Last weekend I finished my final Autumn Planting (woo hoo!). We’re about finished with our cleaning projects, too. Since this is a holiday weekend in the US, that means I have bonus time off from the cemetery.
That doesn’t mean I’m neglecting my business. I’ve mentioned it before: when you have a side-business, long weekends are made for planning and organizing!
This long weekend I’ve been focused on two areas:
Preparing my client schedule for the Winter Prep service
Reviewing the list of winter logs for this year and planning purchases for it
Let me tell you a bit about each.
Winter Prep: neat and tidy and waiting for spring
Winter Prep Service
Most of my Autumn clients request a Winter Prep service, and this year I have a few who only request Winter Prep. After the weather turns colder and the flowers dry up, I remove the annuals from the bed, cut back perennials (all the ones I plant are the type to be cut back), edge the bed one more time to stall any grass that likes to creep across the garden border, and add a layer of fresh mulch. The bed looks neat and cared for; ready for the winter. If my client wants a winter log delivered, this cleanup is essential: it creates a nice, even surface for placing the log a few weeks later.
This weekend I compile a list of clients who requests the service. I write them on my whiteboard, grouped by trip. Because I have just one or two gravesites per cemetery, I cluster the ones I can service in one trip. Fortunately, winter prep doesn’t take very long, so I can complete more in one day than I can when I am planting. I have to be careful with the calendar, though: the days are growing shorter, and once November hits, the clocks change, so I can’t pop out after work to complete a job.
Sometimes low tech works best - lay them out and count them up!
Winter Log Service
While I don’t want to see Christmas decorations in the store in October, the reality is, I need to estimate the number of logs I will create, and make sure to purchase my supplies well ahead of time.
I used to buy decorated winter logs and charge a fee for delivery. A few years ago the creative bug bit me and I decided I could do the work myself. This lets me control the design while reducing cost, so now the nursery stuffs the boxes with greens, then I decorate them with berries, pinecones, a bird, and a bow!
I have a list of empty logs in my shed (logs can last multiple years if properly stored) and compare them against what I used last year for each returning client. Because size does matter…in proportion to the headstone, anyway. I’ve written about winter logs in the past (Preparing for Winter Log Service) and essentially, you want the log to be almost as long as the stone, but no longer. Conversely, if the log is too small, it will look like the family simply picked up whatever was available at the grocery store. Our goal is to make the log look intentional and balanced.
October is a good time to purchase log decorations. Yes, I do inspect, organize, and store the unused and re-usable decorations from the prior year. Now I estimate the number of berry branches, birds, sticks, and ribbon I will need and determine where to source them.
Pro tip: I’m a very small business, so even if I like the frosted pinecones at a certain supply company, they come in a box of 300! Pinecones don’t fade over time, either, so saving a few dollars on this box of cones will leave me way more stock than I could ever use. Better to spend a few extra dollars and buy a smaller pack locally.
12” logs are easy to find at any retailer, so in a pinch I’ve purchased 12” logs already decorated (and yes, I will tweak the design until I’m satisfied). After the season I will store the logs and reuse them next year.
You may have noticed: the larger the log, the tougher it is to find them decorated at a retail store (and when you do, they cost an arm and a leg). Again, planning ahead is key. You’d hate to deliver a 12” log when the site really needs a 24”.
When purchasing empty cemetery logs, note that they come in packs. So even if I calculate I’m shy by just one 18” log, I need to purchase a 4-pack. This is a consideration for storage space over the rest of the year.
I also create a list of log decorations. As in the frosted pinecone example, I make a list of each item, along with the quantity needed and the store I will buy them from. Organization is the key to efficiency and cost-savings.
I’ve been pushing off the winter log & decoration purchases for a while. Every time I started looking into it, I had another planting to do, or something else that took my concentration away. This weekend I have no plantings, an extra day, and no excuses. And okay, thinking about decorating winter logs gets me excited about the holiday season. :-)