Garden business owners know that a solid business plan is essential for success.

Business plans are how you communicate your vision when breaking into the field, and it's also the blueprint for maintaining success after you've gotten there.

But how can you measure success, and how do you know when you've reached it?

Any good garden business wants to answer these questions, but most of them ask a bit too late.

The best measurement strategies begin before your garden business even gets off the ground.

Keep reading to learn how to plan for your garden business' success with measurement metrics in mind.

Trust is an essential element of any successful, long-term gardening business.

Before building brand ambassadors, you first need to earn trust. Once earned, trust can easily be lost if business leaders fail to communicate honestly and transparently with their consumers and shareholders.

Everything you do or don’t do affects the perception of your brand, and in the long run your trustworthiness is your most valuable asset.

Below learn four tips to boost your brand reputation and build fast, long-term trust in your company 

Quantifying public relations provides valuable insight into the effectiveness of specific PR strategies, campaigns and tactics.

There are many ways to analyze the same set of data.

For example, looking at PR measurements and analytics through the lens of sports statistics develops an interesting, new perspective. 

Keep reading to learn how you can use sports to better understand the impact of public relations on your gardening business.

Paperless billing practices, community recycling programs, and post-consumer paper products have saved countless trees.

That's something to get excited about!

We're not out of the proverbial woods yet, though. Over 4 million urban trees are lost each year, according to a study published in Urban Forestry & Urban Greening.

Revitalizing the tree canopy is important since trees provide a TON of benefits. Green consumers are in-tune to this, which makes planting trees a hot 2014 gardening trend.

Your gardening business can (and should) be the perfect place for garden customers to get started.

Keep reading to learn 3 ways you can capitalize on this scorching hot garden trend in 2014!

As the buy local, live local movement continues to thrive, this trend is still growing in 2014 with cultur-vating.

Gardeners are taking local to the next level this season.

Instead of simply buying local, they're growing local plants and flavors - and blending it with their international heritage.

Gardeners crave this duality of culture and plants for spring and summer 2014.

Discover how your garden business can use the cultur-vating garden trend to give your customers what they want this season.

The longer social media thrives, the bigger the role it will play in companies.

Today, 81% of businesses both small and large are using social media. Out of those, 94% use it to communicate marketing messages.

But, this year, social media should be more than just an outlet for your gardening business' marketing messages.

Read on to learn 3 new ways your garden business can use social media in new ways.

In 2014, simple is in - in a big way. From website design to garden design, people are tired of clutter!

This spring, gardening consumers are looking for easy to navigate spaces (both in the garden and in your gardening store) full of simple lines and muted colors.

As consumers become increasingly interested in the simple elegance garden trend, your business needs to do the same.

Learn how to use this garden trend to boost business by attracting new customers to your gardening business and keeping loyal customers as happy as can be.

From Google Glass to virtual reality headsets, the way we communicate as a society is ever-evolving. But, never before have the changes been so drastic or rapid.

As communication habits change, gardening businesses need to follow suit in order to stay current and continually resonate with customers. Plus, being at the forefront of these trends allows you to better attract younger, new gardeners to your business.

Read on to learn the top four ways communication is changing--and how your garden business can use these progressions to modernize the way you do business.

The localized food and healthy eating trend continues to grow and people are no longer limiting themselves to basic tomatoes and peppers in their yard.

Instead, home gardeners want to take their edibles to the next level — think quinoa, unique berries, kale and dandelions. In fact, food plant and seed sales have surpassed ornamental plant sales.

Superfoods are a growing trend (literally!), and your gardening customers are craving these healthy, disease-fighting fruits and veggies this year.

Learn how superfoods are impacting your garden business this season — and three tips on marketing the garden trend to boost your bottom line, too.

One hashtag caught my eye this past weekend — Mother's Day Should Be Every Day.

Mothers give back so much to their communities, homes, gardens, and families every day. Gardening businesses should also take a timeout to reevaluate how they're giving back to moms.

After all, women make 85% of purchasing decisions in a  household, and there's a good chance some of those women are mothers. Mothers are an influential demographic for gardening businesses.

Below are the 5 C's to effectively market gardening to moms this season.