Marlie Graves

Marlie Graves, known as The Ficus Wrangler, has been keeping plants beautiful, training techs and relating to clients at half a dozen companies for 30 years. She studied creative writing and psychology in college and went on to start an independent film company with her first husband. She decided to focus on plants full time after completing the NYBG Horticulture School interior landscaping course. Marlie is retired, operates "The Ficus Wrangler" YouTube channel, contributes regularly to several houseplant forums, and is working on a plantcare book based on professional methods.

Service Tips for Plant Techs: 8 Ways to ...

Regardless of the profession, people are constantly looking for ways to be more productive during their workday. With a limited time frame and a [...]  » Read More

Service Tips for Plant Techs: 8 Ways to Be More Effective With Customers Featured Image

How Keeping a Journal Can Improve Your P...

When asked about their daily routines, many writers say journaling is something they do unfailingly. Now, of course, most plant techs aren’t wr[...]  » Read More

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Train Your Plant Technicians for Account...

You may not believe this, but somewhere out there right now, techs are watering plants and don’t know a thing about what they’re doin[...]  » Read More

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Tips for Techs: 7 Ways to Make Plant Mai...

For plant techs, time is always of the essence. At least, sometimes it seems that way. Efficiency is the key to accomplishing all tasks within th[...]  » Read More

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Fiberglass Planters

4 Final Things I Wish I’d Known Before...

In my last couple of posts, with the help of my plant tech friends, I’ve written about insights we wish we had known at the start of our in[...]  » Read More

4 Final Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Started As a Plant Tech [Part Three] Featured Image

Fixes for 3 Common Soil Problems

I ran across an article by the University of Hawaii in a Horticultural Digest issue from April 1981. It got me thinking about common soil problem[...]  » Read More