March 2023 - 30

ECO-FRIENDLY
producing enough for customers to have what they need and
trying to take care of those wastage numbers and trying to
make sure that it's less every year. We scrutinize that every
year after production.
" I've been here over 20 years and our compost piles in
the back used to be enormous mountains and it's just not
like that anymore, " she says. " It's great because we're trying
to reduce any type of wastage, whether it's soil or plant or
what-have-you. "
She says the compost gets used as growing materials or
fill out in their farms.
Going Natural
Akin says they're seeing a shift in how people are caring
for their plants.
" I see a little bit more of an upswing on your natural
Trees in the nursery are watered on separate drips to
maximize efficiency.
Akin says any trees in the nursery are all on separate drips
as well. " The trees get set up on tree lines and each tree has
its separate drip system that goes into those pots. "
Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle
Pots at Petitti are both recycled and repurposed. " We have
a program at our stores [in which] customers can deposit
pots and other customers can come and take pots as they
need - we have recycle bins near our pickup areas and
customers can simply drop off and pick up whatever they'd
like, " Akin says.
She says she's often contacted by schools and various
community groups looking for plastic pots and trays to
recycle or re-use. " Periodically, we get a person who is
actually a true plastic recycler, so when they need plastics,
we have them come out to the stores to pick up the plastic
that's in those bins.
" If we have any plant material that is shrink or wasted, we
compost that and then we take the plastics that they were
growing in - whatever pots, whatever sizes - and our staff
will start stacking by size. And then we have pallets in the
back shipping areas where we'll fill pallets and then those
pallets will get shipped back to the greenhouse and they'll
get cleaned and reused as well. We are definitely trying to
make sure that we're reusing or recycling the plastics as
much as we possibly can. "
By the Numbers
Akin says any type of plant shrink and wastage is
composted, and they're constantly working on efficiencies to
reduce or eliminate any waste.
" Of course, our goal is to be selling every plant off the
tables and off the hanging basket lines as best as we can
and turning. So every year we go through an analysis and
we try to figure out what's the right number - what's the
right number of plants that we produce - and we're always
trying to tweak that number.
" And then we take our wastage numbers at the end of the
year and we try to figure that whole problem out so we're
30 | LAWN & GARDEN RETAILER | MARCH 2023
fertilizers and your more eco-friendly plant-care items.
We've always been really big proponents of the Espoma
products; we've really never had an issue selling Planttone
and Holly-tone - that's always been a really great
partnership with us. But I do feel like we're being asked
to bring in more natural solutions.
" So every year we're looking for more natural plant
fertilizers. The marketing and the packaging [of these
fertilizers] is really changing, and focusing toward that
upswing and being one of the more natural solutions.
Meanwhile, you don't want to isolate customers who are
still looking for the classic offerings. So we're trying to have
a good balance for our customers so they can find what
they need. We'll offer them other solutions and if they just
want to go back to what has always worked for them, we
still carry those products, products that their parents and
grandparents probably use.
" We try to do a lot of education, you know, on how to
apply any type of product and we hope that customers
are listening. "
Akin also says she's also seeing a boost in demand for
native plants. " We're lucky to have all of our growing
facilities within easy distance from our stores. We always
talk about how 98% of our plant material is grown locally
right here in northeast Ohio, where all of our stores are.
As far as shipping efficiencies and reducing that carbon
footprint, everything is right here. We're very proud of that.
" We also tend to overwinter plant stock in our stores as
well, again trying to reduce that carbon footprint, not having
to waste gas and what have you on shipping plants back and
forth from the growing facility. We overwinter quite a few
trees, some shrubs, evergreens, right on the store property.
We've also been again scrutinizing shipping schedules and
trying to make sure that, even though we want our stores to
order as much as they need when they need it, we're trying
to make our store staff efficient at filling their trucks, filling
their carts, making sure that they are ordering efficiently
and putting those numbers together, too. "
Petitti Garden Centers is a family-owned home and garden
business serving the Cleveland, Akron-Canton, and Youngstown,
Ohio, communities. Find them online at
www.petittigardencenter.com.
http://www.petittigardencenter.com
March 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of March 2023
