Sheila,

I hope the interview went well.

If she's around, you might pm gardengal48. I think she's worked in the garden center industry for years and might be able to give you a ballpark figure.

Also, a hort student that I'm friends with mentioned checking out www.hortjobs.com for information. They don't always include salary but may provide some clues.

Hi watergal.

I ran garden centers for awhile (the outside yard area, not the froo froo store stuff inside.) Did it for a few different places. Haven't worked for anyone in a couple of years now. But back then I made about $14.00 an hour, plus benefits and we all collected unemployment during the "off months", until we were called back to work.

You won't get rich, but considering how much time we spend out of our lives "earning a living",......shouldn't we love what we're doing for that paycheck? Most fun job I ever had.

Even in mild climates, retail garden center jobs tend to be pretty seasonal :-) Even if the nursery is open year round, sales drop pretty substantially in late fall and through winter and staffing and hours are cut accordingly.

Wanting only part time work will also put some restrictions on income. At least in my area, part time employees - even those kept on all year - will not be bringing in a very high hourly wage. That is reserved for buyers and managers, not the general staff. Rates will increase depending on plant knowledge and experience, but I'd be surprised if a part timer pulled in anything more than $12/hr., max. And that's west coast rates - not sure what it might be elsewhere.

Here, seasonal nursery employees often combine their spring/summer/early fall employment with holiday sales positions at other retail establishments. May be something to think about.

"Wanting only part time work will also put some restrictions on income. At least in my area, part time employees - even those kept on all year - will not be bringing in a very high hourly wage." Yep. In my area, it's about $8/hour for seasonal/part time. If you're lucky enough to be kept on throughout the year it will go up, but not by much.

Don't kick me for saying it, but Home Depot pays between $10-$15 for part time associates (and has some level of benefits for part-time, I think). More for specialists. They are totally cool with you having your own business in a certain industry and being there as a specialist or regular associate. Since most of the stores keep a large indoor plant selection year round I think you'd be less affected by seasonal fluctuations in staffing. Good luck finding something. What do you think about nursery work, instead of retail? Still seasonal, yes, but they start up sooner than the garden centers do. Still not great pay though, but it could broaden your search.

Wow, that's pretty good for HD-I've been working p/t at a lg. independant garden center for 3 years-still at 8.50/hr, w/ the pluses of working school hours (I have young children). I've been off since slightly before Xmas, hope to hear from them soon-weather here is nice, maybe everyone is getting spring fever...

Thanks, everyone. I've been using the terms "garden center" and "nursery" pretty interchangeably. Around here, they all do a big holiday decor push, then most of them either shut down or cut back to a skeleton crew of only full-time key employees for January and February.

The interview went well, I could have had the seasonal job even though I was told I was overqualified. The interviewer actually told me I would be qualified to be greenhouse manager! Of course, the position is currently filled, but he said he'd keep my info on file if that ever opened up. I would really enjoy that, although I'm sure it would be full-time and a lot of stress.

Around here, many of the big box stores are contracting with 3rd party merchandisers hired by the growers to take care of the bix box garden center area and even, increasingly, the indoor plant areas. I'll have to check with my local HD and see how they handle it. My nightmare is that they'd hire me for plants, but end up making me cover for employees in paint or light bulbs or something.

Yes, for just the taking care of plants part you'd probably have to work for Ball, depending. I don't know what they pay. I'm guessing not great. Working FOR Home Depot would be more retail oriented, helping customers, etc. They're really big on training and knowing the products in the department you work in, so I doubt they'd stick you in a department that you didn't know anything about. At worst, a greeter. A box store would normally be the last place I'd think about working, but strange times call for strange behaviour.

thistle, I'm sure HD salaries vary by area.

The box store plant departments here (including and especially HD) are terrible. Despite HD advertising having plant experts I have seen very little indication of one being present at the local stores.

The switch to supplier representatives servicing the plant racks became very apparent at Lowe's here awhile back. I've seen one shopper basically blown off by a "vender", however another supplier rep I talked to myself was the most approachable and conversant worker ever encountered there - including store empoyees, who I find tend to have the Working for A Big Faceless Corporation tone in how they interact with shoppers. One at the same Lowe's laughed when I informed him there was a wharf rat moving about nearby, inside the store and made some comment to the effect that he saw rats in there often or there probably was a number of them.

If you consider hiring into a home improvement box, be sure to ask all the right questions before you commit. Your 'garden center' is also likely to be the same department as 'seasonal' merchandise. That means you will be pandering fireplaces, snow blowers, gift wrap, Christmas tree lights and things not even vaguely related to gardening.

The most important aspect of part time with those types of companies is your hours. They might tell you that you may be asked to cover another department when your department sales slow down, but the reality is you might also be working a four hour week. Meanwhile, you could be scheduled on rotating hours and not have a pat schedule at all, precluding you from getting another part-time job to help boast that forty dollar a week pay check.

You may have little control over how your merchandise is handled. IOW, if you are the only person on in your department, if you are even 'allowed' to do plant maintenance, you might not be able to do it and also man the inside part of your operation to assist customers. So, guess what gets preference? You will probably also have to agree NOT to compete with them in your own business. So, if you have a little home based business on a retail level they regard as competition, you may have to make a choice which one you want to give up.

It has been a long time but I once applied to and was interviewed by Home Depot for Garden Center. At the time I had over ten years experience in various horticultural jobs plus four years of formal training though I never completed my degree.

They told me they did not care about my experience, that I had more experience than their garden center manager and that I would have to start as a cashier for minimum wage. I did not take the job.

buyorsell888, that's pathetic!

This spring, I did apply online for HD and actually got a call from them, but they made it clear it would only be for 3 months, so I said no thanks.

And so America's Leading Nursery marches on.

Considered working at HD in the garden center, but then got a call from a killer nursery in No. Va (Merrifield Garden Center) so I threw that whole idea out the window, and 4 interviews later I got the job as a tree and shrub specialist/sales rep. Not too bad for fresh out of college. I love that place, it's a plant nerds dream (well the new gainesville location is...40 acres of phtyo-heaven)

hokiehorticulture, congratulations! My mother adores Merrifield. One of these days I should take a day trip there (I live pretty far away).

I'm currently working on getting a job with the city park & recs department, working part-time year round at the arboretum or conservatory. Keep your fingers crossed for me!