Garden Centre Prices.

peter_the_piper

Why is it that people will be happy to pay say £30.00 for a hanging basket from a garden centre and yet !!!!! about paying £15.00 for the same item from a family nursery? One of lifes little mysteries.

Del_Astra

Well doing either isn't very MSE, I prefer to make own, its part of the enjoyment, sowing the seeds in Jan / Feb, transplanting to bigger pots and then planting up in basket container.

I won't buy either

blossomhill_2

Same reason they will pay a dealer at a bootsale nearly full price for an item he would have bought at trade price, but will haggle me down on the same item that I am already selling at a loss having bought at full price – no logic – that’s why

No-one will miss family-run nurseries until they are all gone

Isaac_Dunne

Some people may think they're better quality coming from garden centre, or just when they go out to centre they plan to spend a lot, I personally prefer to buy online.

themull1

I got some great hanging baskets from my garden centre for £2.00 including the basket!!

lostinrates

I have never bought a hanging basket, but if i did i have to admit the ones at the big garden centre look more impressive that at thefamily nursery who specialise in hanging baskets a few miles away.

Edit: i like proper nurseries, so don't spend much time at the bedding plant / hanging basket types. I really like some where that gives me good advice...like the local nursery who invited me to go back at the right time of year to become more confident at taking cuttings from yew. Personally i think the value in bedding plants is poor for me, and for many younger gardeners and i think smaller nurseries do well to specialise in things their potential customer base want to grow. Being friendly and informative, remembering customers and taking an interest in what they want to grow...things smaller nurseries can do better than big garden centres.

azzabazza

Personally I could not justify paying £30 for a hanging basket. Our local family run garden centre is actually not much cheaper than the bigger 'branded' ones. I usually buy plug plants, grow on then create my own baskets.

I will be starting the process soon for my winter baskets so they will be established when i hang them in a couple of months.

Davesnave

I know what you mean.

We only sold at venues, as we had no nursery open to the public. Over the years, we learned that our prices could be matched to the ambiance of the venue without affecting sales at all.

So, if we were at a plant fair in the back garden of Lord Loaded's country pile, we'd put an extra pound or two onto the label prices, compared with what we might charge in the local market.

At a plant fair, people have made the effort to turn up, so they'll not leave empty-handed, whereas in a market it's imperative to stop folk who may not have set out to buy plants, and then hit them with really good offers.

Local nurseries sell plants and not much more, so people who visit them expect keen prices because they are not getting anything else. The 'something else' offered by the garden centre may be just a load of overpriced tat and a coffee shop, but it will all be packaged well to give an impression of quality and comprehensiveness, though where plants are concerned, it will probably be a bit weak.

In short, it's all about style, not substance.

glasgowdan

My experience is that local nurseries are as expensive, if no more so, than bigger garden centres. Simple economies of scale, plus the plants are often not any better.

Waterlily24

We are very lucky and have two plant auction houses quite near us. We do a lot of baskets 16 around the bungalow, two of the things that you hang 4 baskets on, two 3 tier flower fountains and two 2 tier flower fountains, we also have a few pots. You have to buy at least a whole tray at the auctions so no good if you only want a few plants but fine for us.

Usually the trays are all the same colour but ocassionally you get a tray of mixed (lobelia for example). We spent very little this year for the amount of plants we got and had a fabulous display.