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Where do you trust to buy plants from?
PoddingtonP
Posts: 196
in Talkback
In the last year, we have moved house and I'm now working on getting my new garden looking beautiful. I have recently started thinking much more about where I buy plants from, as I am increasingly paranoid about introducing nasties into my garden. Things like Japanese knotweed, bindweed, ground elder, NZ flatworms, vine weevils etc.
How trusting are you of where you get your plants from? Are you happy to get plants from neighbours, friends, car boot sales, village fetes etc? Or are only nurseries or garden centres worth trusting? What about supermarkets, wilkos, pound shops which are increasingly stocking plants?
Just interested in what other people think!
0
Posts
Hi Poddington, regarding on line suppliers there is a thread called Good Guys that lists peoples experiences with buying online. From looking at a variety of posts people tend to source their plants from all sorts of places. There is also a seed exchange thread on the site, Ive seen photos of beautiful plants from Aldi, garden centre sales and a number of people have even bought unnamed plants and planted them in pots to see what grows.
I run my own garden centre and I have to be careful about the sources of my stock. I've been dished out vine weevil, heuchera rust, and been sent mildewed plants, and over-fertilised plants which collapse as soon as the watering falls below the gallons level. I've bought mail order but never on-line. Anything from a new source is quarantined, even for a few days, and is always checked. Nothing wrong with buying from fete stalls - many a bargain to be had that way, but always be aware of the pests and diseases which are specific to the plants you buy, and do the quarantine bit. I always check my suppliers growing sites and their stocks so that I'm confident in the health of the plants I'm ordering. I suggest that's not very different when you're buying as a customer at a garden centre, a fete, or anywhere else. Buy from a reputable source, or make sure you see the plants before buying. H-C