August 15, 2011
It’ll be alright come August
Tom Intven
LO President
When my father emigrated from Holland in 1950, he worked for a year at McConnell Nurseries in Port Burwell.
Spencer McConnell at the time owned the largest nursery in Canada, specializing in mail order. In those days there was a large rural population in Canada and mail order was king. This was before the appearance of today’s garden centre, when the Sears catalogue was the preferred way to shop.
Dad worked in the propagation department with a generous and flamboyant character by the name of George Blyth. George was a long serving employee who had seen the ups and downs of the nursery business through the depression and WWII. His phlegmatic temperament was well suited to the stressful and seasonal nature of our industry. Whenever the pressures of spring began to rise or crises would occur, especially with issues related to the weather, George would always say, “Oh Bill, you watch, it’ll be alright come August.”
In other words, no matter what the spring throws at you, weather- or economy-related, the season will unfold as it should. By the end of August, we will be in a good place again.
I have reminded myself many times of George’s words during this most unusual and stressful spring. In many ways the cliché still rings true: most of our business is done in spring; you know how you are doing by August. It’s the month that allows some perspective on the year. And historically for the last 25 years or so, for the most part, things are normally alright by the end of August.
But right across the entire country, this spring was much, much different. In April, I sent out a ‘Word on Encouragement’ by email to all of our members in an attempt to keep our spirits up during the continued cold and wet weather.
I was buoyed by the many responses from our members, who showed appreciation of knowing that 1) we can’t do anything about the weather, 2) we are all in the same boat together and 3) we should be grateful for what we have.
But the cold, wet weather relentlessly kept coming right until the middle of May, demoralizing our spirits, delaying our work schedules and keeping our customers at home. So now that it’s August, let’s step back and see what we have learned from this late, cold spring and early summer.
At this time (I am writing this in June), I’m not sure that it will be ‘alright come August’ for many of us. There definitely were lost opportunities in March, April and May, along with lost sales, lost production time, and stifled momentum.
Most contractors lost four to six weeks of their peak production time, which many say is very difficult to recoup in a 32-week season.
The big fear in May for many was that customers would just forget about gardening or landscaping this year, bypassing the gardening season and segueing right into the summer cottage season. The long weekend in May really marked the START of the gardening season in Ontario. We had to teach our customers that gardening could be done in June and July. June had better weather, and some catch-up was made, but for many of us, not enough to offset the lost opportunities in April and May. While a delayed spring builds pent-up demand, the fear of loss of relevance was real.
All of this was put into global perspective today when I spoke to a fellow nurseryman from B.C., who told me he was severely depressed one day in June when looking at his financials and the lack of prospects of recouping losses from the spring. So he started to make a list of his good fortunes, compared to the rest of the world. The longer he thought, the longer the list became. In his words, “Ninety-nine per cent of the people in the world would love to change places with me in a heart-beat.” He walked away from this self-help session with a new positive frame of mind that has lasted ever since.
So while we may not have reached all our financial or production goals in this challenging and unusual spring, with the right perspective, George Blyth’s comment still rings true, “You watch – it’ll be alright come August.”
Tom Intven may be reached at 519-631-1008, or tintven@landscapeontario.com.
LO President
When my father emigrated from Holland in 1950, he worked for a year at McConnell Nurseries in Port Burwell.Spencer McConnell at the time owned the largest nursery in Canada, specializing in mail order. In those days there was a large rural population in Canada and mail order was king. This was before the appearance of today’s garden centre, when the Sears catalogue was the preferred way to shop.
Dad worked in the propagation department with a generous and flamboyant character by the name of George Blyth. George was a long serving employee who had seen the ups and downs of the nursery business through the depression and WWII. His phlegmatic temperament was well suited to the stressful and seasonal nature of our industry. Whenever the pressures of spring began to rise or crises would occur, especially with issues related to the weather, George would always say, “Oh Bill, you watch, it’ll be alright come August.”
In other words, no matter what the spring throws at you, weather- or economy-related, the season will unfold as it should. By the end of August, we will be in a good place again.
I have reminded myself many times of George’s words during this most unusual and stressful spring. In many ways the cliché still rings true: most of our business is done in spring; you know how you are doing by August. It’s the month that allows some perspective on the year. And historically for the last 25 years or so, for the most part, things are normally alright by the end of August.
But right across the entire country, this spring was much, much different. In April, I sent out a ‘Word on Encouragement’ by email to all of our members in an attempt to keep our spirits up during the continued cold and wet weather.
I was buoyed by the many responses from our members, who showed appreciation of knowing that 1) we can’t do anything about the weather, 2) we are all in the same boat together and 3) we should be grateful for what we have.
But the cold, wet weather relentlessly kept coming right until the middle of May, demoralizing our spirits, delaying our work schedules and keeping our customers at home. So now that it’s August, let’s step back and see what we have learned from this late, cold spring and early summer.
- Climate change is giving huge swings in the predictability of the weather. Wild variations in the weather are becoming the norm. As one astute nurseryman observed, “It was a year of firsts and records, again.” Record rainfall, record sustained low temperatures, record number of consecutive days of rainfall, record high winds (Let’s not forget the wind storm in Niagara), record days without hydro for some, the list goes on.
- In our industry weather rules and trumps the economy big time. We are always looking for a reason on which to blame a slump in business, but this year proved beyond doubt that the weather is the most important factor in our business.
- We were off balance more than usual, while the inclement weather tried the patience of us all, made us stretch our resources and made ALL very, very tired. Our industry is de-moralized by the lack of return on time, energy and resources during this past spring.
- The best laid plans have to be changed. Adaptability was the key to survival this spring with changing work schedules, sale schedules, shipping schedules. The more quickly one was able to adapt, the more successful one was.
- Have a plan B, C and D for next year.
At this time (I am writing this in June), I’m not sure that it will be ‘alright come August’ for many of us. There definitely were lost opportunities in March, April and May, along with lost sales, lost production time, and stifled momentum.
Most contractors lost four to six weeks of their peak production time, which many say is very difficult to recoup in a 32-week season.
The big fear in May for many was that customers would just forget about gardening or landscaping this year, bypassing the gardening season and segueing right into the summer cottage season. The long weekend in May really marked the START of the gardening season in Ontario. We had to teach our customers that gardening could be done in June and July. June had better weather, and some catch-up was made, but for many of us, not enough to offset the lost opportunities in April and May. While a delayed spring builds pent-up demand, the fear of loss of relevance was real.
All of this was put into global perspective today when I spoke to a fellow nurseryman from B.C., who told me he was severely depressed one day in June when looking at his financials and the lack of prospects of recouping losses from the spring. So he started to make a list of his good fortunes, compared to the rest of the world. The longer he thought, the longer the list became. In his words, “Ninety-nine per cent of the people in the world would love to change places with me in a heart-beat.” He walked away from this self-help session with a new positive frame of mind that has lasted ever since.
So while we may not have reached all our financial or production goals in this challenging and unusual spring, with the right perspective, George Blyth’s comment still rings true, “You watch – it’ll be alright come August.”
Tom Intven may be reached at 519-631-1008, or tintven@landscapeontario.com.