Make the most of your next trip to the garden centre

Okay, fess up. How many times have you gone to a garden centre, become totally overwhelmed and walked away empty handed. It has happened to me many times. Too many times, in fact. The garden centre can be a totally foreign place if you go in unprepared. Good thing you are reading this post! Here are a few tips for navigating the garden centre with the greatest of ease.

When you go grocery shopping with a list, life is much easier. Same thing for plant shopping...make a list. You might not know exactly which plants you want to buy, but you should have an idea of what your garden needs. Are you looking for shrubs, trees, annuals or perennials. Read all about creating a plan for you garden here.

Yes, it's the long weekend and yes, that is probably the only time you have to go to the garden centre...but that doesn't mean you have to go at the busiest time of the day. If you can, visit garden centres on a weeknight. If you can't then go first thing in the morning. You would be surprised how early they open, most are open at 8am. Arrive at 1pm and you'll have a hard time finding a parking spot.

Garden centres can be very hot, sunny and busy places, so bring along a bottle of water and maybe even a snack. This is especially true if you are bringing your children. Picking out plants takes time, there is a lot of reading involved you want to be hydrated and well fed.

 

Don't forget a notebook

 

If you have drawn up a garden plan, bring it. If you have done some online research, bring it. Anything you bring along can significantly improve your experience. I'm pretty low-tech, clearly you could use your iPhone to record what you need and what you find.

Garden centres have a definite structure to them. Because plants need different growing conditions, garden centres are layed out accordingly. Plants that need shade will be under some sort of shelter...head there if you are looking for shade plants. If you need plants that can take a ton of sun then head outside.  Garden centre also like to group shrubs and trees together, closer to the perimeter of the property. Most garden centres make it easy to distinguish between perennial plants and annuals by grouping them together. If you get lost, don't give up, ask for help.

Those tags on the plants are filled with very important information...read it. They usually have a picture of the mature plant, so you can see what the colour and style of the flower will be. Sun/shade requirements of the plant, some even specify the number of hours of sunlight a plant will need. Size of the mature plant is given, usually with two numbers...the height and the spread. Take note of these numbers as they made determine the placement of your plant. The tag will also explain when the plant will bloom, this helps you plant an all season garden, where plants are in bloom from spring - fall. Take the time to read the small blurb about the plant on the tag. This description usually has words like "clumping" which means it will be a short and squat plant or "trailing" which means this plant would be good for a planter or "spires" which means tall and thin. The more you read, the more you will know, the better your garden will grow.

The reality is that sometimes we have to bring our kids (ha! most of the time) why not make going to the garden centre an adventure for them. Give your child a small budget...plants can be quite inexpensive $5 is plenty to spend. Let the kids do a little roaming through the "forest", the tree section. One garden centre we frequent actually has a kids playground right in the middle of it. This makes for a great break in when we visit. Don't forget arrive early, wear sunblock, hats and have plenty of water...again garden centres get hot.

The bottom line is that the garden centre is a great place to spend some time. There are usually amazingly informative staff that can point you in the right direction if you get lost. As with anything in life you get out of it what you put in. With a little planning and by giving yourself some time a visit to the garden centre can actually be a fun outing yourself and your family.

Do you have any other garden centre tips? I would love to hear them. Stop by our Facebook page or leave a comment below. Also, I belong to a fantastic Pinterest Gardening page - check that out too.