Preparation and planning needed for plant shopping

By Jimmy Williams

You've heard my railings--either verbally or via these printed words--over the years about nurseries and garden centers that virtually shut down in winter.  They don't get cracking until well into--or even past--prime time for setting out woody plants.

Here in Tennessee, hardy trees and shrubs do best when planted between Thanksgiving and St. Patty's Day, but just try to find anything but leftovers then.

On the other hand, once the doors do open there's the usual run on the most desired plants, particularly after the first warm and settled days begin.   That's generally about the first of April here.

So off you rush to the closest plant source for a shopping trip.   Are you prepared?  Just as important is another question:  is your garden prepared?

No use buying the place out, only to return home and have a bunch of plants sit around for days on end, pot-bound and needing daily cosseting to keep them in good heart.

An old rule states, "Never buy a plant unless you've decided beforehand where to plant it."  It is a good rule, but I must say there are dozens of favorites on our place that wouldn't be there but for ignoring that axiom.   I mean, what about impulse buying?   The principle, however, is sound:   don't buy what you don't need or can't use.

Akin to that is knowing your growing conditions.  Don't buy shade plants for sunny areas, and vice versa.  If you have wet clay, don't buy things that demand sharp drainage.  They'll be gone quicker than a snowball in the Bad Place.

Don't drive the wrong vehicle on nursery hopping trips.   This might sound simplistic, but I don't know the times I started out in a car for a couple of flats of pansies and ended up buying a truckload of tree and shrub types that I happened to luck upon after a year or more of searching.

It's no big deal when you're in town, but inveterate gardeners are in the habit of hitting all the nurseries when they are away in distant cities, and that seems to be when such situations occur.  Only the most determined will drive back to Nashville or Memphis to pick up that yearned-for rarity.

When shopping for material for a whole planting design, bring a photo or drawing of the grounds and house.  Local nurseries will often provide ideas and suggestions for your own needs.

When shopping for bedding plants, have a color scheme in mind and measure your planting areas to determine how many of each kind or color of plant you will need.  This will avoid coming up with too many plants or not having enough, then returning for more and finding them all sold.

Just more than 25 years ago, the well-known local rosarian Carl Snow was giving a talk about a week before his untimely death.  Among his remarks was this capsule of wisdom:  "Winter is when it is too cold to do all those things it was too hot to do last summer."  It is now spring, so you have no excuse.