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When I Buy a Plant: What I Want

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Trey, the blogging nurseryman, @ the Golden Gecko had a number of interesting posts where he discusses the economic impact on nurseries, change in the way nurseries operate, and garden blogging -among other topics. As a long time nursery customer, and as someone who has more often than not had to tighten the purse strings, I thought I would put in my two cents… if it helps.

He said:

What a wonderful message to our children when we plant a tree. Yes, we may not be around long enough to hang our hammock in it, but someone will.
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We, in the garden business world are perfectly poised to be the “alternative” to the madness. Greenery, fresh air, hope, camaraderie, flowers, trees, longevity, and timelessness are the attributes we offer. We just need to get that message out, and they will come.
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We have here in California over sold plants that really don’t perform well in our area. This is not Oregon’s fault, but rather a response to demand from well meaning gardeners, who want gardens that look like the pictures of places in other lands where summer rain is the norm.
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Visiting Home Depot the other day I say row upon row of clipped rosemary being sold for prices that an independent can’t possibly match. Will they sell them all? Who cares?
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Independents can treat the customer as a friend. We need to work with our customers. We need to find out more about their wants and needs. The best way to do that is truly get to know who it is walking into the store

These quotes were taken from several recent posts. Just a selection!

The first thing an Independent nursery can do for me is stock some seed and selections that others don’t, or can’t. Every year I look for Reseda odorata, Mignonette. And every year, if I want it I would have to scour the catalogs for it- even they have limited their offerings. It isn’t just Reseda, but that is the example of something that isn’t difficult to grow, used to be much more common, and has been deleted from all the “big box stores”. In fact, for the usual summer garden suspects, I do shop @ Walmart or Home Depot. The Independents can’t compete in price, but I would pay the price for something special that others have eliminated due to a need to reduce their inventory.
An excellent example of what was once a must-visit-and-buy stop of mine in the spring growing season was K-Marts Martha Stewart seeds and plants. K-Mart has pretty much disappeared from my area, and I haven’t seen anything comparable to those few years when Martha ruled the quality KMart aisles. If Independent nurseries chose some particularly fine plants like those, I would make a trip for miles to buy them. I’m frugal, but I also appreciate adding special plants to my garden.

I pretty much expect that Independent nurseries carry things that do well in my climate and growing conditions. If something isn’t hardy – it needs to be well marked. If not, that is the kiss of death for that nursery- I go to an independently owned nursery for the know-how and the quality. That is why I take the time, spend the money, and use up gas to get there. Please don’t disappoint me- I might not make the effort if it is the same as something cheaper and more convenient for me elsewhere. This is more important to me than “having an experience” which is the direction some smaller types of local nurseries aim for. The experience I want is in my garden, and the nurseryman can help me have it by providing good quality, interesting plantings.

If your employees are not knowledgeable, supply some printsheets with the info. That is a nice touch.

I buy clipped Rosemary at Christmas time very often. I buy it as a cut flower arrangement- it never lasts for me.

Gardening as an occupation and avocation is something that is shared- we should all become garden evangelists of a sort I think. No amount of description portrays what gardening can give ( with the exception, perhaps of “The Secret Garden”).

It would be nice if garden bloggers became more sharing and joined in discussions with each other on these topics. We could exploit this media far more than we do for learning and sharing purposes.

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Comments

  1. As much as I love to blog, and learn from everyone, I am not so sure independent nurseries or merchandizers would ever listen to what bloggers have to say. It is hard for me to say so since many times ‘blogs’ are quoted in the news, but really most of the time readers of garden blogs are folks just like you and I, the ordinary gardener who knows better when we purchase plants. The masses will need to get on board and while blogging may help, it won’t be enough.

  2. Trey is in the business, and he is trying to impact the industry… so I think when he collates what fellow bloggers say and interprets it for his industry it just might prove to be a synergistic force of change 🙂

    I’m always hopeful.

  3. I love my local nursery guy. He knows me, knows my soil, my climate and how willing I am to take care of my plants.

    He stocks natives and tells me what will work the best for ME. And yes, some of his prices are higher, but he is worth it and I know I will be getting a better plant. He has also ordered plants for me.
    And I don’t have to get ‘swarmed’ in the parking lot at Home Creepo!

  4. Ilona, your comments are valid and necessary. We have a couple of independents nearby, and I go there for the specialty items, but I must say that our Home Depot also carries Proven Winners plants, and I get to experiment with them at a very good price. I was good value and unique offerings.~~Dee

  5. The important stuff happens here. In the comments. Most garden center owners don’t follow the internet like I do. Tina is right, “most of the time readers of garden blogs are folks just like you and I, the ordinary gardener…” These are the very people that will spread the word, ordinary gardeners. We haven’t seen the full impact of what is in store on the local level.

    Any garden blogger, in any community can be a powerful force for change. The change may or may not be what the local garden center owner wants to hear, but he or she will not be able to ignore it for much longer.

  6. I agree completely!!! The workers at my local nursery are very knowledgeable about local plant and flower life. They know what will and will not grow and they are always completely honest with me. I never go to Home Depot or any other chain stores for my plants and flowers!

  7. Trey, that is really eye-opening to think that many garden center owners aren’t plugged into the internet- we’ll have to try and change that!

    I agree that the more that is happening in the comments the more we can impact each other.

    Local nurseries rock! (hehe) … but I’m eclectic in my shopping habits and in my garden experiments. I just think there needs to be public awareness about getting what we are looking for. Home Depot can’t provide personalized service and it is a buyer beware situation, but at times they are what your pocketbook needs most: some discount. Local nurseries are still my favorite and in the Columbus area that means “Oakland Nursery” for me.

    I have to say that certian catalog firms are great, too- but if I want ease of access -nothing beats perusing a nursery and being able to inspect the plant firsthand.

  8. Trey, “Local” level impact is key to making a change, oftentimes the local trends don’t carry over though, or they are slow to catch on. I can travel just two hours north and find completely different plants and offerings versus what I find here in my area or just two hours south. The weather differences cannot explain the different trends. But it seems many of the northern trends do work their way down here, with time. It is funny how society works and I wish I had a better grasp of it all, but will have to satisfy myself with wandering around and finding different things I like and can incorporate in my own garden. Maybe a trend will catch on, but I hope not as I like to be a bit different.

  9. After reading Trey’s comments and this post I feel very blessed by living in Central Pennsylvania. The Extension Offices are very active in producing Master Gardeners. Many of which work at our local independents or can be found there on the weekends volunteering.

    Though there are plenty of “plant and pray” varieties, there are many others that are well suited to our local micro-climate.

  10. Ilona

    Loved reading your comments and I too get treys updates every week and enjoy them very much. I think when people chooe plants its almost as intimate an experience as buying a piece of clothing nd what a lot get in the box stres and even small garden centers is indifference. Our job is to guide and validate customers chices and ge genuinely interested in what their little corner of earth is. When we do that they REALLY appreciate it.

    John

  11. I am an independent garden center owner, and I read as many gardening blogs as my head and eyes can handle. We try to keep ahead of the trends– this year the edibles and GIY trends are shaping our product mix considerably.

    But we independents can’t survive by just being the place where gardeners go to get the stuff they can’t find at the big boxes. If gardeners don’t support the independents for the basics, too, we’ll disappear and there won’t be any options except for the ordinary stuff at the big boxes. Thank goodness for the “buy local” trend– it may help more of us to do well this potentially difficult year.

  12. I have been following the whole discussion with Trey and I am getting so much out of everyone’s comments.
    I am working to open my own Nursery and Garden School- hopefully soon- and I am taking all of this to heart. I don’t want to another one of those Nursery owners in the dark about what happening online.
    Thanks everyone!