Make your floral first impression count

That's the premise behind Sharlene Nielsen's new business venture, Front Door Stories, a customized service that specializes in creating a warm welcome to a home or business by providing dramatic, low-maintenance container arrangements that reflect the owner's unique style and personality.

Nielsen certainly made a favourable impression with me when I first saw the fruits of her labour at the Friends of the Assiniboine Park Conservatory Gardening Saturday symposium on a blustery day back in April. I knew a creative and enterprising individual had been busy at work.

A member of the Friends' show organizing committee, Nielsen had container arrangements on display that were modern, dramatic and appealing. Her personal marketing material was first-rate, as well.

Nielsen's business is built on a strong gardening foundation. A Winnipegger, Nielsen recalls as a child planting with her grandfather at their Manitoba cottage. Much of her teenage years were spent in Vancouver, where her mom had a fabulous garden, and where landscaping is a year-round pursuit. Nielsen worked in a large B.C garden centre and was responsible for the hanging basket department that contracted for Earls' restaurants, Longsdale Key and other Vancouver hot spots. She also toiled at one point as a maintenance landscaper. A stint in merchandising and display at The Bay and college courses in graphic design round out her talents.

The impetus behind the business venture stems from the positive feedback she got on the personal potscapes from guests and visitors to her Charleswood home.

"The outdoor living trend really struck a chord with me," explains Nielsen, who saw a market for Front Door Stories. "People downsizing into condos are wanting more of that, so the timing has worked well."

During the growing season Nielsen's operation centres on her greenhouse, built by husband Paul, a renovator, from all-recycled materials. A lot of her plant material she grows herself, and she keeps it going year-round with grow lights in the basement. Her two sons, aged 11 and seven, are very much involved in the planting process.

Nielsen likes to tell a story with her potscapes, and her creations are very versatile.

"I resource new and unique material from greenhouses that are different. I mix a variety of tropicals, perennials and long-season annuals. Our summers are so tropical. Of the autumn season, she says, "The perennials you can plant in the garden, the tropicals you can bring inside once you de-bug."

Nielsen's approach to each container is not unlike the thrill, fill and spill formula for choosing plant material.

"If it's for a client, I think about whether it's going to be a walk-around or against a wall," she explains.

Nielsen scours greenhouses and also has a local source for her unique, modern containers.

"I like the pot to look full right from the start. With our season being so short, I like to have the plants large to begin with," says Nielsen.

She starts with the tall one (the thriller) placing it and playing with it then standing back and assessing. She then works in an assortment of odd-numbered fillers and trailing plants to create a simple but striking arrangement, relying heavily on bold foliage colours and textures, and not just on flowers, for effect.

At the end of the growing season, Nielsen replaces the plant material and redoes the arrangement for a fall show heading into winter. Another part of the full service is a change for the Christmas season and later in February with something fresh to lead into spring.

"I use a lot of found objects and ideas from nature, she tells me. "The pots look good all year round. They're not sitting empty."

Nielsen also strives to be as organic as possible with soil, fertilizer and pesticides choices, especially for her edible pots that house hybrid tomatoes, cucumbers and herbs specially bred for container gardens.

An initial on-site consultation costs $50. It typically lasts an hour and includes a customized plant list and planting schemes that complement each client's taste, décor and level of gardening experience. Nielsen also works with customers' existing pots and fixtures and will draw up a plan for those who want to do all of the work themselves. She follows up with an e-mail for feedback.

For her personal pots, Nielsen likes placing purple and chartreuse together, but her creations for clients are customized for each individual. New-found favourite plants include Talinum paniculatum, a tender perennial with waxy chartreuse leaves and unusual berry-like buds that burst into pretty pink flowers.

She also likes Zebrina pendula, with its long, trailing, stems of green, purple and silver variegated leaves as well as colourful croton, spiderwort (a hardy perennial), and Sedum lineare, one of the savvy succulents marketed under the Proven Winners brand. Nielson is enjoying experimenting with many of the new grasses, including a corkscrew Juncus, and is planning a low-maintenance, heat tolerant table-top arrangement in a concrete container shaped like a large clam shell planted with a variety of succulents.

Nielsen credits WNS (Women Networking for Success) and Ladies Who Launch for advice with her business plan and much of her motivation and business success. She notes: "Women and networking women in business tend to support each other."

Visit her website at www.frontdoorstories.com

Prairie Garden Makeover Contest

Hands up, Prairie gardeners -- who among you needs a makeover?

The Free Press and I want to give one lucky reader a mini-makeover of the outdoor space of their choice. I'll supply some ideas and inspiration, do the planning and the execution. The Free Press will foot the bill to the tune of $250 .

Here's what you need to do to enter. Drop me a line and tell me why your porch, patio or deck warrants a makeover. Include plenty of pictures of the existing space and surrounding garden, and list any assets you already have, such as furniture, accessories, planters and pots. You must be willing to be interviewed and let me document the process from start to finish.

Be prepared to pitch in. If you've got painting, carpentry or sewing skills, they'll help you survive the pruning process.

I'll come up with a custom-made plan of attack and assist in the execution. Deadline for entries is June 11.

Mail entries to:

Prairie Garden Makeover

c/o Linda Stilkowski

Winnipeg Free Press

1355 Mountain Ave.

Winnipeg, MB

R2X 3B6

E-mail entries and photo attachments (jpeg preferred) should be sent to linda.stilkowski@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 27, 2008 $sourceSection$sourcePage