Teaching transplants

It’s no secret that the pandemic introduced gardening to 18 million people in 2020. But, in tandem with the gardening surge, another trend was happening — The Great American Migration of 2020, per The Washington Post. In 2021, The Wall Street Journal reported that 7 million American households packed up and moved out of the expensive, crowded cities to escape the pandemic and into more affordable, expansive suburban areas. Whether it’s millennials taking advantage of more flexible remote work opportunities or retirees looking to move to more temperate climates, many regions of the U.S. experienced an influx of new residents.

According to a U.S. Census Bureau report released in May, cities and towns in the West and the South experienced the most growth between July 2020 and July 2021. The report also stated that Arizona, Texas, Florida and Idaho were among states that contained several of the 15 fastest-growing cities in the U.S. in 2021. With such an influx, there’s ample opportunity for IGCs to learn more about these new customers and help them understand their new climates.

And while garden centers don’t have hard data on customers’ geographic backgrounds, many are noticing the new residents through simple conversation. So, if your IGC has seen new faces from different places in the store, take note of these tips from IGCs that are helping new customers thrive.

Location, location, location

Ruth Gonzalez, marketing director at Reems Creek Nursery in Asheville, North Carolina, says the city has always been a popular destination for tourists and residents, even before the pandemic. Gonzalez speculates that some of the new residents were once tourists who decided to retire or move to Asheville after falling in love with the city’s beauty. In addition, she says the area offers a lot of great art and music, along with prime outdoor and hiking activities — making the city extremely compelling to prospective residents.

“I do feel like there are a lot of new homeowners, and I feel like one of the demographics is people who have retired and moved here and sold their house from somewhere more expensive, like California or Chicago,” she says. “I feel like there's probably a lot of people from the West moving East to get out of the fires. But I also think this area is really attractive to young people because of the music, because of the vibe.”

Jane Brown, owner of Eagle Rock Nursery in Idaho Falls, Idaho, says many new people are moving into the area, particularly from the Midwest and neighboring states like California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. “We have a rewards program, so we like to sign people up for that and they give their address for that, so a lot of them are new home buyers or new transplants,” she says.

And over at North Haven Gardens in Dallas, Texas, Rusty E. Allen, education and outreach coordinator, says the city has been a popular relocation destination for years, noting a booming and diverse customer base.

Education essentials

Allen recounts the weather difficulties the garden center has faced in the past two years: The IGC was struck by a devastating tornado in October 2019 (and again in May of 2021, which caused minimal damage), and Texas also had plunging temperatures freeze a variety of plant materials.

So, while the IGC rebuilt from the ground up, customers did too. Many Texans dealt with the fallout of their ravaged landscapes, driving demand for replacement trees and shrubs lost to dangerous winds and freezes. However, it also presented a new challenge, as customers now had full-sun areas that were once protected by tree shade and shifting terrains.

“It entails a brand-new look and a brand-new approach to figuring out what plants are needed," Allen says. "They don’t know how to grow something together, how to combine plants. So, we need to get people reoriented within a new plant palette here that’s brought about by the environmental change.”

The mindset can apply to brand-new customers, too, whether they’re born-and-raised Texans or recent transplants. Allen notes that education is always an opportunity, no matter what the customer’s background is.

Like Allen, Brown says education is essential for customer success. Brown calls it “a learning curve” because new residents aren’t prepared for the unique Zone 4 climate in Idaho Falls. Guidance is paramount, and Brown says employees ensure that customers double-check plant labels for zone requirements.

“We have pretty alkaline soil, so they’ll ask for things like azaleas or blueberries, and we tell them, ‘Well, I’m sorry, they probably won’t make it here.’ And sometimes people are shocked,” Brown says. For these customers, staff instructs them to amend the soil so that acid-loving plants can grow. Another shock for new residents is finding out how much they need to water.

However, Brown says Eagle Rock Nursery focuses on stocking plants that thrive in their area, noting that some big-box stores stock plants that won’t grow in Zone 4.

She says that Eagle Rock offers warranties, so the IGC is careful about not selling plants that won’t thrive. As for new inhabitants, Brown considers it an opportunity and welcomes them with open arms.

“It’s more diverse in the community and we're learning things from them as well about where they live, as well as us teaching them about where they're living now. It’s interesting to talk to people that have gardened in other places in the country,” she says.

Right plant, right place

Gonzalez points out that Reems Creek Nursery has had a swell of pandemic gardeners in Asheville, but notes the increasing numbers of people who have moved to the area. Education drives the conversation when she and other staff members talk to these new customers.

Aside from the basics, Gonzalez says elevation changes and protecting plants in winter are all points staff try to touch on, especially because some of their customers are coming to North Carolina from climates like California or Florida. In addition, she says that soil amendments are a big focal point because the soil is very clay-like.

“Every single day, we’re encouraging people to amend their soil planting time. We're telling them, ‘50% native soil mixed with 50% amendments’ or something of that nature so that they're lightening their soil,” she says. “And even just the tools that they use — if they came from Florida where it’s all sand and they can easily dig a hole in two minutes with a shovel, they may need to be introduced to new tools that allow them to make progress more easily.”

Reems Creek offers classes regularly and educates consumers via newsletters and Instagram. Sometimes, Gonzalez says, transplants are homesick for their old landscapes, and they work with these customers to the best of their abilities to ensure success.

“If someone moved here from California, sometimes they’re used to that kind of landscape. It’s a temperate forest here. It’s very lush with lots of deciduous trees and plants, and it’s just a whole different kind of vibe,” Gonzalez says. “And it isn’t that you can’t use some of those more architectural plants like yuccas and things like that; you can, absolutely. But we just try to steer people the right way.”

Producing plant people

At North Haven Gardens, their mission is to breed “plant customers, plant collectors and plant people that have an interest in developing different kinds of plants,” Allen says, and one of the ways staff achieves this is through its garden coach program.

“Our means of sales is our garden advisor and our garden coach program and, of course, the other education programs, too. We don’t just sell them a plant. We want to sell them the knowledge and the experience to be successful with it,” Allen says.

If plants aren’t successful the first time for new gardeners, it goes beyond fulfilling a warranty and replacing the plant, at North Haven.

“If they go to a big-box store [with a failed plant], they’ll say, ‘Here’s your money back,’ and that’s it. But they haven’t done anything for the customer. They haven’t really built a returning loyal customer that has an interest and wants to learn something about plants. They just simply gave them money back. We want to teach them about it and have them find that gardening is rewarding,” Allen says.

There are three garden coaches at North Haven Gardens, and they’ve helped thousands of Dallas residents — from longtime locals to brand-new transplants — hone their green thumbs. Garden coach Kay Nelson, a Texas Certified Nursery Professional with more than 40 years of horticulture experience, has been with North Haven Gardens since 2005. In her tenure, she’s helped new residents from “The East Coast, West Coast and everywhere in between,” she says. In addition, Nelson travels to customers’ homes to address their pain points and provide them with placement and growing tips.

“I answer all of their questions. I give them a plant palette; I recommend placement and I also address things that they may not even know they need to address. And, of course, I talk about soil and maintenance,” she says.

She also addresses drainage issues and pays close attention to customers’ rooflines to divert any water run-off from the house. Frequently, Nelson will tell customers how they can design a dry riverbed to address the issue. One of the most important aspects of being a garden coach is listening to customers and working within a palette that fits their desired aesthetic, she says. She also asks various personal questions to gauge how much time customers can devote to maintenance and what their foundation gardening knowledge entails.

“I'm very fortunate to be in this position, and 99.9% of the people are so lovely and so appreciative of the fact that we even have this program available to them. I do have a lot of repeat customers, like customers that have worked on one area and come back and want to work on another area,” Nelson says.