Break The Plant Bench Mold — 10 Easy Ways To Improve Your Vertical Merchandising
Garden center plant yards tend to be a horizontal plane of green plants. Take a look at these creative ways to add drama to your store and see what might work for you.
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Stack crates to make a display shelves
I saw this display idea on a blog (DecoratingYourSmallSpace.com), and saw something very similar at Bents Garden Centre in the U.K. Bents painted their crates white to match the theme of the area it was in, and added pot lights to each crate in order to spotlight high margin merchandise.
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Start displays hanging baskets at more than one height.
This display at Darwin Perennial Days shows just how much more interesting hanging baskets look when they're not all in a row above customers' heads. Consider pulling several baskets out of the rows and create a wall of hanging baskets like this one. It not only gets your more valuable baskets to a level customers can take a closer look, but it also gives your customers inspiration of how to use more hanging baskets at home.
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Fake ivy can transform an unattractive interior wall.
Roger's Gardens in Corona Del Mar, Calif., uses artificial ivy in the first room of its gift shop to soften the transition from the outdoor area to the indoors.
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When all else fails, build small structures to add vertical interest.
Nelson Water Gardens sells perhaps the most horizontal product of all — ponds. To add drama to its outdoor pond department, Anita and Rolf Nelson had these open air arbors built and painted a deep water blue.
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Create shelves in unexpected places.
Another way Nelson Water Gardens created vertical interest was to build underwater tables to place large planters and fountains upon.
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Unconventional materials can create vertical interest.
Spied at the Philadelphia Flower Show, these stacked logs make a great base for just a lot of things — a planter, a display table or simply an area divider. I've seen cardboard boxes stacked into a serpentine wall and wine bottles strung together like beads to create a curtain. These simple materials transform a conventional sales floor into something stylish.
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Add excitement to the plant yard with dramatic touches.
The first time I stepped into the outdoor sales area at Trentham Garden Centre in the U.K., it was dazzling. Not only were there plant-festooned chandeliers and tree limbs suspended from ceiling, there were strategically-placed, large products on more conventional plant benches. Olive trees with lit candle lanterns rose above the cyclamen bench. Two Japanese maples had grapevine ornaments dangling from their limbs, surrounded by pansies, which were spread on the table they sat upon.
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Easy Vertical Gardens Give Customers A Pattern To Follow At Home
Products like Wooly Pockets (which is shown here) make it easy for home gardeners to try out vertical gardens. This particular display is professionally done, but I can see a similar treatment between porch support posts. A couple other versions I've seen are to either use heavy rope or chain to suspend three or more layers from a porch roof or use metal stakes in the garden to create the support posts. The latter technique can be used in rows comprised of three or four suspended containers, resembling a gardener's library.
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Using a unifying color palette allows you to play.
This display was spotted at the PP&L stop during the 2015 California Spring Trials. I don't think any of the boxes, tables or crates match one another. But by using antique gold throughout and one plant type, this display looks appealing, not chaotic. The trick is to find one or two unifying elements, then you're not limiting yourself. You can pull together different plant varieties, but then its more important for the pot colors and back drop to work together.
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Build a vertical shelf with reclaimed window shelves
Habersham Gardens in Atlanta found a way to create a vintage chic vibe and allow light to flow from the windows into an otherwise dark room by hanging old wood-framed windows with chains.
View all
Stack crates to make a display shelves
Start displays hanging baskets at more than one height.
Fake ivy can transform an unattractive interior wall.
When all else fails, build small structures to add vertical interest.
Create shelves in unexpected places.
Unconventional materials can create vertical interest.
Add excitement to the plant yard with dramatic touches.
Easy Vertical Gardens Give Customers A Pattern To Follow At Home
Using a unifying color palette allows you to play.
Build a vertical shelf with reclaimed window shelves
After you finish looking at the slideshow, take the time to visit a good visual merchandising page on Pinterest, hosted by a woman named Kate Field. She found some easily adaptable ideas I think you’ll enjoy.
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Carol Miller is the former editor of Greenhouse Grower Retailing and is current editor of American Vegetable Grower. You can eMail her at [email protected]. See all author stories here.