GardenBanter.co.uk - View Single Post

13-04-2003, 02:32 PM

in article , Gill Hall at
ojunk wrote on 13/4/03 12:51 am:

I went to a not-often visited Garden centre about fifteen miles away to
discover that it had turned into a Wyevale. Nicely laid out, plants looked
healthy, but I was shocked to discover that pots (admittedly, quite big ones)
of Vinca major and all the various vinca minors were selling for no less than
£7.99. I was shocked and didn't buy anything except a herb - for £1.50.

Am I out of touch or is this normal pricing?

A one litre pot of Vinca here is £1.85! A 3l. one would be about £3.00.
Herbs in 9cm pots are £1.00. *Everything* from bedding to fuchsias in a 7cm
pot is 75p, with the exception of ivy leaf geraniums which are (I think!)
£1.10. 9 sweetpea plants in a 'long tom' are £1.50.
But garden centres spend a small fortune on developing their sales areas,
indoor attractions etc. and they *have* to repay those debts somehow. It's
up to the customer to remember that they're not just buying a plant, they're
paying for acres of roofing or tarmac and then decide if they want to do
that!
One gc near here was recently taken over by a French company and literally
millions has been spent on it. According to one customer of ours, a bamboo
he bought from us for £30 is being sold for them at the same size for £100!
Another garden centre not far from us has also spent over a million on
'improvements'. It's now quite hard to find the plants for the plethora of
'stuff' unrelated to gardening but one customer who managed it told us that
they were charging precisely double what we were charging for a particular
rose and others have commented that their prices have gone up in the most
eye-watering fashion. Nurseries - mostly - don't have those heavy debts but
nor do they charge the heavy prices.
--
Sacha