Garden Center Waste

[FrugalGardner22]

Fellow green thumbs,

Does anyone know what big garden centres or greenhouse/nurseries do with their leftover plants at the end of the season? Does it all go do waste? I imagine they would compost whatever they can't sell, but I wonder if its a lot lost?

The reason I ask is because I have a friend who started a small greenhouse near our town, and she said she loses a lot every season beacause either she has to do a bunch of discounting or she just ends up not selling a bunch of product. I'm curious if this is normal or is she doing something wrong?

Does anyone have an idea about what percent of plants get wasted or how much has to be discounted?

Curious neighbor

[rainbowgardener]

Hi and welcome to the Forum! I don't really know the answer to your question, but since no one else responded, I will give it a try.

I know that most nurseries and the big box garden stores have big sales at the end of the season, trying to clear out inventory. That is my favorite time to buy trees and shrubs very cheap. So they must end up with excess plants. How well they do at getting everything sold in the sale versus ending up with stuff to compost, or whatever, I don't know.

Some of the trees and shrubs, they can probably overwinter somewhere and try again to sell them next year when they are bigger, maybe some hardy perennials as well. Can your friend do that, overwinter stuff in her greenhouse?