Mixed containers command higher prices

Container gardens are premium products and should be priced accordingly by growers and retailers, said Terri Starman, Texas AgriLife Research horticulturist.

“Charge for the expertise, the time it took to grow them and design them and for the looks,” she said.

Starman polled consumers about price, harmony of color and information provided with container gardens. Her study appeared in the April 2008 issue of HortScience. She learned consumers will pay more for a mixed container when it comes with extensive care information. Consumers also said they’d return to the garden center to replenish plants in a mixed container.

The study found most people prefer container gardens with complementary colors (opposite each other on the color wheel), with a price range of $25. Starman said more research is needed on pricing container gardens because there are two types of consumers of this product: do-it-yourself and do-it-for-me customers.

“Some are willing to spend a lot more money for a beautiful container garden,” she said. “And there is also a market for servicing container gardens, especially for independent nursery operators who can sell it, deliver it, maintain it and change it out seasonally, for example.”

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For more: Terri Starman, Texas A&M AgriLife, (979) 862-2910; http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/floriculture.html.

August 2008