The first step is to find a nursery with conscientious employees who know their stock and can advise you. Ask friends and neighbors for their suggestions on where to go, and then try to do your shopping on off hours or off days when the pressure of business is light.

Following are a few things the inexperienced buyer should know.

Seeds. Seed racks are usually stocked with everything a given company produces for the year. But just because a package of seeds is there doesn’t mean you can run home and plant the seeds. Don’t buy anything until you read the directions on the package. Look for a date stamp. Is the seed meant for the current year? Look for suggested planting times (planting tomato seed in late June is wasted effort; the nursery probably has young plants).

Bulbs. For some reason, bulbs are sold out of season rather regularly. Check the bulb chart for proper planting times; don’t buy them at other seasons.

Bedding plants and started vegetables. Bedding plants are all the flowering things that you use for a short and brilliant color display. They come in flats and a variety of small containers. You should buy young plants that will grow quickly after you plant them. Never choose those that are crowded or straggly. They’ve been around too long. You want compact plants with good leaf color and a few flowers in bloom. If you buy plants in individual plastic cells or containers, check the roots when you get home. Any long, white spaghetti at the bottom should be snipped off before planting. New roots will branch out into the soil. If you leave a coiled root on the plant, it may just go round and round under the plant, slowing or stopping growth.

Follow the same rule for vegetables, choosing compact plants with good color. A partial exception is tomatoes. Moderate stalkiness doesn’t matter because you’ll bury part of the stem when you plant. It sprouts roots underground.

Large containers. Plants in gallon and 5-gallon cans or corresponding plastic and pulp containers should be well branched with young and healthy looking bark and foliage. Although it’s always a temptation to buy the largest plant you can afford, trees and shrubs often do better if you buy young-looking gallon-sized specimens and let them form their root systems in your garden.

If you’re looking at fruit trees, roses, or other plants that are often sold hare root in fall and winter, ask how long the plants have been in the can. In the spring, nurserymen plant leftover bare root plants in cans. Such plants should grow in the can for several months before planting so that root growth will hold the soil together.

Bare root material. Bare root material should have firm, moist stems and roots. If it is shriveled or dry and brittle looking, avoid it.

HOW TO TREAT YOUR PURCHASES
If the weather is hot, don’t stop off to shop or visit on the way home leaving plants in the car. If you can get them home promptly to a cool and protected spot, you can wait a while to plant. But if you selected only a few plants that were taken from a nursery flat, they should be planted right away or they may dry out. Most plants should be planted in the early evening so that they can start their lives in the ground enjoying a relatively cool atmosphere.

Plants in flats should be pulled apart using slow pressure. This way, the roots remain more intact than they would if you sliced the plants out with a knife. Don’t squeeze them or break up the soil more than you can help.

Plants in individual containers should have the outer surfaces of their root balls scratched so that roots will begin to grow outward soon after planting. A long, coiled root at the bottom of the root ball should be cleanly snipped off, A root that coils part way around the ball can be stretched outward as you plant.

If you can plant immediately, let the nurseryman cut the metal cans for you. Cans with corrugated sides need not be cut. Plants slide out easily. With small plastic containers, slide your hand over the soil surface with the plant stem protruding between your fingers; then turn the container over and tap it sharply. The plant should slide out. If it doesn’t, water the plant and let it drain before trying again. Don’t just yank. You may get the plant minus roots or dirt. Large plastic plant containers can be placed on their sides while you carefully guide the plant out.

If you can’t plant bare root material right away, cover the roots with damp sawdust or peat moss or lay the plant in a shallow trench, covering the roots with a little soil.

SPECIALTY NURSERIES AND OTHER SOURCES
If you’re lucky, you may have some specialty nurseries nearby that have an extensive collection of specific plants. There are rose nurseries, heather nurseries, begonia nurseries, and so forth. Their owners are usually dedicated gardeners who are nice to talk to and wise in the ways of plants.

Another source of good plants, often at low prices, are garden club or arboretum sales. You may find unusual plants that most nurseries don’t offer and a lot of other gardeners who are eager to exchange gardening ideas.

Finally, there are mail order catalogs offering material ranging from odd seeds and imported bulbs to fruit trees and almost anything else you can imagine. Even if you never order a twig, these catalogs are pleasant to riffle and dream through.

Thank you for visiting NewGardener.com. Our goal is to provide you with helpful tips and information that will make your garden a great one. Whether you are a new gardener getting ready to start your first garden, or an veteran gardener starting a new garden and hoping to learn something new, we think gardening should be fun and personally rewarding.

If you have any comments or questions about NewGardener.com, I invite you to email me personally at grow@newgardener.com. And don’t forget — you can always follow us on Twitter.

Thanks!
Tim Lundie, Editor

ALKALINE SOIL
Alkaline soil, common in light-rainfall areas of the Southwest, is soil that is high in calcium carbonate (lime) and certain other minerals. Many plants will grow well in a moderately alkaline soil, although camellias and other acid-loving plants will not. Areas with softened water are quite likely to have alkaline soil. The sodium in soft water is good for household use hut poor for plants. Hard water, on the other hand, is ideal for garden watering.

Large scale chemical treatment of extremely alkaline soils is expensive and complex. A better bet is to plant in raised beds and containers using a good soil mix.

ACID SOIL
Acid soil is at the other end of the scale from alkaline soil. It is most common in areas of heavy rainfall and is often associated with sandy soil (but ocean beaches are rarely or never acid). Mildly acid soils cause little trouble, but an intense acid condition is highly undesirable for most plants.

Ground limestone will help to neutralize an acid-reacting soil, since all acid soils are low in calcium (lime). Your choice of fertilizers can be another very important factor in controlling acidity; some fertilizers can actually increase soil acidity. Some plants—azaleas, rhododendrons, and camellias to name a few—prefer soil that is moderately acid.

SALTS IN THE SOIL
An excess of salt in the soil is a widespread problem in arid and semi-arid regions. It can prevent germination, or, if plants are already growing, it stunts them and in advanced cases burns the foliage and finally kills them. Its presence can usually be detected by a white deposit of salt on the surface of the soil. Salts in your water and fertilizer can remain in the soil. Periodic slow, deep watering will help wash the salts beyond plant roots.

NUTRIENT DEFICIENCY
Most soils, left to themselves, yield the three major plant nutrients—nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium—only   very slowly. Even the richest soil cannot continue to provide an ample amount of these vital elements year after year.

Fertilizers—either chemical or organic—are the quickest and easiest answer to a nutrient deficiency. Many balanced fertilizers containing all three major elements are available.

There are also formulations of nitrogen, phosphorus, or potassium compounds that provide these nutrients separately. Manure and well rotted compost are also beneficial in varying degrees to nutrient-shy soils, but are more effective in their ability to build up the soil’s humus supply.

CHLOROSIS—LACK OF IRON
If the leaves of some plants turn yellow, but veins stay green, it may be caused by an iron deficiency. Chelating (pronounced key-lating) agents or iron sulfate can help to control chlorosis. Buy either one at a nursery or garden store and follow label directions.

COMPACTED SOIL
When you build on filled land, the soil has been compacted purposely to certain standards. Also any trucks and bulldozers used in the construction of your home may have caused accidental packing of soil. Little will grow in compacted soil. To counteract the effect, grow a crop of deep-rooted grass such as annual rye, then plow it under before adding amendments. If you’re planting trees, have a well digger dig some 3-foot-deep holes, then improve the removed soil with amendments and refill around the root ball.

SHALLOW SOIL
If there is a layer of hardpan within the top 18 inches, plant roots won’t grow and water won’t penetrate. There are two possible solutions: either drill through shallow hardpan to make a vertical gravel drain, or get advice from an engineer on how to install drain tile horizontally. 

Thank you for visiting NewGardener.com. Our goal is to provide you with helpful tips and information that will make your garden a great one. Whether you are a new gardener getting ready to start your first garden, or an veteran gardener starting a new garden and hoping to learn something new, we think gardening should be fun and personally rewarding.

If you have any comments or questions about NewGardener.com, I invite you to email me personally at grow@newgardener.com. And don’t forget — you can always follow us on Twitter.

Thanks!
Tim Lundie, Editor