Where is the Garden Centre going?

18 years ago

Just been thinking about this.

We all know the changes on the high street since the supermarkets came to town. Things have changed in a big way for local small businesses etc and things will never be the same again.

So whats going to happen now the supermarkets are moving into Garden Centre land in the UK?

Tesco have purchased the Dobbies chain of garden centres and Sir Tom Hunters Wyvale chain is swallowing up independent garden centres like there is no tomorrow !

With ever more pressures in modern life where many people just done have time to drive around looking for small nurseries or indipendent garden centres and with the likelyhood of prices being driven down where will the horticultural industry go?

Horticulture is a very unsteady industry based around two or maybe three main selling periods with sections inbetween of low sales. Add to this issues such as weather- just look at this year and I fear for many areas of the industry.

Yes it might bring gardeners lower prices but at what true cost?

Anyone got a view?

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Comments (2)

garden_nerd
18 years ago
I think small-scale nurseries with specialisms will continue to do well as they fill a need which the biggies are unlikely ever to do. There is a growing but hardcore band of gardeners who don't just want all the standard horticultural offerings no matter how convenient or cheap -they see their hobby as a specialist interest and are prepared to go to great lengths and spend a lot of money in the pursuit of it. If you don't believe me, look at the Oasis UK forum. (I love you guys, really!)

If we are comparing mega-garden-centres with Tesco, et al, I don't believe we will get good service from them. My view is that the big supermarkets sell a lot of over-priced and under-quality goods and use advertising to brainwash everyone into believing they are getting a good deal. My experiences with big stores like Wyevale & Homebase mirrors that - their stuff can be staggeringly expensive with no increase in quality to show for it. However, small, specialist stores and farmer's markets are picking up the areas that big supermarkets can't do well. Perhaps that is already happening in the horticultural industry if the proliferation of Rare Plant Fairs is anything to go by.

Myself, I'm broke anyway so exchange, barter and DIY is the way I'm going! I've also been very pleased by online plant purchases and wonder how much impact eBay and the www will have on the horticultural market.
shrubs_n_bulbs
18 years ago
At the same time as the trend towards large-scale blandness with every garden centre stocking the same Dutch plants, there is also a trend towards specialists selling mail order and increasingly through the internet. I mostly go to garden centres for pots, grit, soil, and gifts for other people ;)

In niches such as cacti and the even more specialist mesembs that I grow, almost all serious trade is through a network of amateur and semi-professional growers. We trade, we run seed exchanges, we hold sales and shows, and we pass on the names of quality sellers. Meanwhile the big boys sell plants which are often dead before you get them home, for twice the price, to people who unfortunately don't know any better.

eBay is highly suitable for selling succulent plants which can be bare-rooted and posted without any ill effects. Cacti sell well but usually for more than you could buy the plant at a specialist internet nursery. And of course buying plants one at a time usually means the postage is more than the plant! But its still very busy, take a look at the eBay cacti/succulents category any time and you'll find hundreds of offered plants. I don't necessarily recommend you buy any, ask me for some recommended nurseries if you are interested in that sort of thing.
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Where is the Garden Centre going?

Comments (2)

garden_nerd

shrubs_n_bulbs

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