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Lend The Landscaper a Hand Part 2
| Ellen C. Wells
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>> Published Date: 1/28/2013
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Last month we discussed two important ways to make the landscaper’s job easier: varieties they can rely on for their “plant-and-go” ease of installation and maintenance, and making ordering a smooth and easy process, even when landscapers are on the go.
Lending a helpful hand certainly doesn’t stop there. Our two landscaper sources—Bruce Hellerick, senior horticulturist in the New Jersey and Pennsylvania area for the national Brickman Group, and Amanda Thomsen, a property manager for a Chicago-area landscaping company—had plenty more ideas on how the industry could streamline some of the busiest times in their season.
Problem: Too much waste
Bruce: “In the past we were getting rid of hundreds of thousands if not millions of individual plastic pots … Everyone is looking at new and sustainable or recyclable containers. We’ve gone down that road with some containers, even some with no pot [Ellepots] or the pot degrades when you put it in the ground.”
Amanda: On the topic of tags with landscape orders, “It’s just such a waste of material and time [to collect them after planting].” Tags are really just for the order picker and delivery person, she says, and are immediately disposed or removed. “There’s got to be another way to tag and label.”
Solution: Less material
A number of growers are investigating and offering pots that biodegrade, taking back discarded pots to recycle or are growing in Ellepots. “Some growers actually come to us and say, ‘Hey, have you seen this [alternative]?’” says Bruce. “It works with their systems and it maybe costs us a little bit less, too.”
“For landscapers buying wholesale from growers, the Ellepot is a proven time and money saver, easily upwards of 30% on both fronts,” says Jeff Gibson, landscape business manager for Ball Horticultural Company. Ball sells Ellepot-filled trays to growers and retailers.
Proven Winners offers a Landscape Grower Licensing Program to its growers dealing with the landscape trade. As part of its grower agreement with wholesale growers in general, the grower must grow in and pay for branded pots and tags. According to Tom Ewing, a landscape and commercial property industries sales consultant for Proven Winners, the Landscape Grower Licensing Program amends this agreement.
“One of the issues is that landscaper growers have said, ‘We don’t want to have to pay for your label and branded pot because it’s just going into the landscape. [With this Landscape Grower Licensing Program] they will allow a grower to grow without those two things when they sell it specifically to landscape projects. This opens up the ability for landscape growers to grow in biodegradable pots and without a full complement of tags.”
Problem: Learning what works
This isn’t a problem, per se. In fact, for Bruce, the lines of communication between he and his grower-suppliers are working quite well. “They’re in contact with the heart of what’s going on—talking with them, getting their ideas and suggestions,” he says. While he tries to go to plant trials, the growers definitely visit trials and have the latest information on performance and will steer him in the right direction of what will work for his needs. Bruce says he also relies on trade magazines and catalogs for plant information.
Solution: Providing information
Content is king, they say, and as such, companies that provide information to their clients offer a much-needed service. Ball’s landscape division, for example, publishes a magazine, Thrive, that includes landscape photos and plant descriptions of varieties that do well under different climates and conditions, and provides topical information. They also have a Thrive “Sellutions” CD filled with variety photos and templates for “build your own” sell sheets for landscaper use.
To spread the word about the value of Proven Winner varieties in the landscape, the company has started a Proven Winners Signature Garden Program. They partner with a property, such as an exclusive hotel, and work with the property’s landscaper to install a Proven Winners landscape “so that it would be an effective display and showcase what the varieties can do,” says Tom Ewing. Not only does the public see the varieties, the landscaping company does, as well, and can assess those varieties for use in their other landscape projects. Consider it a trial garden, but installed in a “real life” situation.
Getting the brand and varieties in front of the landscapers’ eyes is key, too. That’s why Suntory has doubled up on engaging landscapers in the last year. According to Delilah Onofrey, director of Flower Power Marketing for the Suntory Collection, this new push for landscaper attention includes ads in Landscape Architecture Magazine, the TNLA weekly enewsletter and other landscape publications, as well as sponsorship of the ASLA convention.
Problem: BIgger is better
Amanda: Amanda’s clients are looking for that midsummer fullness the minute the plants hit the ground. “Four-inch pots aren’t big enough. I love using 6-in. or gallon material. I will use hanging baskets and break them apart [into individual plants] to get some trailing action. A 4-in. pot, you don’t get a lot of trail on that.”
Bruce: Agreed. “In the past, a lot of people were using 48s, which we really don’t use anymore. Too small and too high-maintenance to start. We use larger plants now, plus it gives us a larger root system and it gives us more show right away. It’s resilient when it’s installed.”
Solution: ???
What n the solution for landscapers looking for larger, almost “instant garden”-sized plant material—at a price their clients can afford? This answer—and the answer to additional problems that will arise with time—can only be addressed by grower and retailer suppliers who dedicate themselves to this increasingly important horticultural market. GP
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