Home Depot garden centre in spring.
Stay tuned for new garden nursery reviews, as I explore more locations and businesses. Today I will be reviewing those box-stores we love to hate and hate to love. If you've never considered it a stop on your plant search, maybe you should give it a try, I have been shocked over the years at the amount of surprising varieties and selections. Garden sections are great for knowledgeable and keen gardeners who enjoy ripping off these stores during sales, and final season clearances.
Navigating the "GARDEN SECTION"
Canadian Tire Garden Centre
Canadian Tire (☆☆☆☆)
Price: $-$$
Stock: Seeds, annuals, planters, popular perennials, vegetable plants, shrubs & trees.
Review: Usually located on a side department of the store, Canadian Tire stores provide a seasonal array of plants ranging from trees and shrubs to annuals and perennials. Many times I have been browsing the stock and found some very unique plants. The prices are low to mid-range, appropriate for the quality and size of the plants. Damaged or dying plants are reduced to mere cents, and I've had a 95% rate of survival. End of season clearance and sales are great, reducing the price 60% or lower and almost 80% lower than what the plant would cost in a nursery.
What I've found: 15$ spruce and pine shrubs, 2-3$ exotic herbs and vegetables, tons of free dumpster perennials, golden raspberry plants and my entire strawberry patch for less than 20$.
Walmart (☆☆)
Price: $$-$$$
Stock: Some seeds, annuals, pre-made planters, popular perennials and some shrubs and trees.
Review: Nothing unique or special about the stock or plants at Walmart. The quality is excellent, but the size of the plants are often small and exorbitantly priced. They tend to focus more on annuals and pre-arranged hanging baskets and planters. If you catch a clearance sale and don't mind some ugly plants (that will be an investment in the next season) than head over and grab what you can. (Sales are the only time I feel it's worth buying anything there)
What I've found: Free half-dying annuals and some unique annual planters under 10$.
Home Depot (☆☆☆☆)
Price: $-$$$
Stock: Seeds, annuals, planters, popular perennials, vegetable plants, shrubs & trees. General landscaping needs (pavers, wood, concrete, fencing and decor).
Review: Home Depot houses a wider variety of plant species, ranging from ornamental grasses, tuberous flowers, tropical annuals, edible plants (fruit trees, shrubs and bushes included), herbs, hosta and lilies. Plant quality is excellent and only degraded by poor maintenance at the store. Prices can be high, but I've also been surprised by extremely low prices on new items. Sales are great, often selling 2-5 plants off in one deal. They stock amazing perennial/annual mixed planters that can be recycles back into the garden for the next season. Clearance sales are AMAZING. Be prepared to load up your entire trunk and available seats.
What I've found: 50¢ Hostas (unique varieties), 50¢veggies and herbs, 10$ planters (5-7 perennials in each), oriental lilies 12$ a pot (10 gallon) and so much more, literally "dirt-cheap".
Target-Zellers Garden Centre
Zellers/Target (☆☆☆)
Price: $-$$
Stock: Annuals, perennials, veggies and herbs, some planters and hanging baskets.
Review: Annual and planter quality is pretty low, due to poor maintenance. The perennial selection is surprisingly good, consisting of unique varieties and surprisingly rare plants. The prices are very good, but they often have a very low stock on good plants an never move to sales when the plants are deteriorating. They remove the plants before they can be sold at pennies.
What I've found: Unique herbs and some vegetables (Pineapple Sage, African Basil etc). Some unique full-sun perennials.
Zehrs (☆☆-☆☆☆☆)
Price: $$-$$$
Stock: Annuals, perennials, planters and hanging baskets, some fruit and veggies as well as trees and shrubs.
Review: Somewhat over-priced stock, but good quality and unique varieties. Zehrs tends to carry unique perennials with award status (such as: hosta of the year, perennial of the year). They also carry plant brands from national distributors like; Steppables, President's Choice and many more. Sales can be meek, or amazing. End of season clearance can be extremely discounted (and you can hit all the Zehrs you want in one day).
What I've found: Very nice perennials and some great picks around sale season. One year my dad and I loaded about 200$+ stock into our car because they wanted to toss it all away... time things right, and you get free stuff. On another occasion I was given an entire pallet of green pepper plants. The best thing about side-garden-centres is that they don't have the resources to over winter and maintain plants, so they have to clear them out (which almost always comes down to pennies).
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