"Checking Out a Timberland, Nursery, or Garden Center can be an enjoyable and peaceful time. Taking a look at all of the plants, shrubs, and trees and envisioning how they will suit your landscaping strategies. However there are some important things you require to take a look at before you purchase; otherwise your beautiful plant or tree, that looked so great when you bought it, will turn your landscape into an eyesore.

A Real Story:

Nancy likes plants and trees, nature, and wildlife; but she simply purchased a new home in a brand-new development that has minimal landscaping and no personal privacy. Spring Time comes and Nancy is thrilled to boost her landscape. So Nancy goes to her local garden center to select some plants and trees. She is so happy when she arrives; all the plants and trees look so nice. Nancy wants immediate personal privacy so she selects the most significant trees they have, however they are too huge for her to deal with so she has the garden center deliver and plant the trees. She sees as the crew at the Garden Center moves her trees off to the side. She cringes as they pull her tree out from the others because she can hear the branches breaking as they get captured on the other trees.

A year goes by and the trees that Nancy had planted just do not look as nice as they performed in the garden center. Some of her Spruce Trees have brown branches on the bottom and they look sort of yellow. Nancy calls the garden center to grumble, they come out and say that the tree is fine and is just a little stressed. They state it will fill out next year and will look fantastic. ""OK"" Nancy states.

Well, next year comes, and Nancy's Trees do not look any much better, but it is still not dead and by this time its guarantee has actually ended. Every year the tree aims to barley hold on. The branches are thinning and gradually the tree dies. Now Nancy wants she had never ever purchased those trees. If only Nancy had read my article she might have had a tree that will always look as great as it did the day she bought it.

Do not be Nancy!

Here are some things to Consider:

Rootball Size - This is the greatest factor of why your tree will suffer down the road. Trees require roots - The more the better! Christmas Trees look great when you purchase them, however what occurs purchase New Years - they die. A lot of Garden Centers are selling trees that are not much better than Christmas Trees. It only makes good sense from their viewpoint. Dirt is very heavy and things that are heavy become pricey. They are more costly to move, plant, and set up. It is less expensive for them to need to replace a tree if it dies than to sell a tree that is destined to live. The size of a rootball will tell you how it will look down the road. If one garden center is cheaper, do not just compare the tree however compare the roots.

How it is watered - Lots of Garden Centers water their trees various methods and some do not appear to water them at all. Once the rootball has actually been dried out, a lot of damage has currently been done. Ensure the place where you are purchasing your trees is keeping them watered.

Potted or Balled and Burlapped - Do not be deceived into believing that if you are buying it potted, in some way it is much better than balled and burlapped. It is not unusual in the market for a tree to be removed early in the spring and put in a pot, instead of placed in burlap. All this does is make you think that it was grown in the pot. Be sure to ask the length of time it has remained in the pot. If you get a balled and burlapped tree make certain that the burlap and wire basket is tight; if it is loose, root damage will take place when it is walked around.

Warranty - This is a big misunderstanding, I have actually replaced many of my competitors' trees that allegedly had a guarantee, but the tree was not dead - just 1/2 dead and awful - so they do not replace it. Other times the client was told by the garden center that they did not water the tree and they were not going to change it. While the client might have not provided it the proper quantity of water at all times, if you get a tree that has a larger root system you have a lot more wiggle space to make errors.

How it is Dealt with - The more a tree is handled the more root damage can occur. The very best is if a tree spade, installed on a truck moves it straight from the field to your backyard. If you can not go that path ensure that they are using the proper equipment to plant the trees. Couple of things are worse for a tree than to be dropped, kicked, pulled, and pried; this is what will occur if they are not using the appropriate equipment to plant the tree."