January 2008
Just What the Doctor Ordered By Jasmina Dolce

With so many garden pharmacy products out there, it can become quite overwhelming to choose which ones to keep in stock and on display in your garden center. There is so much to choose from — organic or chemical, from fertilizer to insect repellent to plant-specific maintenance items.

Most garden centers have limited space to devote to this category, and you have to provide enough product to keep up with the big boxes. Garden pharmaceuticals may not necessarily be the most profitable items in the garden center, but they are essential. Also keep in mind that many customers need assistance purchasing these products. Learn how to make your garden pharmacy department an efficient selling space with these helpful tips.

Lawn Care

Weeds are probably the most common complaint homeowners have about their gardens and backyards. Weed treatment is a garden center must-have. So how do you choose which types to offer your customers? Bruce Augustin, director of environmental agronomy with the Scotts Co., suggests two main categories of product.

Weed and feed. When choosing the right weed-and-feed product, customers need to first identify the scope of their weed problem, Augustin says. Do they have just a couple of dandelions, or do they have a whole lawn full of plantains? And by answering that question, it directs you to a few specific products, he says. “A weed and feed is typically the best way to take care of those weeds and feed the lawn at the same time.”

The fertilizer also thickens the lawn and helps to prevent and minimize future weeds, he adds. From a large-scale application, a granular weed-and-feed product is usually the easiest for a homeowner to apply.

Spot treatment. If your customer has only a few weeds, like three or four dandelions, Augustin suggests a spot treatment. “Spot treatment is where you just target the specific weeds that trouble you, and you treat them with a product,” he explains. Today’s consumer is very fortunate that ready-to-use products are available, and no mixing is involved. They’re usually in a trigger sprayer or another kind of simple applicator, according to Augustin. The product is already mixed, so there is no exposure to the concentrated chemicals, and it can be used immediately on the lawn.

Garden Care

Aside from general lawn care, the remaining garden care products are often mixed together between landscape and vegetable gardens and everything in between. Sometimes, this presents a challenge when looking at the different products out there, but there are a couple of key ones, Augustin says.

Spot insect treatment. This is a ready-to-use insecticide for lawns and landscapes. These typically do not require mixing or measuring, “so the consumer can buy the product, take it home and use it immediately to treat insects that are very localized on their shrubbery, vegetables or flowers,” explains Augustin.

Nonselective weed control. Another concern in the garden area is weed problems, and “this is particularly an interesting issue that garden centers probably run into a lot when homeowners come in and ask questions,” adds Augustin. A nonselective weed control product is intended to take care of virtually “any weed, anywhere.” It is a versatile tool, but it cannot be used on lawns because it will kill the grass as well as the weed, warns Augustin. It’s limited to areas where customers want to treat only the weed and nothing else around it.

Grass preventer. One product that Scotts offers that seems to be a big secret is Grass B Gon, shares Augustin. It kills grasses in flowerbeds and landscape beds and selectively removes it. Many other manufacturers offer similar products, but most homeowners aren’t aware of them. According to Augustin, it may be the simplest way to keep flowerbeds looking good if grassy weeds are growing in them.

Landscape Care

One of the emerging areas of solutions in the lawn and garden has been herbicides that remove weeds from driveways, patios and walkways, says Augustin. This segment has really blossomed in the past three or four years, and many of these products are available ready to use. Most of these products not only kill weeds but also put down a barrier to prevent future weeds from growing during the season.

“And with the popularity of paver-type patios and driveways, these are very prone to weeds encroaching on them,” Augustin says. “This is a great solution that is available and we’re seeing a lot of folks buying them.”

Specialty Items

For independent garden centers, there are many opportunities to sell products for lawn and garden care that aren’t carried by mass merchandisers. There are many specialized products available for rose care, perennial care and so on. Most of them fall into three general categories: herbicides, insecticides and fungicides. For example, some people grow grapes, says Augustin, and Old Bordeaux mixture has been around for years, but about the only place you can find it is in a garden center.

Charlie Cole of Cole Gardens, Loudon, N.H., also suggests carrying aluminum sulfate. This is a product that turns hydrangeas blue. “Every customer that buys an Endless Summer or Big Daddy hydrangea should walk out with one of those,” he says. Another specialty item that has been a big seller at Cole’s is Rose Tone by Espoma, a natural rose fertilizer.

Educating the Customer

Cole says providing education is the best thing garden center operators can do to push garden pharmacy products. He agrees that customers can become quite overwhelmed when browsing this department of the garden center. “If you have an excessive amount of chemicals to choose from, then it doesn’t look like you really know which one you want to suggest,” he explains. “So if you have one product to get rid of aphids, then it looks like, ‘Yes, this is what we use.’ Then you’re not unsure, and employees can make better suggestions.”

Cole’s tries to limit product offerings so that it doesn’t become a guessing game. “We want to make it so that customers can pick out what they want easily,” Cole says, “and so employees can suggest products easily with minimal training.”

One way to draw customers to your garden pharmacy department is to send out mailings. Cole shared one idea: He sent out a postcard to every customer who purchased a broadleaf evergreen. The card contained information on how to prevent winter die back. “It’s a time-consuming category,” he says. “But you have to educate the customer.”

One Last Tip

Something you should keep in mind when choosing garden pharmacy products is that products are available in two forms: ready-to-use or concentrate. According to Augustin, it takes much more work for homeowners to use a concentrate. They are better used in large areas where larger amounts of product solution are applied. “Most of the time, we find that today’s homeowners just don’t have that much need,” he says. Augustin suggests customers buy ready-to-use products and use them in a single season so they are not stored for long periods of time.

Jasmina Dolce

Jasmina Dolce is managing editor of GPN magazine. She can be reached at [email protected].