Recently the Wall St Journal ran an article about Home Depot training 7000
of its garden center workers to be "nursery consultants" via an online
course. Does anyone have information on that course, how I can take it
etc.....?

"wayne crimi" wrote in message
news
Recently the Wall St Journal ran an article about Home Depot training 7000
of its garden center workers to be "nursery consultants" via an online
course. Does anyone have information on that course, how I can take it
etc.....?



No wonder they're doing it. I was there 2 days ago. 80% of their plants were
ready to drop dead. Meanwhile, 5 minutes away, 2 locally owned nurseries
were selling plants that looked like they were ready to be photographed for
a plant catalog.

On 2005-06-21 16:59:01 -0400, "wayne crimi" said:

Recently the Wall St Journal ran an article about Home Depot training 7000
of its garden center workers to be "nursery consultants" via an online
course. Does anyone have information on that course, how I can take it
etc.....?


I wonder what planet they''re working on? Certainly not Earth!


--
Chris: "Dad, what's a blowhole for?"
Peter: "I'll tell you what it's NOT for and then you'll know why I can
never go back to Sea World."

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...

"wayne crimi" wrote in message
news
Recently the Wall St Journal ran an article about Home Depot training
7000
of its garden center workers to be "nursery consultants" via an online
course. Does anyone have information on that course, how I can take it
etc.....?



No wonder they're doing it. I was there 2 days ago. 80% of their plants
were
ready to drop dead. Meanwhile, 5 minutes away, 2 locally owned nurseries
were selling plants that looked like they were ready to be photographed
for
a plant catalog.

I went to HD today. Same thing. Nearly everything was wilted BADLY, or
just plain dead.

Doug Kanter wrote:

No wonder they're doing it. I was there 2 days ago. 80% of their plants
were ready to drop dead. Meanwhile, 5 minutes away, 2 locally owned
nurseries were selling plants that looked like they were ready to be
photographed for a plant catalog.

The Home Depot in my area doesn't have a wide selection of plants, but what
they do have is usually in pretty good shape.

All the Home Depots may look alike. And they may have theoretical procedures
that should be followed at every store. And they may have centralized
buyers. But when you get to the garden center, each of them is just a
single, stand-alone store. Some take good care of their plants. Some don't.

And that's probably why they're training their garden center personnel.

--
Warren H.

==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
What's on TV? See the new fall network schedules online:
http://www.holzemville.com/television/fall2005.html

"wayne crimi" wrote in message
news
Recently the Wall St Journal ran an article about Home Depot training 7000
of its garden center workers to be "nursery consultants" via an online
course. Does anyone have information on that course, how I can take it
etc.....?



More direct answer to your question:

I'm in the grocery wholesale business. Home Depot training nursery
consultants is analogous to my training brain surgeons. If you're not 90%
qualified on your own, simply from the love of plants and years' of
experience, forget about the "course" you asked about. YOU are the course.

"wayne crimi" wrote in
news
Recently the Wall St Journal ran an article about Home Depot training
7000 of its garden center workers to be "nursery consultants" via an
online course. Does anyone have information on that course, how I can
take it etc.....?



I am a home depo "nursery consultant" and the online training is at the
stores. In a nutshell its 4 hours of computer training on the proper way
to care for plants and their needs. ITs very generalized and really has
very little value as learning about plants. Its a gimmick to bring in
customers. Lowes does the same thing, BTW.

"me" wrote in message
...
"wayne crimi" wrote in
news
Recently the Wall St Journal ran an article about Home Depot training
7000 of its garden center workers to be "nursery consultants" via an
online course. Does anyone have information on that course, how I can
take it etc.....?



I am a home depo "nursery consultant" and the online training is at the
stores. In a nutshell its 4 hours of computer training on the proper way
to care for plants and their needs. ITs very generalized and really has
very little value as learning about plants. Its a gimmick to bring in
customers. Lowes does the same thing, BTW.

bullshit. I am a plant specialist at a Lowes, and we have specific
waterer's, sales consultants, team leaders, zone managers and managers. My
job for the last ten years as a plant specialist requires me to be
knowledgable about plants of all kinds, be able to receive plant trucks,
handle customers and ordering, displays and other responsibilities. While
we're not required to have a master gardener's degree or nursery document,
we have several on hands training video tapes and Lowes requires that
EVERYONE from managers on down to basic employee's do an hour of training
every week.

I have been encouraged thru the years to further my abilities regarding the
nursery. You might run across a Lowes employee in the nursery that might
not know a perennial from an annual, but they're not full time and are
possibly the loaders.

The waterer has to watch a watering video as well as have training. But I
agree that it might seem generalized, but Lowes is more involved. Just
selling plants isn't good enough. We have to be able to honestly instruct
customers regarding them as the inside garden center people have to have a
very substantial knowledge of fertilizers, insecticides and such. We don't
have the Lowes Nursery One year guarantee for nothing.

dragon

"dragonryder" wrote in :


I am a home depo "nursery consultant" and the online training is at
the stores. In a nutshell its 4 hours of computer training on the
proper way to care for plants and their needs. ITs very generalized
and really has very little value as learning about plants. Its a
gimmick to bring in customers. Lowes does the same thing, BTW.

bullshit. I am a plant specialist at a Lowes, and we have specific
waterer's, sales consultants, team leaders, zone managers and
managers. My job for the last ten years as a plant specialist
requires me to be knowledgable about plants of all kinds, be able to
receive plant trucks, handle customers and ordering, displays and
other responsibilities. While we're not required to have a master
gardener's degree or nursery document, we have several on hands
training video tapes and Lowes requires that EVERYONE from managers on
down to basic employee's do an hour of training every week.

I have been encouraged thru the years to further my abilities
regarding the nursery. You might run across a Lowes employee in the
nursery that might not know a perennial from an annual, but they're
not full time and are possibly the loaders.

The waterer has to watch a watering video as well as have training.
But I agree that it might seem generalized, but Lowes is more
involved. Just selling plants isn't good enough. We have to be able to
honestly instruct customers regarding them as the inside garden center
people have to have a very substantial knowledge of fertilizers,
insecticides and such. We don't have the Lowes Nursery One year
guarantee for nothing.

dragon

news flash:

home depot has the same guarantee, and in fact I worked for Lowes last
year before. I am well aware of Lowes and their policy. Its the same
thing but under a different name.

"me" wrote in message
...
"wayne crimi" wrote in
news
Recently the Wall St Journal ran an article about Home Depot training
7000 of its garden center workers to be "nursery consultants" via an
online course. Does anyone have information on that course, how I can
take it etc.....?



I am a home depo "nursery consultant" and the online training is at the
stores. In a nutshell its 4 hours of computer training on the proper way
to care for plants and their needs. ITs very generalized and really has
very little value as learning about plants. Its a gimmick to bring in
customers. Lowes does the same thing, BTW.


......If you took the class that was 4 hrs, you are not the
consultant.....The Hort Specialist position requires a 16 hr session(8- 2
hr classes) in which you are moved from sales assoc to hort specialist with
a new pay ceiling......
BTW the class is ALL ZONE 9-10 crapola.....You cant pass the classes unless
you can put all the questions in relation with Atlanta & surrounding
areas......I'm in 7a..What do I care what is in Atlanta....It was a hell of
a ride but I got-er-done last March 2004.....I'm none the wiser.....My
plants keeling over from time to time is due to the fact that the night crew
turns off the irrigation so they don't get their fairy asses wet, and the
plants are too stupid to walk to the tap to get water after a 98degree day
or when shipped to us dry so the trucking co can save on the weight...(Wet
plants weigh more than damp plants, thus affecting the shipping) So when
they get to HD or Lowes they are already stressed some and if someone there
isn't savvy enough to get them watered, then yea, theres your
complaint......The box stores differ from district to district....If your DM
is a garden freak, then your stores follow suit....If they worked in lumber
their whole career, then you see landscape timbers all over the parking lot
and dying plants and poor selections....Give us a break General
Public.....We can't please everyone's interest.....While HD and Lowes are
getting creamed by you-all, no one is noticing that Wal-Mart is sneaking up
on both of us.........
More to come.....

BTW the class is ALL ZONE 9-10 crapola.....You cant pass the classes
unless you can put all the questions in relation with Atlanta &
surrounding areas......I'm in 7a..What do I care what is in
Atlanta....It was a hell of a ride but I got-er-done last March
2004.....I'm none the wiser.....My plants keeling over from time to
time is due to the fact that the night crew turns off the irrigation
so they don't get their fairy asses wet, and the plants are too stupid
to walk to the tap to get water after a 98degree day or when shipped
to us dry so the trucking co can save on the weight...(Wet plants
weigh more than damp plants, thus affecting the shipping) So when they
get to HD or Lowes they are already stressed some and if someone there
isn't savvy enough to get them watered, then yea, theres your
complaint......The box stores differ from district to district....If
your DM is a garden freak, then your stores follow suit....If they
worked in lumber their whole career, then you see landscape timbers
all over the parking lot and dying plants and poor selections....Give
us a break General Public.....We can't please everyone's
interest.....While HD and Lowes are getting creamed by you-all, no one
is noticing that Wal-Mart is sneaking up on both of us.........
More to come.....
Yes, I have definately noticed that Wal-mart's plants this year were a lot
healthier than last year.

As for my local store, I am a gardening freak, so I have taken the time to
set up misting systems for most ofthe areas we keep the plants. (that is
when the night crew doesn't tear out the hoses with the fork lifts.)
Yesterday I think I scared my store manager when I yelled at him because he
picked up a plant, not by the pot, but by the stem.

"KCnRichmond" wrote in message
...

"me" wrote in message
...
"wayne crimi" wrote in
news
Recently the Wall St Journal ran an article about Home Depot training
7000 of its garden center workers to be "nursery consultants" via an
online course. Does anyone have information on that course, how I can
take it etc.....?



I am a home depo "nursery consultant" and the online training is at the
stores. In a nutshell its 4 hours of computer training on the proper
way
to care for plants and their needs. ITs very generalized and really has
very little value as learning about plants. Its a gimmick to bring in
customers. Lowes does the same thing, BTW.


......If you took the class that was 4 hrs, you are not the
consultant.....The Hort Specialist position requires a 16 hr session(8- 2
hr classes) in which you are moved from sales assoc to hort specialist
with
a new pay ceiling......
BTW the class is ALL ZONE 9-10 crapola.....You cant pass the classes
unless
you can put all the questions in relation with Atlanta & surrounding
areas......I'm in 7a..What do I care what is in Atlanta....It was a hell
of
a ride but I got-er-done last March 2004.....I'm none the wiser.....My
plants keeling over from time to time is due to the fact that the night
crew
turns off the irrigation so they don't get their fairy asses wet, and the
plants are too stupid to walk to the tap to get water after a 98degree day
or when shipped to us dry so the trucking co can save on the weight...(Wet
plants weigh more than damp plants, thus affecting the shipping) So when
they get to HD or Lowes they are already stressed some and if someone
there
isn't savvy enough to get them watered, then yea, theres your
complaint......The box stores differ from district to district....If your
DM
is a garden freak, then your stores follow suit....If they worked in
lumber
their whole career, then you see landscape timbers all over the parking
lot
and dying plants and poor selections....Give us a break General
Public.....We can't please everyone's interest.....While HD and Lowes are
getting creamed by you-all, no one is noticing that Wal-Mart is sneaking
up
on both of us.........
More to come.....

The Wal-Mart garden center near me a complete mess, as is the rest of the
store. It always looks like a cyclone just struck. Lowe's has consistently
better plants than either HD, Wal-Mart, or K-Mart. I suspect, as you point
out, that the quality of the garden department depends primarily on how
interested management is in that department. I would be afraid to buy any
plants from my HD if I didn't see them being unloaded. I know that anything
on the sales floor has been stresses over and over due to improper care (or
neglect).

"Vox Humana" wrote in message
...


I went to HD today. Same thing. Nearly everything was wilted BADLY, or
just plain dead.


I went to HD a few weeks ago, and asked about a problem with my tomatoes --
numerous holes in the leaves. The salescritter told me in no uncertain terms
that it was caused by watering in sunny weather -- the drops of water cause
lensing and burn the leaves. Uh-huh. I did a little research and discovered
the *real* problem -- flea beetles.

I won't be asking them for advice again....

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...

"wayne crimi" wrote in message
news
Recently the Wall St Journal ran an article about Home Depot training
7000
of its garden center workers to be "nursery consultants" via an online
course. Does anyone have information on that course, how I can take it
etc.....?



No wonder they're doing it. I was there 2 days ago. 80% of their plants
were ready to drop dead. Meanwhile, 5 minutes away, 2 locally owned
nurseries were selling plants that looked like they were ready to be
photographed for a plant catalog.

HD, Lowe's and Wall-Mart, regardless of what people may call them, are
HARDWARE stored and as such are good places to shop.

However for living plants, flowers and trees, find a nursery or REAL garden
center close by where they will have a wide assortment of well cared for
items to choose from.

The information and advice about plants and such from these places tend to
be much more reliable also.

Remember though, even at the nurseries and garden centers chances are good
you will still be dealing with people better trained to operate a cash
register than they are at giving advice on planting roses.

"Warren" wrote:

Doug Kanter wrote:

No wonder they're doing it. I was there 2 days ago. 80% of their plants
were ready to drop dead. Meanwhile, 5 minutes away, 2 locally owned
nurseries were selling plants that looked like they were ready to be
photographed for a plant catalog.

The Home Depot in my area doesn't have a wide selection of plants, but what
they do have is usually in pretty good shape.

All the Home Depots may look alike. And they may have theoretical procedures
that should be followed at every store. And they may have centralized
buyers. But when you get to the garden center, each of them is just a
single, stand-alone store. Some take good care of their plants. Some don't.

Very true. The HD down the street reogranized the garden center and it
is laid out better. They also had a better selction thisyear than
lastm, but they got the selection late. That said it is very easy to
find dry pots & wilted plants.

And that's probably why they're training their garden center personnel.

I worked in retail for years and I saw extensive training done
reepeatedly. In a place like a nursery you need to know what your
doing. The Same HD had all the seed rack outside in the rain. The
paper envelopes of seeds were all soaked. If you understand that water
is a major trigger for germination you know that is a dumb thing, but
no one, including the managers at home depot could see how dumb it
was.

They probably wouldn't train people beyond general good basics and
principles. Hot weather, more watering, cooler weather, less.

That said I was at a large professional nursery and going through the
back lots found entire lots of petunias sickly and dying. Obviously
diseased. I also saw a bunhc of cabbage moths visiting the broccoli.
Those types of problems I expect to be beyond any sales person except
for a profesional in the industry long term. (or a hobbyist)

DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email)
Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY, 1 mile off L.I.Sound
3rd year gardener
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/royalf...=/2055&.src=ph