Hello! You might consider posting this question in the Midwest Forum. I think you'll get some helpful advice over there. Here is a link that might be useful: Click here for the MidWest Forum.

gw, this has not a thing to do with what may be presently ailing your NS, but amending backfill soil is not really necessary nor even desirable. Two things: First, doing so can cause drainage anomalies whereby the texture of the backfill soil around that new transplant differs greatly from the surrounding stuff. This can lead to the backfill stuff staying saturated too much and can even cause the opposite, the soil right around the transplant drying too quickly. And secondly, in order to successfully colonize their new homes, transplanted trees need to generate roots.....lots of roots. And it is important that these roots get on out of that little area where backfill has been placed. Making this little area too rich or friable can retard this process and even if it doesn't, there is no benefit in the long-term to this adjustment of what will eventually be but a tiny part of that tree's eventual rooting zone. Having said all that, amending a large area (If the soil needs it or can use it) can indeed be helpful. The thing is, this could easily be an entire yard. +oM

How do you operate? Do you just resell what you've purchased wholesale or do you buy plugs/liners and grow them on? And what kinds of plants? Perennials, annuals, veggies? Unless you are a grower yourself, buying locally may be your only option, as shipping fully grown, "retail ready" plants to a distance is an expensive undertaking and is usually reserved for large quantities or for specialty plants. Growing on is a bit different, as liners or plugs are far more easily shipped at a distance and generally are available in smaller quantities. If you are a reseller, it may make sense to develop a relationship with a single local supplier that offers a variety of the plants you sell. If you can commit to a specific quantity on a seasonal basis, most wholesale growers will oblige. It's when you come in on a very occasional basis and buy a flat or two of this and that that the good stuff will already be promised or committed to longstanding customers and you'll be left with the leftovers. Wholesale growers base their stock on previous sales history - they try not to grow much more than they know they can sell from week to week and month to month with perhaps just a small cushion. Obviously they will accommodate longstanding, volume customers before drop-ins. Don't take it personally :-)

My original business plan was to publish a gardening newspaper for this immediate area. I spent years compiling all the data. I worked up samples and walked them around to local garden themed businesses. Plenty of people were impressed (I was shy of my goal, but close to half of those approached supported the idea of a newspaper). After a few months of investing heavily into it the interest from the businesses waned. They weren't making much money selling such a low priced item (and it featured ads from their competitors). Within two years I was shutting it down due to lack of distribution points, not intrest from the public. I had to have places to sell it to the public in order to stay in business and every month or so I would lose another distributor. I might add that I was doing all the work - so even if little money was being made, they weren't extending any effort (I stocked, delivered, collected, billed with a S.A.S.E., heck I even dusted the counter tops). Another disappointment was that the gardening publics interest was insatiable during the spring but non existant during the heat of summer. In addition to the newspaper I had printed up a gardening calendar with week by week advice on what to do in your garden. I had a truckload of them to get rid of and hated to just throw them away. So I got a "drop in" spot at the local flea market and tried selling them. They moved a little but my bigger success came from selling the plants I had brought along to decorate the booth! So my business name stayed the same but I shifted gears into plant sales instead of publishing. In my fantasy world I would rather be the garden guy at the market with edible food crops for backyard farmers. Seedlings, rooted cuttings of herbs, fruit and veggies from around the world. But the market that is the most convenient for me to sell at doesn't have enough of those types of customers. The result is that I sell a lot of ornamentals and not many functional plants. I believe it will change and that it will only take time. The one component that no one told me when I started all this was the amount of time it takes to build up a clientele. You have to be patient, there are few overnight success stories.