Recently I was able to spend a few days with some of the nations top gardeners at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, N.C.  It was amazing to see lay out, the attention to detail and passion for the gardens.  I spent two days with the horticulture team learning their secrets and how they go about preserving and maintaining this historical private garden that is open 365 days a year.   Here are a few of my lesson I learned.

1. Never be afraid to ask for help -  At the Biltmore Historical Garden, each person is responsible for monitoring, working, and planning for the success of the garden.  If a plant goes into stress they want to know why, so they research and are never afraid to ask outside people to help figure out the problem.  Never be afraid to ask.

2. Beautiful Gardens don’t just happen - As you might image, the Biltmore Garden plans to be successful by ordering bulbs for next spring now in the summer.  Each person who plants the bulbs is trained and shown how to plant bulbs correctly.  This instruction builds confidence and high standards of expectations.  They continue to remind each other of the “Biltmore” way of doing things.  This creates a high level of results.  A beautiful yard needs a plan.

3.  Never stop learning - The staff at the Biltmore had asked me to speak on leadership, “Developing Weeders to Leaders.”  It was a great two days, but I think I learned more from them about gardening and personal growth.  They live and breathe gardening, planting and making each other successful in the garden. With 4 college interns on site, they are investing in the future as well.   After seeing this passion for learning, it validated and inspired me to continue to listen, learn, teach and help others grow.

 

Planting to Grow is more than planting a tree, shrub or flowers.  It is about planting in your own life.  We should never stop learning, listening and personally growing.

Planting to Grow,

 Jeff