Ordering Plants Online
It’s true that the internet have changed most of our habits, when it comes to everything we do in our daily lives, same goes for gardeners now they can buy almost every plants just by a few simple clicks,
Gardeners can order from reputable nurseries and specialist growers to get their favorite plants.
Plant catalogues remain ever popular, however, and offer photographs of bountiful crops and beautiful flowers.
Tips on ordering plants online
The first thing you should looks for is Ordering and shipping dates and deadlines. Since plants and bulbs are live material, they are usually shipped in the spring or the fall when planting conditions are ideal.
Buying plants at the beginning of the year means shoppers get the best selection. Some nurseries allow customers to place orders early, but will not bill a credit card until the order ships. In the event that there is a crop failure or other unforeseen problem, this is very important.
Quality, how would you know if a seed or a plant is good without examining it yourself, that is why before buying you should always read review on the particular website you going to purchase from reviews are available almost everywhere online on forums and dedicated websites.
Ordering plants for a specific region is also very important. Finding a nursery located in a specific region means the plants are already used to the climate in that area and they will establish themselves more quickly. If the shopper lives in New York and orders plants suited for Florida, chances are, they will not thrive.
Some garden nurseries have very low, too-good-to-be-true prices, but in order to afford that, they will send you a low quality, teeny-tiny, dried-out, bare-root division or dormant lump of desiccated roots in a little plastic bag. These plant nurseries use low prices to bring in bargain-seeking customers (because who doesn’t like a bargain), but to make the economics work out they skimp on size, quality, and use poor plant care practices in order to turn a profit. So the lesson is, when it comes to plants, the lowest price is not the best bargain because very low prices will mean poor quality.
Look for a guarantee. Most fruit tree and berry nurseries will offer a one-year guarantee with their plants. Check out garden watchdog sites and gardening forums to make sure that a company honors its guarantees and is a good one to work with. Gardeners are usually more than willing to share their experiences about plant companies.
Advantage of ordering plants online
The education about the plants that you will be purchasing is excellent. On every product page online nurseries include plant size, plant color, location recommendations, flower colors, foliage colors, and a variety of suggested uses. Also, they include photos that show you exactly what the plant looks like.
There is a wider selection of varieties available when ordering seed through catalogs. Do you want an orange-colored eggplant or golden colored snow pea? Go to the seed catalogs. If you’re looking for a particular variety with disease resistance, colorful fruits, unusual growth habits, or special flavor, you’re more likely to find it in a catalog.
Buying seeds via a catalog is often cheaper, too. You can shop around for the best price for that variety, and often when buying it in larger quantities, you can get a discount. But before buying everything in sight, inventory what you have left from last year. If stored properly, those lettuce, tomato and pepper seeds in opened packets can still germinate and grow fine.
Top mail-order plant nurseries
When looking for the best place to order plants online, first, start by reading all the information on the nursery’s website. Many online nurseries will show pictures of lush, established plants but then state in the fine print that they ship only bare root or young cuttings of these plants. Read about their shipping methods – are plants individually packaged and protected? Are cuttings shipped in soil? These are some sources on where to buy plants online.
- Crocus(crocus.co.uk) made mail-order fashionable when two plant lovers (Mark Fane and Peter Clay) started the website in 2000. The Rolls-Royce of mail-order nurseries, it offers 4,000 plants, including unusual ones such as Dianthus cruentus, with one of the best, most intelligently organised online sites.
- Beth Chatto Gardens(bethchatto.co.uk) This nursery lists a traditional range of first-rate perennials. Its well-grown plants are modestly priced, beautifully packed and all the plants feature in Beth’s garden – so they perform.
- Binny’s Plants(binnyplants.co.uk) has more than 2,000 plants, including the largest list of peonies in Britain. It also sells irises and an excellent range of bergenias, astilbes, bamboos, hostas and New Zealand ferns.
- Ashwood Nurseries(ashwoodnurseries.com) can send out award-winning hellebores in January, February and early March. It aims to keep service personal so there is no online payment. Either telephone or download the relevant form, then pay by phone or send a cheque. Specialities include cyclamen, hepaticas, lewisias, auriculas, alpines and heathers.
- Woottens of Wenhaston(woottensplants.co.uk) If you like tempting offers to arrive via email, Woottens offers auriculas, pelargoniums, irises and hemerocallis by mail order.
- Fibrex Nurseries(fibrex.co.uk) This family-run nursery offers a fabulous range of hardy ferns and the best advice.
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