The condition of trees and shrubs before planting is critical to how well they establish and grow after planting.

I look for the markdowns at reputable local nurseries with staff who don't look at me like I have lobsters crawling out of my ears when I mention anything by its latin name.

In the many years I've been gardening, I've always purchased from local independent nurseries for the very reasons Bboy & Mbuckmaster have stated. The economy drove me into my job managing a HD garden center this year, and given the success our center has enjoyed, and the consistantly positive feedback I've been getting from our customers & HD regional managers, it's the boots on the ground in any given store that makes all the difference. The stock we receive is always healthy & vigorous. IF they'd hire dedicated plant people, experienced & knowledgable gardeners to manage their centers, I have no doubt the big box problems could be minimized. Yet, when the nursery supplier execs walk through my center, they snicker and come up just short of discouraging my efforts to care for and present our stock in a thoughtful and intelligent manner - as an independent nursery would do. It's a lot more work to do things right, and to go the extra mile make the plant-buying experience intersting & educational, but the bottom line is it's made a HUGE difference in sales and in establishing a loyal customer base over previous years. I got a good chuckle out of mbuckmaster's comment, because it's often the customers looking at *me* as though I have lobsters coming out of my ears :)

I know for certain there's great HD garden centers out there. It's a matter of finding them.

As I walked past a man wearing Home Depot attire was leaning over a man not wearing a vest etc. - apparently causal labor - and hissing at him to water faster, not put so much water on each annual in the rack. These were also still out in the parking lot, on the hot asphalt, and the guy with the watering wand was already flying over the plants with it so fast it was hard to believe they were getting much.