As those close to me know, I love all seasons. I cannot say that I enjoy one over the other, because I really don’t. It drives my wife a little nuts, as she loathes snow. But I really love the little things that every season brings to us.

But this year is a little different. As 2020 has been for its entire existence. This year I am looking forward to the break that the winter provides to those of us in the nursery industry. A time to re-coup and re-group. And I for one am looking forward to having the time to gather myself back up.

As we re-group, we must look forward and start planning for the future. And as I look forward, I have to bring up the storm warning that I wrote about a couple of months ago. The material forecast for the spring is incredibly tight. Plant material grew very well this year, but our industry consumed a great deal of it. To give an example, many of our green goods suppliers have told us this fall that they can fill our orders, but we will be pulling from the spring 2021 crop. So, we can have it now, or next year, but not both. Hardscape suppliers are still reeling from shutdown this spring. Many intend to continue production for most of the winter to try to prevent the same thing happening in the spring of 2021.

So, as you re-group and plan this winter, I implore you. Plan out your jobs. Order your material. Do not wait until the snow is melting to arrange material for your spring projects. As the snow is flying, that is the time to be looking forward to spring.

As I write this, hurricane Laura is ashore in the gulf. In a matter of days, the remnants of this storm will most likely be bringing us some much-needed rain. (Hopefully only rain!)

This event coincides with the start of the last push for the landscape season here in Michigan. With this last push, I wanted to take a moment to remind all our contractors of the need to order all material as far in advance as possible to ensure a successful project.

All material has been moving very quickly this year. Projects are abundant, and we have been blessed with a prosperous economy. However, this has led to issues with availability across the board for landscape materials. This coupled with the coming push for the end of the landscape season is why I am issuing this storm warning.

• Place orders for EVERYTHING in advance!! Do not assume that we, or any other supplier, will “always have it in stock”. 

• Take nothing for granted. Plant material is starting to run thin, and growers are struggling with labor. (H2A/H2B program issues, etc.)

• Hardscape material is showing very long backlogs due to the early spring shutdowns. Many manufacturers have announced several products or lines that will no longer be made at all this year, and other products can have up to six-week lead times.

So please heed this storm warning. Place your orders early to make sure that your projects continue on smoothly for the rest of the year.

Welcome to summer! This time every year we find ourselves having the same conversation with lots of drivers picking up plant material.

This conversation revolves around putting a tarp over their load of plant material. There are two typical answers for this. “I forgot a tarp” or “I am only going a few miles.”

To be honest, we have a chuckle at both of these answers, and the reason for the chuckle is quite simple.

In the case of “I forgot”, we generally know what most of the nursery tarp inventory for most of our customers looks like as we see them often. This also means we know how many tarps the company owns. My favorite “I forgot” comes from a good friend of mine. I sold him a new tarp multiple times when he forgot. And every time he was mad as he knew there were about twenty tarps sitting unused at his shop.

The latter, “I am only going a few miles”, is not so funny. During summer temperatures, damage to the foliage while driving down the road at 50 mph (or more) happens in just a few miles. So really, any driving with the plant material un-tarped will damage the plant.

Here is the beg from Christensen’s. Please tarp everything when you leave our nursery. We will help you tarp your load!!

P.S. We will not accept anything as a return that left without a tarp on it.

Here, at the close of the season, I have the privilege of writing the last Sticks and Stones post of 2019.

It is a privilege for two reasons. The first is because we have made it to the end of the season! We persevered through the trials and tribulations of 2019, and now it is time to enjoy the fruits of our labors.

I look forward to this time of year because winter is when I get to hang out with my kids. I hope that you get to enjoy the same opportunity to spend time with family and friends, enjoying the stepping stones in life.

This year’s stepping stone is driver’s education for my daughter. Now I do not know about the rest of you, but when I turned 16 I drove my parents crazy wanting to go the Secretary of State to get my license. This is my second child to go through driver’s ed. My older son wanted to take driver’s ed (mostly because his friends were in the class) but had absolutely zero interest in getting his license. In fact, he turned 16 in September and my wife and I finally forced him to take his road test in February! Now we are on to my daughter who was eligible to take driver’s ed in April, but was in no hurry to even take the class. Really?? Don’t these kids know that I don’t want to be a chauffeur any more?

The second reason is even more simple. In this last post of 2019, I want to say “thank you”. Thank you for allowing us to serve you for another year – our 88th year as Christensen’s Plant Center. Over the past 88 years many things have changed, but as our staff has has ebbed and flowed, as our customers have started a business that has grown and matured, and have maybe retired, one thing has remained constant. There is a certain quality that makes people choose to enter the Green Industry, and even as our customers become ever more diversified, there is a familiarity that I appreciate. Thank you for being a part of the Christensen's family.

Wishing you all a safe conclusion to your landscaping season, and the happiest of holidays.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I do NOT follow fashion trends. In no way am I a fashionista! In fact, according to my wife I should go on one of those TV shows where the Dad gets a makeover on his wardrobe. On the other hand she knows all of the fashion trends. As a hair stylist, she keeps up on what is hot, what is not, and what is coming back around.

So how are landscape plants like the fashion industry? Well, new plants are constantly being introduced, replacing older models. Other plants fall out of use, some for good reason. We have watched flowering pear go from the tree that everyone planted everywhere, to one that goes on a landscape only rarely. Or how about creeping junipers? Anyone remember those? One of our veteran employees and I were recently lamenting how we used to get a semi-load of creeping junipers almost every week “back in the day”. Now we get them about once a month, and never a full truck load. They are still a great option but it seems that people are planting other things instead. I am betting it won't be long before they come back around.

So plants are like pants. They come into fashion, they go out of fashion, and sometimes they come back in again. And sometimes to be different, you have to look at what is old or out of fashion. For instance, Kolkwitzia (Beauty bush) is a cool plant that no one uses anymore, but should. You see them often where an old farmhouse once stood, or in older neighborhoods like downtown Plymouth. The masses of pink flowers in the spring are really striking and the dark green leaves turn an awesome yellow in the fall. A great plant to use in areas where viburnum or forsythia would go.

So change your p(l)ants! Look at using something old or different and your designs can appear fresh, new, and not like everyone else's. I would still avoid the pear, though.

Last year while attending a business webinar I heard a story that really stuck with me. Frank Mariani from Chicago’s North Shore was talking about the early days of his landscape company and some of the challenges that he'd faced.

His client, from an exclusive community of high-end homes, asked him for a quote to plant two trees in the back of the house near the pool. The 75 year-old client wanted shade while watching the grandkids. Frank wrote up a quote for two 2.5” shade trees, explaining that the fence and stairs around the pool prevented the installation of anything larger.

Two weeks later, when he showed up for the weekly maintenance, he was appalled to see one of his competitors at the house using a very large crane to place 8” caliper trees in the requested spots - by lifting them OVER the house! When Frank asked the homeowner why, the response was simple. “You said you couldn’t, and we found someone who could. The money wasn’t an issue. We wanted the shade now.”

That lesson stuck with Frank. Years later his company was presented with a similar situation. Access only allowed for a 3” tree. Frank, thinking back, told his salesperson to quote in two ways. One, quote 3” trees ball-carted to the desired location. Second, quote 10” trees placed via HELICOPTER CRANE. Of course, the price difference was astronomical. But the client decided he had more money than time and Mariani Landscape placed 10” shade trees via helicopter crane, creating a happy customer and a profitable job.

This story made me think about the odd things that we have had requested of OUR company. Now, we have never had to "helicopter" a tree into place. But we have arranged deliveries to Mackinaw Island - picture a semi-truck on a barge with the waves washing over the bow and under the truck. Or the time we sent send a semi-load of material to Minot, North Dakota. If it is important to the client, money is secondary to the action.

Just last night my wife was flying home from a much needed vacation. Then at 2 AM the last leg of her flight was canceled. There I was, searching flights on my iPad to get my exhausted wife home. Price meant very little to me. Getting her home with the least amount of headache added to an already stressful trip was the most important thing.

Knowing your clients is part of what you do every day. Make sure you use this to your advantage. You never know when your biggest challenge may also become your biggest success, leading to one of your most successful marketing pieces.

Welcome to Spring 2019!!! The Detroit Tigers home opener is April 4, and Christensen’s has already had its season opener. So let’s play ball!

Over the past winter, as in every winter, we have spent a significant amount of time getting ready for this season. Equipment, people, processes, pricing. Everything is repaired, trained, updated, and reviewed to get ready to serve you, our customers, in the best way possible for the year.

The first question I usually get from our customers is, “How far did pricing go up this year?” This year I am happy to report, not much - if at all. The buyers and managers here at Christensen’s Plant and Hardscape Centers have worked very hard at keeping our prices as close to 2018 prices as possible. We know that everything in your business has increased quite dramatically over the past several years. It surely has in our business. So this year we felt it was very important to help our customers keep their profitability.

Our price catalogs have been mailed and you should have yours in hand. If you need extra copies for your office or truck, we can provide them. Our Hardscape catalog is at the printer and will be ready soon, so grab your copy on your next visit.

As always, we thank you for your continued business. We enjoy the relationships we have made over the past eighty-eight years. May you all have a safe and blessed 2019!

For the past year, I have brought my 13 year old puppy to work with me. He has spent his days sleeping in my office, hitting up the sales staff for food, and greeting every customer that he can here at Christensen’s, both in the Plant Center and the Hardscape Center.

While watching Garin interact with you and your employees, it has reminded me of how much like the TV show Cheers this place really is. We love seeing you come in. Good days, bad days, rain and sun, having that interaction with your companies has been nothing short of magical. We look forward to seeing and talking to you every day.

This year has not been without its trials and tribulations. The labor situation has affected every aspect of our industry. Seemingly the entire state has lamented the lack of good labor this year. Couple that with trucking issues caused by the ELD implementation, and the year has definitely had its challenges. But as always this industry has risen above them and created a very successful year. A huge testament to you, our contractors that make this industry what it is.

As we move to the winter of our season, we wish you peace and prosperity. You have made our season wonderful through your presence and continued business. From the entire team at Christensen’s Plant and Hardscape Centers, have a wonderful holiday and we look forward to seeing you in 2019.

I don't want to bum you out, but winter is just around the corner.

I know, I know. It is the end of August. You have eight more weeks of landscape work left. And I am REALLY happy about that. In fact I wish you had twelve! But the reality is that by mid-November you are wrapping up your jobs and are planning your winter.

But I have a crazy suggestion. Start planning your winter now.

I was talking to my friend Chris Koontz from Carleton Equipment a few weeks ago, and he shared how busy Bobcat was. They are so busy they are taking many weeks to deliver new machines to customers. When I asked why, I was sort of shocked at the answer. Currently, build dates for new machines have been filled by dealers across the country for between four and six weeks. Not shocking. The shocking part was that it is taking ANOTHER three weeks to get the machine shipped from the factory to the dealer due to a lack of trucking. A new machine can take up to nine weeks to be delivered to you! He went on to say that other manufacturers are having the same issue. I believe him - it took two months to receive the new Kubota tractor we just bought.

So if you finish reading this article and call Carleton Equipment (for example) and order your machine today, you might not receive it until Halloween. If you wait until the end of the month, you will get your machine in time for deer season. If you wait until after Labor Day, you will have it in early December. See the trend? If you wait until Halloween to plan your winter, you will get your winter equipment after the New Year.

So don’t wait to plan your winter. Ordering equipment NOW is the smart play. Take advantage of financing. Avoid the end of the year rush. Be ahead of everyone else.

P.S. Carleton Equipment got snowplows in the first week of August. What are you waiting for?