Open Register

Photo of the week

Seen at The Natural Gardener, Austin, Texas.

Have you got a photo worth sharing? Send it my way. We'll be posting funny and unusual images each week on Open Register.

-- Sarah

Thanks for your business. Now don’t come back

The story of a Cleveland couple who had sailed on numerous Royal Caribbean cruises, but now has been banned from the line for, presumably, complaining too much, has taken on gigantic proportions. MSNBC picked up the story, and online comments have fanned the flames, making it a p.r. nightmare for Royal Caribbean.

I’m a veteran of 14 cruise sailings, so I know that things go wrong. Weather brings itinerary changes that cause you to miss your favorite port. Spring-breakers in the next cabin party on the balcony and keep you awake all night. A waiter grabs a fork off of an adjacent table and presents it to you as a clean one. All of those things have happened to me on cruise ships -- it’s part of sailing the high seas.

The Cleveland sailors’ plight made me wonder what it would take to get banned from a garden center. Have you ever asked a customer to please not return? Short of committing a crime such as shoplifting, what would a customer have to do to be blacklisted from your store?

Sandi McDonald, at Hillermann Nursery & Florist in Washington, Mo., mentioned once that an unexpected benefit of an improved electronic Garden Reward program she implemented is that it made her aware of one customer who made too many returns and thus had become a candidate to be terminated.

Give credit to Royal Caribbean: at least they allowed the kvetching passengers to return to port before banning them. They could have made them walk the plank.

-- Kevin

Win organic titles from St. Lynn’s Press

One thing we’ve learned in doing reader polls for Garden Center Magazine is consumers -- and retailers for that matter -- can’t get enough information on organic gardening. So we know you’re going to enter a drawing for a set of eco-friendly gardening books. C’mon! All you’ve got to do is leave a comment below. Make sure you enter your e-mail address so we can notify you in case you win.

The titles up for grabs are:
“Grow Organic” by Doug Oster and Jessica Walliser
“Good Bug, Bad Bug” by Jessica Walliser
“The Green Journal” by the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens
“A Gardener’s Journal” by Doug Oster and Jessica Walliser

Deadline for entries is Tuesday, June 3. Leave your comment now for the chance to win.

-- Sarah

Interest is growing for vegetable gardens

High food prices are prompting more Americans to take up vegetable gardening, according to recent reports.

• Backyard garden movement. Christian Science Monitor
• More first-timers. WSYR.com
• Yard-grown produce. Forbes

-- Sarah

Are social networks worth the effort?

You’ve got to have more than a basic online presence to make it in the Web world these days, marketing experts say. The latest Internet applications stress interactivity. There has to be two-way conversation. A forum to state opinions. A place for people to express themselves.

Enter the world of social media -- a virtual sounding board and, some say, the newest strategic marketing tool. The online encyclopedia Wikipedia (itself a type of social media) defines this phenomenon as “online technologies and practices that people use to share opinions, insights, experiences and perspectives with each other.” Blogs fall into this category, as well as social utilities like Facebook and Twitter.

Are these sites nothing more than a virtual meet and greet? Or do they offer a real opportunity to position your business?

We’ll be tackling this topic in the August issue of Garden Center Magazine. We’d like to hear from you. Are blogs and the like an important part of your marketing mix? Do you dabble in them as a hobby? Where do you stand?

-- Sarah

Photo of the week

Spotted at Briggs Nursery, North Attleboro, Mass.

Have you got an eye-catching photo worth sharing? Send it my way! We'll be spotlighting funny and unusual images each Friday on Open Register.

-- Sarah

America’s lawns could be much ‘greener,’ survey shows

National Gardening Association’s 2008 Environmental Lawn and Garden Survey recently asked consumers, “How environmentally friendly do you think are the practices currently used to maintain residential, commercial and municipal lawns and landscapes?”

NGA discovered that only one out of five respondents (21%) gave current lawn and landscape practices a passing ‘green’ grade. The association used an Eco-Scorecard to learn which environmentally friendly practices those surveyed plan to use at home.

“The fact that only 2 out of 12 environmentally friendly lawn, garden and landscape practices on the Eco-Scorecard are followed by the majority of households with a yard or garden indicates there’s a real need for improvement in people’s appreciation for the impact each of us can have on the environment in our own backyards,” said Mike Metallo, NGA president.

-- Sarah

Will Terrain change the garden industry?

A year ago I speculated in an editorial if a powerhouse chain might some day enter the garden retail industry and change what it means to be a garden center. After all, Whole Foods did in the grocery industry, so why not garden centers?

Fast forward a year, and Terrain enters the arena. Terrain, a new venture for the company that runs the trendy Anthropologie stores as well as Urban Outfitters, is up-front about its intention to transform the garden industry. Terrain aims, its press release said, “to transform the local garden center into an experience that celebrates the beauty and abundance of nature while offering an eclectic mix of garden-inspired products tailored for the contemporary customer.”

So does it live up to its promise?

I spoke with Dave Williams, owner of Williams Nursery, yesterday. He recently visited Terrain and said he planned to spend 45 minutes to an hour there. He was there more than three. “It definitely had that wow factor,” Dave told me. Dave took the photos shown here.

 

Natural Gardener wins 2008 Innovator Award

John Dromgoole, owner of Natural Gardener in Austin, Texas, is a man on a mission. He wants to prove that natural methods develop stronger gardens, work with nature and are a sound, profitable business tactic. Congratulations, Natural Gardener!

The Innovator Award is presented by Garden Center Magazine and sponsored by Garden Market Expo.

-- Carol

Pickin’ and greenin’

Everywhere you look these days, you see green. Forget paper or plastic, the “in” bag  for The Oughts is of the reusable, recyclable ilk. Cars are going hybrid. Hey, we’ve even saved a tree today by issuing this missive digitally.

Indeed, if there’s a catchphrase that won’t seem to go away, it’s anything that contains the word “sustainability.” We’re earth-friendly, baby, and we’re proud of it! The trouble with our well-intentioned cause is that, until recently, the “green” scene was more parts than sum. We all have some idea of how an environmentally conscious society should behave; we’re just not so sure what the rules are.

Enter the great folks who administrate the Texas Nursery & Landscape Association, who have, finally, given some method to the madness. I recently was forwarded this note from TNLA communications director Marilyn Good: “The issue of sustainable landscapes — creating landscapes with minimal negative and maximum positive environmental impact — is hot right now, but it's hard to get all the parties involved talking to each other and sharing information. We have set up a Web community site to start that conversation. We call it the Sustainability Conflab. You can just look at the site, or join up as a friend or member and take advantage of asking questions, setting up discussion groups, posting photos … even set up your own page if you have a product or service you think can contribute to sustainable landscape development.”

Bottom line: There’s, at last, some order to the New Order — at least in my neck of the woods, which, thanks to efforts like those of the TNLA, can remain green for a while longer.

-- Yale