Garden centre tips
If walking into a garden centre overwhelms you, this is what’s going on and here’s how to sort it, with a few garden centre tips. To start with, there are a lot of plants to choose from. Then it’s about the fact that plants are living things and no-one wants a fail (aka dead plants). And finally it’s about wanting to choose plants that will look good. So, yes, your buttons get pushed, but here’s how to deal with it…
1. Break it down: When we walk into a garden centre we’re faced with a sea of plants. With too much on offer, where do we start? The trick is to take a deep breath and remember everything is organised to make everyone’s life easier. All the trees will be together, the shrubs, the pond plants, indoor plants, the seedlings. So find your area of interest and don’t worry about the rest. Now for the next step.
2. Good looks: To stop yourself taking home a boring plant, or worse, something that’s just ugly, take a good look at the selection on offer. A really good look with a bit of internet cross checking via your phone. For example, say you’re after something like a coprosma to plant into a container beside your front door, you could pick up a standard green version, something old-school which is ok but tends to grow into a rangy mess over time. Or you could spot the Pacific™ Coprosmas that have two-toned really gorgeous foliage and a great growth habit. Now to step three…
3. Take only the strong with you: Be sensible and leave the delicate fussy plants to the experts or the nurturers. Your mantra should be survival of the fittest, so whip out your phone again and do a bit more online checking to see if the plant you’re considering will happily thrive with minimum care. For example, a quick search with ‘Pacific Coprosmas’ brings up phrases like ‘super-low-maintenance’ and the fact that they can be planted ‘in positions with high wind or salt spray’, both signs that these plants are not only lovely to look at, but tough too.
