5 Essentials to Consider When Selecting Plants at a Nursery

After the winter season is over, it\’s time to help your garden reclaim back its beautiful state. However, as you\’re choosing flowering plants for your garden, be a wise shopper. Upon visiting a plant nursery, it\’s worth to understand the different variety of plants that are good for your garden. A garden with healthy plants offers numerous advantages. It\’s easy and less costly to maintain as the plants naturally establish themselves. Here a few important things to consider, before purchasing plants for your garden.

Purpose of garden
Gardens are essentially used for two main purposes. That is to grow vegetables or cultivate flowering plants for decorative purposes. Vegetable plants that you can grow in your garden include, but not limited to such as onion, potatoes, peas, cucumber, mint, beans, tomatoes and more. So it\’s imperative you understand the aim of your garden to choose an ideal plant for it. In addition, you need to define the type of plants that do well in your garden. Estimates show that of those adding plants to their gardens, 92% are buying plants that are native to their region.

Quality of garden center
While at the plant nursery, be sure to assess the quality of plants. Check to see how the plants are cared for, and that majority of them appear healthy. One common sign of a poorly maintained nursery is the presence of wilted plants, which could be caused by pest infestation, poor lighting or improper watering. If the majority of plants show signs of wilting, that could easily mean the rest of the plants are not receiving quality care.

Leafage
The next thing you\’ll have to do is to assess the quality of your specific plant. A healthy plant is attributed to green, lush and bright leaves, except variegated plants. Steer clear of plants that show signs of wilting like yellowing or pale looking leaves, particularly along the edges. This is because they take a lot of resources and time to recover. Also, stick to thick plants with sturdy, compact and upright stems than those leggy ones which are prone to breaking. Another important aspect of foliage you could look at is if the plant has been pruned. Pruning stimulates healthy growth as well as proper flowering for more beautiful landscape designs.

Root System
For a plant to be healthy, it has to have healthy roots. Most plant nursery use pots and other garden containers for planting. However, when plants remain in pots for such as long periods, they end up with stressed roots. Such plants take time to recover and blossom. Hence not worthy of your garden.

Buds and Flowers
It\’s typical to settle for plants that have their flowers already bloomed. They\’ll definitely look amazing in your garden. However, there is also a high chance that they may fail to thrive after transplanting. That\’s why it\’s encouraged to buy leafier plants, perhaps in buds, that will offer your garden a longer bloom time.

Other than these factors, make sure you invest in perennial plants instead of annuals, which have to be replaced every year. Not only will this save you on cost, but most perennials are known to survive different seasons. You can even decide to start your own small nursery center where you\’ll just be plucking plants and transplanting them into your garden.