There are construction requirements that are, in our opinion, absolutely necessary for the sales of plants in the garden store.
First, is the protection of the plant material from the weather. Second, just as important, is the protection of the customers from the weather. These statements seem obvious to any merchant of any product. Surprisingly, garden store owners and operators neglect both to varying degrees.
“It was an hour before closing at the garden store. It had been cold and rainy all day and we were bone tired. The owner just looked at the weather forecast and told us that we all had to cover the bedding plants before we could go home. We got on more clothing and dragged huge sheets of black plastic up to the display beds and tables. We laid the plastic on the flowers and plants and used a bunch of bricks to hold them from blowing away. Late that night it started to get really cold with a clear sky and we saved the plants. Well, not so fast….three hours later into the night, it clouded up again and started to rain hard. When we uncovered the plants the weight of the rain on the plastic smashed all the blooms flat. They weren’t frozen but they sure were awful looking!”
We, at green garden gates, are committed to getting everybody and everything out of the weather as much as possible by the most efficient and economical method.
The covered houses in our design are our answer for this protection. These pole building structures ring the nursery display area. They measure twenty feet wide and ten feet high to the painted rafters. They have open trusses to the roof for an airy feeling and to let excess heat rise into the rafters.
The roof and walls are of translucent fiberglass panels to let light into the plants.
We rejected the idea of a “bubble” roof of temporary plastic. We did not want to replace and repair all the time. The permanent fiberglass panels will save money in product and labor in the years to come.
About every other ten foot, a wall panel section on each side of the walkway slides open for natural ventilation. The sliding panels are closed to protect the plants from cold air, wind, and early spring frosts. Customers can move and shop easily, staying cozy and dry, along the covered walkways. They can freely venture into the nursery display areas though the sliding panels.
Garden store owners who do not have extensive protection for their customers from the weather can expect to lose fifty percent of the day’s sales on a rainy cold day. If they have protection, they can gain back twenty-five percent or more of those sales back.
The eight feet wide concrete walks allow for customer movement with the remaining six feet on each side graveled for benches and display carts.
We will say it over and over again. NEVER SLOPE THE CONCRETE FLOORS. This is never more true than in the walkway buildings. Can you imagine a 300 pound loaded steel cart rolling toward a young child because someone forgot to block the wheels?
There are several areas of the walkway houses where the roof has been elevated to allow for large trees and shrubs to pass through the buildings with little effort.
No customer wants a skinned up tree that a garden store guy tried to put through a litttle doorway
Irrigation lines are suspended into the rafters with the irrigation heads pointed down. Wall hose bibs are mounted at many locations in the walkway buildings for easy hose spot watering of plant products.
We have suspended all the irrigation and electrical lines into the rafters to keep them off the ground, clean and free from damage
The building does contain some wall outlets for future displays. The walkway buildings are lighted by steel conduits connected to florescent bulb fixtures along the rafters.
Where is an electrical outlet when you need one? We will need them in the walkways at some point for some reason. We wanted them installed right away to avoid uneccesary costs in the future.
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