Behind the Scenes at Rohr’s in January

This time of year, a lot of our stuff’s packed away, all the ball and burlap material, the large stuff, that’s out in the fields on the side. That’s all packed away, been dug. We reorganize all that stuff towards the end of November, early December, and we have all that stuff pre-dug, already set and organized so that when the new loads come in in the spring, that’s just bam, bam, bam, put them away. We’re not trying to deal with old stock and new stock, all the old stock’s ready to go.

With the container material, we pack them away in these big white hoop houses. They’re probably hundred and eight feet long and 25 feet wide. And you know, tall enough that I can walk in. At this time of year we put the plants in there, and it’s not heated. A lot of people think they’re heated. They’re not heated. They’re just protecting the plants from the winter wind, because the wind is really what causes most of the damage in the wintertime. These plants need some cold. It’s important for them to go through a dormant sleeping stage.

But those houses dry out this time of year, so we’re in there, and we’re watering again. Not glamorous stuff. I’m doing some watering and some organizing. We’re still selling products, our crews are still doing work. 

We are gonna be getting some more tried and true things that we had last year, some different varieties of coral bells and that kind of thing. And just prepping it’s nice to do that kind of stuff like looking for new plants and doing research. A lot of boring behind-the-scenes stuff.

I’m calling suppliers, trying to get signage for this and that, things that if you do now, you don’t have to waste time later doing. You’ll be able to really focus on the things that matter. It’s an all-or-nothing all at once kind of a business when that weather breaks. It’s all that prep work needs to have been done, or it’s not getting done. It’s all non-glamorous work, setting the stage for everything. 

I’ve been making category lists and stuff for perennials, like it’ll take dry, shade, or wet areas, salt tolerant, deer resistant. There’s a great pollinator list. Pollinators are huge. Pollinators and natives and stuff, that’s really been a big thing. I’m so glad that people are really taking notice of that and really wanting to plant that kind of thing more.

This is something we also wanted to really mention: this is a great time of year to call and set up an appointment to meet with one of our designers. Our designers are losing their minds in May, just trying to keep up with everything that’s already going on. This is the time of year where they can really give you that one-on-one personal attention that we want to be able to give all year round, but it’s just not really reality.

So this time of year, call our designers if you’re looking for a fire pit or a patio or a wall or a refresh on the landscaping. This is a time of year the guys can really come out and meet with you. Or after this last year, maybe you want to talk with Josh, who runs our irrigation department. Really alleviate a lot of the work that should go into those plants and give you that time back, so your time can be spent with family or or golfing or doing whatever else you want to be able to be doing. But still have that incredible landscape because of that irrigation system that takes care of everything.