Healthy Living

BEST BETS FOR BUYING
END-OF-SEASON PLANTS

Just like snow blowers and swimsuits, plants have their peak demand season. After that season passes, there are deals to be had. But if you’re shopping for plants, keep these tips in mind to avoid disappointment. It’s one thing to buy a garment or piece of equipment that can sit on a shelf, and quite another to buy something that requires constant care.

1. Check for signs of disease, including fungus, mold, rot, or places that harbor insects. Plants with any of those liabilities are not a good deal at any price, and can infest other plants you already own.
   
   
2. Look at the bottom of the plant, under the container it is planted in. If there are excessive roots coming out of the drainage hole, or if the roots are twisting around in a mat inside the container, the plant has become “root bound” and may have difficulty transitioning to the ground or a bigger container. Shrubs especially will have a harder time surviving if they are root bound.
   
   
3. Droopy or tired plants can often be revived with a trimming up and repotting or planting in the soil on a cool morning. A little extra TLC can go a long way to reviving a plant that has endured a long season on a nursery cart.
   
   
4. Leggy, too-tall annuals with few blooms will perform better if you trim them back almost to the base, then fertilize and water them well. Impatiens and petunias are good examples. Perennials that are past their blooming season should also be cut back upon planting.
   
   
5. Never subject shrubs or trees to transportation in the back of an open truck unless you have wrapped them securely in burlap or landscape fabric. Hauling a plant in such a manner is equivalent to placing it in hurricane winds, which will almost always stress the plant intolerably and may well kill it, although not immediately.