sgbotsford
08-22-2012, 09:43 AM
If you have a greenhouse division, or can partner with a greenhouse or nursery here's a service you can add.
Base setup: Sink large pots (#5 - $15) into the ground. You have to have reasonable drainage for this to work. I've found the best way to do this is to over dig the hole. So for example for a 16" pot, auger a 12" hole 4 feet deep, scalp the edges to fit the pot, and now you have a foot or so of space under the pot to act as a sump. If you have sandy soil, you don't need to do this.
Line the socket pot with a good quality root control fabric. This is essential for certain woody shrubs such as willow. Doesn't matter for most annuals. or bulbs.
Now, for each socket pot there are several plant pots. So, for example:
Set one is spring bulbs. These are put in place in the fall. Come spring, they do their showy thing, and when the tulips start to fade, you come by and swap the spring bulb pot for the iris pot. Later the iris pot is swapped for the early lily pot. Later the early lily pot is swapped for the late lily pot. In the fall the liies are picked up and the spring bulbs are left.
Set 2 could be flowering double plum, early lilac, late lilac, and dogwood.
Set 3 could be potted trees with flowering crab for spring color, ivory silk tree lilac mid summer, and sugar maple for fall color.
Set 4 could be a set of bonsai/topiary trees.
Set 5 could be a set of perennials.
Set 6 could be a set of annuals.
Between the pots is either a low maintenance ground cover, or some form of zero vegetation cover.
Most of the maintenance is done at your shop. Yes, you need suitable space for these pots to do their growing during the off season. And you have to have people who are flexible in what they do. But it means that your wizard at pruning and shaping doesn't spend half his day riding around in a truck.
You gain efficiency. Your customer gains variety -- and invisibility. Hardly anyone ever sees anyone working on the gardens.
It's another service they pay for.
As a branch of this same service, you can provide potted displays for parties.
And there is a whole market for balcony gardens -- people in apartment buildings who want some green. Can be as simple as drop off in spring, pick up in fall, or as complex as the 5-6 change sets above. (Scheduling for apartment dwellers can be a pain.)
Would it work? Physically yes. I planted bulbs in a liner pot, dropped it into a socket pot on my tree farm, and they did just fine. Will it sell? You tell me.
Base setup: Sink large pots (#5 - $15) into the ground. You have to have reasonable drainage for this to work. I've found the best way to do this is to over dig the hole. So for example for a 16" pot, auger a 12" hole 4 feet deep, scalp the edges to fit the pot, and now you have a foot or so of space under the pot to act as a sump. If you have sandy soil, you don't need to do this.
Line the socket pot with a good quality root control fabric. This is essential for certain woody shrubs such as willow. Doesn't matter for most annuals. or bulbs.
Now, for each socket pot there are several plant pots. So, for example:
Set one is spring bulbs. These are put in place in the fall. Come spring, they do their showy thing, and when the tulips start to fade, you come by and swap the spring bulb pot for the iris pot. Later the iris pot is swapped for the early lily pot. Later the early lily pot is swapped for the late lily pot. In the fall the liies are picked up and the spring bulbs are left.
Set 2 could be flowering double plum, early lilac, late lilac, and dogwood.
Set 3 could be potted trees with flowering crab for spring color, ivory silk tree lilac mid summer, and sugar maple for fall color.
Set 4 could be a set of bonsai/topiary trees.
Set 5 could be a set of perennials.
Set 6 could be a set of annuals.
Between the pots is either a low maintenance ground cover, or some form of zero vegetation cover.
Most of the maintenance is done at your shop. Yes, you need suitable space for these pots to do their growing during the off season. And you have to have people who are flexible in what they do. But it means that your wizard at pruning and shaping doesn't spend half his day riding around in a truck.
You gain efficiency. Your customer gains variety -- and invisibility. Hardly anyone ever sees anyone working on the gardens.
It's another service they pay for.
As a branch of this same service, you can provide potted displays for parties.
And there is a whole market for balcony gardens -- people in apartment buildings who want some green. Can be as simple as drop off in spring, pick up in fall, or as complex as the 5-6 change sets above. (Scheduling for apartment dwellers can be a pain.)
Would it work? Physically yes. I planted bulbs in a liner pot, dropped it into a socket pot on my tree farm, and they did just fine. Will it sell? You tell me.