Supermarkets, B&M etc selling bedding plants

[notedbiscuits]

Every single year during bedding plant season, every supermarket and retailers such as B&M sell bedding plants. They are always look wilted or dead. Such a waste.

A friend who works at a supermarket says that they are delivered on chiller trucks. So these poor plants are grown in greenhouses then transported on trucks which are 1-2c then depending on the supermarket location, either outside in varying temperatures or the air conditioned store. The problem with watering are some trolleys which the plants are transported and on display can’t hold water and dribbles everywhere. Or some stores don’t have time to water plants.

Then she has seen delivery trucks with plants that are squashed. Or had something on top of them.

She says that the store chucks out more bedding plants than what is sold.

So why do supermarkets and retailers who only sell gardening stuff seasonally still sell bedding plants?

AIBU - supermarkets should continue to sell them
AINBU - supermarkets stop selling bedding plants

apologies. I forgot we can only get upset about the big stuff not the small stuff we see every day and can potentially change

Aldi and Lidl seem to have smaller amounts, water them and so they seem to not waste so much

Posting on Mumsnet about it isn't "change".

I'm not sure if you don't agree because the fruit and veg has also been "abused", but it's not really comparable. What would be is if the fruit and veg, which has been carefully grown, picked, packaged, and delivered, is then been badly handled and kept in the wrong conditions in store so it rots far quicker than they should and can't be eaten. It's such a waste, when just taking more care would mean it can be used as intended.

I agree @notedbiscuits, there's so much that pees me off about it.

The lack of respect for something that, although isn't sentient like the animals we eat, is still a living thing.

The can't be arsed/lack of care attitude. I generally dislike that attitude regardless of the situation.

The packaging waste. More into landfill which I hate.

The (probably fossil) fuel used to grow, pack, and transport the plants is in vain if the plants then die before being sold. It's an awful waste, and I hate waste of any sort. Oh, and the water use.

The undercutting of the local garden centres/nurseries. Yes, I know why people would choose to buy everything under one roof, but I still dislike how this adds extra strain onto small independents.

Personally, even if the plants look great I point-blank refuse to buy supermarket plants when I have 3 garden centres in my town, one of which is an excellent independent with very knowledgeable staff. I'll even chose them over the good chain garden centre, and I'd choose the chain garden centre over a supermarket.

Supermarkets are popular because they're convenient, but I'd hate to see garden centres going the same way as many high street butchers, baker, and fishmongers.

I bought a mini conifer during lock down from b&m. It looked half dead and I felt sorry for it. Best £6 I think I ever spent- with a bit of tlc it's now a healthy tree and growing huge!

I used to work at Morrisons and I have to admit the plants were generally really taken care of there, we did get white fly once though and had to throw everything away it was really sad.

I complained to our nearest B&M about their plants being left to shrivel and die. How hard is it for a member of staff to spend 5 minutes watering the poor things, they literally sell watering cans in the same bloody shop 🤬

Well it is if enough of us care and realise we aren’t the only ones so all start campaigning for it.

I thought I was the only one until I saw this thread

I don’t think that would happen, though. It’s one thing to pick up some filler bedding plants, and obviously a lot of people won’t ever do more than that. But anyone who is doing actual gardening will want more than that and will still go to a garden centre for anything beyond the odd bargain.

B&Q are very good and really look after theur plants.

This is my bugbear too, OP. My local Sainsburys invariably has shelves of half-dead house and garden plants and I'm always meaning to complain about it. It's such a waste of resources, and the time and effort of the nursery staff who raised them. It seems disrespectful to them and the planet to just let the plants die. I feel the same about food waste...the farmers that work so hard to produce our food, and the animals that have had to die for it.

But yes, why do they sell these plants if they can't look after them instore and so more die than are actually sold? It doesn't sound very profitable.

And get chucked out as waste within days of arriving....

I think posters who mentioned that a certain shop used to have lovely bedding plants and now they don’t. It’s probably just ONE worker who does the watering. They probably left, injury/illness made them change duties or new management said to them not to bother with watering the plants.

If supermarkets have to chuck out 50 plants for everyone sold, it’s not profitable.

My friend’s store closed their deli counter about 6 months before Covid as it wasn’t worth keeping. It took about 0.5% of weekly sales. Plus much waste as once a ham joint was opened it had a limited shelf life and got reduced cheap then disposed. Surely the bedding plants make less than that!

That's good, at least. I wonder why not with the cardboard ones, then?

I doubt that garden centres are going. They have obviously diversified by having cafes, food halls, selling good quality artificial plants, sell art, cards, hiring out units/areas for retail such as Cotton Traders, Pavers, Mountain Warehouse etc in the massive garden centre 15 miles from me.

There are people who do spend much money and time doing their garden and in it

They get bailed.

Our large Waitrose sells lovely plants, I often get them from there, they are a bit pricey though

When I lived in central London and had a small garden but no car and no garden centre nearby, I relied on Morrisons for bedding plants and compost etc. It was great and I had beds full of flowers and red geraniums in my window box thanks to them.

Not everyone can access a garden centre and actually many ailing plants can be revived. The food waste and packaging overload that goes on is much worse in my opinion.

As random supermarket worker won't have been shown how to water plants correctly....I know this as I was a garden centre manager myself. There's a way to do it correctly.....most people don't

Also, the plants die quicker as in recent years we have now gone 'peat free' with compost and this doesn't hold water effectively, so plants deteriorate quicker

I was just away to say our local Morrisons plants never look dead my parents buy them for their pots and the always last.

Our Home Bargains has a garden centre attached the plants seem well cared for .

I hear you OP but I bought a trolley load last weekend all reduced to 20p-£1 nursing them back to health and going well so far. I knew when they were going to yellow sticker because I know someone who works there who is also frustrated by all the dead ones being binned. Worth asking

It's wasteful of water. The water and fertiliser it takes to grow stuff that nobody wants, that is then just disposed of.

Dead bedding plants are not a necessity, and are sold by small shops and garden centres. No need for supermarkets to flog them

Why do supermarkets need to just sell 'necessities'

They don't

Waitrose must water theirs as they always look very good, I get my geraniums from there every year, they are the best I have ever had. I also got some very nice geums from there, maybe they come from the same place as their online garden shop which is also very good.