Tips for Selecting Plants

• Resist the temptation to buy a plant without having a definite place in the landscape to place it.
• Buy from a well-established business with agood reputation.
• Learn everything you can about that plant before buying to make sure that the conditions at your home will meet the plant’s cultural requirements.
• Buy fresh plant material.
• Plants should have a good green leaf color and not be discolored. There should not be any dried branches or wilted leaves.
• All plant material should be properly labeled.
• Check for damage to trunk or stems that has not properly healed.
• For “ball and burlap” material, the root-ball should be intact with no cracks or loss of soil. The plant root-ball should be firm. The plant should not move independently of the root-ball.
• For container plants, inspect the root system to ensure they are not “root bound.” Turn the container upside down, supporting the plant by the top of the root-ball and gently removing the container. The root-ball should remain intact with no significant loss of rooting medium, and the roots shouldn’t circle the inside perimeter.
• Look at the size of root-ball and container. Root-balls should be 10" wide for every 1" of trunk caliper. The trunk caliper is the diameter of the trunk 4"above the root-ball.
• Be sure to understand the warranty program for the plant materials you select, especially the owner’s maintenance responsibility.

—Mark T. Dougherty, CLP, CPH, Purchasing Manager

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