“Gardening provides a sense of calm, beauty, relaxation. There’s lots of evidence supporting playing in the dirt has a positive impact on one’s mental health,” Guenette Bautz, the managing director for the Saskatchewan Greenhouse Growers Association said. Spring is the busiest season for greenhouse operators and garden centres, but that season was in question due to the restrictions in place for the COVID-19 pandemic. SGGA has been working with the government to arrive at some options for business owners since for the majority, there is already inventory in the greenhouses. To many people’s delight, and the relief of greenhouse owners, as long as greenhouses have measures in place to ensure the public health mandates can be met the doors can open. Businesses will be free to choose what works best for their individual situation, whether it be wash stations, customer limits, one-way traffic in centres, or curb side pick up to name but a few. What many in the general public don’t realize is that for greenhouse owners, preparation for the spring season begins long before the doors open in May. Orders for inventory are usually placed in late fall and the first leaves of tiny plants begin to pop through the soil while winter still has its icy grasp upon us and this year that was before the full impact of COVID-19 was realized.
Obsessions Greenhouses in St. Louis is gearing up for the growing season, but in a truly different way. As with many businesses, owner Betty Rancourt has had to visualize a new way of serving her customers this year. The gift store is too small to allow customers inside at this time and still maintain the required two metre physical spacing and in the greenhouses only three people could be allowed inside at a time and the staff would not be able to interact with and help the customers in their customary fashion. Betty said that she and her staff thrive on being able to work one-on-one with customers helping them to find the perfect combination of plants for their own particular space be it patio, deck, or a full-scale flower bed. This year will be different though as all purchasing, as well as browsing, will be done via the new online store which will be up and running by the end of April. The online store will include pictures of all the plants that are available for purchase as well as how many are in stock in the greenhouse. In order to give customers an idea of the size of the plants they will be purchasing, Betty plans to post a video every other day on the greenhouse’s Facebook page. When placing an order through the online store, customers will pay for their order with a credit card and select a date for pick-up. Staff at the greenhouse will pack the order and bring it out to the customer’s vehicle and place it in the trunk thereby providing no contact service.
Carpenter Country Greenhouse located 12 km west of the Highway 2 and 41 intersection along Highway 41, is also ramping up with the end goal being ready for opening on May 6. Of course, the ongoing wintery weather is leaving everybody questioning when it will be warm enough to “play in the dirt”, but as owner Norrine Sawitsky said, a lot can change in two weeks. The greenhouse has separate entrance and exit doors and hand sanitizer will be available for customers in addition curbside pick up will be available. They will be taking orders by phone or email and will be offering delivery to Wakaw. For those wanting to spend time browsing, Norinne advised to call and arrange for an appointment time. As always there will be a wide assortment of annuals and perennials with new varieties to discover and during their first four days of opening customers can enter for a giveaway.
Some people have been showing more interest in gardening to beautify their yards, and some are just looking to pick up a new hobby since they are spending more time at home. “We’re seeing a heightened interest and excitement around spring coming,” SGGA’s Bautz said. “People are looking forward to be able to pick up their plants, maybe expand their garden. They’re looking to beautify their yards in a much larger capacity than they normally would.” Tracy Carpentieri, owner of Cedar Ridge Greenhouses in St. Benedict, would agree. She said that her customers have been reaching out to her through her website, Facebook, and on the phone anxious to know if they are going to be able to get bedding plants and patio plants this spring. It’s been a bumper crop year with a fantastic germination rate and Tracy is excited that she will be able to open the doors to customers and will be following all the protocol to keep her customers and her staff safe. While she said she will have to limit the number of customers in the greenhouse at one time, there will be district markings to direct traffic flow and she will be advising all customers on the proper precautions to follow while inside. With over 400 varieties of flowers and vegetables to choose from, she said there should be something for anyone.
Large gardening centres and greenhouses in Saskatoon and Regina like Dutch Growers, say they have already been serving customers through their online sales and curbside pick up. There has been a marked increase in interest by customers in growing food for themselves and their families. Dutch Growers says that they have increased their inventory of vegetable seedlings, fruit trees and bushes. “We have secured way more fruit trees, way more fruit bushes, blueberries, raspberries, tomato plants, all that sort of thing,” Dutch Growers of Regina co-owner Karen Van Duyvendyk said in an interview with CTV News.
This year has been a challenge on many levels for small greenhouse owner-operators. Besides the uncertainty as to whether they would even be able to open the doors, most are working short staffed and for those with school-aged children, they need to factor in time for homeschooling and attending to the needs of their children. On top of all that is the challenge of quickly adjusting to a different way of doing business and finding ways to operate within the parameters given. Many are, for the first time, developing online stores, and as Tracy Carpentieri shared, utilizing new apps for smartphones and other technology to help manage the increased volume of online orders. Business in rural greenhouses prior to this year, for the most part were face-to-face transactions, but COVID-19 changed all that, so at a point in the business year where they are at their busiest, owners have had to “jump in at the deep end” so to speak, and figure this all out on the run.
In speaking with each of the local greenhouses, one thing was clear, they love what they do and sharing their love and knowledge of plants with others is a high point in their year and they want to hear from their customers. If you have questions or need to know how to access their online stores which should all be up on running by the end of April, if not sooner, or anything else reach out to them. Tracy summed it up pretty well when she said, “We are so appreciative of our customers. Their support is fantastic and with orders flooding in, I’m really excited.”
