It’s that time again! Time to spend a weekend visiting your local garden center, picking out this years flora, and getting your hands dirty. If you’re anything like us, you’ve been eagerly anticipating the softening of the ground and the beginning of planting season. If you’re anything like us, you’re also experiencing a mix of excitement, uncertainty, and anxiety at the prospect of picking the right plants, getting them into the ground, and figuring out what they need to thrive. Well, if you’re in Northern Virginia, you can do away with all the negative aspects of planting season by making one trip to Outdoor Showplace.
The Garden Center industry is outdated.
If you’ve been paying attention to news and trends, you’ll be aware that garden centers throughout the country have quietly been liquidating inventory and closing their doors. Much like other retailers, garden centers have simply fallen behind the times. There’s too much competition, and it’s too convenient to pick up seeds, bulbs, and flowers while you’re doing your other shopping. Traditional garden centers are overwhelming, with endless options and very little direction. For the normal homeowner, browsing row after row of plants can make you feel clueless – like you’d need a degree to choose the right combination of plants and keep them alive.
Outdoor Showplace is different.
Where garden centers have failed to evolve, we saw an opportunity. We built Outdoor Showplace to be a giant leap into the future of gardening. First, we made it a really fun and informative place to hang out. Instead of a cold, expansive warehouse, you not only get to see dozens of custom hardscapes built out; you also get to enjoy them. It’s experiential retail, which means that you?ll encounter plants, materials, and products not on shelves but in real-life scenarios. It’s kind of like a certain Swedish furniture store in that you’ll see products in use, make a note of what you want to purchase, then pick up those items at the end. Showplace is definitely more fun and engaging than those stores, though. We’ve also integrated Smart-living technology throughout the space to show you not just what’s standard, but what’s possible for your outdoor space.
We’re plant people.
Ever spend hours wandering a garden center wishing you had guidance? That won’t happen at Outdoor Showplace. Our team has massive landscaping and gardening expertise, and we’re here to help you make good decisions about plants for your property and your lifestyle. Plant life is a system, and we’ll connect you with varieties that work well together. You’ll leave our space set up with everything your plants need for their best chance to thrive.
Gardening is evolving, too.
When we say everything your plants need, we mean it. Plants are high maintenance, and even those with the greenest thumbs struggle to find the time to water, let alone feed or prune their plants. Gardens aren’t going away, but homeowners have far less time available for weeding, pruning, and fertilizing. It needs to be easier, and we deliver that at Outdoor Showplace. Through plant selection, planting recommendations, and automation technologies, we’ll make sure that you get maximum enjoyment out of your gardening experience, with minimum effort if that’s what you need.
Finding the Perfect Plant
One example of the technology that makes Outdoor Showplace the garden center of the future is the Perfect Plant program. This Smart system is integrated throughout our 1-acre showroom, allowing everything at Showplace to be accessed from our website or your mobile device. You can shop from the comfort of your home, scan plants as you walk through our space, and add items to your wish list. The Perfect Plant tells you everything you need to know about a plant – species, dimensions, bloom, color, care, and more. You can see plants in a living, experiential environment, then find out how to integrate them into your property.
Experience the future today.
This season, when you head out to the garden center, make Outdoor Showplace your destination. You’ll see firsthand how innovation and technology can make gardening – and shopping – more fun, engaging, informative, and convenient. You?ll wonder why all the garden stores aren’t looking to the future!
