A Grower Perspective

Who is it?  What exactly do they want?  When do they need it?  Over the years, I know I’ve driven my office staff crazy with my constant who, what, when requests. A customer calls searching for plants and I insist on knowing these answers.

At the wholesale level, it is difficult to ever answer a plant inquiry question without knowing more detail. “Who is it?” is very important for the simple reason that we have a very divergent customer base. At Pleasant Hill Nursery, we serve retail garden centers, brokers, landscapers and growers – just to name a few. Each of these customer groups have very different

needs. The landscaper may need #5 Viburnum davidii for a job six months away. (Perhaps we have a future crop that will soon be available, just not right at the moment.) The grower may need big #1 Viburnum davidii to pot up for a future order and precise sizing on those #1’s may not matter as much. The garden center may need #1’s with precise sizing , branching and budding. The broker may have a variety of needs based on who his customer is. Knowing who the customer is upfront helps us to more quickly and accurately respond to their requests.

So when you call Pleasant Hill Nursery to check on plant availability, you’ll understand why we start off by asking these three basic questions.