One of our newer clients had actually visited us at the Cleveland Home & Garden Show for 10 years and always raved about the designs. It took 10 years, but when the client was finally ready to purchase landscape installation services, he came directly to us. In that respect, we feel longevity at home and garden shows is essential because it creates that residual sales effect and shows potential clients that you’re here to stay.
Oftentimes, home and garden show displays will be slightly unrealistic compared to what you would install in a client’s landscape. For textural reasons, we may install sun-loving plants beneath trees, or we may use a very stylized type of fencing or other structure to add a unique element to the design. In this respect, our company is able to demonstrate that we have a creative edge.
When potential customers see the garden, it may not be exactly what they want, but they’ll recognize that Lifestyle Landscaping is willing to have some fun and look at their landscape in a different way. Moreover, stretching a little to do something off-the-wall in a display garden keeps our team’s creative juices flowing in an otherwise slow time of year.
In our 30 years of creating display gardens for home and garden shows, we’ve earned dozens of awards, for which we’re very proud and appreciative. Some of the most important things we’ve learned during that time are that these projects are 80-percent preparation/20-percent installation, and that staying true to what your company does best is key. By starting small and working with the types of designs and materials you’re comfortable with – maybe with a little twist – your company will accurately represent itself to potential customers and can reap a great ROI. At Lifestyle Landscaping, with the help of our talented staff, home and garden shows have been a lucrative marketing approach and one we plan to capitalize on well into the future.
The author is a landscape designer for Lifestyle Landscaping, Grafton, Ohio, and can be reached at 440/748-4848.