Do you buy all your garden supplies at the Big Box Stores?

[tedln]

Over the years, it has become my habit to head for Lowes, Walmart, or Home Depot to stock up on all my garden supplies. I wait patiently each spring for the plants and other supplies to arrive so I can start my garden. I've noticed every year that everything is a lot more expensive than it was the year before. At Home Depot this year, they were selling individual tomato, pepper, and eggplant plants from $3.50 to $5.50 each in the little peat pots.

This year I simply thought this is crazy. The big box stores have decided the shoppers are like cattle and will automatically return to the same feeding trough, so they can charge what they want for the Chinese junk they sell.

I started looking around at little mom & pop stores and found that I can shop the smaller local stores and not only save a lot of money, but also get better quality. To give you an idea of what I am talking about, the following link is to a local farm and ranch supply in my area. They seem to be much more consumer friendly and gardening knowledgeable. I'm sure if you look around a little, you can find similar mom & pop stores in your area. https://www.dandlfarmandhome.com/pages/events.html

I have planned for awhile to build a 25' X 3' onion bed for next spring. Since I will be building out of landscape timbers, I will need to purchase some lag screws to hold the layers of timbers together. I've purchased them previously at Home Depot for $1.20 each. I bought the same screw at a tiny little hardware store in a tiny little town this morning for $0.45 each. With that one purchase, I saved over $15.00 and only drove 1/2 the miles.

Where do you shop, mom & pop or big box?

Ted

[TZ -OH6]

I generally split my purchases between our Lowes and a local mom and pop nursery. The nursery is more expensive for everything but vegetables (which they start themselves), but it has some hardgoods that I can't get any place else. The starter plants I see at the big box stores seem to be much more flashy and higher price now, taking advantage of people who think a tomato plant in a 6 inch pot ($10) is better than a six pack of smaller plants ($3). I used to live by a large Hicks nursery and their prices were outrageous.

[applestar]

This spring, I went looking for a hose-end tree/shrub sprayer (Ortho brand, BTW) that was recommended here for spraying fruit trees. Thinking I'll just make a "quick stop" I went to an L along my way -- they didn't have it. Well HD would SURELY have it -- nope! Drove way out of my way to my favorite local hardware store, and it was prominently displayed.

BTW: There's nothing "quick" about stopping at one of those stores, considering you practically need a GPS to find your way around. Even in this instance, at both stores, although I went in the Garden Center entrance, I ended up having to walk all the way to an inside mega-isle where the sprayers were displayed.

[nes]

That's why I buy everything in August/September/October when everyone is clearing out. At least if I'm going to be buying junk it's cheap! You don't get the instant gratification you get in spring when buying flowers but they are SO much cheaper now!! and it's delayed gratification for next year.

I find the salvation army is actually the best source for good quality gardening tools! People upgrade to something flashy and donate old faithfuls.

[tedln]

Years ago, I always had my favorite shoe store that carried the brands I like at reasonable prices. They had sales people who knew how to properly fit a shoe to a foot. I had my favorite clothing store that carried my brands and sizes. I had my favorite nursery where I could buy "all" my gardening supplies. All the stores had knowledgeable sales help. Ask a question about shoes, clothes, or garden products at one of the big box stores and all you get is " I don't know, but I will try to find someone who does". Thirty minutes later, they still haven't found anyone who knows anything about what they are selling. The big box stores caused a lot of smaller stores to go out business with convenience and lower prices. Now I don't find them so convienent and their prices don't seem so good since most of their competitors are closed.

Okay, I didn't really start this thread to rant, but sometimes the indifference, product quality, and prices at the big boxes just get under my skin. It really got me when I started looking at the gardening supplies and found the mom and pop stores to be so much better. The one in my area even sells bulk seed including heirloom. What more can you want in a store?

Ted

[gixxerific]

Rant on Ted, it's the truth.

I do both, Luckily I have a Lowe's, Home depot and a rather large local farm supply (basically a somewhat smaller Lowe's but with people who actually know what they are talking about). The local shop caters to farmers and they have everything you would ever need for a garden 5'x5' or 500 acres.

There are also tons of landscaping places around that sell various items.

Dono

[tedln]

I build a lot of things with landscape timbers. I decided recently to add a fourth layer of timbers to all my beds in order to increase my soil depth. Home Depot had them on sale for $1.97 each so I bought them. $1.97 each was their regular price at Home Depot all of last winter. When gardening season started, they jacked the price to $2.97 each. When I bought timbers to add the extra layer, they had them on sale for $1.97. I later decided to use the timbers I bought to start construction of my new onion bed but would need extras for the onion bed and more for the other beds. I checked Home Depot this morning and they are now priced at $3.97 each. That is a 100% increase over last winters price. They will probably now have a "sale" a month from now and price them at $2.97 each which has been the retail price all summer.

Most of the big box stores are now located within almost everyone's shopping area. We need a forum on this site which would allow gardeners to notify each other when they find a really good deal (sale) on gardening supplies at one of the big box stores. I think we could save a lot of money by helping each other buy products like soil, timbers, plants, and other materials on sale. I like to buy cheap and stock up.

Ted

[hendi_alex]

I love the big retail stores, but just like with anything, [let the buyer beware!] I've noticed that Lowes does a lot of creative pot sizing and selling of mixed arrangements that sell for what must be lucrative margins. The big box stores seem to hold off offering the four packs and six packs until they have milked all of the customers who get bitten early by the spring fever bug. Just because an item is sold at Lowes or Walmart does not mean that it is a bargain. It it the job of the consumer to seek out the best quality at the best prices and by being vigilant we will continue to put pressure on all retailers to offer the information, products, and services that we need, and at the lowest margin that allows the retailers a reasonable profit. My shopping is split between the internet, big box, and mom and pop stores, depending upon what is needed for the particular product. Some items need no support, so price is everything. Those usually are bought over the internet or at Walmart or similar discounter. Other things need support, and those are bought at the retailer that offers the best balance of price and support. Still other things require lots of help and knowledge, those items are generally bought from the mom and pop stores.

I grow many of my annuals from seed, but the bulk of my transplants come from Wilson's, a large family owned nursery in Rock Hill. They have great prices and great assortment of plants. The rest of my transplants are bought at a local farmer's market that has a favorite mom and pop retailer plus all of the many booths in the spring and summer. Those two sources seem to give a better balance of price and quality, plus these retailers generally know more about their nursery stock.

[cynthia_h]

I'd like to point out that the tomato blight now destroying plants in the eastern half of the U.S. was facilitated by Big Box stores using a centralized nursery system and NOT taking care in that distribution system.

So the diseased plants came from a Big-Box-servicing nursery and were sent all over the east. People looking for plants took them home and whaddya know the sickness has now been spread far and wide.

I have consistently recommended local, independently owned garden-supply stores and nurseries for many reasons: educated gardeners who can give you advice, better selection of locally adapted cultivars--whether ornamental, perennial, vegetable, herb, or other, more friendly attitude, and better selection of organic remedies for gardening pests/diseases.

Please give some thought to "that little nursery nearby" when stocking or supplying your gardens. The garden you save might be your own, or it might be those for blocks around....

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA 9

[stella1751]

Tedlin wrote: I build a lot of things with landscape timbers. I decided recently to add a fourth layer of timbers to all my beds in order to increase my soil depth. Home Depot had them on sale for $1.97 each so I bought them. $1.97 each was their regular price at Home Depot all of last winter. When gardening season started, they jacked the price to $2.97 each. When I bought timbers to add the extra layer, they had them on sale for $1.97. I later decided to use the timbers I bought to start construction of my new onion bed but would need extras for the onion bed and more for the other beds. I checked Home Depot this morning and they are now priced at $3.97 each. That is a 100% increase over last winters price. They will probably now have a "sale" a month from now and price them at $2.97 each which has been the retail price all summer.

I had a similar experience with Home Depot. In 2007, I bought enough cherry-tone landscape timbers to build two beds. I think, like you, I got them on sale for $2, but I might have paid more.

The next year, I needed to buy enough to make a third bed. When I went to buy them, they seemed too small. I went home and measured mine, and the new ones were a full inch less in diameter. I asked the fellow in charge of that area, and he disagreed, telling me they had always been that size. I didn't argue.

I went somewhere else and finished my row of beds with a decent-sized green-treated timber. I left 'em sitting out over the winter, hoping that would leach some of the chemicals out. Who knows?

I see this year that the cherry-tone landscape timbers are that same puny size. They are asking the same price or more for a landscape timber that could not dare hold its head high in any garden

[tedln]

Alex,

This past spring, I first visited a Lowes. I noticed they didn't have any multiplant packs, but a huge supply of individual plants in peat pots. They were priced between $5.00 and $10.00 each. I asked to see the garden center manager knowing the floor help couldn't answer my questions. I asked the manager when the mulit plant packs would arrive. He said they would no longer be selling the multi packs, only the individual plants.

I then went to Home Depot and found the same thing with the same answer. I also noticed they were not displaying prices on many of the plants. The only way to determine price was stand in line and ask the cashier to scan the item for price. Their hope is that the gardener will simply see a plant they like and put it in the shopping basket. They also hope the customer will not notice the price when the cashier rings everything up.

After visiting Home Depot and Lowes and leaving empty handed, I went to Walmart and asked when their multi packs would arrive. They told me they typically arrive on Thursday mornings. While shopping at a little grocery store in our little town, I noticed a display set up that morning with all the multi packs I needed at reasonable prices.

Next spring, I will visit my little grocery store first. Actually I am wrong. I will visit my local farm and ranch supply first. Lowes and Home Depot will not be getting my garden supply business.

Ted

[Decado]

I buy my fertilizer at Home Depot because it's WAY cheaper than all the smaller stores, but for plants I either go to a mom and pop garden center by me and a really good garden center chain (Bachmans).