Hardy Tropicals UK

I have been doing a bit of plant shopping and would like some advice on which plant to buy.
So at nursery A they have trachycarpus in about 1.5-1.8m some with stripped bark ranging in price from £300 upwards. All in good condition.

At nursery B they have trachycarpus in at over 2m with natural bark but very few and small leaves these are £120 they also have have 1.5m plants in reasonable condition for £120.

So if I buy the poorer plants at nursery B and then give them everything they need to do well, how quickly (if at all) could I turn their condition around?
Or should I opt for the better plants at the higher price? If I do this it will mean I can’t buy other plants I want.
Andy

I would do neither but then I don't like stripped bark. In my mind, no point in having just one or two plants. I would buy a few smaller plants and some underplanting and give it time to grow.

Get something like this from Nigel
https://www.hardy-palms.co.uk/product/t ... ortunei-2/

Seagraves for comparison
https://www.seagravenurseries.co.uk/hom ... nd-similar

I suppose it depends on what you want ie.instant impact or prepared to wait. If you was to buy the large £300 you say you couldn't afford to buy other plants you want. I think you already answered your own question there.As for the others im with Chez. Cant recommend Nigel highly enough. Seagraves great for tree ferns at reasonable price .
Personally I wouldn't buy anything at this time of the year unless its to pre-order for delivery next spring or have somewhere to overwinter them.

Thank you so much for your reply’s.
Great links I will be ordering some tree ferns from here.
I plan to buy quite a few plants, mostly small and cheap under planting. I already have planted some. I would like a couple of stand out plants sooner.
I think what I would mostly like to know is how quickly will the trachycarpus will grow new leaves and fill out if I went for the cheaper one. Is it likely to be years rather than a year maybe.
Tatter, I understand why you wouldn’t buy plants that need winter protection now. But I would have thought the plants that don’t need winter protection would be best planted now so they get some new roots growing now while the ground is still warm?

Many thanks Andy

Hi Andy its your call of course and you may well be right given your location. I was only expressing my personal opinion of course. As for the Trachycarpus lots of factors count to filling out.Original condition of course.location.summer weather watering feeding etc,This year for example as been very good growing conditions.

Hi Moods, the two things you haven't mentioned are the trunks and the roots. Do they have nice fat trunks, there is nothing worse than a Trachycarpus that has a thin bottom to the trunk which then fattens higher up to my mind they look appalling. Then the roots do they have a good root system? No roots slow growth! Try and take one out of the pot although at that size it may be a bit tricky. Personally I'm with Tatter I don't like striped trunks either. I grow climbers up mine to give them a more jungley feel. The hair and the trimmed leaf storks give them something to hold onto. All things being equal I would go for the hight.

chainsaw kid wrote: ↑Fri Oct 12, 2018 7:16 pm Hi Moods, the two things you haven't mentioned are the trunks and the roots. Do they have nice fat trunks, there is nothing worse than a Trachycarpus that has a thin bottom to the trunk which then fattens higher up to my mind they look appalling. Then the roots do they have a good root system? No roots slow growth! Try and take one out of the pot although at that size it may be a bit tricky. Personally I'm with Tatter I don't like striped trunks either. I grow climbers up mine to give them a more jungley feel. The hair and the trimmed leaf storks give them something to hold onto. All things being equal I would go for the hight.

Thanks Chainsaw kid

Good points you make. Totally agree with the root growth, its my main focus with my day job in growth healthy grass plants with good root mass and depth, do you guys ever use humic acids to boost root growth? Something we have great results with on sports turf.
What climbers do you grow? I was thinking of trying some kiwi.

I don't feed much if plants are in the ground. You don't want rapid growth that is soft and vulnerable. I prefer my plants to grow at a decent rate, the roots to go deep to grow strong resilient plants. We have just started feeding a border that has been heavily planted, membrane and pebble covered for seventeen / eighteen years. The rest of our garden gets annual organic mulches, tubs get fed weekly.

Sports turf is a whole different thing, as are most lawns.

Moods wrote: ↑Thu Oct 18, 2018 7:12 am

chainsaw kid wrote: ↑Fri Oct 12, 2018 7:16 pm Hi Moods, the two things you haven't mentioned are the trunks and the roots. Do they have nice fat trunks, there is nothing worse than a Trachycarpus that has a thin bottom to the trunk which then fattens higher up to my mind they look appalling. Then the roots do they have a good root system? No roots slow growth! Try and take one out of the pot although at that size it may be a bit tricky. Personally I'm with Tatter I don't like striped trunks either. I grow climbers up mine to give them a more jungley feel. The hair and the trimmed leaf storks give them something to hold onto. All things being equal I would go for the hight.

Thanks Chainsaw kid

Good points you make. Totally agree with the root growth, its my main focus with my day job in growth healthy grass plants with good root mass and depth, do you guys ever use humic acids to boost root growth? Something we have great results with on sports turf.
What climbers do you grow? I was thinking of trying some kiwi.

Sorry it has taken so long to answer this, I haven't looked in this section for a while. I particularly like passionflowers as they are evergreen and have exotic flowers, I also like the red leaved grape.