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On 9/6/04 11:55, in article ,
"Frogleg" wrote:

On Tue, 08 Jun 2004 15:56:14 +0100, Sacha
wrote:

It doesn't become me very well as a Nurseryman's wife to criticise some
garden centres - not all by any means - but the prices they charge, the lack
of advice they give and the 'care' given to the plants which are bought in
and sold off just like any supermarket product, fills us with real horror
and even amazement. One gc is selling Pelargoniums for over £4.00 when we
are charging £1.80 for the same size! But the customer isn't paying for the
plant but for acres and acres of expensive glass housing few plants (and all
of those bog standard) but hundreds of other products, such as candles,
soap, writing paper, cards, sweets, jam, garden furniture, barbecues, water
feechas etc.

I suppose this is an international disease. What you describe is
*exactly* what has happened to a local garden center. When I first
went there, they raised nearly all their own plants, the staff was
knowledgable and helpful, and they didn't require ID for checks
(cheques) because "gardeners don't pass bad checks." :-) And they
sold plants, seeds, and garden supplies. Now they sell the kitch you
mention, the quality of plants has declined, the (inflation-adjusted)
prices increased, and they have expanded with several huge stores in
nearby towns. They have taken a good name and past reputation and
turned them into a shoddy franchise.

A nursery in Jersey was just as you describe and then did just what you
describe. They avoided going broke by the skin of their teeth but it really
was a close call. When I took my husband there on one of our visits he
nearly fainted at their prices. Jersey is a finance centre and some of the
residents are rich but even so.........one friend of ours combines a long
week end trip to England with a visit to us and takes home a (large) car
load of plants and still reckons he gets the best of the deal. ;-)
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds after garden to email me)

On Mon, 07 Jun 2004 16:56:42 +0100, Sacha
wrote:

"Frogleg" wrote:

To be fair, 'grandiflora' refers to the size of the blooms, not the
tree. (I looked it up :-) 'goliath', however, does seem fairly
obvious.

Agreed but not a lot of small trees have very large flowers on - or not that
I can think of at present! No doubt somebody will come up with a list of
hundreds! 'goliath' is a dead give away. We do find that here, most people
do ask, if in doubt but then there's usually someone around who can help
them. I think one of the problems with some gc's is the 'supermarket'
attitude that is taken. The only person who can actually be found is the
person on the check out.......

Don't you think much of gardening is learning from mistakes? One
starts by thinking "gardening" means putting a seed or plant in dirt
and watching it grow, and moves on from there. Many don't even know to
ask questions, or which questions to ask. If their experience is with
the Big Box stores, they know questions are futile.

On 8/6/04 12:26, in article ,
"Frogleg" wrote:

On Mon, 07 Jun 2004 16:56:42 +0100, Sacha
wrote:

"Frogleg" wrote:

To be fair, 'grandiflora' refers to the size of the blooms, not the
tree. (I looked it up :-) 'goliath', however, does seem fairly
obvious.

Agreed but not a lot of small trees have very large flowers on - or not that
I can think of at present! No doubt somebody will come up with a list of
hundreds! 'goliath' is a dead give away. We do find that here, most people
do ask, if in doubt but then there's usually someone around who can help
them. I think one of the problems with some gc's is the 'supermarket'
attitude that is taken. The only person who can actually be found is the
person on the check out.......

Don't you think much of gardening is learning from mistakes? One
starts by thinking "gardening" means putting a seed or plant in dirt
and watching it grow, and moves on from there. Many don't even know to
ask questions, or which questions to ask. If their experience is with
the Big Box stores, they know questions are futile.

That's pretty much what I said and a few of us have pointed out to the OP
that her mistake is only one of many all gardeners make at some time. How
many of us have put the wrong plant in the wrong place and moved it around a
few times - almost all, I should think! I just think it's a shame that the
Magnolia one might have been an expensive one and hope things work out
better than she fears.
When I moved into my last house a previous owner had planted a lovely blue
Cedar in what was not a huge garden, probably because next door did have a
huge garden and a huge blue Cedar. The owners of my house hadn't taken into
account that when their tree was fully grown nobody could have got in the
front door, past its spread branches, so it fell to my unhappy lot to cut it
down, something I do hate doing.
It doesn't become me very well as a Nurseryman's wife to criticise some
garden centres - not all by any means - but the prices they charge, the lack
of advice they give and the 'care' given to the plants which are bought in
and sold off just like any supermarket product, fills us with real horror
and even amazement. One gc is selling Pelargoniums for over £4.00 when we
are charging £1.80 for the same size! But the customer isn't paying for the
plant but for acres and acres of expensive glass housing few plants (and all
of those bog standard) but hundreds of other products, such as candles,
soap, writing paper, cards, sweets, jam, garden furniture, barbecues, water
feechas etc. AND we hear that they are in financial trouble and have had to
lay off staff. The latter applies to another not far away and their answer
has been to do yet another price hike which seems to have resulted in fewer
customers and less profits to pay off the expensive bank loan the extension
to house all the foregoing, cost. The plants? Oh, they're stuck out the
back somewhere.

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds after garden to email me)

On Mon, 07 Jun 2004 16:56:42 +0100, Sacha
wrote:

"Frogleg" wrote:

To be fair, 'grandiflora' refers to the size of the blooms, not the
tree. (I looked it up :-) 'goliath', however, does seem fairly
obvious.

Agreed but not a lot of small trees have very large flowers on - or not that
I can think of at present! No doubt somebody will come up with a list of
hundreds! 'goliath' is a dead give away. We do find that here, most people
do ask, if in doubt but then there's usually someone around who can help
them. I think one of the problems with some gc's is the 'supermarket'
attitude that is taken. The only person who can actually be found is the
person on the check out.......

Don't you think much of gardening is learning from mistakes? One
starts by thinking "gardening" means putting a seed or plant in dirt
and watching it grow, and moves on from there. Many don't even know to
ask questions, or which questions to ask. If their experience is with
the Big Box stores, they know questions are futile.

On 8/6/04 12:26, in article ,
"Frogleg" wrote:

On Mon, 07 Jun 2004 16:56:42 +0100, Sacha
wrote:

"Frogleg" wrote:

To be fair, 'grandiflora' refers to the size of the blooms, not the
tree. (I looked it up :-) 'goliath', however, does seem fairly
obvious.

Agreed but not a lot of small trees have very large flowers on - or not that
I can think of at present! No doubt somebody will come up with a list of
hundreds! 'goliath' is a dead give away. We do find that here, most people
do ask, if in doubt but then there's usually someone around who can help
them. I think one of the problems with some gc's is the 'supermarket'
attitude that is taken. The only person who can actually be found is the
person on the check out.......

Don't you think much of gardening is learning from mistakes? One
starts by thinking "gardening" means putting a seed or plant in dirt
and watching it grow, and moves on from there. Many don't even know to
ask questions, or which questions to ask. If their experience is with
the Big Box stores, they know questions are futile.

That's pretty much what I said and a few of us have pointed out to the OP
that her mistake is only one of many all gardeners make at some time. How
many of us have put the wrong plant in the wrong place and moved it around a
few times - almost all, I should think! I just think it's a shame that the
Magnolia one might have been an expensive one and hope things work out
better than she fears.
When I moved into my last house a previous owner had planted a lovely blue
Cedar in what was not a huge garden, probably because next door did have a
huge garden and a huge blue Cedar. The owners of my house hadn't taken into
account that when their tree was fully grown nobody could have got in the
front door, past its spread branches, so it fell to my unhappy lot to cut it
down, something I do hate doing.
It doesn't become me very well as a Nurseryman's wife to criticise some
garden centres - not all by any means - but the prices they charge, the lack
of advice they give and the 'care' given to the plants which are bought in
and sold off just like any supermarket product, fills us with real horror
and even amazement. One gc is selling Pelargoniums for over £4.00 when we
are charging £1.80 for the same size! But the customer isn't paying for the
plant but for acres and acres of expensive glass housing few plants (and all
of those bog standard) but hundreds of other products, such as candles,
soap, writing paper, cards, sweets, jam, garden furniture, barbecues, water
feechas etc. AND we hear that they are in financial trouble and have had to
lay off staff. The latter applies to another not far away and their answer
has been to do yet another price hike which seems to have resulted in fewer
customers and less profits to pay off the expensive bank loan the extension
to house all the foregoing, cost. The plants? Oh, they're stuck out the
back somewhere.

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds after garden to email me)

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Xref: kermit uk.rec.gardening:209099

On 9/6/04 11:55, in article ,
"Frogleg" wrote:

On Tue, 08 Jun 2004 15:56:14 +0100, Sacha
wrote:

It doesn't become me very well as a Nurseryman's wife to criticise some
garden centres - not all by any means - but the prices they charge, the lack
of advice they give and the 'care' given to the plants which are bought in
and sold off just like any supermarket product, fills us with real horror
and even amazement. One gc is selling Pelargoniums for over £4.00 when we
are charging £1.80 for the same size! But the customer isn't paying for the
plant but for acres and acres of expensive glass housing few plants (and all
of those bog standard) but hundreds of other products, such as candles,
soap, writing paper, cards, sweets, jam, garden furniture, barbecues, water
feechas etc.

I suppose this is an international disease. What you describe is
*exactly* what has happened to a local garden center. When I first
went there, they raised nearly all their own plants, the staff was
knowledgable and helpful, and they didn't require ID for checks
(cheques) because "gardeners don't pass bad checks." :-) And they
sold plants, seeds, and garden supplies. Now they sell the kitch you
mention, the quality of plants has declined, the (inflation-adjusted)
prices increased, and they have expanded with several huge stores in
nearby towns. They have taken a good name and past reputation and
turned them into a shoddy franchise.

A nursery in Jersey was just as you describe and then did just what you
describe. They avoided going broke by the skin of their teeth but it really
was a close call. When I took my husband there on one of our visits he
nearly fainted at their prices. Jersey is a finance centre and some of the
residents are rich but even so.........one friend of ours combines a long
week end trip to England with a visit to us and takes home a (large) car
load of plants and still reckons he gets the best of the deal. ;-)
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds after garden to email me)

On Mon, 07 Jun 2004 16:56:42 +0100, Sacha
wrote:

"Frogleg" wrote:

To be fair, 'grandiflora' refers to the size of the blooms, not the
tree. (I looked it up :-) 'goliath', however, does seem fairly
obvious.

Agreed but not a lot of small trees have very large flowers on - or not that
I can think of at present! No doubt somebody will come up with a list of
hundreds! 'goliath' is a dead give away. We do find that here, most people
do ask, if in doubt but then there's usually someone around who can help
them. I think one of the problems with some gc's is the 'supermarket'
attitude that is taken. The only person who can actually be found is the
person on the check out.......

Don't you think much of gardening is learning from mistakes? One
starts by thinking "gardening" means putting a seed or plant in dirt
and watching it grow, and moves on from there. Many don't even know to
ask questions, or which questions to ask. If their experience is with
the Big Box stores, they know questions are futile.

On 8/6/04 12:26, in article ,
"Frogleg" wrote:

On Mon, 07 Jun 2004 16:56:42 +0100, Sacha
wrote:

"Frogleg" wrote:

To be fair, 'grandiflora' refers to the size of the blooms, not the
tree. (I looked it up :-) 'goliath', however, does seem fairly
obvious.

Agreed but not a lot of small trees have very large flowers on - or not that
I can think of at present! No doubt somebody will come up with a list of
hundreds! 'goliath' is a dead give away. We do find that here, most people
do ask, if in doubt but then there's usually someone around who can help
them. I think one of the problems with some gc's is the 'supermarket'
attitude that is taken. The only person who can actually be found is the
person on the check out.......

Don't you think much of gardening is learning from mistakes? One
starts by thinking "gardening" means putting a seed or plant in dirt
and watching it grow, and moves on from there. Many don't even know to
ask questions, or which questions to ask. If their experience is with
the Big Box stores, they know questions are futile.

That's pretty much what I said and a few of us have pointed out to the OP
that her mistake is only one of many all gardeners make at some time. How
many of us have put the wrong plant in the wrong place and moved it around a
few times - almost all, I should think! I just think it's a shame that the
Magnolia one might have been an expensive one and hope things work out
better than she fears.
When I moved into my last house a previous owner had planted a lovely blue
Cedar in what was not a huge garden, probably because next door did have a
huge garden and a huge blue Cedar. The owners of my house hadn't taken into
account that when their tree was fully grown nobody could have got in the
front door, past its spread branches, so it fell to my unhappy lot to cut it
down, something I do hate doing.
It doesn't become me very well as a Nurseryman's wife to criticise some
garden centres - not all by any means - but the prices they charge, the lack
of advice they give and the 'care' given to the plants which are bought in
and sold off just like any supermarket product, fills us with real horror
and even amazement. One gc is selling Pelargoniums for over £4.00 when we
are charging £1.80 for the same size! But the customer isn't paying for the
plant but for acres and acres of expensive glass housing few plants (and all
of those bog standard) but hundreds of other products, such as candles,
soap, writing paper, cards, sweets, jam, garden furniture, barbecues, water
feechas etc. AND we hear that they are in financial trouble and have had to
lay off staff. The latter applies to another not far away and their answer
has been to do yet another price hike which seems to have resulted in fewer
customers and less profits to pay off the expensive bank loan the extension
to house all the foregoing, cost. The plants? Oh, they're stuck out the
back somewhere.

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds after garden to email me)

On Mon, 07 Jun 2004 16:56:42 +0100, Sacha
wrote:

"Frogleg" wrote:

To be fair, 'grandiflora' refers to the size of the blooms, not the
tree. (I looked it up :-) 'goliath', however, does seem fairly
obvious.

Agreed but not a lot of small trees have very large flowers on - or not that
I can think of at present! No doubt somebody will come up with a list of
hundreds! 'goliath' is a dead give away. We do find that here, most people
do ask, if in doubt but then there's usually someone around who can help
them. I think one of the problems with some gc's is the 'supermarket'
attitude that is taken. The only person who can actually be found is the
person on the check out.......

Don't you think much of gardening is learning from mistakes? One
starts by thinking "gardening" means putting a seed or plant in dirt
and watching it grow, and moves on from there. Many don't even know to
ask questions, or which questions to ask. If their experience is with
the Big Box stores, they know questions are futile.

On 8/6/04 12:26, in article ,
"Frogleg" wrote:

On Mon, 07 Jun 2004 16:56:42 +0100, Sacha
wrote:

"Frogleg" wrote:

To be fair, 'grandiflora' refers to the size of the blooms, not the
tree. (I looked it up :-) 'goliath', however, does seem fairly
obvious.

Agreed but not a lot of small trees have very large flowers on - or not that
I can think of at present! No doubt somebody will come up with a list of
hundreds! 'goliath' is a dead give away. We do find that here, most people
do ask, if in doubt but then there's usually someone around who can help
them. I think one of the problems with some gc's is the 'supermarket'
attitude that is taken. The only person who can actually be found is the
person on the check out.......

Don't you think much of gardening is learning from mistakes? One
starts by thinking "gardening" means putting a seed or plant in dirt
and watching it grow, and moves on from there. Many don't even know to
ask questions, or which questions to ask. If their experience is with
the Big Box stores, they know questions are futile.

That's pretty much what I said and a few of us have pointed out to the OP
that her mistake is only one of many all gardeners make at some time. How
many of us have put the wrong plant in the wrong place and moved it around a
few times - almost all, I should think! I just think it's a shame that the
Magnolia one might have been an expensive one and hope things work out
better than she fears.
When I moved into my last house a previous owner had planted a lovely blue
Cedar in what was not a huge garden, probably because next door did have a
huge garden and a huge blue Cedar. The owners of my house hadn't taken into
account that when their tree was fully grown nobody could have got in the
front door, past its spread branches, so it fell to my unhappy lot to cut it
down, something I do hate doing.
It doesn't become me very well as a Nurseryman's wife to criticise some
garden centres - not all by any means - but the prices they charge, the lack
of advice they give and the 'care' given to the plants which are bought in
and sold off just like any supermarket product, fills us with real horror
and even amazement. One gc is selling Pelargoniums for over £4.00 when we
are charging £1.80 for the same size! But the customer isn't paying for the
plant but for acres and acres of expensive glass housing few plants (and all
of those bog standard) but hundreds of other products, such as candles,
soap, writing paper, cards, sweets, jam, garden furniture, barbecues, water
feechas etc. AND we hear that they are in financial trouble and have had to
lay off staff. The latter applies to another not far away and their answer
has been to do yet another price hike which seems to have resulted in fewer
customers and less profits to pay off the expensive bank loan the extension
to house all the foregoing, cost. The plants? Oh, they're stuck out the
back somewhere.

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds after garden to email me)

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Xref: kermit uk.rec.gardening:209099

On 9/6/04 11:55, in article ,
"Frogleg" wrote:

On Tue, 08 Jun 2004 15:56:14 +0100, Sacha
wrote:

It doesn't become me very well as a Nurseryman's wife to criticise some
garden centres - not all by any means - but the prices they charge, the lack
of advice they give and the 'care' given to the plants which are bought in
and sold off just like any supermarket product, fills us with real horror
and even amazement. One gc is selling Pelargoniums for over £4.00 when we
are charging £1.80 for the same size! But the customer isn't paying for the
plant but for acres and acres of expensive glass housing few plants (and all
of those bog standard) but hundreds of other products, such as candles,
soap, writing paper, cards, sweets, jam, garden furniture, barbecues, water
feechas etc.

I suppose this is an international disease. What you describe is
*exactly* what has happened to a local garden center. When I first
went there, they raised nearly all their own plants, the staff was
knowledgable and helpful, and they didn't require ID for checks
(cheques) because "gardeners don't pass bad checks." :-) And they
sold plants, seeds, and garden supplies. Now they sell the kitch you
mention, the quality of plants has declined, the (inflation-adjusted)
prices increased, and they have expanded with several huge stores in
nearby towns. They have taken a good name and past reputation and
turned them into a shoddy franchise.

A nursery in Jersey was just as you describe and then did just what you
describe. They avoided going broke by the skin of their teeth but it really
was a close call. When I took my husband there on one of our visits he
nearly fainted at their prices. Jersey is a finance centre and some of the
residents are rich but even so.........one friend of ours combines a long
week end trip to England with a visit to us and takes home a (large) car
load of plants and still reckons he gets the best of the deal. ;-)
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds after garden to email me)

On Mon, 07 Jun 2004 16:56:42 +0100, Sacha
wrote:

"Frogleg" wrote:

To be fair, 'grandiflora' refers to the size of the blooms, not the
tree. (I looked it up :-) 'goliath', however, does seem fairly
obvious.

Agreed but not a lot of small trees have very large flowers on - or not that
I can think of at present! No doubt somebody will come up with a list of
hundreds! 'goliath' is a dead give away. We do find that here, most people
do ask, if in doubt but then there's usually someone around who can help
them. I think one of the problems with some gc's is the 'supermarket'
attitude that is taken. The only person who can actually be found is the
person on the check out.......

Don't you think much of gardening is learning from mistakes? One
starts by thinking "gardening" means putting a seed or plant in dirt
and watching it grow, and moves on from there. Many don't even know to
ask questions, or which questions to ask. If their experience is with
the Big Box stores, they know questions are futile.

On 8/6/04 12:26, in article ,
"Frogleg" wrote:

On Mon, 07 Jun 2004 16:56:42 +0100, Sacha
wrote:

"Frogleg" wrote:

To be fair, 'grandiflora' refers to the size of the blooms, not the
tree. (I looked it up :-) 'goliath', however, does seem fairly
obvious.

Agreed but not a lot of small trees have very large flowers on - or not that
I can think of at present! No doubt somebody will come up with a list of
hundreds! 'goliath' is a dead give away. We do find that here, most people
do ask, if in doubt but then there's usually someone around who can help
them. I think one of the problems with some gc's is the 'supermarket'
attitude that is taken. The only person who can actually be found is the
person on the check out.......

Don't you think much of gardening is learning from mistakes? One
starts by thinking "gardening" means putting a seed or plant in dirt
and watching it grow, and moves on from there. Many don't even know to
ask questions, or which questions to ask. If their experience is with
the Big Box stores, they know questions are futile.

That's pretty much what I said and a few of us have pointed out to the OP
that her mistake is only one of many all gardeners make at some time. How
many of us have put the wrong plant in the wrong place and moved it around a
few times - almost all, I should think! I just think it's a shame that the
Magnolia one might have been an expensive one and hope things work out
better than she fears.
When I moved into my last house a previous owner had planted a lovely blue
Cedar in what was not a huge garden, probably because next door did have a
huge garden and a huge blue Cedar. The owners of my house hadn't taken into
account that when their tree was fully grown nobody could have got in the
front door, past its spread branches, so it fell to my unhappy lot to cut it
down, something I do hate doing.
It doesn't become me very well as a Nurseryman's wife to criticise some
garden centres - not all by any means - but the prices they charge, the lack
of advice they give and the 'care' given to the plants which are bought in
and sold off just like any supermarket product, fills us with real horror
and even amazement. One gc is selling Pelargoniums for over £4.00 when we
are charging £1.80 for the same size! But the customer isn't paying for the
plant but for acres and acres of expensive glass housing few plants (and all
of those bog standard) but hundreds of other products, such as candles,
soap, writing paper, cards, sweets, jam, garden furniture, barbecues, water
feechas etc. AND we hear that they are in financial trouble and have had to
lay off staff. The latter applies to another not far away and their answer
has been to do yet another price hike which seems to have resulted in fewer
customers and less profits to pay off the expensive bank loan the extension
to house all the foregoing, cost. The plants? Oh, they're stuck out the
back somewhere.

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds after garden to email me)

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On 9/6/04 11:55, in article ,
"Frogleg" wrote:

On Tue, 08 Jun 2004 15:56:14 +0100, Sacha
wrote:

It doesn't become me very well as a Nurseryman's wife to criticise some
garden centres - not all by any means - but the prices they charge, the lack
of advice they give and the 'care' given to the plants which are bought in
and sold off just like any supermarket product, fills us with real horror
and even amazement. One gc is selling Pelargoniums for over £4.00 when we
are charging £1.80 for the same size! But the customer isn't paying for the
plant but for acres and acres of expensive glass housing few plants (and all
of those bog standard) but hundreds of other products, such as candles,
soap, writing paper, cards, sweets, jam, garden furniture, barbecues, water
feechas etc.

I suppose this is an international disease. What you describe is
*exactly* what has happened to a local garden center. When I first
went there, they raised nearly all their own plants, the staff was
knowledgable and helpful, and they didn't require ID for checks
(cheques) because "gardeners don't pass bad checks." :-) And they
sold plants, seeds, and garden supplies. Now they sell the kitch you
mention, the quality of plants has declined, the (inflation-adjusted)
prices increased, and they have expanded with several huge stores in
nearby towns. They have taken a good name and past reputation and
turned them into a shoddy franchise.

A nursery in Jersey was just as you describe and then did just what you
describe. They avoided going broke by the skin of their teeth but it really
was a close call. When I took my husband there on one of our visits he
nearly fainted at their prices. Jersey is a finance centre and some of the
residents are rich but even so.........one friend of ours combines a long
week end trip to England with a visit to us and takes home a (large) car
load of plants and still reckons he gets the best of the deal. ;-)
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds after garden to email me)

"Sacha" wrote in message
k...
On 9/6/04 11:55, in article ,
"Frogleg" wrote:

On Tue, 08 Jun 2004 15:56:14 +0100, Sacha
wrote:

It doesn't become me very well as a Nurseryman's wife to criticise some
garden centres - not all by any means - but the prices they charge,

I understand your sentiment, but suggest a re-think.

A couple of years ago a customer sold up and moved on. At first the new
householders seemed to think they'd manage the garden alone. Well, it is
very small. Somewhere along the line the realised they couldn't so set about
finding a gardener. Oddly enough, though I do most of the gardens along that
street, they did not approach me until quite late in their search. (that
said, the daughter of a wonderful customer, now sadly deceased, told me how
it took her mother 2 years to pick up the courage to ask me to take over her
garden from her existing garden contractors and in spite of the fact that
her late husband had suggested it just before he passed on. I suspect she
didn't want to step on her neighbour's toes by nicking their gardener... but
I digress)

This new couple were quoted a price for basic maintenance at £90 per month,
all year round; times set, but irrespective of work needed to be done. It
was a case of £90 basic rate and all after that would be Plus, plus.

Like you, I felt disgusted by such prices, bearing in mind I was able to
produce the invoices for that previous year, for which the sum total,
inclusive of materials, came to £276.

I scoffed at the price they were quoted. Probably even asserted that it was
"not right", or "outrageous!!"

However, on reflection, if I charged the same, then I too might be able to
obtain a more reasonable standard of living... well... accommodation to be
precise.


the lack
of advice they give and the 'care' given to the plants which are bought
in
and sold off just like any supermarket product, fills us with real
horror
and even amazement.

One the other hand, one such GC, (i.e. with all the kitsch), is staffed by
excellent, very well informed, capable and helpful staff. Whilst another
(actually 2) who have a more traditional approach are staffed by the kind of
creature that is so rude, lazy, and uninterested in the job as to block any
horticultural chit chat so that whatever knowledge they may have is well and
truly hidden!

Both however are prone to one thing; a change in plant quality.

When I produced plants for GC each plant had to be of good quality in terms
of it's long term quality. I did not produce long strings of misery, where
there might be only a few leaves at the top and a lot of barrenness beneath.
However, putting one of my nice compact and bushy specimens alongside the
more spaghetti like version and mine might well not be the first one
Joe-public would chose. Joe public does not always know how to evaluate
plant quality, but does know what he wants and that's height and so the
tallest plant seems the best choice to him at the time.

What I see is more and more yielding to such market forces. And besides,
such plants are easier to produce.





One gc is selling Pelargoniums for over £4.00 when we
are charging £1.80 for the same size! But the customer isn't paying for
the
plant but for acres and acres of expensive glass housing few plants
(and all
of those bog standard) but hundreds of other products, such as candles,
soap, writing paper, cards, sweets, jam, garden furniture, barbecues,
water
feechas etc.

Erm, no, not quite. It's all just that Profit thing again.
I've heard similar agruments presented, but curiously the hpo across form on
item to another. One minute the price of their gardening services is
defended as needing to carry some of such overheads. Or their cafe prices.
Then it's the price of the kitch that quoted as the gc's savoiur. And sooner
or later it's as you suggest, the price of the plants. The other overheads
MUST be able to stand on their own commercialy viable feet.
Or at least, needing some minor subsidising.

I suppose this is an international disease.

Correct (-:

snipped the rest

Patrick