Linnaea Newman

Yes, the holidays are upon us, and the first delivery of beautiful Poinsettias is arriving at all of our malls and retail stores.  As a friend and client said to me, "The Poinsettia is a bittersweet flower."  Bitter, because it is the source of extra work and numerous complaints during the already busy holiday season, and sweet because it is also a beautiful example of what we do, and can be a good source of revenue.

This dramatic flower only remains beautiful as long as it obtains adequate moisture–without drying out or sitting in water, both of which will lead to its early demise.  So, how does the smart plantscaper keep it looking fresh and vibrant without jeopardizing profits with twice weekly visits?  In a word, Sippers™!

Regardless of what watering system(s) you may have tried on flowering plants in the past, don’t let another holiday season go by without the use of Sippers™ on every one of your Poinsettias.

Made out of the same material as the tips of dry erase markers, Sippers™ allow "on-demand" water transfer from a 1+1/2 inch reservoir held in a waterproof decorative liner to the soil of the plant, held safely above the water’s surface.  This allows a constant supply of moisture, as well as oxygen to the plant’s soil, preventing the occurrance of root rot–see diagram below.

Which is more cost effective, $2.00 per plant in Sippers™ or an extra visit each week to water thirsty Poinsettias?  And don’t forget to compute the cost of extra replacement flowers, and disgruntled customers where Sippers™ aren’t used.

Also, Sippers are not biodegradable, so don’t throw them away, they can be cleaned, and reused next year.  They are invaluable for hanging baskets, too.

To order, click on the following link:  www.linnaeanewman.com/wp-content/uploads/File/TOPsiders.mht

It’s Thanksgiving week, and for those of us in the Interior Plantscaping business, you know what that means. All indoor malls are sporting holiday decorations, and those of us responsible for keeping the plants clean and green won’t have a chance to get in and wash the specimen trees until sometime after January 1st, when the decorations come down again.  This may seem too late to bring up the issue of washing trees, but scheduling, for a professional Interior Plantscaper, should be a natural part of the job, instead of waiting until the palms trees look like the one pictured below.  Obviously, this tree needs more than a simple cleaning at this point . . .

. . . but, if the trees have truly professional care, this problem could have been prevented before the spider mite population exploded.

Since all specimen trees need to be washed at least quarterly, and since holiday decorations are installed by the end of October, this translates into a final washing in early October, one following the decoration removal in early January, which makes the final two washings in April and July to space them out equally.

Since any pruning should be done before washing, that allows pruning and washing to be done in October, January, April and July.  Now you can schedule your Special Services work one year ahead with your mall clients, and look like the professional you are.

Where dust and spider mites are concerned, prevention is much easier than a cure, and rigorous cleaning on a quarterly basis can can prevent both.  Stay tuned to learn how to clean up an overly exhuberant spider mite population.

For everyone with mall clients, Halloween signals the official start to the Christmas season.  What important work will not get done while Santa is visiting with all the kids?