Proliferate your product offering with ponds

In a community with a population of nearly half a million residents, there were once three major places to purchase pond supplies in Greenville County, S.C., for the average homeowner. Two were independently owned, and one was the big box that claimed to have “pond plants and accessories.” As the trend grew, one independent business owner decided to retire, unable to handle the increased work load, leaving the other indie business to pick up the slack. One garden center was the expert and educated customers, and the big box store sold less expensive product. This led to confusion among the pond hobbyists. What’s more important: price or knowledge?

Professionals already know the key to being successful is to have a very strong background and knowledge in what you’re selling. If you’re not comfortable with what you’ve got on your shelves, you might as well just tuck it away in the basement to rot, chalk it up to a bad idea and move on.

Not so fast. Invest some time learning the category and educating staff and you can become the leader of your local industry of pond supplies and construction. Most garden centers hit the snooze button during the winter, awaiting the spring rush, but this is the best time to educate not only you, but your staff as well on something new and broaden your business horizons. The more versatile your store, the larger your customer base.
 

Not just a hole in the ground

The most basic thing you must know and explain to your customers is that a pond cannot simply be a hole in the ground with water and fish. Ponds are delicate ecosystems that require a certain finesse to get right, but once you’ve got it, they’re pretty much maintenance-free. What you’ll find yourself struggling with the most is the cheap, pre-fab pond in kits that the big box stores sell. There are multitudes of problems with pre-fab plastic pond kits, such as:

• Lack of proper filtration equipment that leads to more maintenance and upkeep in the long run.
• No basin for biological filtration, which causes the customer to constantly need to use chemicals. That's great for you, but will eventually aggravate your customers.
• Pumps and powered equipment in these ponds tend to lack quality and give out the second they are clogged.
• The grade of plastic used in the pre-fab tubs is inferior and prone to cracking and leaking after a few season changes, which leads to customer dissatisfaction, as well.
   

Using high quality, flexible, EPDM rubber is the key to a successful, versatile pond. Not only do your customers have the ability to choose the size and shape of their pond, but they can continue to add onto relatively easily The other benefits to the EPDM rubber liner is that it’s tough; the 45-mil liner has a 20-year warranty and will withstand freezing and thawing with no chance of cracking. That resistance increases when paired with a suitable underliner to protect any sharp roots from poking through the rubber, although they have to be ridiculously sharp roots, such as bamboo.
 

Establishing a foundation

The concept of starting with a rubber liner might be a bit overwhelming, but just like building a house, you have to start with a firm foundation to create something that will stand the test of time. After starting with the rubber, you then have to consider both filtration systems and waterfall weirs. Possibilities are endless with filtration systems and ponds, everything from external mechanical filtration pumps to skimmer boxes with replaceable pads are out there.

The best thing to do as a garden center owner is decide what you feel comfortable dealing with and explaining to your customer. A skimmer can easily take care of all of your mechanical filtration needs (such as leaves, fish excrement and typical particulates that water attracts,) but you’ll need to have a biological filtration system, as well.

Think of a pond not only like building a house, but also like your digestive system. In your stomach there are billions of enzymes working to break up your food and aid in the removal of toxins in your body. Ponds work in much the same way, provided they have a place to live. Beneficial bacteria in ponds colonize in areas with lots of surface area and decent water turn over.

When explaining the needs of biological filtration to customers, think about your intestines. There's tons of surface area, and it’s all needed to make sure everything operates smoothly. The biological media in which pond bacteria will live needs plenty of room as well. There are different types available, ranging from small, multi-sided orbs to a bio-ribbon that creates a large surface area looking somewhat like a big ball of noodles.

The old way of creating this biological filtration was lava rock, but that has become outdated, so urge your customers to get with the times and upgrade to the new technology in pond supplies.
 

Treatments, not chemicals

The word you must remember to avoid at all costs is “chemical.” The word sounds harsh, and to some, dangerous. Using the words “pond treatments” as opposed to “pond chemicals” will make customers more comfortable with what they’re pouring into their water. You can hire somebody who will spend all of his/her time trying to educate customers about the difference between algae killing treatment and an algae prevention tactic. Instead, provide a detailed online reference that the customer can pull up on their phone using a QR code or even just a link on your website.

What you absolutely must have on your shelves are:

• Preventative algae treatments, such as barley bales and extract, and algae killing treatments
• Anti-sludge treatments to metabolize the debris that settles to the bottom of the pond and becomes that stinky stuff we call sludge
• Flocculants, or a fancy term for the treatment that takes all of the small suspended particles like pollen and binds them together
• Dechlorinator and stress coat, which are critical when it comes down to selling goldfish and Koi
• Filter materials, both biological and mechanical
• Enzymes to create biological colonies in a pond
• Replacement pumps
   

You don’t need to have a pond section that is huge, but as long as you know the basics, you can ease your customer into the pond hobby with confidence. Make your garden center that one place in your community that the hobbyists can turn to. You’ll find that working through different pond supply wholesalers like Water Landscape Supply and Coastal Pond Supply, the prices that you offer your customers won’t be any higher than what they’ll find online with the bonus of being local.

If you’re not in the pond business, it’s certainly something you should “pond”er. You might find yourself wanting one, too.

Nikki is a horticulturist and professional adventurer who uses her experiences and knowledge to manage a successful garden center in Greenville, S.C. pepitaweed@gmail.com