DIY shops

So I went to FOCUS last week to see if I could get a couple of slabs... and I was saddened to see 90% of their plants almost dead and beyond salvation, simply cos they hadn't been watered :(
They were selling lavenders inside that were actually crispy, at a reduced price!!!
OK I know they're not exactly a nursery but jeez - send a boy out with a hosepipe!!

 

Sounds like Wilkinsons too, 95% of their plants are dead or dying. I know the work growers put into producing quality plants and to see them left to wither and die in hot dry shop conditions with no water, and there are no bans here, really sickens me.

 

Wickes is the same, why they need to sell plants anyway, is beyond me. :confused:

 

What saddens me is the new village being created where I live has quite large trees put in round the village by the lanscapers, and even new woodlands are being created, but then they are left to their own devices.

With the dry winters and summers we have been experiencing, it is no wonder they are all dying.

The thousands of pounds it has cost to grow them in the first place, then the money lost by the builders who bought them from the growers is a scandal.

No wonder the houses cost so much to buy.Trees need lots of water for at least the first 2 years of life!!

Kandy

 

One of my bones of contention with local council Kandy.
Most years they plant new trees at our expense, then 75% die due to dryness, vandalism and council contractors with strimmers.
But they do the same next year, I suppose they have a budget and just make sure they spend it each year.

 

We have put in watering kits in all our newly planted trees and also strimmer guards so some of us (park depts) are trying to keep them alive but vandalism is a major problem. :(

 

Yes, strongy, I have seen those pipes put along side newly planted trees occasionaly, but if no-one puts any water into it on a regular basis it might as well not be there.
As for the strimmer guards, they seem to last about 3or 4 years then become brittle, I've seen quite large trees in our parks ring barked by strimmers.
Dont think our council has a parks dept as such, the contract just goes to the cheapest each year. :(

 

We have just had one of Europe's largest DIY stores open here today, about 15-20 minutes away from us ... Leroy Merlin it's called. we can't wait to get down there to find out what goodies are available!

 

Sadly, there seems a coomunication and common sense breakdown all along the chain from specification right down to execution.

Quite often large specimmens are requested for instant impact but because of the problems talked about above the plant or tree is not equipped with the infrastructure to cope and losses can be high.

We always used to try and dissuade customers where possible from buying large expensive pants and go for young resilient types especially in a commercial environment.

We bought a monkey puzzle tree once for a client at a cost of �£9,000 in 1991. It was 4 metres tall.

It died before the end of the summer and was replaced with one at 2 metres at a cost of �£1500 and it thrived.

 

As sad as all the plants look in these places (i find Homebase the worst) they can be used to our advantage! i have bought countless orchids for 50p and passiflora for �£1, and they've been revived! the staff don't have the knowledge to care for the plants and will gratefully reduce them for a sale, go on everyone liberate an unloved plant today!

 

What a horror of a price to pay for a monkey puzzle tree. I got one in December one metre tall for 11 Euros (�£7.70) from an exotic garden centre and it's already grown about 10cms!

Good buy on the orchids and passifloras, bettyblue. I always look at the reduced racks. I only have one orchid, a Cymbidium, that was originally priced at 18 Euros (�£12.60) and I got it 75% off. It was a largeer one, 20cm pot.

 

bettyblue homebase is not a garden center as such that is why the staff dont care. the shop is basically a d.i.y. store :D

 

I hate to see those poor neglected plants in any of the stores.

 

Me too - but my worst horror was at my hairdresser's. It's a nice little shop and has a big window with an amazing view of Co Durham. But in the window, for a long time she had these two vines. They were always dry as a bone and had just a few leaves on. I had one myself a few years ago and know how voluptuous they can be so I always tried to get her to water them but she'd just nod and say "Oh yes - must get round to that sometime, I keep forgetting!"

I mean - how difficult is it to pour a cup or two of water on them when they're only feet away from a row of sinks?! But no, when I go back a few weeks later, there they'd be, still in the same state.

I even told one of the girls to water it one day and she picked up the mister and squirted it a few times!!

I gave up and eventually so did the plants which are no more!! Sad thing is, she often talks about her garden in which she has such pride - can't figure it out. How those vines would have rewarded her just for a jug of water a couple of times a week!