We recently completed a major home improvement campaign, so I got chance to become quite the expert on the various hardware/home improvement centers.
The rule of thumb with HD is (1) go early and (2) don't ask any questions and/or ask for any service. What we really did was use HD as a baseline for about 50% of our purchases.
Anything other than generic products were purchased elsewhere. For example, HD has decent 2x4s, but for anything else like nicer redwood, etc we went to a local lumber provider. Same for plants: run of the mill shrubs, fertilizer, etc were purchased at HD, harder to find specialty plants were acquired at a local nursery.
Finally, as most DIYs know, timing & momemtum are everything; even though you might save a little more at HD, if you need a couple of small items, the local hardware store (Ace in our case) is the only way to go. Just getting there and back in 5-10 minutes is a blip compared to the 5 min park/walk alone at HD.
PS Lowes sucks. I could never place my finger on it until a eearlier poster mentioned that they cater to women. Makes sense now - it masquerades as a hardware store if you actually need something, but is probably less intimidating.
You're not asking in the right way, that's all.
?Por favor, donde estas las mangueras?