Successful green industry businesses balance their experience and technical know-how with good communication skills and a commitment to consumer education. Relying solely on the company’s reputation and word-of-mouth referrals might still work for a very small segment of the industry; but for most companies a commitment to content, marketing and some form of advertising is no longer avoidable.

However, when cash flow is tight, the economy contracts, or a company is experiencing what feels like a painful growth spurt or transition, there are a few common knee-jerk responses that are often more hurtful than helpful.

The first is a rush to cut marketing and advertising from the operating budget. This is a big mistake. Why? Simple: When you’re out of sight you’re out of mind. Even if your aspirations for growth aren’t grand, most businesses need to replace some percentage of customers on a regular basis.

Awareness of the company brand and services is the number one driver of new and repeat customer sales. If you do have big growth goals then you’ll most likely fall short of them without a solid commitment to marketing. You might think your company offers the best thing since sliced bread; but rest assured the public will still forget about you if you don’t have a presence in their media consumption sphere. Cutting your marketing budget typically doesn't solve your cash flow problem; but it just might create a bigger one.

Another common response is the refusal to innovate through technology. The need to communicate digitally through contemporary websites and social media has yet to be fully embraced by the green industry. Many company owners simply don’t see the need to spend the time or money on a dynamic website, Twitter or Facebook account. Just because the company CEO doesn’t hang out in the digital world doesn’t mean your customers aren't there; they are. In fact, they practically live there!

Effective marketing entails reaching the customer where they are. Building an up-to-date website with useful content, plus a lively social media presence, are crucial parts of a successful marketing strategy. Ongoing website upgrades, digital content and social media maintenance need to be taken seriously and represented in your operating budget.

Say a company commits to all the above; think that gets them off the hook when it comes to networking? It doesn’t. To be truly successful and productive in this industry requires that companies build a network of trusted allies and mentors. Building a vibrant network demands that company members put themselves “out there” in a number of different ways; be it joining professional organizations, serving on organization boards or attending industry events. Resistance to networking actively on an ongoing basis typically results in lots of missed opportunities and brand awareness.

Finally, companies often refuse to admit it may be time to outsource some help for their marketing needs. It can sometimes be hard to admit that outside help is needed to achieve company growth goals. You’re the expert on your business, right? Of course you are; but that doesn’t necessarily mean you have a perspective that’s fresh enough to market it to new customers. You probably also don’t have the time to do it yourself. Many green industry companies can’t yet support a full-time, technically knowledgeable, marketing professional on staff. Outsourcing to a freelancer or agency can be a cost-effective solution that helps you actually get your marketing initiatives of the ground.

Embrace change. Then, know when to ask for help and don’t be afraid to ask for it.

In honor of their Save the Bees Indiegogo campaign, Crown Bees is letting me give away one of their very cool Complete Chalet Kit to raise your own Mason Bees!

Bees are responsible for 1 out of 3 bites of food. You can help secure our food supply by supporting our native bees. Native bees and honey bees pollinate more food when they work together. Raising solitary bees is an easy and rewarding way to support the native bee population. Become a #BeeBooster and be sure to support Crown Bee's fundraising campaign.

My contest runs today, Wednesday March 18th through Midnight Wednesday March 25th. I'll announce the winner on Thursday March 26th!

This stylish spring kit features your choice of our wood Chalet house. Includes reusable wood tray holes, spring bee accessories and mason bees. Designed for avid spring gardeners.

With a value of more than 100 bucks, it's awesome prize for gardeners and bee lovers. There are three ways for you to enter to win and also increase your odds of winning:

1. To enter post a comment on this blog post about why you love bees, what pollinator plants you have in your garden, or any other bee facts you know!

2. Then head over to my Facebook page and comment on or share the contest post pinned to the top of my page.

3. Tweet out this tweet: Raising solitary bees is easy and rewarding. Become a #BeeBooster @CrownBees @lesliehalleck (feel free to copy and past but be sure you include my @lesliehalleck handle so I can track your entries!)

For each comment, share or tweet you make, I'll count another entry for you. The more you do any of 1, 2 or 3, the more entries you'll get!

Enter as often as you'd like. It's all about spreading the word about bees. Seriousy, this is a really cool giveaway so enter away!

Remember, you have until Midnight, Wednesday March 25th to enter.

Ah, it's that time of year when gardening is in the air...the perfect time to reignite particular plant passions (ok obssessions). If you're a plant geek, you've probably circulated through a number of plant-obsession phases, be it orchids, succulents or bonsai. If you've been thinking about getting back into bonsai, or are a bonsai newb (and you live in Dallas), head on over to North Haven Gardens today to check out the last day of the annual Bonsai Society of Dallas exhibit. There are some serious beauties on display.

Like thi 600 year old western juniper...yowzah.

or this mind blowing cedar elm...

They also have some seriously cool handmade pottery that can be used for specialty bonsai...

And some nice little starter plants...

Maybe once I get the piles of plants still in pots sitting around my yard into the ground, I'll delve back into zen of bonsai.

It's gotten to be that time again when I need to replenish my backyard flock...so 15 new babies have arrived! Six or seven of them will stay with me, the rest will have another home after I've raised them up a bit and taught them some manners. Here are some portraits at 3 days old. As always, too cute.

The runt of the entire bunch, an almost pure white bantam Easter Egger hybrid. Adorbs.

These are just the sweetest of the bunch...beautiful Lavender Orpington. I mean, look at that smile?

Super excited about this new breed - Blue Favaucana. Hybrid of Faverolles and Ameraucanas, two of my favorite breed. Gorgeous!

This little toot right here was full of beans from the get go...super cute black white crested Polish.

AND last but not least, a big fat standard Easter Egger hybrid...biggest of the bunch, chillaxin'.

I've been on garden project hiatus for a good part of this year, due to work, travel and the knowledge that I was going to have to do something about my horribly dated irrigation system. I already have a lot of plantings in my yard and am building and expanding new beds. But, it's a lot of work to water everything by hand (not to mention inefficient) and my old irrigation system simply wastes too much water to use it regularly. I'd reached an impass where I really couldn't continue building and planting any more garden space until I dealt with this watering nightmare. I wanted to garden more, but that meant I needed to create a really efficient and waterwise watering system.

Old spray heads and broken pipes will be removed and replaced with bubblers and drip lines.

My irrigation system was probably installed soon after my house was built, back in 1963. Much of the original copper irrigation plumbing was still active when I bought the house. A a simple automatic controller had been installed and some heads updated when my house was flipped, but they wired in all of three zones for my entire property. That means lots of different plants, with totally different watering needs, were being watered the same. Not efficient. I have a huge amount of pressure on my system; normally a property my size would have 7-10 distinct zones. The massive pressure meant that enough water could reach the end of the lines in each of the three zones, even though they each had too many heads. But, that high pressure also meant about half of the water being put out was simply getting sprayed into the air, rather than being delivered to the root zones of my plantings.

"I want to use my system for convenience, and to keep my foundation watered, but I just can't waste water like this..." I finally said to myself.

First, we had to move existing valves and run new ones.

SO, I've taken the plunge and am completely renovating my entire irrigation system to a waterwise configuration. I hired Roundtree Landscaping to design and install my new system. They're digging and working as I type! Drip lines and bubblers will be run to all of my plantings, including my vegetable garden and fruit trees. My entire system will be run by a state of the art smart controller: The Weathermatic sl 1600 Smart Link. Yes, I'll even be able to monitor it from my computer or smart phone. Too cool.

Here is line that will connect to a new valve. As you can see, we trench around major tree roots NOT cut them!

You might notice that I have a lot of established shrubs and perennials already growing in my landscape. Not to mention, some existing hardscape and pathways. Does it freak me out to be doing so much digging around them? Well, a little, because they're my babies. But in reality, upgrading an existing system to bulbblers is less invasive than digging for traditional irrigation lines. Because we can run central lines and then run extended drip lines to the shrubs from those main lines, we don't have to do as much trenching. Most of the shrubs can survive a bit of root pruning and because it's winter, they're not growing as actively right now. So all in all, it should be pretty pain free for my existing plants (even if it looks kind of brutal). Now, I will have some reconstruction to do and new plantings after the system is up and running, but that's ok with me.

See those stones the new valve line is running under? That's actually one of my stone pathways. The crew will refill the bedding and replace the stones once they're done!

Il'l be posting more photos and blogs as the project progresses so that you can see more of what this kind of renovation looks like and check out the bubblers and smart controller. Using the smart controller with monitoring, I'll be able to see exactly how much water I'm delivering to each different part of my landscape and control the system remotely. Also, my drip system won't be subject to the current twice per week watering restrictions in place by the City of Dallas. Drip irrigation is so much more efficient and waterwise that I'll be able to run my system any day of the week. I'm really looking forward to finally getting to add more plants, garden more and use less water! It will be fun to compare water bills...

Oh, and in case anyone wonders, yes, I'm paying in full for all of this work and equipment. Folks seem to think that because I'm in the industry, that I get everything for free. No kickbacks here sista! I don't roll like that. Let's just say what my husband doesn't know about my gardening budget won't hurt him.

I'm often asked what plants make the easiest to grow plants for the office. While there are many choices, here are a few of my reliable choices, and ones you'll find around the office here at Halleck Hort.

Sansevieria, also known as Mother-in-law's tongue, is just about the toughest indoor plant your can keep. Are you a forgetful waterer? This plant is your soul mate. Moderate to low light and an occasional watering is all this baby needs.

Zamioculcas zamiifolia, or ZZ plant for short, is another tough resilient indoor performer. It too will weather your neglect. Needs low to moderate light and a good soaking now and then.

Aglaonema, also called Chinese Evergreen, are another popluar and forgiving office plant. In the last couple of years new colors have emerged including this one called simply "RED". (Nikki likes pink, so this is obviously her plant.) Again, low to moderate light is just fine with a thorough watering now and then.

All of these plants can take typical low-light office situations and don't mind drying out before they need water. So while you're focused on your TPS reports, these beauties will keep performing 9 to 5.

This article was originally published by Greenhouse Management Magazine for their October 2014 issue.

Premium crops command premium prices and profits. So why avoid them?

As the marketplace changes and margins become tighter, this is a good time for growers to move away from commodity products and toward more value-added items that command a better price. Forward- thinking growers are also investing more in proprietary products, such as their own brands, to help differentiate and drive sales.

Yet, many still cling to an outdated production list because it’s what is comfortable and easy to ship, even as profits decline.

Read the full article HERE

August has a tendency to get nasty with our landscapes. Come September when things start to cool down and we venture back out in to our gardens, it can look less than shiny. So, let's all get out there and start ripping stuff out, ok? It may still be a tad warm, but it is time to start getting cool season vegetable crops into the garden. You should start finding transplants of cole crops like broccoli, cabbage, kale and more at the garden centers now. You can also direct seed lettuce and Fava beans into your garden beds.

But before you get all planting-crazed, let's take a step back and make sure we're boosting the soil before we plant for fall. Now's the time to refresh your beds with organic compost, some humus and composted manures in the vegetable garden. Don't forget that even though you amend the soil, you still need to add in a fertilizer before you plant, especially for veggies. Organic matter has to be broken down my microbes first before nutrients are available to your plants, so don't expect the compost to "fertilize" your new plants right away.