Wilton Women-in-Business Spotlight: Tall Trees Landscaping

Wilton’s loves to put forth a “semi-rural village” self-image, in its politics as well as its physical look. It’s the guiding principal in the historic town meeting system of government as well as the defining characteristic used to make rulings on everything from signage to storefront appearance.

The town’s small business owners have to operate within that framework to make a go of it. With the national economy slowly climbing out of the major dip of the last few years, local businesses are slowly regaining a foothold in town. New stores are opening—like the Painted Cookie and Mrs. Green’s; some are expanding, including Signature Style and Little Pub. Others have are still finding it more difficult—witness the closing of Steve’s Bagels.

Interestingly, many of the businesses holding strong are run by women; for example, one building in town—134 Old Ridgefield Rd.—is home to several small ventures that are, until recently, almost exclusively women-owned, including Hello Yoga, Aroma Spa, Renaissance Beauty, Evolved Home, and Signature Style. The last store has done so well since it opened three years ago that two weeks ago it relocated to larger digs for the second time in its short life.

Emily Humiston is a long-time Wilton resident (she grew up here and graduated from Wilton High School) who owns Tall Trees Landscaping.  “From the Driver’s Seat” sat down to talk with her about being a small-business owner in Wilton and what it’s like being a woman in a male dominated industry.

Are there any other women in the landscape business?

Not businesses. A lot of landscape architects, but not landscape businesses. This is my 20th year. When I started there was one other woman in Stamford that I knew of. There were no other women. I don’t even know of any women that own maintenance businesses, even now.

Are there organizations that helped you get started? Are there networks now that are helpful?

There were no networks back then—everyone looked at me funny 20 years ago when I started. Landscaping wasn’t even that big 20 years ago. Now there are “networking groups” where everyone owns a different type of business and they’ll try to help push one another—take the Chamber of Commerce, for instance. They haven’t really helped me though because I don’t have a storefront.

Volunteering in the community has helped me [grow the business] through Kiwanis [as past president] and now I’m starting to get more involved with Ambler Farm, which I really enjoy that a lot.

What do you get out of volunteering and helping in the community?

I want to be more involved in helping Wilton. It’s where I’ve lived, and hopefully will live my entire life. I really like helping people in need in the community because having grown up in that similar situation I know how tough it is, and if you can just do a little bit to help people it means a lot. There weren’t all these agencies, like social services, when I was a kid. That’s why we donate 25 trees to Wilton Social Services to hand out to families in need for Christmas. And I really like to help the seniors—this is their home. My mother has lived here forever, I’ve lived in Wilton my whole life. Someone has to help those two groups. Especially families in need, with kids—I know how hard it was when I was growing up and that’s why I want to help. It’s such an easy thing, I have the ability to do it, it’s so easy to do, and it gives me a lot of happiness.

Let’s talk about your work. What’s your service area?

Wilton, Westport and Fairfield, and now I’m kind of going into New Canaan. It’s word of mouth a little bit, although people don’t want their landscaper to get busy with someone else. But I’ve never really had an issue about getting work. I’ve been really lucky.

As a woman, what do you bring to your profession that makes you different?

Sometimes customers feel I’ll do a better, more thorough job. When it comes down to the nitty-gritty of the gardening, the deadheading, the perennials and all that, it’s really much better—I care more, it matters more.

Maintaining perennial gardens, we do a lot of overall maintenance. I don’t do much [plant] installation. We’re very particular with how we do the maintenance—I want it to be perfect, and very well taken care of. And I want to nurture it. I don’t want to work somewhere and do a job once and never see the plants again. You want to stay involved with a garden as it develops over the years. It’s not just a one-year shot. It really does take time.

Wouldn’t it be great if there were something to encourage the network of women-owned businesses in Wilton?

That would be great. If women would promote other women more. Just like people in Wilton will hire a landscaping company from Norwalk—you hope they wouldn’t but …

It’s a thought that has to be conscious: If I have to buy a birthday present for a child, I could go to Walmart to buy a toy, or to Wilton’s Toy Chest for that same toy.

There’s always a cheaper option outside of Wilton. But people need to embrace the community more. You can always go somewhere to get something cheaper. You can go to Walmart and get it. It’s so much different here now than when I was a kid. It’s all different.

Are there hurdles here in town as a small business owner?

My business is at my home. I can’t have commercial vehicles at my home. The town said I couldn’t have anything landscape related on my property—even if it was for my mother to use! Yesterday I tried to go to the transfer station, with my pickup truck and I can’t take my pickup truck because it’s registered to my business. I have to drive down to Norwalk . And I can’t go to Wilton? Just because my registration is made out to my business? The laws are made and there is just no flexibility with them. It makes it a little more difficult.

I’ve lived here my entire life. I just want to run my business, and I’m not bothering anyone. It’s not like I’m a landscaper in Norwalk trying to dump in Wilton. I live in this town, why does it matter what my vehicle is. Why can’t I keep my trucks here, why do I have to have an extra expense [to rent parking elsewhere]? It’s so hard to run a small business as it is. I can’t even dump recyclables, which are free. Just because my registration is made out to my business. Talking to anyone doesn’t seem to do any good.

We’re a small town, they should be able to come check to see if my trucks are in anyone’s way. It just one of the things that makes my life that much harder.

What do you recommend to people looking to hire a landscaper?

Get a good feel for the person, you need to feel compatibility. The whole relationship is important—it’s going to need to build for years and go on. Ask:  “Can you give me a game plan for the whole year? What needs to be done?”  I think it’s important to hire people who are very knowledgeable about plants.

Is there something particular to Wilton to consider?

It’s mostly near wetlands that you have to be cautious. But I don’t get involved with or use any chemicals, that’s where you have to be careful. There are lawn care companies that do the fertilizing and weed control, it’s best left to those guys and not landscapers.  Luckily, I don’t work with any of that stuff, because it is toxic.

I do spray my own property for ticks, but now with my daughter, I have to reconsider that. I didn’t really care for just me or my dogs, but now with her I will start to rethink that. But with ticks…tick companies are going to say, ‘Spray.’ People who are anti-pesticide say, ‘Don’t, it’s horrible.’ There’s no right or wrong. I think you have to get a good feel for the person you’re working with and trust them. And that’s why I hope that living here in Wilton my whole life and being in business for 20 years shows people that I’m not – I’m not going to become a millionaire being a landscaper. I just love what I do.

How did you discover that you loved working with plants?

My grandparents were gardeners, and when I was little I always gardened with them. It just is in my blood. It’s the only thing in my life I know for sure. I don’t even have to think about it, it just comes naturally. My mother loves to garden. It’s just in my blood.

It’s great to do what you love.

It has its great days, but then it has its not-so-great days. Like trying to get paid—I even have friends who have stiffed me! That’s why some landscaping businesses fail, the money flow is very difficult. We have to pay everything right away—my guys, my taxes, my supplies. And I can be waiting, waiting, waiting to get paid. I wonder if some customers feel they can take more advantage of a woman than a man.

But it’s that way for all of us. I used to say landscapers are below garbage collectors on the totem pole of getting paid. When I started, if I had stopped working for anyone who didn’t pay on time, I’d have no customers. You have to keep cutting the lawn every week. You can’t just stop because then you have no work all of a sudden.

We’re off in the winter. We just work really hard. We’ll do 55 hour weeks for the next nine months. You end up working the equivalent of a year in those nine months.

I think that women [clients] feel more comfortable dealing with a woman business owner—a lot of times I’m dealing with the wives, the majority of the time.

How is it supervising a crew of men?

I’ve been really lucky. I work with many Latino guys, they really have a loyalty to women, for the most part. They’re very family oriented, and I’ve never had a problem with respect. Last year I had one guy who didn’t like it, and he left, but that was the first time in 20 years.

Now, it’s almost like I’m their mother! I’m, like, 24 years older than these guys! [Laughs] So I hear all their problems, with their wives, with their girlfriends. I have four older brothers, so I really have that. I’ve never had a problem with respect, because I’ve always had decent guys working for me. I would have thought that it might have been a problem, but it hasn’t.

What do you want your daughter to see about you working?

I want her to see that I’m a really hard worker. I want her to play outside in the garden and dig. I want her to have a strong work ethic and struggle a little—I think it’s good to struggle. If I had been handed everything, God only knows what I’d be doing now. I want her to be proud of me. People say, maybe she’ll take over your business, but I just want her to do whatever she wants to do.

Tall Trees Landscaping, (203) 762-8183 or talltreeslandscaping@gmail.com.