Posted by admin to media, nursery, nurseryman, retail on 2008-02-03, 10:31:17

These instructive words and more can be found in an article by Valerie Easton of The Seattle Times. Her article, “Word to Live By” talks about the importance of having a trustworthy nurseryman or woman available.

“There’s nothing as instructive as pumping a knowledgeable nursery person for information”, continues the article. Yes! I love reading stuff like this on a cold, rainy Sunday.

Posted by admin to Blogging, nurseryman, retail on 2008-02-01, 11:08:43

Per my last post I tried what Ian had suggested. It worked.

Posted by admin to nurseryman, retail on 2008-01-24, 09:03:11

It would seem that nursery workers have a image problem when I read stuff like this. In an article on punning in the Kitsap Sun Newspaper in Washington state an article on punning has this, “Poor quality anvil pruners are called the nurseryman’s best friend because they lead to so much plant death.” Ouch!

Now I realize that this is suppose to be funny since the idea is plant death leads to people having to replace the plants. That means more money for the nursery. So lets see, nursery folks are hoping you screw up because when you kill plants, you have to buy more.

This is how it works. I hope you buy some great quality Felco pruners so your pruning doesn’t kill the tree. That way you will be successful in your gardening ventures and want to continue, which means more money for the nursery. If you fail your more likely to give up on the whole gardening thing.

I can’t speak for all nursery people. Maybe some of us do think this way. But I can assure you the last thing I want is for you to fail at your punning. I want you to spend money on a great pair of shears and be successful.

Its funny how the we in the nursery business are thought of by some people. The author of the article just assumes that if the gardener fails they will run back to the nursery and spend more money. If that was the way it worked the industry wouldn’t be wringing its hands worrying about the future. And I would be selling cheap punning shears.

Posted by admin to nurseryman, retail on 2008-01-24, 09:03:11

It would seem that nursery workers have a image problem when I read stuff like this. In an article on punning in the Kitsap Sun Newspaper in Washington state an article on punning has this, “Poor quality anvil pruners are called the nurseryman’s best friend because they lead to so much plant death.” Ouch!

Now I realize that this is suppose to be funny since the idea is plant death leads to people having to replace the plants. That means more money for the nursery. So lets see, nursery folks are hoping you screw up because when you kill plants, you have to buy more.

This is how it works. I hope you buy some great quality Felco pruners so your pruning doesn’t kill the tree. That way you will be successful in your gardening ventures and want to continue, which means more money for the nursery. If you fail your more likely to give up on the whole gardening thing.

I can’t speak for all nursery people. Maybe some of us do think this way. But I can assure you the last thing I want is for you to fail at your punning. I want you to spend money on a great pair of shears and be successful.

Its funny how the we in the nursery business are thought of by some people. The author of the article just assumes that if the gardener fails they will run back to the nursery and spend more money. If that was the way it worked the industry wouldn’t be wringing its hands worrying about the future. And I would be selling cheap punning shears.

Posted by admin to Blogging, Small is Cool, independent, nursery, nurseryman, retail on 2008-01-12, 09:00:31

My blog, which started as just a way for me to talk to my potential customers as blossomed into something more. I realized this after someone ended up at my site after Googgling “we want to start a nursery”. Low and behold it is, as of this writing the first site to show up. I have been getting more and more interest from people who want to know what it means to start and run a small nursery or garden center. Of course I am still trying to figure that out, but I do realize that some of the stuff I take for granted is of great interest to someone just starting out.

This year I am going to try and give you a feel for what some of the day to day issues that come up in a small garden center are. Maybe it will help you decide if this business is right for you. I don’t have all the answers. No nursery person does. Its through sharing that we will all be more successful in our efforts. I have received invaluable advice from this blog. Fellow nuserypeople as well as enthusiastic gardeners have given me advice as well as inspiration which we have acted on. Being open this spring seven days a week was one such result of reader feedback.

I invite everyone to participate. If you are a gardener but don’t feel your ideas would be appreciated by a professional, you are wrong! Its your advice that I need to help design a better garden center experience. I also appreciate professional advice from people who have been where I find myself now in my garden center career. Realize that while I appreciate your advice there are others who are visiting this blog who are also listening and learning. By helping me you will be helping lots of people who still find this profession interesting and worth while. The challenges are many but through our “connection” we will be able to meet those challenges and enthusiastically work together to create the “garden scene” of the future. I see a gardening revolution taking place as we speak! Revolutions are generally messy and uncertain, but at the other end I see a stronger “garden scene” that we will all remember because we we’re there at the Renaissance.

All right, enough of that. Monica is giving me that look that says “get off that computer and let’s get to work”. It’s off to the first working day of the new year. Cheers!

Posted by admin to California, nurseryman on 2008-01-09, 08:52:45

We’re back from our vacation to southern California and the coast. We headed down to Riverside to visit my daughter and granddaughter. While there we stayed at The Mission Inn which is a National Historic Building that is a must see if your ever in that area. It is a cross between a hotel, mission, and castle. Covering a whole city block Monica and I spent two days exploring. It is truly a magical place.

From Riverside we drove up the coast to Santa Barbara for a couple of days. After that it was up Hwy. 1 through Big Sur and to Monterey. Then up to San Francisco and home. We had a great time and feel refreshed, which is what vacation is for, right?

Just wanted to let you know where we have been. I will post more once I find out where I left my eclectic toothbrush holder, (I meant electric but it was a bit of an eclectic toothbrush, too), (Santa Barbara likely) and my camera cord used for downloading pictures, (lost somewhere after Santa Barbara and before Monterey). They do call that “The Lost Coast”, now I know why.