Tammy Sons is the CEO of TN Nursery and an expert plant advisor who studied horticulture. She enjoys her family, the outdoors and nature.
The upcoming holiday season is an excellent time for nursery owners to start their promotional sales. Even though the weather is turning cooler, it doesn’t mean a green gift isn’t on shoppers’ lists. The green gift trend is taking root this holiday season, and now is the time for nurseries to promote their late fall and winter season plants. Nurseries not only have plants to promote but also other items that make great gifts.
Holiday Season Promotional Ideas For Nurseries
Your climate will determine the type of plants you have in stock, along with what your customers can successfully grow in their gardens. However, not all plants need a garden or even the outdoors. Some are great for containers and decorations around the home.
Promoting Pumpkins And Gourds
As soon as the fall season hits, pumpkins and gourds often top people’s lists of decoration items. After all, can you imagine Halloween without a jack-o-lantern? In some families, carving pumpkins is an annual tradition.
Chances are, your nursery is holding boxes of pumpkins for sale. If you have pumpkins left over from Halloween, try pairing them with gourds. Gourds are popular this time of year and make beautiful Thanksgiving decorations. Your nursery can run a special on gourds and pumpkins. For example, purchase a set number of gourds and get a pumpkin at a discounted price.
Advertise your pumpkins, and get your staff involved in decorating a few. When consumers see a finished product, it often encourages them to pick one up for themselves.
You can also consider partnering with a local or online craft store. You can work out an arrangement if a customer purchases a decorating kit. The craft store gives them a coupon for a pumpkin at your nursery. This arrangement can also work vice-versa. A customer purchases the pumpkin, and you send them to the craft store.
You can also do something good for the community with your nursery’s leftover pumpkins. Try donating the pumpkins to a food bank willing to turn them into Thanksgiving pumpkin pies. Not only are you benefiting the community, but your nursery’s generosity can translate into free advertising. Organizations like food banks typically list their community donors and their promotional materials.
Garlands, Wreaths And Christmas Trees
Nothing says the holidays are here like the scent of fresh pine needles. Sure, you can replicate the scent with candles and air fresheners, but it’s not the same.
While your holiday sales campaign probably doesn’t include sales on seasonal items like garlands, wreaths and Christmas trees in November, you can still advertise your nursery’s low prices. As the holiday season approaches Christmas, start marking these items down. The goal is to sell everything before the end of the year. The leftover inventory typically ends up in the garbage or turned into mulch and compost.
A great holiday promotion is to bundle a Christmas tree with a garland or wreath. You can eliminate excess inventory and help make customers’ holidays more festive.
Some nurseries have mulching and composting facilities on site. If this applies to yours, keep the holiday sale going. You can sell the mulched and composted trees, wreaths and garlands to gardeners who like to prep their soil before spring. Try including a holiday theme on the bags to keep your holiday-themed sale going into the new year.
Sales On Seasonal Plants
The holiday season is when nurseries stop promoting plants like roses and hibiscuses. Sales move to cool and cold weather annuals and perennials that add a touch of vibrant color to yards and homes.
What plants are great for holiday promotions? While it can depend on your growing zone, some plants can thrive almost anywhere.
Pansies are cheerful and colorful. The tender annuals hate warm weather but will thrive in cooler conditions, often until the first hard freeze. The bright green, yellow, orange and red foliage on crotons brighten up fall and winter gardens. The plants can also become part of your home’s Thanksgiving and Christmas interior décor. These plants thrive in containers with some water and sunlight.
When people think about Christmas plants, two often come to mind. Poinsettias and amaryllis decorate homes, offices and churches. Adding these plants to your holiday promotions is a great way to attract customers. Who knows what else they will purchase once you get them in the doors?
When selling amaryllis, consider selling both flowering plants and starter kits. The starter kits make great green gifts for budding gardeners.
Consider bundling plants together, especially if you have a ton of one type. After the holiday season, some plants are not in demand until the following fall and winter.
Another great promotional idea is to include care tips with the purchase of each plant. Once consumers realize they can grow their holiday gift, they may return for spring and summer plants.
The Gift Of Gardening
The green gift trend doesn’t only apply to plants. Your nursery has a lot of tools every gardener needs or wants. Whether it’s a new kink-free hose, a pointed shovel or a hand rake with a cushioned grip, your nursery’s shelves and racks are filled with gift items.
Look around at your inventory. What do you have a ton of? Consider placing these items on sale. Not only are you moving inventory off of the shelves, but you are also helping a fellow gardener grow in their craft.
Don’t forget about any gardening books you carry. Books also make excellent gifts and are easier to wrap than a shovel.
Help the green gift trend take root this holiday season.
Cooler weather doesn’t have to mean watching your nursery’s sales plummet. You have plenty of inventory that will make a great holiday gift. Some items can also double as holiday decorations. So, use your imagination and creative spirit when planning this year’s holiday sales.
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