Growing the next generation
28 May, 2010 LM Direct! Joe Shooner |
I've read a number of articles discussing the future of Green Industry services like yours, and how lawn and landscape companies are going to attract customers when the "kids these days" get old enough to buy houses and spend money.
Marketing approaches like the web and social media often get discussed, but I think that most people miss the essential point: If you can foster an enthusiasm for gardening in kids, you have created a potential customer for the future. Facebook isn't going to make anyone love trees, or love green grass. It's our job to persuade children to get excited about gardening, landscaping and green spaces.
Recently, my wife and our two children were at a local garden center shopping for some shade perennials. My 4-year-old daughter, Audrey, had other ideas. Audrey spotted a bright-yellow snapdragon right away and was not going to be swayed from her opinion that we needed to buy it. I tried to reason with her that we were shopping for shade plants and that we didn’t have a spot for it. No luck. I gently took it from her and put it back where she found it. I turned my attention back to the perennials, and about 30 seconds later here comes Audrey, hugging this potted flower to her chest with no intention of letting go. It was cute and more comical than I’m able to describe. Faced with such enthusiasm, my wife and I relented and bought her the flower.
It got me thinking about why my kids are interested in gardening. Several years ago, my parents started a tradition of buying my children trees as gifts for certain events like birthdays and baptisms. On the surface, giving a toddler a tree sounds pretty boring. After all, kids these days want more stimulation than watching a tree grow, right?
On the contrary, it’s been really cool to see how proud my children are of their trees. They know exactly whose trees are whose. My son, Levi, has an Eastern Redbud, a Bloodgood London Planetree and a River Birch. Audrey has a Red Oak, a Princess Dogwood and a Corkscrew Willow. Some of the trees were planted when they were very young, so they have been there as long as they can recall. I’m convinced that this tradition has fueled their interest in gardening and landscaping.
My suggestion to any landscape designer/contractor is this: Find out whether your prospects have kids, and build trees for the kids into your designs. Ask your prospects whether they have children in order to determine their landscape needs, then let them know that you're asking because you have a tradition of setting aside a tree in any landscape plan specifically for each of the children in the family.
As a homeowner, this is the kind of thing that makes me want to work with one company over another - and not because I think I’d be getting anything for free. This kind of thinking tells me that the company and I share a common perspective, and it sets them apart from the competition.
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