May and June mean new growth here in Ohio. I’m an avid gardener and find a lot of similarities between running a business, marketing and gardening.
- Pruning back allows for new growth (okay, so this pine tree is a bit more than pruned back!!)
- Seasons and routines. Keeping mindful of good work habits and making the most of each season.
- Make conscious decisions about which areas to grow and what to eliminate.
- Don’t try to do everything. A cactus garden. A rock garden. A Japanese garden. A water garden. A hosta garden. Clematis and lilies and lilacs and roses. You’ve got to be selective.
- Have a plan.
- Go with the Flow: Planting shade plants in the shade and planing sun loving plants in the sun — it’s like the Good to Great concept of getting everyone in the right seats in the bus.
- Planting seeds for the short term and the long term. Planting seeds is looking to the future. Like my minister said on Sunday: “You can plant a squash that grows in 2 months or you can plant an oak tree that grows for 100 years. Your choice” (paraphrased quote from James Garfield.) Either way, planting is for the future.
- Using perrenials along with a few annuals. Perrenials have fewer colorful flowers, but they come up every year and grow so much that they require splitting into new plants. Annuals provide a beautiful show, but are over at the end of the season. A little of both provides balance in a garden.
Even when something happens that seems like a bad thing, new growth can change everything.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
It’s challenging to run a business in this field because of the seasonal environmental factor.
Great story. I was looking for a source for helping teenage girls aspire to professional careers and BOOM! up comes Chris Brown! How cool.
Derry
It’s amazing what we learn through our naturalistic intelligence when look at the world through that lens. Great work, Chris.