Consumers' CheckBook rates area nurseries

If I had a nickel for every time someone's asked me which nursery is my favorite, I'd be able to afford all the plants I'd like to buy there. But since my favorite nursery changes all the time, I'm happy that someone else has done a more objective evaluation.

The Puget Sound Consumers' CheckBook has rated 89 nurseries throughout our area, based on their customers' assessments of the quality and variety of the plants sold, the quality of the advice offered and the reliability of the nursery.

The not-so-startling conclusion? "In the nursery business, unlike most types of services and stores we examine, paying more improves your odds of getting better advice, service and product quality."

The study reports prices for 11 different plants, revealing dramatically varying prices. A 6-foot Colorado blue spruce that cost $59.98 at Squak Mountain Greenhouses and Nursery in Issaquah cost a whopping $129 at Flower World in Maltby. An 8-foot Flame Amur maple at Flower World was $34.99, compared with the same-size tree costing $85 at Wight's Home and Garden in Lynnwood. Independent nurseries scored far higher on quality than the chains, while chains like Lowe's and Home Depot offered prices 24 to 37 percent below the all-nursery average.

The report is lengthy, thoughtful and filled with tips on how to stretch your nursery dollar, select quality plants, order from catalogs and search the Internet. It takes into account the complexities of the industry — "Since plants are alive, each one is different and each is vulnerable to disease, injury or death. Running a good nursery takes knowledge, years of experience, management skill and a strong commitment to quality."

In the Puget Sound basin, Wells-Medina Nursery leads the pack in overall quality (91 percent), edged out by Christianson's Nursery in the Skagit Valley and Savage Plants And Landscape in Kingston, each scoring 92 percent. Swansons, Molbak's, Bainbridge Gardens, Dig Floral and Garden and Emery's Garden all scored in the mid-to-high 80s.

The Puget Sound Consumers' CheckBook has no advertising and costs $10 for a single issue or $34 for a two-year subscription. It's available from the Center for the Study of Services, 8005 12th Ave. N.W., Seattle, WA 98117; 206-332-9696 or www.checkbook.org.

Valerie Easton also answers questions in Wednesday's Plant Talk on the back of Northwest Life. Write to her at planttalk@seattletimes.com.