Helpful Tips for Shopping at the Nursery

Before the Nursery

Before you go to the nursery know what they have in stock. Know your plots and pots! Plan your garden as much as you can. Measure your garden so you can estimate about how many plants will fit and you can even take a picture of your garden. Think of the height of plants, not just the color of the flowers. Think about how much sun/shade your garden gets. Make a shopping list so you can attempt to avoid impulse buying. Clip pictures from magazines to give you ideas.

At the Nursery

Thoroughly check the plants! A good plant will have signs of new growth, a strong stem and lots of perky leaves and buds. Make sure you check the plants for spots, holes or discoloration, which may be signs of disease or insects. However, spots could also be fertilizer residue, so ask the attendant. Always check the roots of your plant. If they are hanging out of the bottom, the plant might not have been, able to get good nutrients. If there are not enough roots the plant might not be mature enough to take home. Do not buy a plant that doesn’t have an identifying tag and make sure you read the front and back of the tag before you purchase the plant. Make sure you gather all of your plants together away from the displays. This will help you see how they look together. Sometimes plants look much better on display when they are tightly placed with plants of the same kind. And don’t be dazzled just by the flower, look at the foliage as well.

After the Nursery

Do not wait too long to plant your plants. If you are looking at a truckload of plants and still don’t know where to put them all you can position them in your garden in the pots to get an idea of what they will look like. The plants will dry out and die if they are not planted soon. Even if you water them they may outgrow the container and you will end up with roots hanging out of the bottom. Do not throw away the receipts or the plant tags. Many nurseries have one-year warranties and will honor receipts if your plant doesn’t survive. Keep the tags or photocopy them and make a binder. This way next year if you really liked a specific plant you will know what it was. You could also make notes about how well certain plants grew or didn’t grow.