Ah, another gardener who is always looking for a prize! I once found a thread-leaf Japanese maple at Lowes and I asked a teen-aged clerk how much it cost because it didn't have a tag. She said $7. I told her that she must have made a mistake because those trees were worth more than that. I did not intend to cheat Lowes. She insisted that there was nothing I could do about it and so I bought it for $7. You should see it now.
I am always dismayed at some of the big box stores that get in tons of plants and let them die from lack of water or neglect. They just give them back to the supplier for a credit. I have a friend who occasionally waters the plants at K-Mart because she is a Master Gardener who can't stand to see the plants perish!!

Great deal! I got one last year and it's doing just fine in this cold weather.

Now, what about all that English Ivy behind it?

I never miss an opportunity to browse the plant sections of the big box stores because once in a while you find a diamond in the rough!

Esh, that ivy was planted by a previous neighbor. Believe it or not it is on the property line. The line runs very close to my house on that side, in fact, part of my driveway(out of sight and to the left in that picture) is really on the neighbors property. Even with it there I still have a lot of soil coming down that hill in a heavy rain. There are large Oaks on that hill further back and to the right, so it is very shady in summer.