Even before supply shortages, not a day goes by at Christensen’s Plant Center that requested nursery items (despite our fairly well-stocked and varied yard) are not available. High demand and scarcity in some areas certainly exist but smaller evergreens and woody ornamentals are in fairly good supply. When confronted with an unavailable or low quantity of a given shrub variety we work too hard to supply the exact variety when there are other ways to solve the problem. Especially in the areas of woodies, there are many interchangeable plant varieties.

During our COVID lockdowns, the one thing most people had was lots of time. There was a huge surge in interest in family histories; there were many searches on Ancestory.com and DNA samples sent to testing sites like 23andME. Discovering our past and finding distant relatives helped to fill the gaps in our social lives. The similar traits and DNA that make people a family exist as well in plants. Just as with people, plants have many traits and characteristics that define them and link them into family groups.

For sake of example, I am focusing on parts of the Honeysuckle Family (Caprifoliaceae). The Korean Spice Bush (Viburnum carlesi) is frequently requested around Mother’s Day. If we run low on this particular plant be assured, that there are a good number of solutions close at hand. Sibling variants, cousinly hybrids, and backcross hybrids are in good supply. What links them all together is the wonderful fragrance of spring after winter’s grasp. The following all offer a possible substitution for the original depending on the application. Larger in form with pinker buds is the well-known V. x juddii; also larger but with many more pink buds and semi-evergreen leaves are V. x burkwoodii and V. x burkwoodii ‘Mohawk.’ A smaller alternative with very large flowers is V. ‘Cayuga.’ These and more offer easy choices without leaving the species.

In a second example, we compare the genera Weigela and Diervilla both of the Honeysuckle Family. The Asian genus Weigela florida is everywhere in our landscapes. W. ‘Wine and Roses’ and others began the flood of pink-dominant flowering varieties. A painter’s palette of foliage colors defines this species of Weigelas. The genus Diervilla of eastern North America is a b & b plant (browsing and bumblebees). In its native circumstances, it has been browsed by moose and deer without ill effect and is an obvious favorite of bumblebees with its clusters of yellow, honeysuckle-like flowers. With the advent of the Kodiak series, Diervilla is now an active participant in landscapes still retaining its native status. These honeysuckles were separated by thousands of miles, but both possess unmatched foliage variety and the ability to flush vibrant new growth after a good trim. They have very similar leaf shapes and their phyllotaxis of alternating leaf patterns attest to their being of the same family.

Linnaeus and the Taxonomy of Horticulture give us the guidelines we need to find solutions to shortage problems. A shortage of plants just gives us an opportunity to expand our imagination and use the tools already at hand.

Walking around Christensen’s this spring you may notice a few distinct differences from previous years. You may see our new signs or the new machines at the hardscape center. However, the difference I am talking about is nothing new at all, it is nothing. The most obvious change for many of us is the half-empty field and the lack of towering evergreens waiting in our yard. As our investor for Deciduous, Ornamental, and Evergreen Trees I have been looking across the country for this material and the simple answer is that it just does not exist in many cases.

Arborvitae are experiencing an exceptionally brutal year on the east and west coast. After severe drought hit the west coast last spring and summer fires started burning across Oregon. We were being sent images of entire fields turned brown due to a lack of rain in what is historically one of the wettest regions in the country. Further east in Tennessee certain varieties of arborvitae have been hit by a yet to be identified disease. Paired with the unusually wet spring they have experienced and high demand these plants are not as readily available in large sizes (7-8’) as they once were. We have been buying up as much as we can stock due to the unpredictability of this crop.  Currently, we are overstocked in 4-5-6’ Emerald Green and have placed them on sale, but it’s hard to say what will continue to happen throughout this season with this genus.

Red Flowering Cherokee Dogwood are experiencing a similar issue. These trees are particularly susceptible to damage from excessive water, but also fungus and mold which thrive in wet conditions. Tennessee’s wet spring has resulted in crop failures and a lack of available material.

These droughts and diseases only account for a small part of the shortages, but they do contribute to the problem.  As we’ve mentioned before, the real disease behind the shortage is the pandemic we have all been living through. In addition to the increased desire to landscape, everyone sitting at home also pointed us towards a recession which was combated with a huge drop in interest rates. This created a boom in the housing market. Now demand for plants was not only surging for renovation but also for new housing developments.

This new housing boom is the largest our country has seen since well before the market crashed in 2008. As we mentioned in Eric’s article, Bring On Spring, trees take 5-10 years to size up, and 5-10 years ago we were on the back end of a huge recession. Due to financial difficulties, planting heavily to plan for the next demand surge was not an option. Pulling ahead on smaller and smaller crops starting in 2020 caused size shortages. This “overselling” is most obvious with evergreens, most large sizes are not available because they have all been sold as smaller trees in previous years.

So here we are in 2022, available product on many popular varieties is down to 6’ and 2” trees. As long as demand stays high, and everyone keeps selling, the next year’s available material will be smaller and smaller. And while the economy is slowing down, historically, an increase in fuel prices drives down vacations and increases investments in homes for “staycations.” If fuel costs stay high, we may be looking at yet another season of homeowners pouring financial resources into their landscapes.

Unfortunately, there are no real substitutes for pine, spruce, and arborvitae but there are some options. While larger sizes of popular varieties such as Emerald Green and Green Giant Arborvitae are harder to come by, similar varieties can be easier to find. We have good quantities of Hetz Wintergreen Arborvitae available which work great as a narrow evergreen and for screening. If you can substitute smaller sizes, check out the Emerald Green Arborvitae sale (see Sticks & Stones e-mail). Crabapples or Pink Dogwoods work as a bright flowering substitute for red flowering Cherokee Dogwoods. Many growers we have spoken with have learned from this unprecedented situation the industry is in. They are planting as much as they can to try and keep up, but it could be 5 years before we see a full recovery.

We’ll continue to keep scouring our sources to keep you supplied with the best plant material as long as this landscaping boom keeps going.

I’m sure that we’ve all heard the saying “I’ll rest when I’m dead” at some point in our lifetime, and most of us have probably said it, as well. With my 50th coming up this year, I still think that I’m nearly indestructible like I was back in my 20s and 30s, so I embarked on quite the adventure this past winter.

I took on 6 jobs from December through April… simultaneously. That statement is no exaggeration, ladies and gentlemen. I worked here at the nursery a bit, plowed/salted, did my side company’s set up, bartended for an independent catering company, bartended a local bowling alley, and help set up a new Mediterranean restaurant which then led to me bartending there on a regular basis.

I do NOT recommend anyone doing this at any given age in anyone’s lifetime. Why do I say this? My body literally ached every day after the first month. Working open to close shifts bartending, which averaged 11 hours a day, only to have to turn around and work 2 more back-to-back open to close shifts. To make things even more interesting, shifts would overlap to where you work 2 jobs in the same day, which were maybe an hour apart from each other, which would lead to a 15-16 hour day. The worst was the triple shift that I feared would happen. I had my shift here in the morning, then jumped immediately to the restaurant from noon to 11 pm, and then left there to go plow. That resulted in a 24+ hour day. I then went home, took a nap (or rather collapsed), returned to the restaurant at noon for my opening shift, then left at 8 pm to go do snow cleanups.

As for me personally, I tend to get 5-6 hours, which seems like it’s not enough at any level. But during the winter season on days where I didn’t have to work a double shift, I’ve been known to sneak in a nap here and there like a toddler. For any of you that have had to run a snowplow for hours and hours at a time, you totally understand!

Other factors that can affect a level of quality sleep include noise in the environment, stress, poor sleep arrangements, drinking too much caffeine a few hours prior, so on and so forth. Follow the link if you would like to learn more about sleep deprivation, which includes even more symptoms and treatments. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/307334

You only have 1 body in your lifetime, so be sure to take care of it!

Commercial Projects are my beat here at Christensen’s Plant Center. I spend each day advising and developing relationships with project managers, landscape architects and estimators on upcoming projects. The last two seasons have been extremely disruptive for commercial work. Many projects were delayed, abandoned, or just in limbo. Work dried up to a trickle, but, as the economy opened up, so did the project pipeline.

You can get your company into the pipeline in two different ways. Many commercial projects come through the bid letting sites, such as Dodge, BidNet (MITN), and MDOT. These are great sites to start your journey. Some are free, others charge, but each can be a beneficial resource when you’re looking.

Many projects are awarded based on relationships and connections. Project and construction managers are extremely loyal and protective of their teams. Commercial jobs can be demanding. Weather, change orders, and delays are all routine. Your team’s ability to respond and perform will earn you that loyalty. When you build these relationships, you will never lack for opportunities. I know project teams that have worked together for years.

What type of projects work for your company? Many times, project failure is just a mismatch of landscape contractor and the type of work involved. Large projects lasting many years have longer payment cycles that may not work for you and your suppliers. New construction, weather delays, inspections and approvals are all considerations and potential headaches. After you have been successful, and figured out “your type”, that should be your focus for the future.

The Gordie Howe International Bridge project is huge with thousands of plantings to be installed - how many companies can handle that scope of project, or even want to? This was never more apparent to me than this spring when I delivered some wetland plants to one of our contractors on Lake St. Clair. He was in a wetsuit, on a very nasty day, working in the water! He had his entire team in wetsuits. Now that’s a company that has found their niche and never will lack for project work. They can probably pick and choose what they want to work on. What a competitive advantage for them!

Focus your efforts on finding your projects. Build relationships with construction and project managers that specialize in your type of projects and sell your passion! Develop your team to earn more profitable projects and work on your type of projects. Don’t waste your time chasing the ones that won’t work. All projects are not created equal, so focus and discipline is required.

If I can ever assist you in developing your Project Team, let me know. The next few seasons will be like drinking out of a fire hose. The projects are going to come at us so fast and furious, we will look back at last year as the good old days. The supply chain shortages will sort out over the next few years, but last year is a taste of what’s coming. The disruption while challenging, also creates opportunities for you and your team. Start developing your Project Pipeline today. Build relationships that will keep your Pipeline full. Focus on your projects, and turn that fire hose into a drinking fountain!

Over the past three years, the green industry in Michigan, and indeed the country, has been on a high. But that high has come at a price, and that price has been our supply pipeline. The media has spent the past many months talking about supply chain woes. Anyone that has bought a car recently knows. Our supply chain woes have been slow in coming, and, regrettably, will be slow to reseed as well.

Growers in the nursery industry have spent the last three years trying to keep up with almost unprecedented demand. Unfortunately, our products take significant time to come to market; time that the growers have not had. Since an 8’ tall spruce takes almost 10 years to come to harvest, growers have done the only thing they could do to keep up with demand, which is to sell material early. In 2019, landscapes consumed some of the material slated for 2020 projects. In 2020, landscapes consumed all of that year's crop, and a large part of 2021’s crop, compensating for what was used for 2019 and covering the increase in sales. In 2021, the cycle repeated itself. 

Now we find ourselves in 2022, and there is nothing left to steal. Growers find themselves selling smaller and smaller plant material as landscapers accept smaller sizes to fill a planting. This does not allow for the filling of the pipeline with larger material, as it is all sold in a smaller size. 

With our product that takes between a few months to a decade to produce, the refill will be slow. 

Christensen’s will be a landscaper’s best friend as we navigate this supply issue. We are in constant contact with growers all over the country sourcing material. Our relationships allow us access to material often before it is published on an availability. Please use this resource! Let us use our reach instead of you spending hours trying to get answers.

Christensen’s Plant and Hardscape Centers is honored to be the resource for the landscape industry in southern Michigan. The relationship we have with you drives us every day to make sure that we are doing everything we can. And this year is no different. 

As I write this, I am watching our yard operations crew unload yet another load of trees. With the first trucks of the year arriving in mid-February, we continue our preparations for the 2022 landscape season. Plants and hardscape materials will continue to roll into our yard. I encourage you to use our 91 years of experience.

November 15 is the first day of firearm deer season in Michigan, and like many of you, I will be in my blind before sunup.

But deer camp isn’t about the hunting.

I came late into hunting. It just wasn’t something that interested me in my youth. I had always liked the shooting sports, but just never found the allure in hunting. Sometime in my twenties, my father and uncles convinced me to come to deer camp with them.

I had always thought of deer camp as this place that you went to. A place to basically sleep, as you spent all of your time hunting. I guess that is why I never was really attracted to it. Boy, was I wrong.

Deer camp allowed me to see my grandfather and uncles in a whole new light. I had always enjoyed being around my grandfather and uncles, but this was different. At camp it was only the adult men in the family. No kids, no moms. So, the rules all changed. Not that they suddenly became these crazed people, but they definitely let their hair down. And three of these guys are bald, so you can only imagine…

For the first few years I was the only grandchild there, the advantage of being the oldest of ten grandkids. And so, I got alone time with my grandfather. I got years of alone time with my grandfather. I chose a blind near his so I could have the walks in and out with him. I would get up early, which I HATE TO DO, so I could share breakfast with my early-rising grandfather and uncle. Looking back as I write this, I cannot help but smile at the memories that I made with my grandfather, and continue to make with my father and uncles.

My grandfather passed away from cancer in January of 2005. But he made it to deer camp in November of 2004. He couldn’t go to his blind, and just stayed around the camp and ate with us. But he was there. We still go to the same place to camp every year. We take the same campsites. We tell a lot of the same stories. And I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Out of the seven of us that go to camp every year, we average one deer every other year. So no, deer camp isn’t really about the hunting. Good luck everyone, at YOUR deer camps, and may the memories you make last a lifetime.

...through "Guerrilla Art"

I have a friend who earns his living in an unusual field – he is a graffiti artist, commissioned to place his art on buildings. When we met, he oversaw pest management at the greenhouse we both worked at. Since then, his hobby has become his passion and livelihood. He has travelled the country splashing his art on the walls of Miami, Chicago, Kansas City and more. If you’ve been in Detroit or Toledo, you may have seen his work.

I’ve always thought of landscape color plantings as a form of “Guerrilla Art”, which is a term applied to certain forms of street graffiti. There are a lot of similarities if you think about it. Graffiti and landscaping are out in public space for everyone to see and enjoy (or critique). Also, the color theory needed for public space is the same. Both need to consider sight lines for how the art will be viewed. Both need to adjust for mere moments of attention versus minutes or hours of retrospection in a museum or walking garden. If people are speeding by on a freeway, the audience needs to be able to see large blasts of color to interpret the art. Bigger and bolder is most often better. And planning for surroundings is essential to get the cohesive aesthetic the artist is trying to achieve in the outdoor arena.

Do you consider yourself an artist? Most landscapers I know would not. However, it’s hard to deny that the masterpieces they create in yards and public spaces are works of art. I would argue that the medium you use is the hardest to work with, since it is living (or must incorporate the living, if you’re creating a hardscape). Further complicating your living artwork is timing. If you work in annuals, this is less of an issue, but perennials, flowering shrubs and flowering trees all need to be installed with their bloom season in mind. Perhaps you should start listing “Artist” on your business cards… or “Guerrilla Artist” if you want to be edgy.

When I met my friend, he was in a phase of his life where he didn’t express to others that he was an artist, but the transition has transformed his work into his passion and he can’t hide his creative prowess any longer. Obviously, we don’t all need to quit our jobs and become graffiti artists to capture or recapture our passion. We can continue to be artists in our current jobs and turn our love of landscape into artwork the public can enjoy.

For some helpful color theory tips to elevate your art, check out Makenna’s article from last year.

As someone in an outdoor profession, I spend a good portion of my monthly budget on sunscreen. My lily-white skin burns so easily that I wear SPF 30 well into the fall and winter. I’ve experimented with many different SPFs, application methods, and consistencies.

While I’ve tested many different brands and formulas, there are a few things that I typically look for.

Firstly, I check to see if the product contains Oxybenzone (Benzophenone-3), which may be carcinogenic, can cause skin allergies, and which has been shown to have harmful effects on marine coral. Exposure to Oxybenzene affects larval coral by making their skeleton structure develop prematurely and all wrong! Marine biodiversity is compromised and that is bad for the planet. Buying products with zinc oxide or titanium dioxide can help keep this chemical out of our waterways and oceans. In 2018, Hawaii was the first state to ban the sale of sunscreens containing Oxybenzone, and other island tourist destinations have done so as well. Research on this is ongoing.

Another thing I look for is water resistance. You’re out in the sun and you’re going to be sweating! If your sunscreen doesn’t have any kind of water resistance than you’re going to have to remember to put more on constantly through the day. I don’t know about you, but I have a hard enough time remembering to reapply even a couple of times when it should be done every two hours. Looking for a sunscreen that is water resistant for at least 30 minutes is very helpful. If you get caught in the sprinklers or are really sweating you’re still going to have to put on more but this may buy you some time and prevent a terrible sunburn.

The third thing I look for is either aloe or moisturizer. Being out in the elements all day really takes a toll on your skin. Both sun exposure and wind have been proven to be drying and abrasive. Prolonged UV exposure to skin can cause premature aging at the very least. No one really wants to look 20 years older, so using a sunscreen can help create a barrier between your skin and the elements.

Sunscreen can be kind of a pain to remember, but it’s definitely worth the effort. Sun damage is cumulative over your lifetime and can be worse than a simple sunburn, as painful as those can be.

At one time we had a 10-day tagging policy and we always tried, in spite of limited yard space, to honor that. Many times those tags would even get re-dated until the order eventually left, or was possibly cancelled! This had the effect of tying up inventory that could have been sold while it was fresh and pretty, disappointing everyone. I can’t even tell you the number of times tags got switched or removed and material “stolen”, leading to near-fistfights in the yard.

When we changed to a 5-day tag policy along with adding storage space we were able to hold more material and keep everyone happy – until BOOM – economic recession. Companies were wiped out, people were laid off, and growers had to cut back production in order to stay afloat.

The recession eventually ended. Even though significant financial damage was accrued, new demand for material skyrocketed. In our line of work, plants take time to get to a saleable size. Our industry was just getting caught up when the COVID crisis hit. All those people staying home decided to fix up the place, leading to – yep – new shortages.

With record levels of demand for nearly everything many growers sold into the following season’s crops. The demand hasn’t slowed, and it is getting difficult to find new sources of plant material let alone trucks to get it here.

To fill orders for projects, we may find ourselves having to hold material longer than 5 days when, for instance, a ship date is set but a truck is not available. All committed material is marked with order and/or delivery date information. Under NO circumstances are contractors allowed to pull off those tags. We can’t monitor everything that happens here, but we are very good at knowing what material is “No Touchy!” Yes, you can always ask, orders do get cancelled and you might just get lucky.

It’s story time now: 

Recently a contractor’s customer (I will refer to this person as CC) came in early to look around before their appointment time. As I’m working on preparing an order for another contractor, I notice the CC wandering around in our Japanese maple house. Something didn’t seem quite right, so I went in closer to investigate. As I enter the Japanese maple house, I see them removing tags from a tree I had triple-tagged for someone else and putting them on a different tree. So, I approach and say “Excuse me, CC, are you removing tags from that maple?”. The CC, LITERALLY with a tag in their hand tying it to the other maple, says, “No.”

No! You can’t make this stuff up.

CC is caught red-handed. I then say, “CC, that maple that you are removing the tags from, that I personally tagged, is leaving on Tuesday next week. Do NOT do that, and please put the tags back on it”. As I returned to the main shop, I alerted my coworkers to this CC and another sales representative went to engage them. They were politely asked to wait in their vehicle until their contractor arrived, and the rest of their visit was supervised. And trust me, any time we catch someone doing this, we remember. I repeat: WE REMEMBER.

So please, when visiting the nursery, respect material that has tags on it, and respect your fellow contractors who are just trying to get by same as you are. We do our best to look out for you but we can’t be everywhere, and you would not appreciate getting hit by the Karma Bus yourself one day.

In my favorite Westerns, “Howdy, partner” was a common greeting. Having partners and friends was the key to survival in the Wild West. Today, partnerships can be a wonderful way to do business. The collaboration brings out the strengths in each organization, and deficiencies can be offset with shared experience and knowledge. Partnerships require honest, open communication to be most successful. It’s hard to be an expert in every aspect of today’s projects. Knowing what is going on in the marketplace and being prepared has never been more crucial. When you partner with your supplier, your team now has the knowledge and expertise of hundreds of growers, manufacturers and distributors. When your projects come in, share with your partner all your concerns and opportunities so you can work together for better outcomes that build your partnership.

Welcome to 2021 - the most challenging year in your career. The economic shutdown and Covid-19 has nearly destroyed the nursery and horticulture supply chain as we know it. We might as well be building it from scratch. It started with the evergreen shortage, quickly spread into commodities, containers - all the products we use every day and then - not to be left out - our hardscape suppliers have also been doing everything they can to keep up. The industry that took decades to build was brought to it’s knees in a little over a year. The creativity from our buyers and the flexibility of our vendors has been nothing short of amazing.

In addition, the transportation challenge has many aspects. The industry lost many drivers, and the demand in other industries is off the charts. The long and short of it is, transportation costs are through the roof, and our ability to move product has been greatly impacted. Another challenge I know you are familiar with is labor. The saying “Good people are hard to find” has been replaced with “Anyone has been hard to find”. When you can get a signing bonus at McDonald’s, you know the labor market is jazzed up.

We have faced many of these challenges in the past, maybe not all at the same time, but we have survived. But here’s the thing. You have never had so many opportunities to make money. The phones won’t stop ringing, the projects keep getting signed and the demand is not letting up anytime soon! So, buckle up, “Partner”, each week brings a new creative solution to our ever changing season.

This year will continue to test our mettle, but we can come out of this better, more adaptable, and willing to meet any challenge. We are learning and changing to meet the needs of the day. When you partner with Christensen’s Plant and Hardscape Centers rest assured, we are working hard every day to be the best supplier and partner we can be. So, stop in today and say, “Howdy, partner” and let’s meet this challenge together. Partnership, collaboration and our shared experience will lead to our success. Enjoy the summer season and remember we are all in this together.