In The Garden

In the Garden with Keith Ramsey is a podcast aimed at helping you grow and maintain a beautiful and healthy garden and landscape. Each podcast will focus on a new specific topic. Check back every two weeks for the latest episode!

  1. 04/18/2023

    Houseplants & Replanting Tips

    Shannon joined Garden Supply Company during COVID and takes care of houseplants and tropical plants.The houseplant industry exploded during COVID; interest in rare plants has tapered off, but basics and standards remain popular.Snake plants, also known as mother-in-law's tongue, are Shannon's favorite due to their hardiness and variety.Ideal time to repot houseplants is at the beginning or end of the growing season, not during dormancy in winter.Using a nursery pot inside a decorative pot has multiple benefits, including reduced weight and easier monitoring of the plant's health.Customers need to learn about their plants' specific needs, as factors like humidity, sunlight, and proximity to air vents affect their growth.When repotting, increase pot size by no more than two inches to ensure the roots can colonize the space and prevent stagnant water.Overwatering is a common reason for houseplant failure; establish a consistent watering schedule and check moisture levels.Use warm water and consider adding soap to help with water absorption and break surface tension.For exterior plants, soapy water can help with dry spots in the lawn or soil under hedges.Maintain consistent watering and monitor plant needs for healthier houseplants.The podcast hosts recommend feeling plants and checking for moisture, not just watering on a schedule.Repotting during the growing season is ideal to avoid disrupting growth.Experiment with different soil types to accommodate various watering habits and preferences.

  2. 03/28/2023

    A Flamethrower on a Bike - The Origin of Garden Supply Company

    Keith, from Garden Supply Company, shares his background and passion for gardening, inspired by his parents.Despite his parents considering gardening a hobby, he pursued a career in horticulture.As a teenager, Keith did odd jobs in the neighborhood, including cleaning out a chicken coop where he found a flamethrower.He utilized the flamethrower to offer unique services like cleaning out areas under trees for his customers.Keith had always been a horticulturalist at heart, even growing plants and rooting boxwood cuttings as a young child.Garden Supply Company is now in its 27th year and started as a five-person landscape company, offering delivery, installation, and landscaping services.The company's focus has always been on service, from small jobs to larger landscaping projects.The opportunity to open a garden center arose when a previous one closed after six months, allowing Keith to step in and grow the business.The company has grown steadily over the years, now employing around 75 people and offering various services.The COVID-19 pandemic led to an explosion in business growth for Garden Supply Company, contrasting with other businesses that struggled during that time.The company attracted many new customers and even employees who changed their careers during the pandemic.Garden Supply Company values its customers and is grateful for their support throughout the years.Keith's hands-on approach in the early days helped shape the company's success, with him personally assisting customers in every step of their experience.The company fills a market void between DIY gardeners and large landscape companies, catering to different customer needs.Today, Garden Supply Company is a well-oiled machine, consistently growing and adapting to the market's needs.

  3. 11/29/2022

    What's Next?

    Shannon: What's next in garden supply? .  Keith: I'm here with Shannon from Garden Supply Company. We're talking about what's next what's next for Garden Supply Company and what the stuff we've got coming in and changes we're making. We're moving away from. Some of the mass produced products and going with more local products a new look. Or an old look if you will, a modern sixties, seventies kinda look. But she's got a long list of stuff that we've, that we're bringing in that Renee and the girls are picking up in Atlanta and from local vendors. But it's exciting. It's, we're changing it up and trying to come up with a new look.  Shannon: Yeah, they're really doing an amazing job. Picking out some products turning our boutique more into an outdoor living space. Which is really exciting. Yeah.  Keith: And, and working house plants, They go hand in hand. Yeah. Interior furniture with house plants and with. With new modern containers and that kind  Shannon: of thing. Absolutely. And also that patio living. Absolutely. We've got some bistro sets coming in, the little table and two chairs. Sure. And then some family gathering type of things like outdoor games. Which can always be fun. Yeah. There tons of fun serving sets.  Keith: Yeah. We were just talking about how bad TV was. Yes. So that's getting away from tv, and getting back to board games and things that bring families  Shannon: together. Absolutely. Some of that like backgammon almost.  Keith: Sure. We did an outdoor living space recently and when I'm not out there, it still makes me really happy because it's I'm viewing it from afar. . But it's, it's a covered space. It's got a ceiling fan and, there's outdoor furniture out there and it's just a, such a relaxing, fun  Shannon: space. I've seen it and it really turned out stunning. And then the way you've brought in, Plants, like the white bird of paradise right out there is just,  Keith: yeah. And they're thriving out there because they're in the North Carolina humidity and got a fishtail palm out there in, real modern pots. And, that's a way you can change up the look of your, the front porch or the look of your back porch. Is to update the pots and get away from some of the big heavy urns and start incorporating, you know, more modern pots and containers. Shannon: Some of the ones I love that Renee's been able to bring in are those lightstone. Or light white pots, the fiber clay. Yep. It has that look of concrete or ceramic but is so lightweight that I can pick it up all by myself. And  Keith: especially like the two that we just talked about that are in my backyard the fishtail palm and the whiteboard of paradise. Both of 'em are six foot plants, seven foot, seven foot plants. In the next week or two I'm gonna be bringing them in because of frost. You can separate the plant from the pot and easily carry both of them inside and give 'em a nice, warm spot for the wintertime. Shannon: Absolutely. And really, even with those type of pots, you don't even need to separate necessarily.  Keith: Exactly. They're light enough to.  Shannon: for a one or two person job.  Keith: Yep. Yeah, you were talking about the bistro sets. And I don't know, it's a folding type chair. I don't know if I'm, if I can destru describe it exactly, but we've got 'em on order now. We've got a couple of 'em in but they're an old sixties chair. Mm-hmm. That kind of folds up a clam shell type of design. We've got 'em in natural Jude and we've got 'em in black. I love the look of that. It's beautiful. It's Mac May material and MACRA Mays come back in with, of course it has with with hanging house plants and wall hangings and that kind of stuff. So that's a fun, fun piece of it. I love  Shannon: the palettes that we're bringing too. The colors of all of this. We've got this soft blue sage, green, matte gray, and a blush color right, that are. On point for the trends. They are,  Keith: and I, we're talking about updating pots and containers, I think updating wall colors. We do it in the store all the time. , every time we change a set or come up with a new idea we're do, we're changing the backdrop of the color. It's something you can do at your house too. Going out and picking some of these colors that are really, The color of the year or that fits with, the furniture you've got and the new stuff that you're bringing in. Really update the space. It  Shannon: does, and it's not that you have to revamp and redesign every single thing or change out all of your furniture. You can do it with just a quick little Walt color change or a pot color change. A blanket, a throw, some of. Some of that stuff that we've brought in too has  Keith: been right. And if you've got a room that's painted white, I just painting one wall in, in the background or two walls in the background, you can paint half the room and still give it a great updated look. Add some of this, a change of furniture, change of pots or containers, and I think you see, really see an update. Shannon: Yeah. I'm also loving some of the things that they're bringing in, like gardener's diaries. Something which I think has been so beneficial for me in just tomato gardening. That's my big thing. Yep. And I'm keeping track of all of the plants that I'm doing while they're flowering or when they start flowering, when they're producing the fruit, how much fruit I'm getting, which ones are getting disease or. Ones aren't. That's tons of fun. It's so much fun. It's beneficial for next  Keith: year. Yep. I always love somebody that can do that. I could buy a hundred diaries. Never fill him out. Nothing's ever gonna get written in, unfortunately. Yeah. I I'm not trying to Yeah, no squash diary sales. No. No. My grandfather used to write everything down , and he was a tomato gardener. And he kept notes on everything and he, Thomas Jefferson, he used to tell me, Thomas Jefferson wrote down everything, and I'd go back and read what Thomas Jefferson wrote. And I'm like, man, I need to do that. I start something and I write on the first page and that's the end of it. So  Shannon: maybe you're more of a flower press kind of a guy. Yeah. Or we are bringing in some of those pocket flower press  Keith: journals. Oh yeah. Those Those are super cool. Yeah. Yeah. Especially in a pansies. I always talk about, I'm always talking about pansies and how amazing pansies are, but. Those press so beautifully. They do. It's a super easy thing and it's a fun thing for kids to do too. Absolutely. Have the kids, kids, especially girls, but the kids in general to pick flowers. , have 'em go out and pick pansies and then bring 'em in the house and press 'em. It's a good project for a rainy day. And  Shannon: perfect segue. The one, the last thing I wanted to talk about was how we're bringing in some of these tools and gloves. Things like that for children. . So we're bringing in that next generation and getting them interested early.  Keith: My favorite thing to do, and hands down and I've, I think I've created thousands of gardeners, , is to hand them a plant. It's like in, in the garden center when we've got plants that are not perfect. But we, I know they're gonna grow, , give 'em to a kid and as that next flower rolls out, I mean you've got a budding gardener kind of  Shannon: thing. Absolutely. And succulents are a great way to continue that trend. Yep.  Keith: Cut a piece of a succulent off, hand it to 'em and let them watch the roots grow. Exactly. Yep. That, that I'm really looking forward to spring and the change...

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In the Garden with Keith Ramsey is a podcast aimed at helping you grow and maintain a beautiful and healthy garden and landscape. Each podcast will focus on a new specific topic. Check back every two weeks for the latest episode!

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