Stop Selling Plants One at a Time
Garden center customers often arrive looking for a plant.
Maybe they need something for a sunny corner. A shrub to replace one that died. A perennial with summer color. Something to screen the neighbor’s patio.
They may come in thinking about one plant—but what they often need is a solution.
That creates an opportunity for garden centers to change the conversation from “Which plant would you like?” to “What are you trying to create?”
Sell the Garden, Not Just the Plant
A customer shopping for a flowering shrub may actually be trying to improve an empty foundation bed. Someone looking at evergreens may really want privacy. A shopper carrying three perennials may be trying to create a pollinator garden but isn’t sure what else belongs in it.
Those are very different conversations—and potentially very different baskets.
Instead of recommending plants individually, help customers visualize groups of plants that work together to accomplish a specific purpose:
Foundation Planting
Show customers how shrubs, perennials, grasses and groundcovers can be layered to create a complete planting rather than choosing one shrub at a time.
Privacy Screen
Pair screening plants with complementary shrubs and perennials so the finished space feels like a garden rather than simply a row of evergreens.
Pollinator Garden
Help customers combine plants with different bloom periods, heights and textures to create a garden that provides interest—and pollinator value—throughout the season.
Problem Area
Shade, slopes, wet areas, dry conditions or difficult corners can become opportunities to recommend a coordinated plant palette rather than a single problem-solving plant.
Make It Easier for Customers to Say Yes
The challenge is that many homeowners have trouble visualizing what several plants will look like together.
They may like individual plants but still wonder:
How many do I need? Where do they go? Will these look good together? What will the finished garden actually look like?
When those questions go unanswered, customers may default to buying one or two plants and figuring out the rest later.
This is where gardenUP can help.
gardenUP gives customers access to professionally designed gardens they can browse for ideas and inspiration. Instead of starting with individual plants, they can start with a garden concept—and see how plants can work together as part of a complete design.
That gives garden center staff another way to help customers move from “I need a plant” to “I can create this.”
A Bigger Basket Can Start With a Better Idea
Increasing basket size doesn’t have to mean pushing customers to purchase more.
It can mean helping them solve the bigger problem they came in with.
When customers can visualize a complete garden, individual plants become pieces of something they understand and are excited to create.
Help your customers think beyond the individual pot. Introduce them to gardenUP and help them start with the garden they want to create.
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