How to Choose a Retail Nursery
— Anyone can plant a tree and anyone can kill a tree —
These days, any nursery can give you another tree for free.
But first, you need to buy one, take home & kill it.
Most of the time (let's call it 98%), the plants you receive at the nursery are healthy when you purchase them. What kills them in most cases is lack of information.
Projects in the garden fail because 85% of the people who come to the nursery are novice gardeners and want nothing more than to be successful with the current garden project.
If you feel you fall into the 85% Novice Gardener group, then the most important part of your purchase is not the plants in hand or the vitamin B1 (it helps to keep the people who make vitamin B1 healthy).
It is the information you get that makes you confident that you are not going to fail at your current project!
Lack of information is the leading cause of failed projects in the garden.
You need to Learn How to Get Information out of your Local Nurseryperson.
Be Persistent. Be Very Persistent.
Take the Responsibility to Educate Yourself. Please....
Get information on Proper Care & Learn to Recognize Options
You want to do the Right Thing so that your plant will not die where you planted it! You want things that will improve your gardening experience!
Make a Mental Note...
- The right tree for the right place
- The right fruit for the right region
- The right soil amendments
- The right fertilizer
Do I have everything in the cart yet? Ok.
Off to the cash register to pay for it all...
.......................STOP!!!.......................
Do I, (meaning you, novice gardeners) really know what I am doing with this stuff, or did someone just tell me I needed it?
The question is: DO YOU REALLY UNDERSTAND?!
If you don't, then there are a few questions you must ask yourself:
- Did I cover my project goals in detail, and was the salesperson thorough enough for me to make confident choices?
- Did the salesperson instruct me on how to be successful with my plantings by covering potential problems or directing me to literature that would help me understand potential problems?
- Did the sales person invite me to call the nursery at the first sign of any problems?
- Did the salesperson or the nursery offer current information on gardening concepts?
- Did you leave the nursery feeling good about your project or did you just feel you where just sold?
The reason for this concern is that ultimately it is you who will be responsible for the success of your project. In most cases, if you do not succeed with any aspect of your project, it is your own fault. Sure, there are nurseries that will replace your dead tree, but that is not a part of your project...
You need to choose a nursery that exhibits a knowledgeable concern for a positive outcome to your gardening project.
Look for nurseries that are geared toward your success. If you like your nursery, help them to improve: put the pressure on them to make you successful the first time.
If, on the other hand, your experience is continually not what you wanted, then it is time to shop for a new nursery. If the nursery you go to is just in the plant replacement business, then your confidence is based on failure.
A properly planted tree can be around for your grandchildren to tell stories under with their kids. There is a lot to know about gardening and the joys of success can last lifetimes.
