6. What to avoid when buying plants
- Plants with sickly or spotted leaves, or wilted stems. Check that the bark of woody plants hasn't been rubbed or scraped, and that branches haven't been broken.
- Pot-bound plants with roots emerging from the pot's drainage holes. Also avoid those with roots curled around the space between the compost and the inside of the pot. You can check this by tapping the base of the pot on the ground and then sliding the plant out of its container.
- Plants that have just been transferred to larger pots. These shouldn't be on sale until the roots have become established. Check by picking up the plant at the base of its stem. If the plant pulls out of the compost, it's on sale too soon.
- Outdoor plants being grown under cover. Be wary of buying plants on sale under cover (because the temperatures rise rapidly here) and of plants that are in flower when the same plants growing outdoors in gardens are not. These plants will suffer once planted outside in low temperatures and cold winds unless you acclimatise them (harden them off) slowly.
News & views | Have your say | Our services & contact
Also authors of: photos4art.co.uk, gardenmakeover.eu, cheshirecycleway.co.uk, congletoncycling.co.uk and scaresbrooks.co.uk
Copyright © Alec & Val Scaresbrook. All rights reserved.
No part of this web site may be copied and reproduced in any electronic or printed medium for publication or distribution without prior written permission from the copyright holders.
For further information please contact us.
N.B. Products and services provided by any third party accessed from this web site are out of our control.
