In the past one might have needed to visit several locations to gather everything needed to create their ideal home garden. A visit to the nursery to buy plants and seedlings, a stop at the hardware store to buy gardening tools, and a trip to the department store to choose outdoor furniture and grills. Stepping stones and lawn ornaments would be purchased at one specialty store, while mulch and soils would be purchased somewhere else.

The garden center of today features all of that and more. Of course, the primary concern is still on plants and flowers, whether offered as seeds, seedlings or fully grown plants and trees. Each garden center often features its own nursery, offering a variety of plants and flowers. All of the basic gardening necessities can also be easily picked up, including soils, amendments, fertilizers, mulch and decorative stones. Stepping stones, pavers, and edging are also available.

All types of gardening tools may be available at a garden center as well, from tillers down to hand spades, and lawn mowers to hedge trimmers. Shovels, weed-whackers, rakes and hoes can be found, along with garden hose, sprinklers and watering cans.

Garden centers also offer outdoor appliances and furniture. This is where you can buy your barbecue grill, outdoor bar and lawn furniture. You can also purchase fencing, sheds, gazebos, playhouses, and tents. Outdoor ?rooms? have become very popular, and many people enjoy decorating their outside spaces much as they would an interior room. Garden centers cater to that need by offering quality furniture sets, decorations and collectibles to set the mood in a garden living space.

Since gardening and lawn care can be complicated and time consuming, many garden centers also offer landscaping services. These services may range from designing gardens and outdoor living spaces to providing the staff to complete all of the landscaping work. They may also offer regular weekly or monthly landscaping services, such as lawn treatments or mowing.

Some garden centers also offer seminars and workshops for the home gardener, or lecture series and book signings by authors of gardening materials. A workshop may offer something a simple as the best time to plant in your climate, or as extravagant as how to plan a garden wedding. Some workshops demonstrate recipes to show how you can use the produce you have grown in your garden.

In some regions, gardening is a year-round activity, but in others it is strictly seasonal. Garden centers in cooler climates often choose to become specialty holiday shops during the fall and winter months. Many garden centers transform at holiday time into magical places. The fall holidays feature pumpkins, gourds, cornstalks and sometimes scary Halloween supplies. The winter holidays give us sparkling ornaments, twinkling lights, trees and swags.