Best Garden And Plant Nurseries 2022
Graff Gardens & Farm
Graff Gardens & Farm serves the Chicago-area with top quality plants and garden essentials. The full-service retail and wholesale garden center specialize in traditional as well as unique, unusual plant material. The friendly and knowledgeable staff has extensive experience to assist with plant selection and diagnosing horticultural problems. The expansive garden center offers four acres of the finest flora and fauna, garden gifts, accents, pottery, and water gardening essentials. Graff Gardens & Farm maintains a distinctive edibles department for gardening enthusiasts wanting to grow herbs and vegetables at home.
Fertile
Fertile caters to the needs of urban gardeners, homeowners, and landscape contractors in the Chicago area. The expansive 25,000 square foot urban garden center offers the highest quality selection of cut flowers, annuals, perennials, shrubs, trees, and garden elements. Knowledgeable staff can provide exceptional advice to help customers create personalized botanical at-home oasis.
Chalet Nursery & Garden Shop
Chalet Nursery & Garden Shop has been providing the finest quality garden supplies and landscaping services to Chicago-area customers for 100 years. The expansive 9,500 square foot garden retail center offers everything necessary to create and maintain the perfect garden. Knowledgeable and friendly staff stands ready to direct customers to home essentials, holiday supplies, pet products, and much more. Chalet Nursery & Garden Shop specializes in exceptional landscape design services of virtually any size and style. Expert outdoor designers deliver superior quality construction and installation of gazebos, patios, pergolas, waterfalls, walkways, and more.
Gethsemane Garden Center
Gethsemane Garden Center has been attending to the gardening needs of Chicago-area customers for nearly 40 years. The family owned and operated business employs a knowledgeable staff with a passion for all things flora and fauna. The nursery specializes in providing customers with the highest quality plant materials and service. Gethsemane Garden Center makes supporting local, family run farms, and greenhouses at top priority. Strong local partnerships enable the nursery to respond to the unique needs and tastes of customers by maintaining a wide selection and variety of plants throughout the growing seasons. Gethsemane Garden Center is a go-to place to meet neighbors, share ideas, and find landscaping and gardening inspiration.
Farmers Market Garden Center
Farmers Market Garden Center has everything necessary to create green spaces in urban environments. The family owned company specializes in providing city dwellers with original container gardens, rooftop installations, interior floral design, and seasonal décor. Chicago-area garden enthusiasts looking to enhance backyard or balcony spaces will find a wonderful selection of whimsical accents, accessories, and unique furniture. The team of passionate horticulturists and floral specialists enjoy helping clients create personal sanctuaries in a large city. Customers can expect to find an array of native plants, organic garden products, soils, potting, mixtures, and more at the urban garden center.
Hoelterhoff’s Nursery
Hoelterhoff’s Nursery has been the go-to garden center in the Chicago area for nearly 80 years. The family owned and operated business offers gardening enthusiasts an expansive selection of bulk products, plant materials, garden supplies, and much more. The knowledgeable staff at Hoelterhoff’s help customers to create the perfect landscape to meet every style, taste, and budget.
Hinsdale Nurseries
Hinsdale Nurseries has been providing homeowners and landscaping professionals with the highest quality products and service for over 150 years. The Chicago-area business maintains an expansive nursery of 550 acres containing quality shade and ornamental trees, shrubs, and evergreens. Chicagoland Grows varieties, spaced specimens, and broadleaf evergreens are a nursery specialty. Garden enthusiasts and professionals rely on Hinsdale Nurseries to provide an array of trees, shrubs, evergreens, annuals, perennials, roses, and groundcover. Knowledgeable staff stands ready to assist in choosing everything from a single plant to the expert design and maintenance of an at-home garden retreat. The full-service landscaping design and maintenance team will keep properties healthy, clean, safe, and attractive.
Wannemaker’s
Wannemaker’s has been the go-to spot for all things lawn and garden for more than 50 years. The family owned Chicago-area business has everything necessary to grow a garden, plant a tree, outfit a patio with furniture, and decorate for the holidays. Customers can count on Wannemaker’s to have the most vibrant and fresh assortment of plants. Exceptional service is a top priority. Friendly staff helps garden enthusiasts with everything from annuals and perennials to fertilizers and flower care. The expansive business provides a variety of quality patio furnishings like benches, umbrellas, tables, chairs, fire pits, and more. Accents for the home and surrounding garden are available including terra cotta pots, planters, flags, and candles.
Pesches
Pesches has been providing Chicago-area customers with a destination home and garden store for over 93 years. The family owned garden center offers an exhaustive variety of quality plants, home furnishings, décor, collectibles, holiday items, and much more. Knowledgeable staff can help select plants as well as solve horticultural problems. Pesches commits to delivering attentive service, expert advice, and top quality plants and garden products. The business offers three distinct departments that can meet any gardening, landscaping, and outdoor retreat goal. The flower shop has the freshest cut flowers, plants, and gift baskets for every occasion. Pesches garden center houses an overwhelming selection of flowering plants, shrubs, ornamental grass, seeds, bulbs, tools, and more. The nursery has hundreds of different varieties of evergreens, trees, and everything necessary to create a beautiful yard.
Fasel & Sons Garden Center
Fasel & Sons Garden Center has been meeting the needs of passionate gardeners for nearly 55 years. The Chicago-area garden center maintains an expansive selection of flowering annuals, herbs, and vegetables. A range of departments comprises the center including gardening supplies, décor, birding, flowers, and much more. Knowledgeable staff can provide inspiration and offer fun, whimsical ideas to breathe new life into tired landscapes. Fasel & Sons provides professional landscape design services to create the perfect look for outdoor spaces.
Schwartz Nursery Garden Center
Schwartz Nursery Garden Center has been growing quality trees and shrubs for over 40 years. The family owned Chicago-area business specializes in providing locally grown greenery at the seven-acre facility. The full-service garden center has an expansive selection of perennials, vines, and ornamental glasses to meet every taste and budget. Gardening accessories, soil amendments, fertilizers, and plant care products are also available to create the most beautiful and healthy landscapes. Schwartz Nursery Garden Center employs knowledgeable staff to assist customers to select the right plants that complement any home or garden.
Fiore Nursery and Landscape Supply
Fiore Nursery and Landscape Supply provides Chicago-area customers with the highest quality plants, gardening products, and service. The family-owned company has been a go-to source for landscape architects, contractors, and design professionals for more than 90 years. Customers rely on Fiore Nursery and Landscape Supply to deliver premium plant material and unique or hard to find plant varieties. A generous selection of natural stone products is also available to help create or enhance outdoor spaces.
Expert Answers To Common Questions:
- Introduction
- What is a plant nursery?
- What defines a garden center?
- Is it cheaper to buy plants at a nursery?
- How do plant nurseries work?
- How do I buy plants from a wholesale nursery?
- What are the different zones in gardening?
- What gardening zone am I in?
- Where do I buy organic seeds for gardening?
- What is a master gardener?
- How do I become a master gardener?
- How does gardening help the environment?
- What is hydroponic gardening?
- What is permaculture gardening?
- What is container gardening?
- Are worms good for gardens?
- Is pressure-treated wood safe for vegetable gardens?
- Is Roundup safe for gardens?
- Q: Introduction
- A: Buying plants from a garden center or plant nursery is a way to pick up healthy plants that are naturalized and ready to plant. Garden centers and plant nurseries don’t always serve the same clientele, so it can help to know the difference between the two. With these types of businesses, you may pay a slightly higher price because you’re getting healthy plants that have been professionally grown.Some other details to keep in mind when visiting a garden center or nursery to choose plants for your garden include:
- Choosing the right plants for your gardening zone
- If you need help learning how to garden
- If you want to practice organic gardening
- The type of gardening you want to do, including container, hydroponic and permaculture
- Q: What is a plant nursery?
- A: A plant nursery is an agricultural facility that starts and grows plants to an age that’s appropriate for selling. Plants can be started from seeds or cuttings and grown in greenhouses or nursery fields. Additionally, some nurseries only sell to other businesses while others sell to the public.
- Q: What defines a garden center?
- A: A garden center is a retail establishment that sells plants and gardening supplies to the public. Some garden centers also run plant nurseries to provide customers with plants. Some other garden centers purchase plants wholesale from nurseries and sell the plants at retail prices to the public.
- Q: Is it cheaper to buy plants at a nursery?
- A: It usually costs more to buy plants at a nursery. However, the plants purchased from a nursery are generally healthier due to being raised by an agricultural professional. That can include naturalizing plants that were started in a greenhouse to withstand outdoor weather conditions.
- Q: How do plant nurseries work?
- A: Plant nurseries start seeds in soil that meets optimum growing conditions. When seeds sprout, growers tend to the seeds by watering and watching for signs of disease. Nursery workers can also use cuttings to start some types of plants. Plants are then sold to customers or buyers for other businesses.
- Q: How do I buy plants from a wholesale nursery?
- A: To buy plants from a wholesale nursery, you usually need to get a vendor’s license so wholesalers can sell to you without adding sales tax. Additionally, you typically need to have your business registered with the state and have a business checking or credit card to complete the purchase.
- Q: What are the different zones in gardening?
- A: In the United States, Canada and Mexico, there are 11 growing zones. These are also called hardiness zones. A 10-degree Fahrenheit difference divides each zone. Different plant types thrive in each zone. The coldest zones are in Canada, and the hottest are in Mexico and Hawaii. The bulk of the zones are in the United States.
- Q: What gardening zone am I in?
- A: You have a couple options for finding your gardening zone. One way to find your growing zone is by searching for it on a site that sells seeds or plants. Another way to find your growing zone is by searching for your location on the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map to find it.
- Q: Where do I buy organic seeds for gardening?
- A: To find organic seeds for gardening, you can browse through printed seed catalogs for organic seed product listings. You can also search the internet for sellers in your area who sell organic seeds. Additionally, you could join a native grower group that shares information about native plants and growing organic plants.
- Q: What is a master gardener?
- A: A master gardener is a volunteer who has been trained by a local extension office to help new gardeners succeed. These volunteers have experience with all types of gardening and usually participate in the program to share their love of gardening with novices.
- Q: How do I become a master gardener?
- A: To become a master gardener, contact your local university extension office. Go through the training provided by the master gardening program to get certified. Finally, put in the required annual volunteer hours to maintain your certification as a master gardener volunteer.
- Q: How does gardening help the environment?
- A: Gardening helps the environment because plants provide a natural source of natural noise reduction. Plants provide food for pollinators, including both birds and insects. It can also help reduce the amount of carbon in the air. However, when pesticides are used in gardens, it can have a negative effect on pollinators.
- Q: What is hydroponic gardening?
- A: Hydroponic gardening refers to the process of growing plants in a water-based solvent instead of dirt. The solvent contains minerals the plants need. Additionally, substrate, such as gravel or Perlite, can be added to the base area to provide support for the plants that are growing in it.
- Q: What is permaculture gardening?
- A: Permaculture gardening uses native plants that are right for the climate in a given area to use what already works best for that space. For example, plants that are ideal for growing in dry areas are planted in areas that stay dry most of the season. Permaculture gardening helps native pollinators thrive and sustains natural ecosystems.
- Q: What is container gardening?
- A: Container gardening is using containers, such as flower pots and basins, to grow plants indoors or outside instead of putting them in the ground. It’s easy to adjust the size of a container garden to accommodate available space. Additionally, it’s a way for someone who doesn’t have room for a traditional garden to enjoy having some plants.
- Q: Are worms good for gardens?
- A: Worms are very good for gardens. While tunneling through soil, worms eat decaying matter and excrete it as usable soil. The tunneling process aerates soil so it can drain and plant roots can spread out more easily. Additionally, worms neutralize the pH levels of soil and make it more fertile for growing a garden.
- Q: Is pressure-treated wood safe for vegetable gardens?
- A: Pressure-treated wood that was produced after 2003 is safe for vegetable gardens. Pressure-treated wood that was produced before 2003 contains what is now a known carcinogen, chromated copper arsenate (CCA), which was applied back then as a treatment. Alkaline copper quaternary (ACQ) or copper azole (CA-B) are safer and are applied to pressure-treated wood today.
- Q: Is Roundup safe for gardens?
- A: Roundup is considered safe for use in gardens as long as the directions are carefully followed. It can be used to treat the ground before planting, followed by a three-day wait before putting plants in the ground. This is because Roundup kills any plant it touches, but it breaks down quickly in the ground.