A Guide to Buying Plants

Buying plants can be difficult, especially if you are a beginner gardener! We wanted to give you a few tips on what to look for when you’re buying.

What plants should you buy?

Deciding what plants you should purchase depends on the area you live in, what you have time for, and what you want. Here are some ideas to help you with choosing what you want to buy.

Plants that don’t need water If you have a tendency to under-water your plants, you might want to consider purchasing a kind of succulent plant. Some good succulent plants are Mexican Snowballs, Aeonium Sunburst, and Golden Senum. While these are great options, any succulent plant will do fine. It just depends on what you want for your garden. When watering your plants you will want to use a drinking safe water hose to ensure harmful chemicals are not transferred from the hose to the water then to your plants. 

Flowers are deceiving Don’t buy plants that are flowering too much. This means that they are putting their efforts into producing more seed rather than forming a sturdy root system. If you’re early in the season, pick plants that are budding and haven’t bloomed yet. If you are later in the season, go for the plants that have more leaves. 

Study before buying Be sure to study the plants you are looking at thoroughly before you buy them. Make sure their stems are strong and that they look healthy. Check for pest problems too -- look for abnormal leaves or stems. If you take pest-infested plants home, they could infest your whole garden! 

Shopping

Know what you want Before you go shopping, make sure you know what you want to get. Know how many and what kinds of plants you want. Look for plants that will do well in the climate that you live in -- these will be a lot easier to take care of. 

Window shop Don’t settle for the first place you see! Check out different garden centers and plant nurseries before buying anything. Compare the different prices and see what is offered at certain places. Be sure to look into return policies, health conditions of the plants, and other things that are important to you.

Shop at the right time A huge factor of getting the best plants is to shop at the right time. Don’t go shopping on Saturday mornings or within a couple of days before a holiday. These are the times that it will be the most crowded and picked over.

Get to know the employees Getting to know the nurserymen and clerks at your favorite garden center or nursery will help you in many ways! They will help you purchase the plants that are best for you. They will also give you good advice on how to take care of your plants.


Extra Tips

• Bring a wagon if you are planning on buying lots of plants.
• Take your plants home in a covered vehicle to avoid wind damage -- if you are driving a pickup truck, place them closest to the back window as possible.
• If you can’t plant them right away, be sure to keep them watered and in plenty of shade.

We hope this helps! Good luck with your shopping.

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Posted by Kylie on March 5, 2015 at 6:02 PM