5 tips for buying and planting healthy plants

Annual bedding plants and many perennials will be actively growing when you buy them, which makes it easy to select strong plants. Here are some shopping and planting details worth checking:

• Look for plants with healthy-looking green leaves that have no signs of yellowing, which is the most common symptom of plants stressed by a lack of fertilizer and water.
• The only time this rule does not apply is if you are examining golden-leaved varieties, which will be labeled as having chartreuse leaves.

• A few small roots growing out of drainage holes are a sign of a strong root system.
• Avoid plants that have been held in pots for so long that roots have grown into thick tangles near the bottoms of the containers or emerging from drain holes.

• Flowering plants that show a blossom or two are young and vigorous with a long flowering life ahead of them, but bypass those that appear to have been in bloom for weeks.
• Annuals may be stressed and "bloomed out", and perennials that are already in bloom may transplant successfully, but usually will not bloom heavily in your garden until the following year.

• As a general rule, it is best to set plants in the soil at the same depth at which they grew in their containers.
• Be especially attentive to planting depth when setting out shrubs and trees, which have the highest transplant survival rate when their roots are disturbed as little as possible.
• It is usually better to dig a broad planting hole than a very deep one, because most new roots grow outwards rather than straight down.
• Also, bear in mind that when you place a plant into a hole with several centimetres of cultivated soil at the bottom of it, the plant will sink deeper as the soil settles and becomes compacted. For this reason, setting plants slightly high in the prepared hole, so that the soil over their topmost roots forms a small mound, makes a good start.
• After several weeks, the soil around the plant usually settles until it is even with the surrounding soil.

• To help ease plants into their new home and reduce wilting, transplant them on a cloudy day.
• If you can't avoid planting in sunny weather, shield newly planted flowers with cardboard boxes, upside-down flowerpots or small pails for the sunniest part of the day for three days.

There you have it -- a few basic tips for buying and planting healthy plants. Be sure to follow this guide as you start your new beautiful garden, as well as when you add single plants in later.