Plant nurseries and garden centres

Magpie sells your plants online and at the till, from one stock. Buyers pick a delivery day, and you email customers what is in season.

The nursery and its staff, seasonal staff too, work in one Magpie team.

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The Stock page of Greenhaven Nursery’s smooth hydrangea in Store: each pot size from 1 to 5 gallons with what is on hand, held for checkout, its reorder point, the quantity to order, what is on order and its cost, with the 2 gallon size marked Low stock and 24 on order.

This combination of five Magpie areas fits a plant nursery.

Store
Store sells your plants online in each pot size, for local delivery or pickup.
Inventory
Inventory counts the trays from your growers, and drafts the next order for each one.
Staff Scheduling
Staff Scheduling plans the rota for the season's staff, and shows each person their own shifts.
Newsletter
Newsletter emails your customers what is in season, now or at a time you choose.
Calendar
Calendar lists your workshops on a public calendar, with a limit on places.

Customers order plants in each pot size, and pick their own delivery day.

Store gives the nursery an online shop for its plants. You can sell each plant in several pot sizes. Each size has its own price and stock. Each plant's page can show care instructions and specifications such as Position: full sun.

You deliver on the days you choose, to the postal codes you list. Buyers pick one of the next 14 delivery days at checkout. A buyer can also collect from the nursery. Trees can be offered for delivery or pickup only.

A paid Greenhaven Nursery order waiting for pickup: two smooth hydrangeas in 3 gallon pots and three 30 L bags of compost, with the FALLPLANTING discount, tax, the total and Stripe’s fee, and Mark ready for pickup beside the order number.

Inventory counts the trays from your growers, and records the plants you throw away.

Inventory counts your plants by the tray and your compost by the bag. From what is running low, you draft one order for each grower. Receiving it will add the plants to stock at the price charged.

You link each pot size in your online shop to its item. Till and online sales then come out of the same stock. Plants you throw away are recorded as waste, with a reason such as Damaged.

You plan the rota, and the season's staff see their own shifts.

Staff Scheduling gives the nursery its rota. The Shop starter adds Cashier and Stock positions, and Opening and Closing shifts. You can add your own, such as Watering. A seasonal worker needs only a name to go on the rota.

Once you publish the week, each person you invite sees their shifts. They can swap shifts, ask for cover or ask for time off. You can make the spring weekends a blackout period. Time off asked for then will be marked for you to decide.

You email what is in season to the customers who asked for it.

Newsletter gives the nursery a signup page, where people subscribe and confirm by email. Buyers can also join at checkout, once their order is paid. You can bring your list from Mailchimp, Substack or a CSV file.

You write each email in Markdown and send yourself a test. Then you send it now, or schedule it for Friday morning. With web copies on, each sent email is listed on the signup page. You can share it in a social post.

Greenhaven Nursery’s fall planting email in the Newsletter editor: the subject and preview text, then the email in Markdown listing the bulbs, shrubs, mums and compost in season now and the 15% off trees and shrubs.

You list your workshops on a public calendar, with a limit on places.

Calendar lists the nursery's workshops on a public calendar. You can turn on RSVPs for a pruning demonstration and set its number of places. Once that many people answer Going, its page will say it is full.

You can start a social post from a workshop, with its date and address. For a paid workshop, a Form charges each person a fixed amount by card. People pay without signing up first, into your Stripe account.

Greenhaven Nursery’s Calendar for October, with grower deliveries on Mondays, local deliveries on Tuesdays and staff meetings, and the pruning demonstration open in the event drawer: on the public calendar with its full details, taking RSVPs up to 25 people.

Five more areas cover the greenhouse checks, social posts, the website, hiring and the books.

Daily Operations
Daily Operations gives the nursery opening and closing rounds, from the Retail store starter. You can add a watering round with a photo of each greenhouse. Greenhouse temperatures are checked against limits you set.
Social Media
Social Media starts a post from a plant in your shop, with its photos and link. Posts to Bluesky, Mastodon and LinkedIn will be published at the time you choose. You post to Instagram from your phone.
Websites
Websites gives the nursery a site with its opening hours and address. One section lists your plants at their current prices. The site can be at the nursery's own domain.
Hiring
Hiring posts a temporary job for the spring on your public job board. Applicants apply without signing up first. When you hire someone, Magpie will add them to the rota.
Accounting
Accounting adds each paid order and its Stripe fee to the books. Cash taken at the till is recorded in Undeposited funds until you record the deposit. Your accountant can be given the books and nothing else.

Deliveries, till and online sales, and waste all change one stock.

With each pot size linked to its item in stock, a plant is counted once.

  1. The trays arrive

    You receive the grower's order. What arrived will be added to the yard's stock at the price charged. Refused trays will be listed under Differences.

  2. The new plants go on sale

    Each linked pot size's stock will be set to what the yard can sell. The till and the online shop then offer the new plants.

  3. One sells

    An online order will take the plant out of stock. So will a sale you record at the till.

  4. Some are thrown away

    You record them as waste, with a reason such as Damaged. The online shop will show the lower stock.

  5. Running low

    Plants below their minimum are listed as running low. From that list you start the next order to each grower.

  6. In the books

    Each paid order will be added to the books, with Stripe's fee. It is split into sales, shipping and sales tax.

Setting up takes five steps.

  1. Make a team for the nursery

    You create a team and invite the people who run the nursery with you. Help: Create and manage a team.

  2. Set up the shop

    You name the online shop and connect Stripe. Then you add local pickup, and the postal codes and days you deliver. Help: Collections and shipping.

  3. Add your plants

    You add each plant to the shop with its pot sizes. You add it to stock with your grower's packs and a minimum. Then you link each size to its item. Help: Sell Inventory stock in Store.

  4. Publish a week of shifts

    You start the rota from the Shop starter and add each person by name. Then you publish the week. Help: Plan and publish a staff schedule.

  5. Start the newsletter

    You start the newsletter and import your list. Then you choose it as the list buyers can join at checkout. Help: Start and configure a newsletter.

Plans

Store, Inventory, Staff Scheduling and Newsletter are on every plan, the Free plan included. Each plan has its own limit on subscribers and on emails sent each month.

A free team has 3 member places, counting you. The Team plan has 25, at one price for the whole team. Staff on the rota take no place until they accept an invitation.

Magpie adds no fee to your shop's sales. Stripe's processing fee is taken from each card payment. On a paid Form for a workshop, Magpie's fee is 1% of each payment.

Other businesses similar to a plant nursery have pages of their own.

Farms and market growers

A farm grows food for weekly boxes and market stalls. It takes sign-ups for its boxes through Forms.

Florists and flower shops

A florist sells cut flowers rather than plants. Wedding and event enquiries become proposals with a deposit.

Questions nurseries and garden centres ask

Can customers choose a delivery day for plants they order online?

Yes. You add local delivery with the postal codes and days you deliver. You set a cutoff time, and orders after it count from the next day. At checkout, the buyer picks one of the next 14 delivery days. A postal code you do not deliver to is refused before they pay.

Can customers order online and collect from the nursery?

Yes. You add local pickup to the shop. A buyer who chooses it gives no address. When you mark the order ready, Magpie will email them the nursery's address and times.

Can some plants be for collection or local delivery only?

Yes. Trees and large pots go on a shipping profile with only pickup and local delivery. A cart with one of them is never offered postage. Your other plants can still be posted on their own. If every profile has the same pickup method, a mixed cart can still be collected.

Can we sell the same plant in different pot sizes?

Yes. You add an option such as Pot size, with a choice for each size. Each size is an item of its own, with its price, stock, SKU, weight and barcode. Shoppers can filter your shop by the option. A second option, such as Colour, makes an item for each combination.

Do plants sold at the till and online come out of the same stock?

Yes. Each pot size that tracks stock has one stock number. A sale you record at the till takes from it, as an online order does. Checkout holds what a buyer is buying while they pay. Both kinds of sale are also recorded on the linked Inventory item.

How do we ring up a sale at the till?

You record it as a new order, with the plants and how the customer paid. They can pay cash, on your own card terminal, by bank transfer or by cheque. The order is created paid, and the plants come out of stock. Magpie can email the customer a confirmation. Accounting records the money in Undeposited funds until you record the deposit.

Can customers order plants before they are ready?

Yes. You turn on Sell when out of stock for a pot size. You can also give it an Expected to ship date. Customers can then order and pay while you have none. Their orders are marked Pre-order and listed together.

Can new season plants go online on a set date?

Yes. You give a draft product a date and time to go live. It will go live then, with the same checks as publishing it by hand. A product with no photo or no price stays a draft, and its row says why. A collection, such as Spring bulbs, can go live on a date too.

Can we put care instructions on a plant's page?

Yes. You write them in the product's description. Specifications add name and value pairs to the page, such as Position: partial shade. Shoppers can filter by tags such as evergreen or pet safe. A collection can list every plant with a tag, such as houseplant.

Can we record plants that died or were damaged?

Yes. You record them as waste, with a reason such as Damaged or Spoiled. They come out of stock, and the item's history lists them as Wasted. The linked pot size then shows the lower stock. The online shop offers only what is left.

Can we order from our growers in Magpie?

Yes. Each grower is a supplier with its own plants, packs and prices. From what is running low, you draft one order for each grower. Magpie will email it, or you mark it sent by phone. Receiving it adds what arrived to stock, and refused trays are kept under Differences.

We grow on one site and sell on another. Can each keep its own stock?

Yes. Each place has its own pool of stock, such as the growing yard and the shop. You can move plants from one pool to another. Each pot size you sell online is linked to the item in one pool. The online shop sells what that pool holds.

Can people sign up for our newsletter in the shop?

Yes. Your newsletter has a public signup page. A QR code by the till can open it. People enter their email address and confirm from the email Magpie sends. Buyers who tick the box at checkout are added once their order is paid.

Can we bring our mailing list from Mailchimp?

Yes. You can import a Mailchimp or Substack export, a CSV file or pasted addresses. Each file can be up to 5 MB. You record where the list came from and how its people agreed. Anyone who had unsubscribed or bounced is left out.

How do people book a place on a workshop?

You turn on RSVPs for the workshop's event and set a capacity. People answer Going or Not going while signed in to Magpie. Someone new can sign up from the event's page. Once the capacity is reached, the page will say the event is full. You can also show how many people are going.

Can people pay for a workshop when they sign up?

You make a Form for the workshop and set its price. Each person answers its questions, such as which date they will come. Then they pay by card into your Stripe account, without signing up first. You close the Form when the places are gone. Magpie's fee on a paid Form is 1% of each payment.

Can seasonal staff be on the rota?

Yes. You add each person by name and mark them as seasonal. They need no Magpie account to be given shifts. To see their own shifts or swap them, they accept an invitation to the team. That takes one of the team's member places.

Can customers buy gift vouchers?

Yes. A gift card can have fixed amounts and, if you choose, a custom range. The buyer can have it emailed to someone on a date they choose, or keep it. Its holder spends it on plants and delivery in your online shop. A bought card never expires, and has no fee.

Can we log greenhouse temperatures?

Yes. You turn on temperature checks in Daily Operations, and add each greenhouse as a temperature point. Each has a target range and critical limits. Staff type readings on their own or as a step in a routine. A reading outside the target will open an incident with what to do next.

Set up your nursery.

Create a Magpie account and make a team for the nursery.

Create account