Picture-worthy signs

Signs and tags are essential for customers to better navigate your garden center and to learn more about products when staff members are busy. In our travels, we’ve spotted some great examples of signage that guided us through stores, provided helpful information and even made us laugh.

Signs, labels and tags that promote a brand and locally grown products

Longfellow’s Garden Center’s branded pots and a friendly tagline — “Making pretty … pretty easy” — promotes the Centertown, Mo.-based company and also serves as a reminder to customers that gardening doesn’t have to be so intimidating.

Colonial Gardens in Blue Springs, Mo., makes it clear that its hanging baskets are grown in-house, as are the vegetables it sells in its market. The company also showcases other local companies when the products aren’t Colonial-grown.

Providing free lemonade is just one small way Greenscape Gardens in Manchester, Mo., surprises and delights customers, especially when temperatures are in the 90s, as they were on this Thursday in May. Small gestures like this go a long way with customers and help them remember your store.

Solution-based signs

The team at Greenscape Gardens are experts at creating solution-based signs. They have sections specifically for deer-resistant, pet-friendly and pollinator-attracting plants, keeping it simple for customers.

Customers can stop by the Hillermann Nursery & Florist Garden Pharmacy for all their plant care and pest control questions, and the area includes welcoming signage and comfortable seating. One of Hillermann’s talented team members makes many of the signs by hand. Some are sold to customers while others are used to denote different areas of the Washington, Mo.-based store.

Longfellow’s Garden Center makes sure customers know where its perennials are located and that this particular selection of plants can attract hummingbirds to the garden.

Where can I find that?

Hillermann Nursery & Florist is on a very busy road, and the store is not at eye level, so to make sure people don’t miss it, president Sandi Hillermann McDonald says they installed what she likes to call the Hillermann “Hollywood” sign.

Putting gift items at various price points in one area is a good idea any time of year, especially on the biggest holiday for garden centers — Mother’s Day. Greenscape Gardens reminds customers to remember their grandmothers on Mother’s Day, too.

Hillermann uses large, colorful letters to promote its perennials area.

Bremec Garden Centers, with three locations in Ohio, has signage that is both attractive and informative.

Signs that made us laugh

Perhaps it’s not surprising that most of the humorous signs spotted were about restrooms, but they also helped customers navigate the store.

Hillermann’s women’s restroom sign is likely a favorite of its female clientele.

Greenscape Gardens’ sign answers a likely common question.

Hillermann makes sure its customers are actually paying attention to its signs.

Signs that promote deals

Customers could try their luck at Bremec Garden Centers in July. In each store, patrons could spin a roulette-style wheel and land on a random discount between 20 and 50 percent off their entire purchase. Signage around the store promotes the deal and encourages customers to take a spin.

Signs that explain important policies

Bremec Garden Centers displays its tree and shrub guarantee and return policy on signs near those areas to make sure customers know the guidelines before they get to the register.

Bremec images and captions contributed by associate editor Conner Howard.