When picking plants choose healthy

Last updated: December 17, 2006 | 00:00

2 MIN READ

Creating your own garden is not a project accomplished in a day or two. It's the reward of your imagination, planning and hard work to create this personal work of art! Selecting healthy plants (free from disease and pests) is important for this. Let's see how to do it….

When visiting a nursery, observe the health of all the plants there. If you see mostly sickly-looking plants, or harmful insects anywhere in the nursery, they could have already infested the plant you want. Skip that nursery and go to another one.
Choose several specimens in the category you want. Examine the different parts of each one closely, and choose the healthiest through a process of elimination.
Look closely for bugs and diseases. You won't want to bring an infested plant home.
Avoid tall spindly plants. A short bushy plant will transplant and grow easier.
The roots should be healthy. A few roots should poke through the drain holes, and should not be dry/brittle.
The stems and trunk should be thick and healthy, without abrasions or stem damage which could slowly be killing the plant.
The foliage should be bright and the proper colour for its kind. Leaves should be strong and healthy, and NEVER wilted, spotted, burned-looking, or soft with rot.
Flowering plants and shrubs like rhododendrons and azaleas should have young, unopened buds. If it's fully flowered now, it may not bloom in your garden until next year.

Taking your plant home

If you put your new plant in your hot or cold car, and then go shopping afterwards, it can kill or stress your plant. Purchase it last, just before going home.
When home, give it special treatment. Water it well. Acclimatise it by placing it in the shade first. Then gradually bring it into its permanent location, preferably on an overcast day.

— The writer is a freelancer based in India

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