Labor Day is traditionally the date marker for the start of Holiday preparation.  It kicks off all the craziness that follows.   But more importantly, it is time to combine creativity with organization.

TRIP #1     This first Trip I suggest you take is just a few feet away.  Walk thru your warehouse or storage facility, gargage, wherever your Holiday Past is hiding.  Amazing, isn’t it, how much dust can accumulate in just 8 months?  Start by getting rid of it.  Feather dusters work but stay away from water in the beginning.  Notice anything?  Do you have artificial floral product like pointsettia that look a tad dull, faded?  Some silver angels that havn’t been used for a couple of years ’cause they are the wrong color?  The time to refurbish is now, not in the heat of the seasonal installation crunch.  Start by making a list of what needs to be done, colors needed, and so on.  And, this is not for just Holiday product.  Make a list of the decorative containers that need some help.  A chip on the edge here, the out of date color there, the scratch or two, all can be repainted and RESOLD!

Now it is time for TRIP #2.     Your friendly Arts and Crafts store.  Michael’s is a national chain that carries the full line of DesignMaster spray colorants for artificials.  Kept under lock and key, they can transform your tired floral products into the look of new.  And, other sprays can mimic Brass, Bronze and other metallics.  A real boon to getting your dollars off the shelf and into a clients lobby.  One line that I’ve discovered may be found more often in hardware and DIY stores is mean’t to paint all kinds of household furniture, accent pieces and is also good for a lot of our decorative containers.    Tricoat products has a line called Sophisticated Finishes.  It paints on metallic and antique patinas on to all types of surfaces.    Iron, Copper, Blackened Bronze, Rust, Patina Green and a host of other finishes can update those unusable containers.  For stores that carry the smaller sizes of their product, call them at 510-614-3900 or on the web, www.tricoat.com.

OK.  So you go to the Craft store and get the spray cans of silk foliage product.  The trick is to apply without getting the color where it should not be.  First, take it outside.  This stuff is volatile and the fumes are heavy.  Spray in a well ventilated area and/or wear a mask.  Next, cover the areas not to be colored with plastic.  I like to make a plastic "collar", like the ones the vet puts around your dog or cats neckso they can’t touch their heads.  Think of a plastic "funnel".  After removing as much dust as possible either with a feather duster or blowing away with a hairdryer, test an area for the right color, and then, spray away and then, let dry.  Voila, bright, red poinsettias or other color florals.  And, for other accent pieces, a new metallic finish can take those unusable silver angels and make them the gold you need. 

Yep, two trips.  One to the warehouse and one to the DIY or craft store.  Great opportunities to make stuff you already have updated and beautiful.  Happy Holidays. 

Well, now is the time.  Back in ‘06, I started promoting Green Roofs as a potential profit center for ’scapers.  Most looked at me as if I were…NUTS!  That was then and this is now. 

Folks, new construction of buildings is down to a trickle.  Not much on the boards.  The only game in most of our towns will be Green Construction, Green Building Retrofit and Green Products and Services.  The trick for us ’scapers is to figure out the Rules for this new Game and how to do it and do it well and before everyone else or someone else in our neck of the woods jumps in.

DO NOT IGNORE THIS MESSAGE!  It just may be your financial salvation.  OK.  So you have the goal.  How to get there?  Read on.

GREEN ROOFS  At the moment green roofs are few and still in the infant stage.  However, this will not be the case for long.  Did you know that the city of Toronto just passed an ordinance that asks that ALL new commercial buildings have a Green Roof??  Yep, the world is achangin’ and fast.  If you want to play, you need to do your homework.  You need to build a "team".  The team consists of Architect/Engineer, Storm Water Management expert, Roofer, and you, the installer of the planted product.  Now there are a number of grids, freedom squares etc out there.  I believe in the Freedom Squares because of two major properties.  First they are light weight in a  world where more weight means more cost and, because they enlarge the plant pallette.  Larger and more diverse plants make for a much more attractive finished product.

I suggest you start to do your homework.  Check out the Green Roofs for Healthy Cities web site, plan to attend a Green Roof training seminar, work toward becoming a certified Green Roof installer, and set up your local team.    You probably already are in good stead with an architect or two, but for the other team members, check out your local BOMA members.  To my knowlege there are at least three interiorscaperswho got the message a while ago, did the training and are now Green Roof certified professionals.  This is certification that covers all methods and not just "certification" from a product manufacturer.  In the future, there will be many many more of us and you need to be one of them!

In the next week or so,  Freedom Garden Products (FGP) will have its Specification Brochure in an emailable version.  If you want to receive it, just email me, barbhelfman@aol.com. 

Now go out there and get ‘em, Green Tigers.

One of my Inner Circle members sent me an interesting report.   It is just another clever twist to help set up a Win/Win/Win situation.

"We are often hit with requests from non-profits for donations for events and silent auctions and we were trying to figure out how to get a solid return on the investment.  We’ve been implementing two tactics that have worked well.

The first involves the donation.  We offer a year of orchids and an in-home horticultural evaluation to be offered at the Silent Auction.  The year of orchids does not include any ongoing care…we simply drop off an orchid at the recipient’s home every 7 weeks.  Many of the recipients have liked it so much, they have renewed their year of orchids.  Plus, the in-home consultation has enabled us to pick up several residential clients that we would probably never found on our own.

The second approach involves pitching the Year of Orchid Program vs cut florals for their event tables.  They usually have a budget for florals already so the dollars are there to be spent.  We bill the non profit per unit  (say, $75.00) and the non-profit sells the orchids to attendees for $125.00-$150.00.  Its a win-win for both the interiorsacper and the non-profit.  We also affix our contact info to the bottom of the container.  Its a great way to get your name out.  At a recent such event we did 100 orchid table arrangements.  It was a nice splash of revenue, great exposure, and turned what would have been an expense into an income generator for the non-profit.  The best part is that it was so successful, they’ve promised to do it every year."

Now  how’s that for a new lemonade?  I’d like to thank Andrew for this helpful hint and add that consider doing somethin like this for Poinsettias at Holiday time.  Now go out there and get ‘em and if you have other tips you would like to share, email them to me at barbhelfman@aol.com and let me know if I have your permission to use your full name or not.  Thanks.