Garden Center magazine hit the road and headed down south to North Carolina this week to tour independent garden centers retailers big and small in the area to discover the latest trends in the industry and find out how the season is going. Associate editor Michelle Simakis is driving to different towns in the western part of the state (and one in South Carolina) to meet with retailers and talk to them about their business. Here’s her recap of the final day of her visit:
South Pleasantburg Nursery in Greenville, S.C., has been a staple in the community since the ‘50s, says Nikki Weed, a seven-year veteran of the nursery who calls herself the resident “cyber geek” and works in many areas of the business. The company sits on 9 acres and offers a wide array of trees and shrubs, 300 different perennials and the other bread-and-butter categories of a garden center like annuals, herbs and edibles. One category that sets them apart from other garden centers, however, is their huge offering of pond plants and supplies. One entire floor of the indoor section of the garden center is devoted to supplies to start and maintain ponds, and they offer dozens of plants. Nikki wrote an article all about how to sell pond plants in the April/May issue of Garden Center magazine, and shared some tips for selling them in a video that will be posted soon.
Read about highlights from other days of the North Carolina trip here: http://www.gardencentermagazine.com/updates-garden-center-heads-south.aspx
Photo: A water lily displayed at South Pleasantburg Nursery in Greenville, S.C., where they have a wide selection of pond supplies.