Homebase

Ok, maybe Homebase isn't regarded as a particularly good gardening store anyway, but....last week I went into the Homebase in Finchley Road and asked - do you have any Jasmine? To which I received the reply - "What is that?" :confused: :confused:
I kid you not.....he may have been a schoolboy doing an evening job, but you'd think they'd give them some basic training...
So anyway, I bought some via a Guardian Special Offer....that's a point, I've never had a problem with Guardian or Independent Special offers.

 

Crikey !

Must just say I went to B&Q in Gillingham, Kent last week, and was astounded by how HELPFUL & KNOWLEDGEABLE the staff were.
Even the staff who weren't serving me were jolly and polite.

Something seems to have changed for the better, and I know I'll be going back.

 

Home base is at the bottom of my road and far two convenient, everytime I go there for something for the garden (which is a lot) I always curse and say I won't go again as it's so expensive!

They have a gardening person at ours though not mich of an expert, they didn't seem to know what I was talking about wen I asked for copper fungicide for my seedlings and didn't stock it. They were helpful however in helping me decide what compost to buy and gave good advice.

I find the bird food very expensive there in comparison to other places and the plants are quite dear.

 

Yep I think the plants are too dear. I know a guy on the market who was selling these irises for �£2.50 and was proud that they were unusual. Anyway I told him that Homebase were selling them this year. He was quite downcast and customers werew smirking , as they do, until i told him Homebase were charging �£10 for fewer bulbs to the pot and the pot was mostly just compost.
While in the shop I asked about cloches that they were selling. They did not know what they were!!!

 

went to aldi today and noticed a new homebase, never been in one and now i have heard what everyone has said ,guess i will give it a wide berth now, cheers

 

Went past our local Woolworths today and they had the racks of plants outside. I have seen plants less wilted after they have been dumped on a compost heap for several days. Its not as if we have had a heatwave is it? I wonder if someone will water them before they go brown and crispy. Then some poor sod might buy them. They never recover properly when they get as bad as that. That is why i never buy the cheap plants being sold off.

 

Well, the jasmine that I bought from the Guardian is flourishing...I HAVE been back to Homebase, got some petunias that seem to be flourishing, and a few herbs.....
I'm not sure of the history of this, but the fact that it's called HOMEBASE seems to indicate that it's really a DIY store and the garden section was tacked on as an afterthought. It's OK if you know what you're looking for, but the customers seem to have far more gardening expertise than the staff!

 

we had a great girl in our homebase,really new her stuff,too good to be true she has gone,
and obviously so has her touch