Smart plant-shopping tips for spring
Finally — it’s time to get planting.
But before you plant, you shop. With garden retailers preparing for the spring business surge, shoppers need to prepare themselves.
Here are our tips for getting the very best plant value this spring: 1. Perfect is imperfect. All of us do it: we automatically reach for the perfect flowering plant. A hydrangea in full bloom, a pot of pansies brimming with colour. Fact is, a plant brimming with colour is soon in decline. This is true of plants that bloom at their very best once a year, like a hydrangea, but not so much a season-long performer like a geranium. Choose plants that are in flower bud, not flower, and enjoy a longer bloom cycle. 2. Avoid root-bound plants. Determine the quality of the plant you are buying by pulling it gently from the pot. Retailers won’t mind that you do this if you are careful not to spill soil everywhere. The pot should be 50- to 70-percent roots, the balance a quality potting mix. If the roots twirl around the inside of the pot, they are likely to sit in your garden in shock. Pull tightly wound roots apart before you plant — or avoid root-bound plants. 3. Frost damage. We will get frost over the next few weeks in southern Ontario. Guaranteed. This puts soft plants that have been forced to grow early in a greenhouse, or imported from warmer climes, at risk. Your best bet are plants that are just breaking bud or still dormant. They won’t look as glorious as the Japanese maple just arrived from British Columbia that’s in full leaf, but they will leaf out and perform much better in your garden. 4. Autumn stock is a good bet. Some retailers store last fall’s leftovers and bring it out for sale early in the spring. This stock may perform very well in your garden since the plants are generally more established and hardened off, therefore more tolerant of frost. 5. Imperfect may be temporary. Experienced gardeners know that some of the best plant deals are at the back of the store, where less-than-perfect specimens are often discounted. In a few years, a tree or shrub with a broken branch or a scar in the bark can be overcome with time or pruning and look great. 6. Seeds save money. Many plant shoppers forget to go inside the store to peruse the seed racks. Truth is, many herbs, annuals, vegetables and perenni- als grow easily from seeds and they always cost much less than plants. You will have to wait a few weeks for seeds to germinate and grow, but often they catch up to their potted brethren. 7. Divide and save. Some of the best plant deals this time of year are not at retailers but local horticultural societies or Master Gardener meetings, even garage sales. The divisions from someone else’s hosta or daylily can perform very well in your garden — and save you money. If you have perennials of your
own that are several years old, chances are many of them can be dug up, divided with a sharp spade or knife and planted around your garden. For free.
Mark Cullen is an expert gardener, author, broadcaster, tree advocate and holds the Order of Canada. His son Ben is a fourthgeneration urban gardener and graduate of University of Guelph and Dalhousie University in Halifax. Follow them at markcullen.com, @markcullengardening, on Facebook and bi-weekly on Global TV’s Morning Show.