Need Your Point of View Please!!

Thanks Carol!

Best of luck on your new business venture. I'm sure you'll do great especially with all the ideas added here. And I have one to add. Contact your local elementary schools and bring the kids in for an hour or two of gardening info. They might all plant a seed in a dixie cup with their name on the cup. But then the kids will want to come back to check on their new plant and with them will be the parents with the cash (or credit card) A win-win situation for all.

Like Hineni, I have a mindset of what I want to pay. $2 or $3 pots are my speed, even if they are small pots. I just can't justify spending a lot of money since I didn't earn it.

I know space is a problem, but don't put sprawling plants in with other sprawlers so I have to detangle them.

Make sure each pot has a label before it leaves the store. I hate coming home to find the name of the plant is missing, especially if it's the latin name. I write down all the plants I buy and keep a notebook of what they are and where I planted them. Price gets written down too.

I really like Sheri's (oldmudhouse) idea about the mini-lectures. You can do them yourself in the beginning and later on maybe get some other master gardeners in your area. Educate gardeners about native plants. Keep it fun and give them a small plant to take home with the literature. It will be the best advertising you can give yourself. and carry it thru with Venu's idea with the school kids. kid's and butterflies are a natural. my daughter-in-law teaches 3 & 4 yr olds. she purchased chrysalises and did a little unit on butterflies lifecycle. you could do start something with the kids if you had caterpillars chewing on your host plants. keep it simple depending on their age. I'm sure it will be difficult for you to find the time in the beginning. But people remember these things and come back. You can give them a coupon when they come for a lecture or class. or give the kids a coupon to take home with a tiny plant.

Best of luck and keep us posted. gram

If you follow half of what we've thrown at you I think you will be very successful. I think first and foremost people look at prices and plant health. A small stocky plant will sell fine.

Edited to add. Somedays I can't spell. luckliy we can edit!!!

This message was edited Nov 15, 2006 9:09 AM

I'm still making notes!
Thank you all,
donna

Just a semi-quick note. I noticed that someone mentioned garden design. I have seen so many beautiful garden pictures in magazines. They mention where they are "wildflowers in Oregons", English garden in Va." etc. BUT, they never identify the plants for us newbies or tell us the zones they might grow in or if they need full sun, partial, etc. Totally useless info! PLEASE! If you show a pix, tell us what we are seeing and what its growing needs are! I have wasted enough money already. Just an idea.

Best of luck in this venture, peahen! I think it's wonderful, both for you and for the gardeners in your area. Once you get things going, do everything you can to promote yourself -- local fairs, schools, etc. DON'T let anyone say, oh, I didn't even know you were here.

And a little section of herbs that grow well in your area would be a big plus as far as I'm concerned.

I'm pulling for you!

Good tips, I'm still taking notes!

My biggest pet peeve with small businesses is getting there& it not be open. I realize that small family run businesses do have emergencies but if I go once during business hours and theyre closed, chances are I won't be back.
What would I like to find at a nursery? Healthy plants and a good variety of them, reasonably priced garden decor, and a knowledgeable person ....is that too much to ask?
I wish you luck on your venture. It sounds like so much fun to do what you enjoy and make money too.

Up-date
I've been hard at it all winter trying to get my inventory build up, looks like it maybe fall of 2008 before any sales are made. Though my inventory is growning strong every week. I could use a good rest but there's not time, the heat is on here! It's time to get diggin!

I did purchase the book: So You Want to Start a Nursery,,,,,,,,,,, now finding the time to read it!! lol!!
I'll post picture's of my stock lay-out in the near future. For now I'll be base here at home, have plenty of land
to work with 300 feet of road frontage.
I do have a few plants to trade for now, lookin for rooted cuttings only! See my trade list!

Thank you all for your opinions, they are truly some wonderful ideas.

Donna

PS: If anyone is in my area around October 27, 2007, you're invitied to join my FALL ROUND-UP!

Oh I forgot to ask,

What do you think I should Name my places? Any thoughts on that?
So far I'm using my last name ________ Gardens! Reason is that
my hubby has been in business for 35 yrs. Which he too uses our last name
___________ Electric Co. and
there's ONLY two family here, the other is my brother in law - hubby partner!
I alway thought that I would call it something special - catchy with a whimsy touch!
Since it Butterflies & Hummer's plants I'm specializing in!

Though I think if you have a good reputation your name said alot about you, ya think???

Donna

How about your _________'s Whimsical Gardens or something like that?

pepper23, it's a possible

Donna, I like the addition of "Whimsical"! You could add a few unique hardscapes too! Like basking rocks for bfs, or concrete art, or cute saucers for providing sand muddles. Great recommendation, pepper23.

Whimsical has a very nice sound to it. I had thought that getting something in about the butterflies & hummers might be important. But you can do that with advertising. Your sign could be a huge butterfly. and your phone book ad or business cards can just add a line about 'specializing in plants that attract butterflies and hummingbirds' or whatever.

when you can, you might offer hummer feeders and a few of those pretty butterfly houses also. maybe hang a hummingbird mobile outside in plain sight?

I'm thinking whimsical cause I do most things on a whim!! lol!!

There is a gift shop in our town called "On a Whim"!
Legit

How cool is that!

"Gardening on a WHIM!" ...sounds like you're having fun and that will be contagious in a good way!

I didn't read the whole thread, so this might be a repeat, but I find what is really important to me is all the above PLUS I love if there is a demonstration garden on site. I can't tell you how many things I have purchased that I would not have purchased simply because I saw them in a mature form in a well planned garden right there, then could buy them on site. A garden on site does so much to expand on the written descriptions of things and really gets me excited about certain plants that I just couldn't envision otherwise.

I recently spent 25$ on a small Edgeworthia, (which is alot for me to spend on a plant!), simply because I saw it at its best, mature and blooming and fragrant in the garden at Plant Delights nursery. Frankly, what I purchased was a small almost dormant stick, but I know what it will become, and I know where to plant it to help it become beautful because I saw it in person. Seeing the mature specimen convinced me to buy it.

You may want to extend that "hands on" type of seller image by writing a little gardening column for the newspaper. Papers are always looking for copy. You can promote education and at the same time promote your new nursery. When you open, you can first ask them to write an article about you. A nursery that specializes in hummers and butterflies may be a completely unique idea in your area. I write a column once every 2 weeks, with a lot of them on shade plants, and use it to recommend nurseries in the area and also recommend mail-order nurseries. DG is a lot of help there.
I liked one nursery that had gardening books, as well as GOOD yard art, no schloky stuff. Bird feeders are important, and like your old friend, a children's area and plants you can recommend that are easy to grow.
A lot of garden centers do not have bulbs because the big box stores have them. If your shop is not too close to a big box store, you might try buying some wholesale from John Scheeper's or Brent & Becky's and advertise that you have the biggest, best bulbs around . I think both of those companies sell wholesale. I guess I'm also trying to say that even though you specialize in butterfly plants, you should diversify, diversify, diversify.
Also you need to promote, promote, promote.
One of the things i enjoy the most is having knowledgable people wait on me. So you if you hire anyone, make sure they know and like plants and garden themselves.
One last thing (that the big box stores are missing) when you sell plants, ask customers if they need some Black Kow, miracle grow, or whatever nutrients you have. Talk to them about soil preparation, especially if they seem like new and a bit frightened of having a good outcome with their plants. You might want to stock soil test kits.
Where is Douglas? I might want to pop down there sometime. So, when is the opening date/ Don't forget you sun screen, lol, you could sell some of that too.

This message was edited Mar 29, 2007 9:33 AM

yotedog & woodspirit1 great information. If I could only get caught up which I don't think thats ever possible. Planning on having several display beds that will cover at least 1/2 acre or more with 300' of road footage. I have 4 acres to play with & 6 for growing stock, which is at our Home Place. Now working on building my stock up for fall planting. Wish I could hire a designer, but that will have to wait for now. I'm dreaming BIG, sure hope my body holds out! Right now it's me-myself-and I...........


Where is Douglas, Ga? South East in Ga. - Hwy 441 runs through here.
60 miles East of Valdosta, Ga. & 90 miles North East of Jacksonville, Fl.

I'm hosting a Round-Up in October 27, 2007, all are welcome!
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/698242/

Donna

You might also consider having reference books around, especially on things that do well locally (eg if it were me, I'd have a copy of "Herbs for Texas" on hand). Not for sale or lending, but just so people could get questions answered. I suspect the books would disappear, though, so you might want an on-hand person to look things up for people. Yeah, now that I think about it, it might be more trouble than it's worth. But it's a thought.

Looks like I'll be a back-yard nursery for at least another year. In the mean time working on inventory first. In the fall planting in the display gardens. Hopefully I can get those my plans done by the end of 2007.

I will have the same situation, I will be readying my site over the summer, and have many display beds to plant. Since we have plenty of room, one thought I had was to plant a "living fence" around the sales area, each time we get a new shrub or flowering tree in, we can plant one so we can show customers what to expect. Legit

Here is a thought I had this morning, I planted many crab apples and have 4-5 ft. trees now, since I don't know what they will be like from seed, could I sell them as wildlife habitat?? Legit

The premise of gardening for wildlife is that one uses indigenous plants so it sort of depends on which crab apples one is offering for display/sale. I would think that offering M. coronaria or M. ioensis as possible plants that provide habitat for wildlife would be fine but not the Eurasian crabapples which is the brunt of what's available on the market these days. Sort of native flora for native fauna and all. I'm thinking a nursery could use Eurasian crab apples but it might lose credibility with those who research the nativity of the plants they purchase to use in their landscapes if they were billed as something other than an exotic ornamental. There's nothing wrong with billing one's self as a nursery that has x% of indigenous species for those who garden for wildlife as well as offering introduced ornamentals. Introduced plants aren't the best choice of a plant for those who are attempting to create habitat for NA wildlife for several reasons and there is a more heightened awareness of the differences these days.

Wow, this thread took off again. I love the Whimsical name!

Equilibrium, what would you suggest that I do with the crabapple seedlings? I suppose I could transplant them as a blooming fence around the horse pasture. Someone else had suggested that I use them as rootstock and graft new tops on them, but I don't know that I would be that good at grafting. Is there a problem with grafting say Centurion because of a patent? Legit

Hey Legit,

Grafting is something I keep meaning to get to. I've watched countless live demos. I've gone so far as to save a few instructional video clips on grafting to my hard drive that I could share with you and I broke down and bought one educational video on grafting conifers. I never seem to make the time to just do it. Those who graft enjoy great successes. I know the basics but never applied them and I have no idea whether I would be good at grafting or not myself. Can't help you with grafting.

Malus 'Centzam' the Centurion Crabapple is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. I looked it up. I don't believe it is a great idea to propagate that plant.

Do you know the name of the plant you took your Malus seed from? I take it the seedlings are a result of open pollination. Why not sell them as Malus spp. and bill them as an open pollinated ornamental crab apple?

This was such a good thread, with alot of wonderful comments I just had to bump it up again! Altho I still have no nursery open yet, I'm still working on it!
Donna

Whoa... this made me miss that native plant nursery that turned into a strip mall all over again.

I once e-mailed you a series of butterfly photos to use for your nursery. Do you still have those? Lots has gone on since you started this thread and I'm afraid I lost my entire stash of photos because of computer issues. Somewhere around 14,000 are lost on a hard drive that had a mechanical failure then corrupted my RAID. If you saved those particular photos, will you share them back with me please ;)

And, you need to try to get your buns in gear and go for spring of '08! Lost another local native plant nursery close to me this year. I think they literally lost the lease on their property. They could have purchased the land they were running their business from but they couldn't afford it. Oh goodie, another strip mall. Psst, make sure you do mail order!

If you do mail order Equil will be your biggest customer. LOL

I have been away for a very long time, just so busy that I can't get near the computer unless it's to work, or work on a class.

My dreams are becoming a reality. The Gift shop has been up and running for about 6 weeks now, and today after we close the shop we are going to look at a gh that is like the one that is scheduled to be delivered Monday!!

Soon my thoughts will be shifting from giftware, which is shifting into Christmas right now, to the garden center portion of the plan.

I do have someone who will supply me with native plants, as we too, have noticed that there are not many who sell them around here.

Another of our focus's are heirloom plants. In addition to the usual offerings, I would like to market my own plants as open pollinated, using the "Brand" if you will, of Homegrown and Hardy. Any thoughts will be appreciated. Kathy

Just lost a whole post. Ugh, that irks me particularly when it was loaded with info. Oh well, let's start all over again. Legit, I've been missing you and had wondered where you went. Congratulations on your new journey into the "green". I need to stop in on my way up north to buy something from you next spring so that I can have a part of you down here! I love natives! Glad you’ve gone native!

Can't help you out in the greenhouse department. We hired an architect last year to site ours to capitalize on the angle of the sun throughout the year. He didn't do much other than to come out to the site this year when they were excavating to make sure they were on target and then again when they were pouring the concrete with footings to make sure the floor drains were in the right spot and that his slots to bring in the gas, electric, and water had been included to avoid future problems. From there, I had two DG members take over. They've forgotten more about greenhouses then I've ever known so they selected everything from the triple polycarbonate to the heaters to the exhausts to the swamp coolers and lighting. I kid you not, I let them do the whole thing. It's been a long standing joke that I should have just given them our credit card and had them place the orders and ship to where I live because I literally had nothing to do with the product selection or placement process. Get this, one of the DG members even told us where to put all the equipment and at what heights to install everything and when it came to air flow, I was on the phone with him getting last minute advice for working around a little stumbling block. Next week we have the electrician who added the new electrical panel to our house coming back out to work on the junction panel and wire relay inside the greenhouse. We would have liked to have gotten the water to the greenhouse this year but ran out of time. That being said, I can give you the names of those two DG members because about all I did for my greenhouse was select the ebb and flows, benches, and work stations that go inside, sheesh, I didn't even select the fans, lighting, or shade cloth. Not practical from a business standpoint to go with what I bought for inside given pretty much everything in mine is all aluminum and stainless steel. I am so thrilled with my "community effort" greenhouse that I am going to do a different type of greenhouse in a few years just for woodies. It won't be anything like the one we just had built but it will work for temperate species native trees, shrubs, and vines. This is probably what I will go with or something very similar that is smaller at around 14'W x 28'L. I don't need anything more than this for what I want to do. Here's a do-it-yourself one I've got my eye on for woodies-
http://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/prod1;ft1_greenhouses_accessories_2-ft1_professional_greenhouses;pg106197.html

If you want the list of my suppliers and contractors, I've got everything from the Modine and BluFlame and back up waste oil furnace supplier to the misters and stainless steel sink in a file along with all my notes. Here’s one place to start poking around at-
http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/default.asp

As far as some successful nurseries around here, I've noticed a few do exactly what you're going to be doing. They switch over based on the season with the focus being on the plants for 3/4ths of the year. Two in particular clear out their entire plant inventory by donating it to the Catholic Arch Diocese to use in their cemeteries. I know they get a write off for the plants and sure does beat having scraggly plants that didn't sell hanging around taking up space. I also found out they donate their left over Halloween and Christmas merchandise to schools, nursing homes, and senior centers to use for bingo gifts and fund raisers. I'm sure they get a write off for that too and it clears it all out to make way for the plugs and liners coming the first of January while creating good will along the way.

Who is currently supplying you with native plants? I buy an inordinate amount of native plants for me personally as well as for projects with kids and seniors and might be able to share a few more native plant wholesalers with you. One in particular is coming to mind but you might be working with them already.

Love your idea of "Homegrown & Hardy". Thoughts here would be to slip a simple little flyer explaining open pollination in the bag for everyone who purchases your "Legit Line". Nothing elaborate, just the basics on open pollination. This way when their plants begin blooming and don't quite match the images they are finding online and decide they want a refund... you'll be able to ever so politely discuss the information in the flyer. Maybe focus on the wondrous sports that can occur as a result of open pollination?

Here’s another idea I had. You know those endcaps at checkouts that every parent hates that are loaded with junk food? It’s my understanding those endcaps are highly profitable because they contain high profit margin items as well as impulse buys. Not that I’m in favor of junk food but check this out-
http://www.nuttybavarianlv.com/index.html
Those glazed pecans and almonds are always a big hit and they can be sold in little cones for $3 a piece. I must admit I like to eat and if I get hungry and can't find something to snack on to tide me over, I leave. Must eat or I get ugly and I frequently forget to add snacks to my purse.
There’s an orchid nursery I go to that has a little frig filled with cold juices and bottled water when you first walk in. Every time I go there I buy one of those juices to walk around with and they let you pay for your juice when you check out. Neat idea because kids get thirsty and so do shoppers.

Now check this out for an endcap impulse buy-
http://www.miraclelacevisor.com/SUNVISORSTORE.htm
Lots of people wear sun visors these days. Keeps the sweat from dripping into your eyes and also keeps the sun from blinding you. That place looks as if they have wholesale and they carry a nature and butterfly line of visors as well as a gardening line. I first saw them at the checkout line at the Denver Botanical Garden. They were selling for $8.99 each. I bought one.

Might as well take advantage of the kids who love Venus Fly Traps at check out too-
http://www.flytrapfarm.com/
Those people have wholesale and their plants are healthy and nursery propagated… not nursery grown as in field collected and tossed into a pot to be grown out for a few months before being sold to pretend as if they were nursery propagated. One thing is for sure, it’s not pc for wholesalers to strip the wilds by field collecting plants any longer.

Other thoughts for the check out area would be to offer plant tags and possibly Miracid. The big box stores around me aren’t offering Miracid for some reason. They still offer Miraclegro but not Miracid. I’m sure you could add other items in the area where people will be paying for their plants.

Here’s a novel idea… you know all those shaker cans and garbage bag mixes of so-called “wildflowers” sold at WlaMarts and Lowes and everywhere? You know, the ones that use all those cheap filler seeds like Cupid’s Dart, Shasta Daisies, Queen Anne’s Lace, Love-in-a-Mist, Dame’s Rocket, Cornflowers (Centaurea), and other non-native and invasive type plants? What about creating a “Legit” mix of "Homegrown & Hardy" native wildflower seed mixes that people could purchase?

You are in the land of Wild Ones. How about contacting them to ask for literature to pass out to your customers? This is a deal where one hand washes the other. They get exposure and possibly new members while you get the benefit of letting their members know you are out there and have natives. Their members stop in to check you out then tell their friends and maybe your nursery gets listed at their website as offering natives. The other thing is that most Wild Ones chapters do plant sales and as time goes on, perhaps you might be in a position to supply them with plants for a plant sale. Any other native plant organizations up your way that you could contact?

Legit, I’m really happy for you that you went for it. If at any point in time you find you might be interested in or in a position to provide educational programming for the community, please let me know. I may be worthless with greenhouses but I’m pretty good with educational programming.

I bump this old thread up for all you wanna be's like me! I'm still working on my dream back-yard nursery. This thread has a world of GREAT info! Just need to refresh my memory!!

Donna

Wow, believe it or not, I was thinking about this thread yesterday!! Good bump timing! How is it going?

Thanks for the thought Billy!
I'm still trying to GET~IT ~DONE..........But life has slow me down a bit, I'm just now gearing back up again. But no nursery as of yet, working to get my inventory of perennials in the Thousand of each plant........may just sell from backyard in large bundles of rooted cuttings .....but still....along way to go yet!