Thinking of buying some plants?
We have a bewildering choice of places to buy plants.
Now more then ever you need some advice when buying and choosing plants, we can help.
Where to buy plants
Buying plants should be easy, however, there are so many decisions, where should you buy, will the plants be okay and is it the right time to plant.
There are advantages and disadvantages at each location
The good news is that we can help. find out more
Choosing Plants
It can be a bit daunting buying plants for the first time, the good news plants are very forgiving and will always try to grow. There are some simple things to look out for, use our guides to help you.
It wasn’t always like this.
Before the 1960’s plants and seeds were bought from nurseries by mail order.
Every autumn glossy catalogues dropped through the door and after lots of careful reading, orders were written out and posted off, often they included postal orders as payment (postal orders ? ask your grandmother).
As the plants were grown in the soil, they had to be lifted during the autumn and winter then dispatched and planted before they started to grow in the spring.
There were problems with this long-distance buying, the stock would be sold out and substitutions made, the plants suffered in the post and often the plants struggled to grow.
Also, you couldn’t see what you were buying, plant shows like Chelsea, parks and stately gardens were the only place to see plants in flower.
This started to change in the 1960’s with the opening of the first garden centres. Some far-sighted nurserymen had been to America and seen plants in tin cans being sold during the spring and summer.
This opened up a new opportunity allowing customers to buy plants throughout the year, you could also see plants in flower before buying them.
This was the start of Garden centres and soon groups of garden centres started to develop.
During the 70’s the supermarkets and DIY stores started to appear and they quickly realised they could advertise cheap plants to bring customers into the store. Gardening programs appeared on the television and there was a boom in gardening, you could now buy plants in garden centres, supermarkets, petrol stations, markets and plant shows.
Now with the rise of internet and TV channel shopping, the old-fashioned mail-order system has had a revival.
Helped by better packing, quick communications coupled with reliable quick delivery to your door. We now have a bewildering choice of places to buy plants.
Now more then ever you need some help buying and choosing plants.
Check out our How to buy plants guide
We can help you choose the correct plants and avoid those expensive mistakes.
Check out our where to buy plants guide
If your plants keep failing, you might be buying them at the wrong time or poor quality plants from the wrong supplier.
