Natorp’s in Ohio has a creative way, shown here, of letting its visitors know they can park full carts in a specific spot while they keep shopping.

Many retailers sell grills. SummerWinds Nursery in California goes a step further by providing propane tank replacement.

(from Jacquie Williams-Courtright, Alden Lane Nursery, Livermore, Calif.)
We are a very dog-friendly nursery. Hailey, our “nursery dog,” is a happy greeter of customers and their canine companions. We would always offer bowls of water to our furry friends, but Sue, a very creative staff member, decided that we needed to kick up the experience. And she did just that. Her husband built the Hydration station, and Sue painted it and topped it off with a succulent green roof. We now have many happy dogs, and a few customers who commissioned Sue to recreate it for them with paintings of their dogs adorning their custom, functional garden art.

Bushnell Gardens Nursery in Granite Bay, Calif., offers hose repairs to its customers.

(Bremec Garden Center, Chesterland, Ohio)
Golf carts are a must at Bremec, a large garden center that includes growing and landscaping departments that customers are invited to visit. Golf carts allow employees to give customers’ feet a rest as they talk about how the business can best meet the customer’s needs.

(from Peter Mizett, Weston Nurseries, Hopkinton, Mass.)
The Garden Makeover Service, where we send our garden center staff to people’s homes by appointment, has been a profit center for us this year. We now charge an additional fee if the customer wants a more detailed design.
We also have to make sure that these appointments arevscheduled at times where we dp not need this sales associate working in the garden center helping walk-in customers. We also want to see mobile garden service appointments in the “off peak” times of year.
Overall, the total sales for the sales person who performs this service have increased by about 15 percent year over year for the two years we have provided this service.

(from Jeff Griff, Lowe’s Greenhouse, Chagrin Falls, Ohio)
Our Cottage Garden Program followed up a successful program we launched the year before: Estate trees, which were larger trees delivered and planted for $99 plus the cost of the tree.
We wanted to try to use this momentum to sell smaller trees which would be $99 for the tree including local delivery and planting. The program was successful and we sold many more of these trees, plus attracted a good deal more small planting jobs.

(from Holly Peterson, Goebbert’s Farm and Garden Center, South Barrington, Ill.)
We started a container recipe program called “Contain Yourself” after many guests would comment on planters our custom planting staff had made up and wanted to know how they could do it at home with their own planters. After talking with our staff, we came up with a variety of planters that could easily be replicated by any level gardener and created the recipes for each planter.
We have found great success with the container recipe program. We are constantly being asked about planters that have been planted and how they can do it at home. We add new planters in the mix each year based on which planters guests asked about in the previous season.

Knupper’s Nursery and Landscape in Illinois offers free fresh cuts of Christmas trees during the holidays.

(from Bill Van Wilgen, Van Wilgen’s Garden Center, North Branford, Conn.)
We received an offer from a bird seed company in Canada to install a car charger. It cost quite a bit to get it hooked up, but everyone who had electric cars and used it said it charged a dead battery very quickly. Those who do use it have really enjoyed it. It’s also caused a lot of people in the area to say how green we are, which the media picked up on quickly. The more we get electric cars, the more it will be a success. The feedback has been great.

(The Microgardener)
Rather than throwing away broken pots, there are many ways you can creatively recycle them into useful garden art, edging, mulch, plant labels, habitat and more. The Microgardener blog (microgardener.com) offers some suggestions that you can use either at your garden center, or offer to your customers.