Class-act operation

Susan Brammeier leads a seminar at Southwood Landscape & Nursery. She also spreads the hort gospel by teaching classes at Tulsa Community College.Susan Brammeier doesn’t teach math, per se. There’s no doubt, though, that her teaching ability is a big plus for Southwood Landscape & Nursery. Her store seminars have exponentially grown the Oklahoma company’s customer base. And what she does as a “hort prof” down the road at Tulsa Community College has cultivated future hort pros. Any way you add it, Brammeier is good for Southwood’s bottom line.

Brammeier has worn many hats at Southwood – cashier, head of the perennial department, creator of the the store’s container gardening department. But her garden center career really hit stride when she was tapped to organize seminars and special events.

The ultimate manifestation of all those jobs was another: the teaching position, which came six years ago when the director of the horticulture department at Tulsa Community College (TCC) decided he needed an industry professional to teach “Principles of Horticulture” and “Ornamental Horticulture.”

Brammeier said she has tried to impart two things – at least – to her students: “In addition to knowledge about taking care of plants, my hope is that students will discover that there is more to horticulture than landscape architecture, and that they can pursue a wide variety of careers in this industry.”

At Southwood, there are plenty of options. The 28-year-old store has a growing facility, a garden center and a landscape design department. Brammeier tries to get her students out to the nursery several times during the semester, including at least one trip to the production facility, where she can usually get at least one or two of them interested in doing an internship with the company. “Southwood has employed quite a few of my former students over the years in various positions,” she said.

Two other benefits to Brammeier’s teaching skills affect the store’s bottom line. Former TCC students turn there when looking for plants, garden accents or landscape services. And the garden center customers who sit in on Brammeier-led seminars leave as smarter shoppers who appreciate where they learned so much – and pay the store back with business.

Brammeier says any garden center can enhance its education program. The keys to success are knowledge and passion. And it doesn’t hurt to practice what you teach.