On 2016-03-27 13:55:28 +0000, BobHobden said:

"Chris French" wrote

alan_m Wrote
, BobHobden wrote:
As Sacha seems to have moved to Facebook and Twitter I repost this from
Hill House Nursery's Facebook page.....

A nursery is a commercial enterprise and if they cannot be bothered to
do this for themselves then perhaps they deserve to die. It's much like
some publicans who believe their lack of trade is not their fault as the
public owe them a living.

Why exclude chains etc.? They often give the general pubic much better
value for money than a poorly run independent nursery!


I assumed it's as much about a resource for potential customers
who might not know about the places.

I presume excluding chains becuase they are generally well enough
known about already?



Alan, is this not exactly what you suggest? They are starting to do it
for themselves but because there isn't an association of small
nurseries, a trade association covering everyone, there is no list
anywhere and this is what Sacha et al are trying to achieve for the
benefit of all of us gardeners. Because of the lack of any list they
need the help of us gardeners to tell them what and where.

That is correct Chris. For example we have one near us called Dunkirk
Nursery in Egham (bedding, veg, patio etc) and they do have a small web
site and advertise locally but still few know they are there, only
known by word of mouth or passed down the generations from what I've
seen. We were in our 50s before we found it and we are and always have
been local! There is another similar in Burnham, Bucks called Davies
Brothers and again they seem little know other than regulars or those
that stumble across them.
It appears people are conditioned to get plants from GCs, I know we all
know better, but it isn't realised by the general public and a resource
like this would be useful for everyone and possibly a life saver for
some small nurseries.

There are also the specialist nurseries like Charlie's Roseland House,
or Hart Canna, even McBean's Orchids, which specialise in one type of
plant and do it superbly, and these really are little known by the
general public.

I might add I recently got involved in a request on Twitter by a well
known garden designer for Iris nurseries, she only knew of one of those
I suggested. So the professionals, those in the trade, would find a
comprehensive list of nurseries and their specialisation useful.

It would be lovely if individual, independent nurseries had the
advertising budget of a garden centre chain, or indeed the money to pay
someone to run their web site and publicitiy campaign. In the real
world of nursery owners, any payment for publicity has to equate to
"how many plants do we have to sell to cover that?" Nobody gives a
cut-rate to the nursery when it comes to advertising.

As you point out, Bob, the impetus behind this idea IS nurseries doing
it for themselves - making an online app available which will help them
to be found. We've had people who lived 10 minutes away for 25 years
say "I never knew you were here" - and we do advertise, distribute
leaflets, support local charities etc. It's uphill work for everyone.

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon