local Home Depot yesterday I was amazed to see them selling vegetables in 4″ size pot’s for$2.98. We sell our 4″ size peppers for $1.99. Of course they come with a bio-degradable pot, ours come in plastic pots. Other than that I cannot see why they are selling them for that price. Never the less they we’re quite picked through by anxious shoppers.

The quality of plant material that they sell at our Placerville Home Depot is evident by these pictures. The plants arrive and put on pallets crammed together, then left that way for way to long. This is lousy horticulture, and an embarrassment I would think for the corporation?
The best looking displays at our Home Depot? The pallet after pallet of Scotts Miracle-Gro fertilizer and soils. Considering the care these plants receive it’s a “miracle” they are purchased.
How does Scotts feel having their product displayed along side these quality plants?

Am I picking on Home Depot here? Sure! I have watched for years how Home Depot crushed any local competition by undercutting the prices of better run independent garden centers. The myth of Home Depot being the cheapest is just that, a myth.

I don’t know what’s going on in the rest of the country, but here the Home Depot Garden Center can do nothing but improve our business and other local garden businesses. Where are all the Home Depot Certified Nurserypeople they are always talking about? Does anyone care that these plants are doomed from the get go? Who grows plants for Home Depot anymore? As a grower I would be ashamed to see my plants treated this way. As a grower I should know this is what’s going to happen if I do still to them.

The nursery industry has fragmented between growers of plant material shown above, and quality growers. You cannot tell me that a grower, or nursery like Home Depot is cut from the same cloth as honest horticulturalists who would cringe at what I saw. One is just in it to turn units, while the other really cares if the plant survives at your home.

We will not buy from growers that supply Home Depot. I was going to buy some citrus from a certain grower until I saw their trees stuffed into the plant gulag at The Depot. Sorry, but that indicates a business practice I just do not want part of. I know Home Depot’s in other parts of the country may be better run. Isn’t there something the County Agricultural Inspector should be doing here? Isn’t the sale of obviously dying plants somehow wrong?

I would love to hear back from someone at Home Depot or Scotts on what they think of this.

Gardening is a hobby, unless you intend to sell what you grow. Like any hobby there is a learning curve. At the beginning many mistakes are made and the ability to stay motivated is tested. Eventually the rudimentary task are learned and more complex situations arise, testing the gardener. Hopefully the results and pleasure of the garden will keep you occupied for the rest of your life. Gardening is one of life’s pleasures.

I know the vast majority of potential gardeners will drop the hobby once the ability to stay motivated is exhausted. Here in the foothills that might actually happen the first night when the deer come through and destroy everything you planted. “You mean I have to build a fence to keep the deer out?” “I fenced the deer out but now there is something eating the roots”. “I put gopher wire in and now something I can’t see is eating my plants at night.” Etc. Etc. Etc.

The great gardening wave of 2010 will pass, like all the other waves that have come through. This makes people upset that have invested so much psychic energy in the idea of the country becomming more like Britain, where gardening is a national pastime. I hope that a percentage of new people being drawn to gardening this year will stick with it. Maybe 10 or 20%, at the very most. Actually those figures are most likely too high. Once people begin to realize that they are not going to starve if they don’t have a vegetable garden, the interest in vegetable gardening that we see now will lapse.

Once we get out of the notion that the country is going to be one big garden, we can focus on the smaller percentage of people who will take the time to learn the hobby of gardening. The notion that we need a national figure to promote gardening is a bit old fashioned. I think The White House vegetable garden is a great idea, if The First Lady really wanted one. If she really wanted to garden then we should let her, and quit trying to interject all of our ideas about vegetable gardening into her garden. She should not have to garden by exit polls.

Just because the intense intrest in gardening will lapse, doesn’t mean we are not still embarking upon a new era in gardening. In our garden businesses we are facing the unknown. No one knows what is comming. All boats are not rising in this new gardening world. My friends in the wholesale ornamental businesses are suffering. Not enough new construction of homes to keep the stock moving. Now they are forced to try to find enough retail outlets to sell stock to. The avilabilty list the sales people carry with them are huge. Page after page of plants, they cannot sell.

I have always felt that “small is cool” when it comes to business. Now we can see why it’s so cool. No longer envious of large concerns with lot’s of employees, the small garden center can keep the overhead low. No longer impressed with the big clients, who now are downsizing and can’t afford to buy plants.. The smaller customer with her tomato, bag of starter food, and enthusiasm is more dependable than the big accounts. I like the idea that my customers are using the internet to learn about gardening from a local garden blogger or local celebrity, rather than some “national figure” on HGTV.

I am excited about the future, even though we have no idea what’s in store. I do know that I would not want to be anywhere else but working at my small garden center with customers that really want to learn about gardening. It’s a honest (long) day of work, where we help people improve their environment, and make the world a more beautiful place. We need more businesses like this.

Lot’s of new people coming into the nursery. Either they have just discovered us, or just discovered gardening. What a great opportunity if we don’t let the spring craziness get to us. Yea, they ask a hundred questions and need some hand holding, but what an opportunity to start these people off on the right foot.

I write this post to myself, as much as anyone else. Take a breath, and think about what this person on front of you is embarking on. To them it’s into a land of mystery and excitement. Where to start? Fertilizer, organics, annuals, perennials, 4″ pot, full sun, light shade, dappled shade, herbaceous, etc. etc. It means nothing to the new gardener. They are a blank slate and willing to listen to a trustworthy source.

Let’s not let the craziness of spring get to us this year. Let’s realize how lucky we are to see people coming in the door, when so many businesses are not.  Slow down, and really listen (without constantly glancing at the line forming at the cash register).

Today is Saturday, temperatures in the mid-seventies, The Needle Nellies will be hanging the quilts in the garden, and I expect a lot of people walking through the door. Going to see a lot of new customers today!

Wanted to take a quick look at spring ‘09 so far. Here are some of the key things that have caught my attention.

1. Business is good, if your market is the homeowner.

2. Especially here in California, business is not so good in the landscape trades.  I am no longer envious of the nurseries that focused on servicing landscapers.

3. It’s all about the weather, and here in northern California we are looking at great weather for the next week at least.

4. Vegetables rule!

5. 4″ size perennials in the 3.99 and 4.99 price range are also popular.

6. Trees and shrub sales are lagging, but still doing o.k.

7. Organic fertilizers and pesticides are a hit. Our foray into hydoponics was a great move and is becoming a very poplular part of our store.  Why didn’t we do this earlier?

That’s it. There is actually more but it’s Saturday, sunny with a high of 75 predicted, and we are staring at our busiest two weeks of the year comming up, so I am off.

Never before, that I can remember has the independent, locally owned garden center had so much going for it. It seems like all the trends right now are good for our business. Never the less, it’s time to make hay while the sun shines. No time to sit around.

Have a fantastic weekend!

What happens when the garden shows get canceled on television? What happens to the hosts when it’s all done? They start web sites! The most recent former television host to do it is Paul James, of Gardening by the Yard fame. His new website is called, “The Gardener Guy.” The page I just linked to is his “HGTV and me” page where he explains why he is no longer on HGTV.

Paul also explains why television is dropping gardening shows left and right. He say’s, “I know it’s hard to reconcile how on the one hand interest in gardening is stronger than ever, and that gardeners spend billions of dollars every year on garden-related products, while on the other hand there’s an apparent lack of interest in garden-related programming by networks. On the surface, you’d think they’d be clamoring to acquire new garden shows.” He continues, “the simple truth is that gardening shows, for whatever reason, don’t produce significant ratings, my show included. Basically, not enough people watch them.”

What will be interesting is whether people migrate to a website of a former host for HGTV when there are a million other websites about gardening. There is no doubt that Paul is an entertaining guy.  I would occasionally watch his show just before going to work. It was what’s on, and if you watched garden TV it’s what you watched. That’s the nature of old world television programming. New world TV programming includeds hundreds of channels and hundreds of hosts (bloggers). You don’t have to watch any particular show just because it’s on. Don’t like the addvice from one source, just head to another.

Will the former hosts of Televisions more popular gardening shows find success on the internet? I don’t know. Anyone can be a star now. What happens when scarcity (only a few garden shows programmed by networks), meets infinity (new garden bloggers everyday)? We are going to find out.

We had a conversation back in 2006 ago about Mr. Flowerdew, an English televison gardening host. It came about when Claire of An Alameda Garden  lamented that, “the fact that we here in the U.S.A. don’t have a Mr. Flowerdew and “that if there was an American Flowerdew–someone knowledgeable, funny, charismatic, and (it goes without saying) organic–that he could be the pied piper to seduce more of us into taking up the shovel and rake? That he (or she, of course) could actually grow the audience”? My answer then is the same as I would give now, “We already have our own Mr. Flowerdew. It’s us! People like Calire and other garden bloggers, and readers, are our version of Mr. Flowerdew. Instead of learning from one man on the television screen, we are learning from hundreds and soon to be thousands of people blogging. Why watch another boring garden show on HGTV with a paid celebrity when we can share with so many others, ideas that are so far ahead of anything we are seeing in mass garden media.” Now of course I was not talking about Paul when I said boring garden show. Paul is anything but boring, but the decline in garden television shows was clearly noted over three years ago.

I still don’t hold out hope for a national gardening show or host like they have in England.  It is going to be much more localcentric (a new word?)in the future. The future lies in connecting with others who garden in your region or other regions like your’s. Watching garden shows produced from back east makes little sense here in our arid west. Gardening is local as my friend Angela say’s. 

In addition the garden blogger usually works out of passion, certainly not a pay check.  People with passion are always more fun to read than paid performers. Paul was fun to watch, unlike many others on the little screen. Perhaps Paul’s passion will relate to readers on the internet, and his webpage will become a go to place for information and entertainment by many. Best of luck, Paul.

My last post  “Should people stop using peat moss?”came as a result of a post by Ken Druse at Garden Rant. The argument is that by buying peat moss you are encouraging the depletion of peat bogs in Canada, where peat moss is harvested. Some alternatives to peat moss might be home made compost or coir, a fiber from coconut production.  What I find interesting is peat moss is organic, yet because it is harvested from peat bogs it’s bad. Same could be said for coir, which is the result of the coconut production on the other side of the world.  The point that “most of our peat is shipped hundreds of miles, often when it’s wet and heavy, which adds further to the fuel required for shipping”, could easily apply to coir. Sure coir is lighter, but it’s shipped thousands of miles!

I realized a few years ago that the use of organics is a very personal thing and subject to the users interpretation. We had a customer looking for organics and when shown the blood meal or bone meal said she could not use them in her garden because she was a vegan! No animal byproducts in her garden. What we thought of as safe, organic fertilizers we’re to her anything but.

As gardeners with blogs, or gardeners that read blogs, this stuff is interesting and important. Outside our world, the general public must be really confused. You can imagine the angst that some people go through in trying to grow something. Over at Gardenpunks, Katie goes through some of this angst when trying to decide weather buying ladybugs is ecologically the right thing to do. We had this argument a couple of years ago at Gardening Tips n Ideas. She has a good answer for those confused as to which way to proceed. Katie say’s, ” So folks, make the decisions that are best for you AND mindful for the environment simultaneously. Don’t let the tsunami of available information on both sides of every decision/subject paralyze you from making necessary decisions. You’ll never please everyone all the time.” Fantastic advice.