Houston garden centers pull together

Since late August, citizens of Houston, Texas, and the surrounding area have been attempting to recover from the fallout of Hurricane Harvey, a Category 4 Atlantic hurricane that struck Texas' Gulf Coast on August 26.

Harvey was the first Category 4 storm to strike the United States since Hurricane Charley in 2004, with the last Category 4 storm to strike Texas being Hurricane Carla in 1961, according to ABC News. The storm has caused more than 80 confirmed deaths and up to $108 billion in damages, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Though a grim picture has been painted of the affected areas, and many people remain displaced by persistent flooding, several garden center businesses in the Houston area were spared and are relatively intact, but there were many close calls.

Taking stock

Sherri Harrah of the family-owned Plants for All Seasons says the flooding in her area stopped just shy of her business.

"[The flooding] was about a fourth of a mile south of us on the same road. It just stopped," Harrah says.

Buchanan's Native Plants also experienced little in the way of wind, rain or flood damage, says general manager Kevin Barry. Unfortunately, several of the company's employees and customers weren't quite as lucky.

"The company itself, we did well. We had about a half a million [dollars] in inventory sitting on the lot and lost about $3,000, so it was nothing for us," Barry says. "Our employees, on the other hand, had a much worse problem. We had two that lost their houses – completely gone. We had one that lost her car, we had one who was renting; he lost everything he had in the rental property. So, we had a lot of employees who were affected, as well as some of our customers."

Barry added that although sales at Buchanan's were impacted after the storm, he expects activity to recover as the clean-up in Houston continues.

"As far as sales go, we took a hit when it came to that, of course," he says. "We probably lost $100,000 in retail sales, but with the way we’re based in Houston, [we’re in] what I like to the ‘Money Belt.’ We’ve already seen our sales surge again. Within the last week, we’ve already picked up $30,000 back. I don’t expect us to take a huge hit in revenue for it."

Major flooding mostly bypassed Nelson Water Gardens, but severely impacted the surrounding neighborhoods, says President Rolf Nelson.

"[There was] minor damage that was more from a bit of wind and rain that got through a portion of the roof," Nelson says. "It really could have happened in a thunderstorm. We didn’t get the tremendous winds, just never-ending rain. Now, we couldn’t get to our business for a number of days because all the roads were flooded where I live. We were shut down for a week, basically."

Also read: A tour of 5 independent garden centers: Highlights from The Fall Event’s bus tour of five Houston-area plant retailers.

Reaching out

Although these garden retailers had enough on their plate while recovering from Harvey's impact, each took it upon themselves to lend a hand to their markets in their own ways.

In the aftermath of the hurricane, Plants for All Seasons has been offering soil and mold remediation classes and demonstrations, in an effort to equip Houston citizens with the knowledge to help their lawns and gardens recover from the flood.

"We just did a Facebook Live video on soil remediation after the flood," Harrah says. "I did one on mold remediation. So, it kind of opened the door to other ways to help ... and get our name out there too. Houston is huge, and [customers] might google something about mold remediation or what to do with your landscape after floods and they’re going to be directed to us, so it was kind of a way to open peoples’ eyes to us, too."

The leadership at Buchanan's took it upon themselves to help remedy the disruption and chaos inflicted on the garden center's customers and neighbors through fundraising for home repairs.

"What we did, when we opened [Sept. 2], we threw together a fundraising event and we donated 100 percent of the proceeds to charity and we were able to give about $10,000 in cash to a local charity," Barry says. "In addition to that, we took each of one of our employees’ needs one by one, turned around and went out to Home Depot and spent three or four grand out there. We kept that confidential with each one of those employees, but we’ve given out about $20,000 so far, and we’re still giving."

Nelson took a hands-on approach, taking family and employees out into flooded neighborhoods in small, personal watercraft to help stranded people.

"We checked on the [store Aug. 30], but then we went out and had some folks we were able to get out of their neighborhoods," Nelson says. "We have canoes and jon boats, and we spent our time doing that for a couple of days. My son and I, on that Tuesday, went in to help get an elderly couple and their neighbors out of their neighborhood with our canoe. The next day, two more guys who work with us [brought their] jon boats and joined us. We did a four-man crew going in with two crafts. People need the help, we have guys who are used to hard labor, so we’re keeping that group of people busy and doing some good at the same time."

Also read: 'Proud to partner' - After a devastating flood in Baton Rouge, LA., destroyed the 63-year-old Naylor’s Hardware & Garden Center in August, the owner and longtime staff were facing an uncertain future. That’s when Clegg’s Nursery stepped in.

Being ready

There's only so much that can be done in face of a major hurricane, but experts and survivors alike agree that preparation is key to improving a home or business' chances of weathering the storm. At Buchanan's, plans were put into place as soon as possible to batten down the hatches.

"We started four days before [Hurricane Harvey hit], prepping everything. Basically, we carted everything we could and put it into the greenhouses," Barry says. "What really amazes me when I see stories [about businesses getting hit by severe weather], I always think to myself, ‘Wait a minute. You had a week. Why would you not prepare?’ When they tell you a hurricane’s coming, it’s better safe than sorry – you need to prep. Even if it costs you more and nothing comes in, that’s okay. At least you’re not going to lose a bunch of stuff. If we hadn’t done anything, we probably would’ve ended up losing half of our stock."

One key to reducing the damage from Harvey was making sure all staff at Buchanan's were aware of the emergency procedures ahead of time, Barry says.

"The other thing is to make sure your employees have their strategy beforehand, as far as communication, who’s doing what, how are we doing this," he says. "We had all those systems in place – the only thing we didn’t account for was cell phones going down, which happened."

As they look ahead to getting their businesses back into working order, Houston retailers expressed their gratitude for solidarity shown by the community in the face of crisis.

"The amount of community outpouring and people helping has been amazing," Harrah says. " [It's] unbelievable. Houston is [one of] the largest cities in the U.S., and you would never know. It feels like a small town."

"The coming together of a massive number of people to just take care of each other was phenomenal. [People] just stepped in," Nelson adds. "It was critical that we had all the first responders and the National Guard and everything here, because there were some areas that were just too dangerous to handle any other way. The volunteerism has been phenomenal down here, and hopefully we keep that spirit going forward as we move a little bit further away from the adrenaline and everything happening so quick and we continue to help each other."

Photo courtesy of Rolf Nelson. Pictured from left to right: Roland Bodden, Peter Nelson and Eddie Albertson, members of Nelson Water Gardens' design/build team.

Keep an eye out for Garden Center magazine's October issue for more coverage of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma.