Where to Find the Best Prices for Plants
Last updated May 2019
Our undercover shoppers checked prices for more than 25 different plants, such as a lavender in a six-inch pot and a false cypress in a #3 container, at more than 1,000 garden nurseries and chains in the seven metro areas we serve.
For the selection of plants they sell, big chains Home Depot and Lowe’s did very well on price. Home Depot’s and Lowe's prices each averaged about 30 percent below the all-store average for comparable items. Unfortunately, the big chains received well-below-average ratings on “quality of products.”
The table below reveals tremendous store-to-store price variation—possibly more than for any other type of business we cover. It reports the low, average, and high prices quoted to our undercover shoppers by surveyed stores in the Washington, D.C. area. For almost all of the different plants we checked, the highest price was more than twice the lowest price; in some instances, the highest price was more than three times the lowest price.
It is important to note that in this field—unlike most we cover—there is a correlation between price and quality. A store with high ratings on our customer survey for “quality of products” is more likely than not to have a higher-than-average price comparison score. Fortunately, however, some stores that rated high on our quality measures also had below-average prices.
Our Undercover Shoppers Found Big
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|---|---|---|---|
| Item | Low price | Average price | High price |
| Lavender in a #1 container/6" pot | $7.99 | $12.92 | $25.00 |
| Liriope in a one-gallon container | $6.98 | $8.87 | $15.00 |
| Salvia in a #1 container/6" pot | $3.49 | $12.25 | $20.00 |
| Dwarf lilac, 4' to 6', ball and burlap or in a #3 container | $24.30 | $37.87 | $60.00 |
| Forsythia, 4' to 6', ball and burlap or in a #3 container | $4.95 | $31.43 | $60.00 |
| Boston fern in a 10" hanging basket | $11.98 | $26.59 | $39.99 |
| Double knockout rose in a #3 container | $24.50 | $32.51 | $40.00 |
| Boxwood in a #3 container | $19.95 | $38.49 | $54.99 |
| Gold mound in a #3 container | $15.00 | $28.47 | $44.95 |
| False cypress in a #3 container | $24.95 | $36.76 | $55.00 |
