• Ask Mark
    • Search the Library
    • Mark’s Blog
    • eNewsletter / Subscribe
    • Books
    • Links
  • Home Hardware Mark’s Choice
    • New Products
    • Hand Tools
    • Cutting Tools
    • Boots and Gloves
    • Hose and Watering Accessories
    • Bird Feeders and Bird Seed
    • Container Gardening
    • Seeds and Bulbs
    • Plant Supports
    • Gardening Accessories
  • CIL Iron Plus
    • C-I-L Iron Plus Lawn Fertilizers
  • Events
    • Calendar
    • Gardening Communities
  • About Mark
    • Mark and Ben’s Bio
    • Book Mark as a Speaker
    • Mark in the Media
    • Contact Us
May 30, 2012

How to Shop at the Garden Center

~ May 30, 2012

When you visit the garden center it can often be overwhelming. I am often approached by gardeners asking me ‘where to start’. I offer this information to help point you in the right direction.

1. Good value does not always equal the lowest price. While there is a lot to be said for sale prices on most anything that you buy retail keep in mind that buying plants is unlike most other items that you put in your grocery cart. Plants are living things. A great looking plant is not pot bound, leggy, has yellowing leaves or is necessarily in full bloom. It IS young, roots only fill ½ of the container, stocky and always green. And not necessarily in full bloom.

2. Labelling pays for itself. During this, one of the busiest times of the year at garden retailers, it is not always easy to get answers from a sales person to your gardening questions. For this reason accurate picture labels are worth their weight. A good label is printed in Canada and is appropriate for our growing zone, includes a picture and detailed cultural information. It is also a handy reference placed next to your new plant in the garden.

3. Roots do not encircle the inside of the container. Young, white fibrous roots are ready to take off in your garden. These roots must make a home in your soil before the top part of the plant can thrive. It is o.k. to turn a plant upside down while at the garden centre, gently remove it from the pot and inspect it. If the roots circle the inside wall of the pot or cell pack put it back and look for a younger, perhaps less impressive looking specimen.

4. Full bloom is not always a good thing. It takes energy for a plant to produce a bloom. It is, after all, an effort on the part of the plant to attract pollinators (not buyers) and to reproduce. A great garden performer will have much more green growth on it than blooms. The power reserved in the roots will be there when you most want it to push the blooms to max while planted in your garden over the next month or two, rather than on the retailers shelf.

5. Wet. The hallmark of a good plant retailer is one that pays close attention to the maintenance of the plants that they sell. Many mass merchant retailers fall down in this department, allowing plants to become dry after they are received at the store. A plant that dries out excessively ‘hardens off’, reducing the vigor that it had when it left the green house. Avoid buying plants that are ‘light weight’ [dry] as they may just collapse on you before you get home. Buy wet plants.

← Previous post
Growing in Containers

Next post →
Planting Basics

Search

Recent Posts

  • Around the Acres This Week January 11, 2021
  • Around the Acres This Week December 9, 2020
  • Around the Acres this Week November 2, 2020
  • Around the Acres This Week October 23, 2020

Mark’s Blog by Month

Ask Mark

  • eNewsletter
  • Radio/Podcast
  • Magazine article
  • Newspaper column
  • TV

Recent Tweets

Mark CullenFollow

Mark Cullen
12 Jan

A review of @suestuartsmith new book - great winter reading! https://www.thestar.com/life/homes/2021/01/12/new-book-cultivates-hope-through-both-the-physical-and-passive-acts-of-gardening.html

Reply on Twitter 1349023794342621191Retweet on Twitter 13490237943426211913Like on Twitter 13490237943426211916
3 Jan

Probably the most important house plant advice that can be given! So many plants die from overwatering! Stick your finger in the dirt. Don’t be afraid 😁 If it’s cool and moist leave it alone! Thanks @MarkCullen4! And thanks @ABurbidge! https://twitter.com/ABurbidge/status/1345484646075740160

Reply on Twitter 1345680506915074049Retweet on Twitter 13456805069150740495Like on Twitter 134568050691507404914
3 Jan

Stone more great coverage. A good news story to start off the year

Reply on Twitter 1345731171905380353Retweet on Twitter 1345731171905380353Like on Twitter 13457311719053803537
2 Jan

Winter (indoor) #gardening Pro tip from @MarkCullen4 in TorStar Homefinder section~ “Resist watering indoor plants until they need it.” Leaves drooping suggest adding water, touch soil to test for dryness. Great read, thx. 🌿🌸

Reply on Twitter 1345484646075740160Retweet on Twitter 13454846460757401601Like on Twitter 13454846460757401603

Comments are closed.

About Mark and Ben


Mark Cullen is an expert gardener, author & broadcaster and holds the Order of Canada. His son Ben is a fourth-generation urban gardener and graduate of Guelph and Dalhousie University.
More

Find Mark On

Sponsored Links

Highway of Heroes cullensfoods
© Mark Cullen. Go to top ↑