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- Nonprofit and independent
- Takes no advertising or referral fees
- Ratings and reviews by surveyed Consumers' Checkbook and Consumer Reports local subscribers
- Undercover price comparisons
- Complaint counts from local consumer agencies and attorney general offices
- Advice to help you get the best service and value
Since most garden centers buy—rather than raise—most of what they sell, there is room for tremendous variation in buying standards and the quality of plants being sold. The opinions we collected from consumers on garden centers reflect these big differences.
Skilled florists can interpret your tastes (or those of the recipient), determine what’s appropriate for the occasion, and then create a work of art that fits those needs. Our ratings of florists for quality and price should help you pick the best.
If you want delivery, exotic flowers, or need advice, your best bet is a florist. But if you’re willing to pick up the posies yourself and want to save a lot of money, you have several other options.
When you need to send flowers to someone outside the area, what do you do? We review the options, and advise you on how to deal with each to ensure you and your special someone on the other end are happy with the results.
Kermit the Frog once crooned “It’s Not Easy Being Green.” If you have a lawn, you can relate: It’s not easy keeping things green. Here's how to plot a course, whether you call in the pros or go it alone.
The proposals Checkbook's undercover shoppers get from lawn care services rarely agree on identification of weed species, presence of disease, need to correct soil acidity, and recommendations on core aeration.
Lawn care services work with different products and techniques, but the results they promise are similar. Companies usually offer customers a selection of “packages” that include specified treatment plans to take place over the course of a year.