LAKEWOOD, Ohio — When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, many people spent their time at home working on their lawn and garden, causing demand issues. Problems continue for some garden centers as inflation takes a toll.
Gardening is something Paul Bilyk said he’s always enjoyed.
“I enjoy helping people. I'm constantly impressed and amazed by my plants and nature, just learning what we can do and how to do it,” he said.
He’s worked at the Lakewood Garden Center since it opened in 2010.
What You Need To Know
- Gardening is something Paul Bilyk said he’s always enjoyed
- He said the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was something the garden industry wasn’t prepared for
- He said inflation is reaching new heights
- Bilyk said, when it comes to supplies, it’s a community effort and he remains hopeful for the future
He said the garden industry was not prepared for the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“One of the things that we seemed all rush to was our yards and our gardens,” he said. “So there was certainly a crunch on and supply.”
He said inflation is reaching new heights as prices for fertilizer, plants and other lawn and garden tools continue to climb.
“Across the board, we’re looking at probably a 20-30% increase in prices,” he said. “A lot of stuff that pre-pandemic would have started $8 or $9.99 is now, you’re looking at $12, $13.99.”
He said with supplies, it’s a community effort.
“The beautiful thing we have is, that we partner with a lot of local nurseries and kind of the shop small mentality of Lakewood and communities like that really help us weather the storm and in a lot of instances come back perhaps stronger than we were when we went into it,” he said.
He said he remains hopeful for the future.
“I think that we’re going to end up looking at this more as an opportunity to grow rather than a problem to overcome,” he said.
