Most people when they go to a garden center or a nursery to purchase plants, they spend more time designing their garden, wondering where to place which plant.
However, this is one step of planning your garden that should be done long before you start purchasing plants.
When you are in a nursery to buy plants, you should be looking at the quality of the plants and ensuring you only select healthy and strong plants.
Here are some tips for choosing plants in a garden center: o The first thing that you should check out is whether there is a balance between the size of the plant and the volume of the plant.
If the plant is heavy on the top, then you can be sure that it will tangled knotted roots which may not grow out when the plant is replanted into the soil.
That is why you should be avoiding plants that are big and tall but growing in small containers.
o Also, you should avoid small plants growing in big containers because the potting medium may not be sufficiently aerated.
This means that the plant could have unhealthy roots that could end up rotting.
Therefore, any plant you purchase should be in proportion to its container.
o The best time to purchase shrubs and trees are when the roots are bare.
This will give you an opportunity to study the root system of the plant and you should be looking for plants that have well-spaced, blemish-free roots.
Do not purchase plants that have damaged and knotty roots.
Another thing to remember is that bare root planting is only possible with deciduous plants and when these plants are in the dormant season.
o Avoid trees that have been badly pruned and have large pruning wounds.
If you purchase these trees, it is quite possible that the affected branch may start rotting and it could spread to the main trunk.
o You should avoid trees that are long and thin.
Such trees cannot withstand inclement weather and will need a lot of care and looking after for years to come.