Viewpoint

Published December 15, 2011

Todd Davis

Happy winter, everybody.

Welcome to that most wonderful time when plants go dormant and deliveries slow down. If you're selling anything, it's not near the volume of your peak season, and you're running skeleton crews.

But it's also time for the Infamous Winter Projects. You know what I'm talking about — things that come up in July but you put them off saying, "That's a winter project."

So it's time to get busy. Your folks that are normally horticultural professionals now become carpenters, repairmen and mechanics.

But you can't find your handy list of Infamous Winter Projects you've been compiling since March? (Hint: You didn't lose it. An employee found it and conveniently misplaced it in the furnace.)

No worries, I have you covered. Here is a compilation of Infamous Winter Projects that virtually every nursery can do.

Repair your tarps
Yes, sew up the gaping holes so your plants get the protection they need during shipping. But I'm more concerned about the straps.

Are they in good shape, or are they worn and tattered? We've all seen what happens when employees yank on straps that give way and they fall flat on their backs. And we've all laughed hysterically at the slapstick nature of the event.

But we're not proud of this. This is an injury claim waiting to happen. So make sure all your tarp straps are in good shape going into spring.

Clean the break rooms and bathrooms
I've seen employee break rooms and bathrooms so filthy they'd make Mike Rowe puke. Really, instead of cleaning some of those bathrooms, just bulldoze them and start over. And chunk everything in that refrigerator before it walks away.

And put up a duty list of whose job it is to clean the break rooms and bathrooms every Friday for the next 52 weeks, and make sure it gets done.

Get rid of sinkholes
Container crops sit out on ground cloth laid meticulously over gravel beds. Then we spray millions of gallons of water over it every month. Sinkholes are going to happen.

Fix them, especially those invisible ones hiding under the ground cloth. Nothing beats the experience — at 7 a.m. in January — of walking the nursery and having your boot disappear into a hidden, icy, watery hole.

And nothing beats walking around the rest of the day with one squishy foot.

This is a brief list but, rest assured, I have more. If you need further things to keep you busy during these frosty winter days, feel free to contact me. I can think of lots of chores when I'm not the one who actually has to do them.