May 2022 - 50

5 MINUTES WITH ...
5
MINUTES
-WITH-
PETER MEZITT
Peter Mezitt is owner of Weston Nurseries,
a trio of garden centers in the Boston area.
By Teresa McPherson
What do you love about your job?
Seeing people become successful. I have seen many
people want to turn a job into a career and I am proud that
we have built a company that gives people this opportunity
to do that. The people who have grown within our company
are influencers to those who are new to our team and
can demonstrate why our company is great. If you build
a culture of a positive, encouraging mindset from the top
down, it results in a healthier company with less turnover
and better internal and external customer service.
What keeps you up at night?
The month of March and the weather pre-spring is a bit
stressful every year, as we spend a lot of money on our
inventory in hopes that customers will show up to buy it
in April. The weather controls so much of our success in
the early spring and we have no control over the weather.
I compare early spring in the green industry to early
winter in the ski industry - if lousy weather or other
factors get us off to a slow start, it is often tough to make
up the business later on.
If you weren't in this profession, what would
you be doing?
I think I would enjoy working in the ski industry.
It is another outside-based business that has similar
challenges to ours. I think it is fascinating what is going
on in that industry in the past five years. The industry
has found a way to become more profitable and more
attractive to those of us who like to ski. The challenge in
this industry is convincing people to get outdoors in the
winter and take up the sport.
50 | LAWN & GARDEN RETAILER | MAY 2022
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
Besides ski trips, I like to golf (after spring), hike and
travel with my family. My three kids are all in their 20s, live
close by, and we still are lucky enough to hang out with
them frequently.
What's something that few people know
about you?
I don't cook. My wife gives me flack all the time that
I have never made a meal in the 28 years we've been
married. It's not entirely true as I do grill and can make
a mean omelet, but I generally don't have the patience
to take the time to plan a meal. I tend to squeeze too
much into each day and show up just in time to eat at the
end. Also, my wife is one of the best cooks there is. I am
very good at doing the dishes.
Favorite plant to grow? Why?
I don't have a favorite plant. As I look at landscapes all
the time, what I really like are combinations that jump
out. Well-maintained perennial gardens with grasses
and a few shrubs mixed in are so beautiful to me, and I
always want to identify the individual plants so that I can
recommend particular combinations to our customers
and replicate in my own yard. My own yard is a giant
experiment of damaged plants that end up getting planted
(by me) at my house throughout the year.
May 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of May 2022
