Which Local Garden Centers Offer Best Prices, Plants?

As warmer weather sets in and we spend more time outdoors, gardens and landscaping move up on our to-do lists. Even the greenest of thumbs sometimes needs help—sometimes lots of it. Which plants to buy? How to plant them? Where to plant them? How to nurture them?

The best-run garden centers have the answers. Running a good garden center or nursery takes knowledge, years of experience, organizational skill, and a strong commitment to quality. And since most garden centers buy—rather than raise—most of what they sell, there is room for tremendous variation in buying ability and buying standards.

If you need help, nonprofit Boston Consumers’ Checkbook’s ratings of area garden centers for quality and price can help you find it. Until May 31, Checkbook is offering free access to its ratings of area garden centers to Patch readers via Checkbook.org/PatchBOS/Garden-Centers.

The opinions Checkbook collected from local consumers on garden centers they use reflect the big variation in quality among retailers. Some stores were rated “superior” overall by at least 80 percent of their surveyed customers, but several other retailers were rated “superior” by 30 percent or fewer.

Unlike most types of services and stores Checkbook evaluates, paying more for plants at garden centers does slightly improve your odds of getting better advice, service, and product quality. Checkbook found that many of the stores rated highest for quality charge higher-than-average prices, but some stores that rate high for quality also have below-average prices.

For specific plants, Checkbook’s undercover shoppers found enormous nursery-to-nursery price differences. For example, for a hydrangea in a #1 container, prices ranged from $22.98 to $59.95; and for a false cypress in a #3 container, prices ranged from $12.98 to $57.50.

For the selection of plants they sell, Home Depot and Lowe’s did very well on price. Home Depot’s prices averaged 23 percent below the all-store average for comparable items, and Lowe’s prices averaged 26 percent lower than the all-store average. Unfortunately, both chains received well-below-average ratings on “quality of products.”

Before shopping, make a plan. Consider your yard’s soil type, acidity, drainage patterns, and sunlight exposure, and match plant types with areas where they are likely to thrive. Your plan should show how your property will look right away, and how it will look years from now when your plants have grown. Without a plan, you could wind up with an assortment of plants that do not complement each other in size, shape, or color. You might end up with shade where you want sun and with the view from, or of, your house obscured. And you might pay for expensive plants when inexpensive ones would do just as well.

Seek advice from gardening websites, friends with attractive gardens, and experts at local botanical gardens. If you want professional help, you can hire a landscape designer.

When making plant purchases:

• Check roots to be sure they have not dried out. Probe with your finger or look through the drain holes of a container to make sure the roots are whitish, not brown.
• For shrubs and trees, check for weak or broken branches. Bark should not have scars or holes, and pruning cuts should be flush with the branch or trunk.
• Check plants for browned or grayed areas or spots on leaves or stems, all signs of disease. And check for insects.
• In growing season, be sure there is new growth.
• Get a receipt that shows the common and the Latin names of plants and the size, number purchased, date of purchase, price, and guarantee. You should also receive instructions on how and where to plant and on what pruning, feeding, and spraying will be needed.
• Ask what guarantee you get. Fortunately, even though many plant deaths are the result of improper planting or care—in other words, the buyer’s fault—Checkbook found that most garden centers nonetheless offer broad guarantees.

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Boston Consumers’ Checkbook is a nonprofit organization with a mission to help consumers get the best service and lowest prices. We are supported by consumers and take no money from the service providers we evaluate. You can access Checkbook’s ratings of local garden centers until May 31 via Checkbook.org/PatchBOS/Garden-Centers.