Local garden centers have been a hot spot for those looking for a hobby during the stay-at-home order this spring. Yet they are dealing with major supply shortages.
Bob Wink, owner of Windmill Garden Centre in Oro-Medonte, says his business has experienced a busier than normal start to the gardening season. “We’ve had a huge increase in sales for both our garden center and landscaping. We are very fortunate to be one of the sectors that is doing well in the pandemic, and we are certainly feeling for the businesses who are being affected by the closures.”
Over at Ego’s Garden Centre on Horseshoe Valley Road in Coldwater, owner Kristen Ego has also been busy trying to keep up with high demand. Like many other industries, the gardening industry is seeing supply shortages, Ego says. “We grow a lot of plants ourselves, so we are able to continue that supply, but with things we need to buy in, we are seeing major supply shortages,” she said. “There are certain things that are still challenging for us; pots and containers for example have caused a lot of hold-ups in our growing system because we aren’t able to get some of our supplies on time for when we are timing our crops.”
