Favorites: Homestead Gardens

If you're a gardener and live in Anne Arundel County, you've probably been to Homestead Gardens.  Homestead Gardens is easily the best nursery in the county.  They have a huge selection of plants, most (all?) of which are raised locally by Homestead Growers in a no-runoff facility.  They also have a huge selection of garden supplies and accessories, ranging from basics like mulch and seeds to things that are questionably garden-related (like Troll Beads or Laura Ashley accessories).

I love visiting Homestead Gardens.  However, up until the last few years, I didn't really buy much from them. 

Mainly because they are NOT cheap.

I mean, they're really, really NOT cheap.

But I still buy plants there.  This year I've probably bought more than I ever have before.  This is silly, right?  Why not just buy the flat of marigolds from Walmart or Home Depot?  Why would I spend more money to buy the same plants at Homestead Gardens?

Recently, I've been trying to support locally owned businesses, especially when it comes to plants.  I've found locally grown plants perform better.  I also feel better knowing my hard earned money is staying in the county/state, rather than being sent up to a big-box store CEO's pockets.  But the most important reason is:  I think Homestead Gardens is a great local resource and I want them to stay in business.

It is wonderful to visit a nursery filled with employees who know about gardening and care about plants.  Homestead Gardens has a diagnostic center, where you can bring in samples and get advice about your pest, disease, or other plant problem.  The staff is also happy to answer questions about how to plant, prune, and otherwise care for the plants you purchase at Homestead.

Photo from www.homesteadgardens.com

The variety of plants available at Homestead is astounding.  They have plants I have never seen anywhere else, either in person or online.  I think this has contributed to some of my flops from Homestead -- I buy something exotic on a whim without researching whether it is appropriate for the spot I end up planting it in.  This is the downside of having access to a wide variety of plants...you have to know what you're doing.  I guess I should have consulted the greenhouse staff!

Homestead Gardens constantly hosts events: Winter workshops, a Flower show in March, a Perennial Affair in June, the Crapemyrtle Festival in July, the Tomato Festival in August.  And that doesn't even include the random guest speakers who visit Homestead throughout the year.  It seems as if they have something going on every weekend, which brings me to...the holidays.  Every single year we visit Homestead gardens at least once in December.  They have a light display outside and deck out the greenhouses with trees, Christmas ornaments, enormous stuffed animals and set up a huge model railroad/village display.  This is truly a family tradition for us.


Photo from www.marylandlife.com

Regular customers can look into joining their garden club, which gives you access to an e-Newsletter, specials and discounts.  Senior citizens can join the Golden Spades gardening group, who meet monthly at the garden center.  If you're not confident with the design aspect of gardening, Homestead has a garden designer on-staff.  The designs aren't free, but you do receive a 10% discount on any plants you use from Homestead.  If you're not local, they have a great blog with a ton of gardening advice, seasonal recipes, and information about what is happening at the gardening center.

Finally, the weirdest reason I love Homestead is they have a herd of over 30 llamas at the garden center available for visitors (or for sale).  The llama barn is open daily and you can even schedule a birthday party there.

Photo from www.homesteadgardens.com

Homestead recently opened a new garden center in Severna Park last year, but I prefer to visit the original.  Do you have a favorite local garden center?

Homestead Gardens
http://www.homesteadgardens.com/
743 West Central Avenue
Davidsonville, MD  21035
410.798.5000

Monday - Friday: 9:00am - 8:00pm
Saturday: 8:00am - 8:00pm
Sunday: 9:00am - 6:00pm