Are nursery's getting away lightly?.

[Dim]

there are nurseries and plant sellers that sell on ebay that take the p**s ...

they advertise plants in 9cm pots or larger .... you pay a decent price, but when you get the plants, and they have hardly any roots (they are plug plants that are potted into 9cm pots just before shipping to you) ....

I have been caught out twice, so now I ask questions before bidding

[Adrian]

Im with Dave on this one, experience counts for absolute loads.
Nothing against the way Karl has put his garden together but most people start with a few plants and learn how to grow them, then add a few more and so on doing it the slow way and learning as they go, mistakes are made but it doesnt break the bank.
Putting together a garden with £18k worth of plants in one year, many of which are borderline, is a big gamble, any bad experiences are costing a fortune.
Also, smaller palms are going to establish much much better than a big palm with a rootball too small to support it.

If I buy a palm or plant and it doesnt make it then I put it down to my own failings, if it was a crappe plant to start with then it would be my fault for not noticing it, if it was a good plant but died after being planted then the blame can only go one way.

Too many people (especially with exotics) buy without finding out about the plant, blimey Ive done it a hundred times but thats my fault, cant blame anyone else.

Guarantees on plants, ummm, anything sold or given away from my house has a guarantee until its the other side of the gate, after that its down to you.

[karl66]

Ade, i see all the old school ganging up on me , i respect your views but i can assure you that a lot of thought & time/reasearch goes into most things i do in the garden. I've been into exotic plants for about 5years but have learnt more in the last 16months looking in on this site!!. All my palms/yuccas are pampered & as far as i know all the growing mediums are correct, we do all have to start somewhere its just i wanted to start off with a semi- mature garden as i dont have much patiance, hand on heart the only thing so far i really regret buying is a large trunked dasiirilon longisson which i bought bare rooted & have since learned are touch & go to re-root even for experienced gardener's. What i would really like in the near future is for a couple of you old hands to come & pay me a visit to give me a few pointers & have a look at what i've done. Any of you are very welcome. karl.

[Dim]

Ade, i see all the old school ganging up on me , i respect your views but i can assure you that a lot of thought & time/reasearch goes into most things i do in the garden. I've been into exotic plants for about 5years but have learnt more in the last 16months looking in on this site!!. All my palms/yuccas are pampered & as far as i know all the growing mediums are correct, we do all have to start somewhere its just i wanted to start off with a semi- mature garden as i dont have much patiance, hand on heart the only thing so far i really regret buying is a large trunked dasiirilon longisson which i bought bare rooted & have since learned are touch & go to re-root even for experienced gardener's. What i would really like in the near future is for a couple of you old hands to come & pay me a visit to give me a few pointers & have a look at what i've done. Any of you are very welcome. karl.

good post karl, and nothing to be ashamed of

I do this for a living .... so sometimes, I have to buy large palms etc in small pots as many clients want gardens that look established and are prepared to pay for that

and it does come down to pampering .... know what to fertilize with and when to fertilize ... how much to water, when to water and how to prepare the planting hole

plus a good dollop of luck with the weather

but we all learn as we go along .... and our tastes and plant choices change

and, although this is the lowest paying job I have ever had, it's by far the most rewarding

[redsquirrel]

you shouldnt have any regrets about your dasy Karl,if it takes off,you will have a plant that many will envy.

[Dave Brown]

Ade, i see all the old school ganging up on me ,

As far as I am concerned that is not the case, I wasn't criticising you, but was trying to say, that with the best will in the world, Nurseries are not going to guarantee plants, and was giving reasons why.

Mis-selling is something I'm not happy with, but most nurseries are retailers not growers, so if a large palm is sold to them in good condition they will not know it has a small root ball.

The point I was trying to make is for instance. I grow Alocasia in tiny pots as I find they overwinter better (alive) it is something I have learned, not been taught. The first thing I do when I get a new Alocasia is to place it on a heat mat until the first new leaf emerges, then I know it is over the shock of transport. Most people just unwrap and water. Once it has recovered from the transport then I look at the compost....
is it well drained?
is it too moisture retentive?,
is it overpotted?
only experience will tell you that, and without understanding the requirements of the plant, how are you going to work that out.

An awful lot of research has gone into my garden, but it cost me relatively little. I have learn't by my mistakes but the plants I learn't on were not £500 a pop. I just didn't have the money.

If I were ever to spend £500 on a single plant I would spend weeks researching everything about it beforehand.

Another thing is .... imported plants sometimes come in totally inappropriate heavy clay as they are desert plants grown in a desert climate, our rain and cold will rot them.

[Andy Martin]

Karl... I've spent a small fortune on Yuccas and Palms this year... still am with a big Dasy recently and a nice fat Rostrata coming tomorrow. All my yuccas are together in the "Yuccary"
All I can say is be prepared. Be prepared for god forbid another December'10. I lost a good trunked Butia Eriospatha because I was not prepared for that weather.
If you've spent 18K on plants think about spending some money to protect them. I certainly am particularly for the Yuccas. A case in point is Richard Stokes' Butia Eriospatha on the EPS. His palm was completely submerged and even then he had additional heating cables but he was prepared.
I will put a roof on my yuccas this year... a big job but hopefully will pay dividends. Your problem? if i remember the pics are the plants are all spaced out over a large area.

Regards

Andy.

[karl66]

Andy, most of my yucca's are in an arid bed, the big stuff i.e rostrata, linifolia, thompsonia can be covered with large umbrella's like i did last year.There are a few others dotted about such as a large faxionia & my biggest rostrata but these will be protected if needed. I also struggled last year with a big trunk erispatha but it is showing signs of life. Dave i'm trying all the time to take in as many bit's of info off different people to enhance my garden. I also took your advice last year on draping plants rather than wrapping which can do damage itself if left on to long!, i'll only wrap if were in for prolonged cold spell. I think i may have given some the wrong idea about me when i mention total spenditure on garden!, theres no way i can/could contiue at the rate i have previously, its just that apart from work & a few holidays i dont spend money on other hobbie's apart from my football!, Up until i started working for myself i did not have a pot to pxx in & i can tell others when you've been skint you really do appreciate having money to spend!. I have nightmare's , sometimes of just being left with bamboo's & a few Trachycarpus's with 1/2 fronds, a few have said to me that when we have another killer winter & you lose alot of stock it will soon dampen your appetite. Like i said earlier, without this site & e.p.s etc a lot of my plants would be dead now, despite this i do feel lady luck has a massive part to play in growing exotic's. Regards karl.

[Dave Brown]

I used to talk to Martin Gibbons of the Palm Centre, and Angus White of Architectural Plants for a couple of hours a visit. Learning as much as possible. This was in the days before internet forums so learning was either self taught by mistakes, or by being with someone that knew more.

Just found this page by Angus White, who taught me so much
http://www.architecturalplants.com/planting_by_us.html

[jungle jas]

I used to talk to Martin Gibbons of the Palm Centre, and Angus White of Architectural Plants for a couple of hours a visit. Learning as much as possible. This was in the days before internet forums so learning was either self taught by mistakes, or by being with someone that knew more.

Just found this page by Angus White, who taught me so much
http://www.architecturalplants.com/planting_by_us.html

A cracking nursery they gave me a very small Trochodendron Araides last time i went FOC. 4 years later its still small but it keeps going even through the last few winters. Very helpful staff, recommend.