Garden Centre plants......continued

It would appear that my item about plants in Garden Centres and Nurseries has found it's way into the press. I have no idea which publication as I have not been notified, I am in the dark about how the piece was presented, so I don't know what stance was presented by the article over-all.
I understand that the content has not been well received in some quarters so I am taking a little time to clarify a few points.

• I'm not critical of the 'shop floor' staff in Garden Centres - the ones I know do a great job in difficult circumstances and I believe they are just as passionate about plants as Nursery staff.
• I am not anti Garden Centre - if anyone reads the original piece they will see the positive side of my blog post.
• I do believe that more could be done to help with the maintenance of plant quality on the shop floor. Most Garden Centres have no provision for the proper handling of plant stock in their 'Goods In' areas and this is tough on staff and plants.
• My original item was intended to help shoppers to get value and avoid disappointment - success in gardening is good for customers and good for retailers. Sadly it is the less experienced who are most likely to buy the plants that are close to their sell-by dates and they are the ones who need the encouragement of good plant performance.
• I accept that there are degrees of culpability in this topic - 'The Sheds' are undoubtedly the worst offenders but they do sell good plants when they are fresh in. The best independent Garden Centres have systems to clear tired stock and in general offer good value. In between these lowest and highest standards lies a gamut of plant husbandry about which I can only say 'Caveat emptor'
• Folks who are new to gardening are likely to blame themselves for poor results but they will not always be at fault. Garden Centres have a plant replacement policy that even applies to annuals so it's worth going back to a Garden Centre and discuss with the plant staff what went wrong. Most will listen sympathetically and replace stock if there is any doubt about the reason for poor performance.
• I know how difficult retailing plants is - I've done it for several years but in the same way that Gift Departments, Coffee Shops and Christmas have developed and been invested in so Plant Departments deserve more investment to find ways to reduce wastage and maintain viability of the stock.

The quotation I used as my blog title didn't come from me - it was used as an opening statement during a break-out session at a conference that I attended some years. Those words were intended to stimulate debate - they did then and it looks as though they still do now.

Comments

[Philip Voice]

I would be interested to know what paper ran this Richard.