Tennessee Greentimes - Summer 2011

VOL. 12/ NO. 2

Summer 2011

Best & Beautiful

Trees, Shrubs & Tropical Plants from the UT Gardens

Retail Solutions: Helping Customers Diversify Their Landscape HICCUP Your Way Past Competitors on Facebook

Tennessee

GREENTIMES The Official Publication of The Tennessee Nursery and Landscape Association

Table of Contents

In the Landscape Best & Beautiful Trees, Shrubs & Tropical Plants from the UT Gardens

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VOL. 12/ NO. 2

Summer 2011

Garden Center Ideas Retail Solutions: Helping Customers Diversify Their Landscape

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OTHER F EAT URES NEWS FROM THE UT GARDENS What’s Going On So Far This Year at the UT Gardens .................................... 18 MARKETING STRATEGIES HICCUP Your Way Past Competitors on Facebook .......................................... 20

departments From the President, John Watson, CLP .................................................................. 6 News from TNLA.......................................................................................................... 7 TNLA New Members .................................................................................................. 7 Calendar of Events...................................................................................................... 22 Index of Advertisers .................................................................................................. 22

RECENT EVENT TN Green Industry Field Day… June 14 at the UT Gardens

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The Tennessee Nursery and Landscape Association serves its members in the industry through education, promotion and representation.

The statements and opinions expressed herein are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the association, its staff, or its board of directors, Tennessee Green Times, or its editors.

Likewise, the appearance of advertisers, or their identification as Tennessee Nursery and Landscape Association members, does not constitute an endorsement of the products or services featured in this, past or subsequent issues of this quarterly publication.

Copyright ©2011 by the Tennessee Nursery and Landscape Association. Tennessee Green Times is published quarterly. Subscriptions are complimentary to members of the Tennessee Nursery and Landscape Association.

POSTMASTER: Send change of address notification to Tennessee Nursery and Landscape Association, 115 Lyon Street, McMinnville, TN 37110. Postage guaranteed.

Third-class postage is paid at Nashville, TN. Printed in the U.S.A. Reprints and Submissions: Tennessee Green Times allows reprinting of material. Permission requests should be directed to the Tennessee Nursery and Landscape Association. We are not responsible for unsolicited freelance manuscripts and photographs. Contact the managing editor for contribution information.

Advertising: For display and classified advertising rates and insertions, please contact Leading Edge Communications, LLC, 206 Bridge Street, Franklin, TN 37064, (615) 7903718, Fax (615) 794-4524.

f rom t h e p r e s i d e n t John Watson, CLP

A Letter from the

TNLA Board

The letter below is being sent to prospective members. At our recent meeting of the TNLA board of directors, we decided to re-focus on the growth of our association as a way to bring the state’s green industry together. This letter will be sent to anyone you would recommend for membership. Simply email, fax or phone the contact information to the TNLA office (931-473-3951), and the staff will take it from there.

TNLA Would like to

Dear Partner in the Green Industry,

THANK the following companies for being

MEMBERSHIP SPONSORS Gold Membership Sponsors Barky Beaver Bark & Soil Mix, Inc. Common Grounds Landscape Management, Inc. Oldcastle Adams Products / Belgard Randall Walker Farms Swafford Nursery, Inc.

Silver Membership Sponsors Allen Landscape Management Dutchman Tree Spade Freedom Tree Farms, LLC

Sincerely,

Nashville Landscape Systems, Inc.

The TNLA Board

Packs Nursery

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Why should you join the Tennessee Nursery & Landscape Association? With your membership, you will become part of a dynamic, growing organization that works for you. For over 100 years, the TNLA has showcased the product quality and extensive knowledge that Tennessee nursery growers and landscapers offer.

For pennies a day, you can get all the benefits of TNLA. Last year, for the $200 investment, TNLA spent over $600 on each member’s behalf. This makes membership in TNLA one of the best returns on investment you can make. By joining today, your TNLA membership: • Markets your business. The TNLA organization works avidly at marketing your business through physical representation at national trade shows, as well as through the internet. Every individual business of TNLA members is listed on the TNLA website, with the option of links to their own business website.

Each member is listed in our annual membership directory, which is distributed throughout the United States. Your membership also offers you discounted listings and advertising in the widely distributed TNLA Buyers Guide.

• Lobbies for your business. The TNLA organization, along with the TNLA lobbyist, reviews current legislative bills and issues that affect your business. The TNLA is your voice on bills concerning immigration, land rights, sales tax, water laws and all issues that play an integral role in your day-to-day operations. The TNLA assures that you are heard in Nashville and Washington.

• Expands your network. Currently, more than 400 companies benefit by being connected to a network of peers, industry researchers and customers. Your membership includes discounts at the TNLA co-sponsored Mid-States Horticultural Expo in Louisville, Kentucky, a venue that brings wholesale growers, retailers, equipment suppliers, landscapers and educators to a national customer base. Membership also means discounts for TNLA’s Winter Education seminars in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and the Tennessee Green Industry Field Day. Enclosed is a return membership application. Should you have any questions, please call our offices at (931) 473-3951. We look forward to you joining the TNLA.

SUMMER 2011

News from TNLA The Tennessee Greentimes is the official publication of The Tennessee Nursery & Landscape Association, Inc. 115 Lyon Street McMinnville, Tennessee 37110 (931) 473-3951 Fax (931) 473-5883 www.tnla.com Email: mail@tnla.com

TNLA on the Hill!

Published by Leading Edge Communications, LLC 206 Bridge Street Franklin, Tennessee 37064 (615) 790-3718 Fax (615) 794-4524 Email: info@leadingedgecommunications.com Editors Dr. Bill Klingeman Dr. Amy Fulcher Associate Editors Dr. Donna Fare Dr. Nick Gawel Mr. Mark Halcomb Dr. Frank Hale Mr. Gray Haun Dr. Sandy Reed Dr. John Sorochan TNLA Officers President John Watson, CLP Common Grounds Landscape Mgmt.

1st Vice President Michael Kassees Forest Nursery Co., Inc. 2nd Vice President Bill Seaton TruGreen LandCare 3rd Vice President Matt Dawson Natural Creations, LLC

Tennessee lawmakers celebrated Ag Day at the state capitol on April 13. TNLA staff, as well as several TNLA board members, were there to represent the nursery and landscape industry. Above (left to right), Pam Stern (TNLA administrative assistant), David Keith (actor) and Louree Walker (TNLA executive director).

Welcome, TNLA New Members!

ACTIVE MEMBERS

ASSOCIATE MEMBERS

Beaver Creek Landscape Management, LLC John Bottis 2247 Cartmill Drive Knoxville, TN 37849

Deal’s Distributing Co., Inc. Barbara Deal 476 N. Main Street Clinton, TN 37716

My Personal Gardener Mark Sharp 1753 Knob Road Maryville, TN 37803

Evergreen Nursery Geri Renn 23556 Wallace Road NW Salem, OR 97304

Secretary-Treasurer Randall Walker Randall Walker Farms Associate Director Mary (Strong) Pennington Landscape Support Services Ex-Officio Tim Gallagher Heather Farms Nursery, Inc. Executive Director Louree Walker Administrative Assistant Pam Stern

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In the Landscape

UT Gardens’ 2010 Best & Beautiful Trees, Shrubs and Tropical Plants Prepared by Susan Hamilton, Ed.D., Director of the UT Gardens; James Newburn, Assistant Director of the UT Gardens; Jason Reeves, Curator of the Jackson UT Gardens; Beth Willis, Trials Coordinator; and Betty Tipton, Plant Evaluation Coordinator Note: Check local nursery availability of listed varieties at the UT Gardens website – http://utgardens.tennessee.edu.

TREES AND SHRUBS Acer palmatum var. dissectum ‘Red Select’ — Red Select cutleaf Japanese maple. One of the best maples known for retaining red foliage all season. Its red lacy foliage turns a brilliant crimson fall color. It has a slightly weeping form and will ultimately top out at about 12 to 15 feet tall, with a generous spread up to 10 feet wide.

Callicarpa americana ‘Welch’s Pink’ — Welch’s Pink American beautyberry. This new introduction is named for its pink midsummer flowers and pink autumn berries. It grows 3 to 6 feet tall and thrives in full sun and partial shade.

Camellia sinensis — tea camellia or tea bush. This dense, evergreen shrub grows to between 4 feet and 6 feet tall and just as wide. It produces leathery, darkgreen leaves and covers itself each fall with fragrant white flowers. ‘Rosea’ is one with pink flowers.

‘Shirotae’ is a selection with pewter-colored leaves with white margins, and ‘Silver Dust’ has new growth that emerges almost white. ‘Gold Splash’ has large green and yellow variegated leaves.

Cotinus coggygria ‘Grace’ — purple smoketree or smokebush. This hybrid is a lovely deep mauve that flashes reddish leaf undersides. It has large misty blooms, the feature that gives the plant its common name. It can be left to grow as a small tree up to 15 feet tall or managed as a shrub if it is pruned back severely each year.

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In the Landscape

Gardenia jasminoides ‘Kleim’s Hardy’ — daisy gardenia. ‘Kleim’s Hardy’ gardenia produces masses of fragrant, single, daisy-shaped white flowers in late spring/early summer. Growing up to 3 feet, it has a mounding habit with very dark green, lustrous foliage and heavier blooms than other gardenias.

Nyssa sylvatica ‘Zydeco Twist’ — Zydeco Twist black gum. This contortedbranched black tupelo (or sourgum) has an especially striking form after the vivid red fall foliage drops. Tolerant of a wet site, it grows to 20 feet tall.

Ginkgo biloba ‘Mariken’ — Mariken maiden tree. A wonderful dwarf cultivar, this slow-growing selection is ideal as a container or specimen plant. It grows only 2 to 3 feet tall and can develop a pendulous, weeping shape when mature. It has brilliant golden foliage in fall.

Thuja occidentalis ‘Sunkist’ — Sunkist oriental arborvitae. One of the brightest yellowgold conifers available, this variety is tolerant of partial shade to full sun and a moist to dry and well-drained site. It grows up to 4 feet tall and 2 to 3 feet wide.

Juniperus chinensis ‘Holbert’ — Holbert Chinese juniper. With a spreading growth habit of 8 to 9 feet wide and just 2 to 3 feet high, this juniper features blue foliage that holds color through the winter months.

Thuja orientalis ‘Franky Boy’ — Franky Boy oriental arborvitae. Finely textured foliage and a bright chartreuse color

that turns bronzy-orange in the winter make this a winning year-round plant.

Its growth habit creates a dwarf conifer with an overall plant form of a teardrop.

Thuja orientalis ‘Van Hoey Smith’ — Van Hoey Smith oriental arborvitae. This arborvitae grows up to 6 feet tall, with beautiful variegated green and gold finely textured foliage.

Viburnum setigerum — tea viburnum. A great native shrub with showy spring blooms, good fall color and outstanding fall fruit. Many people mistake this for a winterberry holly because it is also deciduous.

Growing 8 to 12 feet tall and 5 to 8 feet wide, this is a wonderful shrub for attracting birds.

ROSES Rosa ‘Carefree Marvel’ — Carefree Marvel shrub rose. This bright, deeppink rose is a low-growing rose with a broad habit, growing up to 2 feet tall and 3 to 4 feet wide. Disease resistant and low maintenance, it is ideal for spilling over a rock wall or ledge.

Rosa ‘Kimberlina’ — Kimberlina floribunda rose. This 2009 Floribunda of the Year® winner is outstanding.

The soft-pink blooms would work with any color combination, especially with its dark-green foliage. It is touted as being one of the most vigorous floribundas ever introduced.

Rosa ‘Lynn Anderson’ — Lynn Anderson hybrid tea rose. A beautiful, vigorous hybrid tea rose with a mild fragrance. Its creamy white center blends to light then dark-pink edges.

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In the Landscape

Rosa ‘Rainbow Sunblaze’ — Rainbow Sunblaze miniature rose.

This rose has beautiful double flowers that stay well above the foliage. The center of the bloom is yellow, with the outside petals a contrasting orange-red.

originally sold for as much as $1,500!

It very quickly grows to 8 feet tall, but it is not believed to be cold hardy.

Musa velutina — pink velvet banana. Beautiful pink flowers and fruit make this a striking banana.

Rarely exceeding 6 feet tall, this

banana produces copious flower stalks near the top of the trunk, starting in late summer. Each stalk produces clusters of small, pink, velvet bananas that peel themselves when ripe (although they’re not good for eating!). C

Rosa ‘Tournament of Roses’ — Tournament of Roses hybrid tea rose. With a soft, delicate pinkcolored rose that is very fragrant, this selection looks great from a tight bud until fully open.

TROPICAL PLANTS Aechmea ‘Wally Berg’ — Wally Berg bromeliad. With a new, unusual and striking color, this beautiful red-orange selection was developed by the late Wally Berg of Sarasota, Florida.

Ananas comosum — pink variegated pineapple. Everyone loves the creamy white, pink and green variegated foliage of this pineapple plant. It stands out as a striking specimen plant.

Kalanchoe thyrsiflora ‘Flapjack’ — Flapjack kalanchoe. This clumping succulent has large, flat bluegreen leaves with red leaf margins and — you guessed it — is shaped like a flapjack. When grown in full sun, the leaf margins become even redder and broader. This is truly a desert plant, which makes it an ideal plant for a xeriscape or lowwater usage area.

Musa acuminata ‘Siam Ruby’ — Siam Ruby banana. A rare, red-leaved banana from the wilds of New Guinea, this plant

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Garden center Ideas

By Andy Pulte, Faculty Instructor, Department of Plant Sciences, The University of Tennessee

T

here are many reasons plants become overused in the landscape. The main reason is simply because a plant displays several practical or pleasing features. Plants that lack prized attributes aren’t successful in the nursery trade and, in turn, won’t reach your customer’s front yard. For many retail outlets, it’s a hard choice to not sell familiar plants that will most likely find an easy home. Start by choosing a few suitable replacements plants, and then make it a point to educate staff and customers about their choices. Knowing the benefits and downfalls of any type of plant material makes good sense. Value added by time spent educating receptive customers can forge loyalty and a positive relationship.

Undoubtedly, if you own or operate a garden center, someone this year will ask if you carry ‘Bradford’ pears.

For garden centers that don’t, it makes good sense to point customers in a different direction. Here are a few wellworn plants, and some suggestions to help jump-start the diversity of any customer’s landscape.

Pyrus calleryana ‘Bradford’ — Bradford pear It’s not without good reason that plants like Bradford pear get overused. Great foliage, spring flowers, breathtaking fall color and reliable form made Bradford a go-to plant for homeowners throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. If only consumer behavior was as easily broken as a 15-year-old Bradford in a windstorm. Currently, many of the Bradfords

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planted 20 years ago or less have failed in the landscape due to wind damage.

Additionally, escaped pear seedlings from these parents continue to spread into native woodlands. Growing awareness of these concerns has led to a drastic cutback in commercial production.

Plant substitutions that provide all of the four-season characteristics given by a Bradford pear tree are admittedly hard to come up with. However, my number one choice for replacing a Bradford is Parrotia persica – Persian parrotia (Zone (4)5–8). Parrotia is a small, single or multi-stemmed tree with lustrous leaves that resemble the Bradford in their shine. Additionally, it has great bark that exfoliates as the tree gains age. This tree doesn’t disappoint in fall, as leaves change into a deeper green followed by an autumn show of purple, reds, oranges and yellows. Although slightly insignificant when compared to the bloom of Bradford, Parrotia trees have blooms that come out earlier and last longer than any pear, nor do fruit produce an abundance of nuisance seedlings.

Another suggestion: Nyssa sylvatica ‘Red Rage®’ — black gum (Zone 4–9).

Picea glauca ‘Conica’ — Dwarf Alberta spruce Fiercely cold hardy, slow growing and easy to propagate, dwarf Alberta spruce has become a favorite foundation plant for many gardeners and weekend landscape warriors. Those with experience can argue that overuse, insect and mite damage and die-back in Alberta spruce trees are regular cause for concern.

Platycladus orientalis ‘Morgan’ (Zones 6-10) is perhaps one of the best substitutes you can make for dwarf Alberta spruce. ‘Morgan’ arborvitae (Zones 2-6), which has a slightly rounder shape, is comparable in form. Known as a woody chameleon, ‘Morgan’ has an exceptional ability to change foliage color. As winter approaches, this conifer changes from an emerald/lime green color to a beautiful deep purple. Well before spring, it settles into a breathtaking copper color. Then, as temperatures warm, Morgan returns to its summer green.

Another alternative is Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Nana’ — dwarf hinoki cypress (Zone 4-8).

x Cupressocyparis leylandii — Leyland cypress Although hard to find unaccompanied by other Leylands, when you see one as a single specimen, with room on all sides, it truly is a beautiful plant. Leyland cypress is fast growing and easy to propagate, transplants readily and can handle a variety of environmental conditions.

What could go wrong? Leyland is a plant that can grow three feet a year if it’s happy (Zone 6–10) and makes a solid evergreen screen fast. However, it seems likely we are again destined to learn the lesson of planting monocultures with this plant. Problems such as seiridium canker paired with various root diseases may cause a privacy screen to become not so private.

The best way to ensure your customers have a long-lasting privacy screen is to suggest mixing up the

Above L e hydrang ft: ‘Limelight’ ea make lent, sm s an exc a e crapemy ller substitute fo lrtle. r Above C e of Parro nter: The foliag ti e green, s a persica is a s hiny imilar to pear lea Bradford ves.

Ab o v e R ig parrotia ht: Persian a interesti lso features ng bark exfoliati on.

Left: ‘Mo rgan’ Arb becomin o rv it ae g available more commerc is ially a n d m a focal po int in la kes a nice ndscape s.

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Garden center Ideas

Table 1. A few time-worn plants and possible reasons why you might suggest plant alternatives to customers, as well as some potential plant replacements.

If customer is replacing:

Possible reasons why:

Alternatives to suggest:

Azaleas

Lack of drought tolerance, lack of adaptability, insect and disease susceptibility, overused

Fothergilla, Enkianthus, Corylopsis spp., oakleaf hydrangea

Boxwoods and Japanese hollies

Root rot, poor site-specific performance, inadequate drainage, overused

Abelia, Cryptomeria japonica ‘globosa nana’, dwarf yaupon holly

Bradford pear

Storm damage, overuse

Parrotia, black gum, Malus spp., hawthorn

Crapemyrtle

Too large for planned space, hardiness issues, overused

Dwarf crapemyrtle, Vitex, panicle hydrangea

Dwarf Alberta spruce

Insect damage, die-back, overused

Platycladus orientalis ‘Morgan’, Chamaecyparis obtuse ‘Nana’, ‘Black Dragon’ Japanese Cryptomeria

Flowering dogwood

Disease, insect damage

Kousa dogwood, disease-resistant flowering dogwood cultivars

Leyland cypress

Seiridium canker and root diseases, stem flagging and die-back, overused

‘Green Giant’ arborvitae, Arizona cypress, Japanese cryptomeria, Ilex spp.

Nandina (Common)

Leaf spot, root rot, mild toxicity, invasiveness, overused

Spiraea thunbergii ‘Ogon’, Fargesia rufa ‘Green Panda™’

Silver and sugar maple

Shallow roots, size, rapid growth, diseases, die-back, weedy, competition with turf

Zelkova, Katsura tree, yellowwood, Linden/basswood

plant material they use. Screens should have several different types of plants layered together with different colors and textures. One of the plants that can keep up the pace with Leyland is Thuja (standishii x plicata) ‘Green Giant’ (Zone (4)5-7(8). Green Giant arborvitae does have a tendency to yellow slightly in the winter, but it grows nearly as quickly as Leyland. Green Giant grows to over 40' tall, with a dense, narrow, classically pyramidal habit.

Another suggestion: Cupressus arizonica var. glabra ‘Blue Ice’ — or Blue Ice Arizona cypress (Zone (6)7–9)

Lagerstroemia indica — Crapemyrtle Crapemyrtle is truly a beloved plant that can be versatile in the landscape.

However, many of the traditional varieties may be oversized for even modest-sized yards. Depending on your location, lack of cold hardiness or having general overuse concerns may be a good reason to diversify.

If a client wants a crapemyrtle but doesn’t have the room, suggest a cultivar like ‘Pocomoke’ that stays relatively dwarf. A great substitute with many similar characteristics would be Hydrangea paniculata or the panicle hydrangea (Zone 3–9). There are many superb cultivars of this plant, including ‘Limelight®’, that produce beautiful panicles of flowers late in the season.

Another suggestion: Vitex agnuscastus — chastetree (Zone 6b–8).

The companion table notes a few plants that may provide opportunities for landscape diversification and possible reasons why you and your employees might suggest plant alternatives, as well as some potential plants that could be aesthetically competitive replacements. Before suggesting any new types of plant material, you and your employees should become familiar with both the positive and negative attributes of each plant and how you might expect them to perform within your geographic location and local USDA Plant Hardiness Zone. It may make sense to gather knowledge about some specific cultivars for each plant. C

Recent Event

Snapshots from the

TENNESSEE GREEN INDUSTRY FIELD DAY June 14, at the UT Gardens in Knoxville, TN

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Thanks to Our Field Day’s Primary Sponsor!

Tennessee Dept. of Agriculture

A Very Special Thanks to… the University of Tennessee Gardens Staff and nursery and landscape resarchers and specialists: Dr. Amy Fulcher Dr. Sue Hamilton Dr. Bill Klingeman Jimmy Mynes James Newburn Andy Pulte Dr. Karen Vail Beth Willis

Thanks to Our Exhibitors Airitech Tools Blankenship Farms Cherokee Manufacturing Deal’s Small Engine Dickens Turf & Landscape Supply Farm Credit Services Griffin Greenhouse & Nursery Supplies Heather Farms Nursery Hortica Insurance & Employee Benefits John Deere Landscapes Pleasant Cove Nursery, Inc. Randall Walker Farms Riverbend Nurseries, LLC Riverdale Nursery Samara Farms Tennessee Dept. of Agriculture Walker Nursery Company

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By Sue Hamilton, Ed.D., Director of UT Gardens and All-American Selections Judge

We

will be trialing Blooms of Bressingham perennial selections in the Gardens during 2011, so visitors will get to see first-hand how these perennials perform in our region. Together, father Alan (1906–2005) and son Adrian Bloom have been responsible for introducing over 200 perennial plant cultivars. Among these are numerous garden favorites, which include the following popular selections: 1920s – Dianthus ‘Oakington’ 1930s – Phlox ‘Oakington Blue Eyes’ 1950s – Achillea ‘Moonshine’, Heucherella ‘Bridget Bloom’, Heuchera Bressingham hybrids 1960s – Crocosmia ‘Lucifer’, Geranium ‘Ballerina’, Kniphofia ‘Bressingham Comet’ 1970s – Astilbe ‘Sprite’ (1994 PPA Perennial Plant of the Year), Phlox ‘Eva Cullum’ 1980s – Leucanthemum ‘Snowcap’, Bergenia ‘Bressingham Ruby’, Phlox ‘Franz Schubert’, Achillea ‘Anthea’ 1990s – Lavandula ‘Blue Cushion’, Polemonium ‘Brise d’Anjou’ 2000s – Geranium ‘Rozanne’ (2008 PPA Perennial Plant of the Year), Campanula ‘Blue Waterfall’ Garden center and nursery retailers may want to consider carrying this brand of plants with the exposure it will be getting in both the Knoxville and Jackson Gardens. For information on this brand and how to become a retailer, go to http://bloomsofbressinghamplants.com.

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In mid-May, we launched a new UT Farmers Market with an array of local farmers and growers, including UT student farmers who are part of UT’s Organic & Sustainable Production Program that offers internships to students to learn about hands-on production, from planning to production to direct marketing. The market offers not only great fresh and locally grown produce each week but also an ever-changing assortment of music, crafts, educational activities, cooking demonstrations and a dinner buffet prepared with fresh local produce by the UT Culinary Institute student chefs. The market will be at the Gardens in Knoxville every Wednesday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., running through October.

We moved our annual Blooms Days Market Place and Festival from its traditional date of the last weekend in June to Mother’s Day weekend, which was May 7–8. The June heat and humidity for the past two years spurred us to move Blooms Days to a more pleasant (weather-wise) month. It also put Blooms Days at the beginning of the gardening season — a great time to add plants to the garden and a great time to peruse the incredible selection of plants and other great botanically related items for sale from the 30+ Blooms Days vendors. Another reason for the move was that our Beall Family Rose Garden was in the peak of bloom along with the rest of the Garden’s collection of iris, clematis, species tulip, peony and some choice spring ephemerals. To really showcase the beautiful rose garden, one of the four educational tracts of Blooms Days was dedicated to roses and was taught by

some of our region’s best rosarians. It truly was a great opportunity to meet and learn from some of the best rose experts around.

We followed Blooms Days with a one-day Hydrangea Symposium on June 18, where 55 attendees heard morning lectures by noted hydrangea experts, including Dr. Sandy Reed of the U.S. National Arboretum (who spoke on her hydrangea breeding program) and hydrangea grower Elizabeth Dean (from Wilkerson Mill Gardens). Lectures were followed by an exclusively hydrangea plant sale. C

M a r k et i n g s t r at e g i e s

By Genae Girard

E

very company is trying to use Facebook in an attempt to move their business forward and stay connected to their customers in this fast-paced world. Why are some companies more successful at this than others? Content is the key to staying in touch with your customers and keeping them informed. The content, however, must be a rich mix of information, education, humor and fun. Use the HICCUP approach, described below, to make your Facebook page more successful.

HUMOR Humor allows your audience to come away with a warm, fuzzy feeling and a friendly attachment to your message.

It doesn’t have to be industry specific, although it can be. You can do viral searches on YouTube and/or sites that plug social media. Always watch a video all the way through before posting, as you don’t want it to include any profanity or other unmentionables.

Remember video is king. Written blogs are being trumped by the clever, colorful and often fun video blogs.

INTERACTIVE QUESTIONS Don’t be afraid to ask open-ended questions to your group. For example, if you are a landscape contractor, you may want to ask, “What is the biggest problem you have in your planting beds?” The purpose here is to begin the conversation. People posting their answers will create a community buzz.

Letting the responses unfold naturally also gives you a marketing advantage.

You can then track the concerns and

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create future training or webinars around your customers’ needs.

CONTENT If you don’t provide a myriad of interesting topics, information and current trends, current customers (as well as future customers) simply go away.

Clicking “Unlike” on Facebook is just as easy as clicking “Like.” Smart, clever and challenging content will keep your audience waiting for more. With most companies having a presence on Facebook, competition will become fierce, and you have to stand out.

CURRENT EVENTS If you haven’t done so already, get plugged in to all online media and/or trade publications online. When something interesting pops up, pass it along for other people’s knowledge. If something political occurs that impacts your industry for example, pass it along.

Never make a personal judgment about the event. Let your community unfold.

Use Google Alerts in which you can program in key words to notify you of events and news feeds that pertain to your industry. Use a program like Hootsuite to consolidate, and Tweet events out to all of your feeds and accounts at one time.

UTILIZE INDUSTRY FACTS

Keep your followers abreast of changes in your particular industry, and relate them back to your own business. For example, if you are a nursery grower and there are some new shipping regulations around the corner, keep people aware by posting them on Facebook.

If you own a garden center, you may want to post information on when a new shrub or tree variety is released and when it will be available at your store. These are specific actions that endear your customers to your brand.

PROMOS AND SPECIALS Mention specials, promotions, new products and services. You can get creative here, and run a coupon or contest. Talk about new employees, business awards or articles written by your staff. You can drive traffic to your business and services by using this concept. The one caution is that you shouldn’t overuse Facebook to market to your customer base. They can grow tired of it and quickly choose “Unlike” on your page, causing you to lose a potential client.

To be successful, all categories should be represented on your posts daily. If you personally don’t have time, assign this process to an employee or virtual assistant. Give them these rules for your industry, and explain the process. Typically, creative, idea-generating minds are the best individuals suited for this task. If you follow this model for promoting your business on Facebook, customers will stick around to see what you post next. As the Facebook community grows, we will all have to fight for the attention of the consumer.

About the author Genae Girard is a speaker, author and entrepreneur. For inquiries, email: info@BeyondtheBoobieTrap.com or call 512-796-1618. C

Index of Advertisers

calendar of events

August 2–4

October 22–25

Penn-Atlantic Nursery Trade Show (PANTS) Greater Philadelphia Expo Center Philadelphia, PA Contact: 800-898-3411 www.pnla.com

IPPS Southern Region Annual Meeting Rainwater Convention Center/Hampton Inn Valdosta, GA Contact: Donna Foster Email: scplant@bellsouth.net www.ipps-srna.org

September 28 Griffin Grower Expo Knoxville Expo Center Knoxville, TN Contact: 800-888-0054 www.griffins.com

Sept. 30–Oct. 1 Middle Tennessee Nursery Assn.

(MTNA) Trade Show McMinnville Civic Center McMinnville, TN Contact: 931-507-7322 Email: mtna@blomand.net www.mtna.com

October 19–22 IPPS Eastern Region Annual Meeting (Int’l. Plant Propagators’ Society) Seelbach Hilton Hotel Louisville, KY Contact: 631-765-9638 www.ipps.org/EasternNA

October 27–29 Green Industry & Equipment Expo Kentucky Expo Center Louisville, KY Contact: 800-558-8767 Email: info@gieexpo.com www.gieexpo.com

January 27–28, 2012 Mid-States Horticultural Expo (a partnership of TNLA and KNLA) Kentucky International Convention Center Downtown Louisville, KY For advertising contact: Betsie A. Taylor 502-695-0106 or mail.knla@gmail.com For booth information contact: Pam Stern 931-473-3951 or pam@TNLA.com

Boshancee Nursery, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 www.boshanceensy.com Braun Horticulture, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 www.braungroup.com Cam Too Camellia Nursery, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 www.camtoocamellia.com D & D Agri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Ewing Irrigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 www.ewing1.com Hortica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 www.hortica-insurance.com John Deere Landscapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 www.johndeerelandscapes.com Low Falls Wholesale Nursery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 www.lowfallsnursery.com M&M Plant Sales, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 www.mmplants.com Mid Tenn Turf, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 www.midtennturf.com Motz & Son Nursery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Scotts Professional Horticulture . . . . . Inside Back Cover www.osmocotelsbest.com Surface Nursery, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 www.surfacenursery.com Swafford Nursery, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Back Cover www.swaffordnursery.com Tennessee 811 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 www.tennessee811.com Wellmaster Carts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inside Front Cover www.wellmaster.ca Willamette Nurseries, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 www.willamettenurseries.com