Women in the Green Industry

When I started in the nursery long ago there were maybe five other women I knew, and two female landscapers, in the entire industry. Well, ok not really. I might be exaggerating. But It was a man's occupation for sure. But nowadays we women are absolutely everywhere! Fabulous! 

I would say that more the half of all the contacts I have in the industry are women. Perhaps way more than half. Once it used to be a female landscaper would come in once a week, now it is more like several times a day. I also get forwarded a lot of plant lists from designers and architects and most of them are women. Even Christensen’s is being taken over by women. There are fourteen of us on staff here now.

Back to that long ago time. There were just four girls at the Plant Center. Problem was three of them worked inside the office and the fourth was me! So it was me and the boys at break, me and the boys helping customers, me and the boys unloading trucks, fixing irrigation, pulling poly, going to trade shows (and hanging out with more boys!). Then I got to hire a girl for the perennial department and then another and another. Before you knew it - it was not the perennial department but the "perennial girls". I was so proud!

Now, new hires of either gender feel comfortable joining our team. A recent hire expressed how pleasantly surprised she was at the equality she found here at Christensen’s. Her experience with another green industry company had not been so amiable and she feared that it would be an obstacle she faced no matter where she went in our industry.

Thinking about how I was going to write this I looked at some statistics and it all made perfect sense, from 2012-2019 Michigan women owned business grew 29%. In 2015, 11% of the landscapers nationally were women, in 2021 it was 21%! I hired my first perennial girl in about 2012-2013 and now there are six of them. Move on over boys, the ladies are here to stay!

Inclusivity is always a good idea in any business, but especially in an industry where a majority of the end consumers are women. It is important to have perspectives that reflect all of the customers to know and understand your clientele.

I am happy to have witnessed the ascent of women in this industry. I may be a little impartial being a woman myself but the rise of women in the industry is the truth.