Sell the dream, not the plant

Hort Journal Australia · AU|Article|June 2026

Sell the dream, not the plant

Hort Journal Australia carries the Adapt or Die series to the Australian market, where John Stanley is based. This instalment argues that the independent garden centre no longer competes on product — a plant is a plant wherever it is bought — but on the picture a customer can imagine themselves inside. It looks at how layout, presentation and staff conversation either build that picture or quietly dismantle it, and why a beautifully grown plant on a bare trolley sells for less than the same plant in a setting. The piece is a direct counterweight to product-led thinking, and pairs naturally with the series' argument that experience is the only ground on which independents can beat the box stores.

http://hortjournal.com.au/2026/06/sell-the-dream-not-the-plant/