As Spring Fever ramps up to full speed, you\u2019re likely to find yourself in several nurseries over the next couple of weeks. I\u2019ve been shopping North Texas\u2019 plant sources for more than 50 years. We are richly blessed by their depth and diversity. Let me give you some tips to help you get the best results from your experiences.<\/p>\n
Start with local independent retail garden centers. These are the full-time horticultural centers where the employees know their plants and their products because that\u2019s what they sell year \u2018round. They\u2019ll be there if problems break out, and you can lean on them for their years of experience in guiding their customers\u2019 landscaping and gardening decisions.<\/p>\n
Best of all, shop where you find Texas Certified, and Texas Master Certified Nursery Professionals. They\u2019ll be at member nurseries of the Texas Nursery and Landscape Association, and they will have studied long hours to pass challenging exams that prove their prowess in all aspects of the horticultural industry. The Certification program has been a part of TNLA for more than 40 years, and it has been a banner achievement. Their advice will be timely and reliable.<\/p>\n
Anytime that you\u2019re choosing plants and products at a garden center, before you check out ask the owner or manager to look over your selections. Ask them, \u201cI\u2019m about to buy these or similar products and plants. Will any of these be mistakes?\u201d Let that professional own a part of your decision. They\u2019ll take it seriously and you\u2019ll get great help.<\/p>\n
One-of-a-kind East Texas nursery is fun for shopping. Neil Sperry Special to the Star-Telegram <\/p>\n
The best days to visit nurseries will typically be Thursdays and Fridays. By then the suppliers will have delivered that weekend\u2019s merchandise and fresh truckloads of plants. Things will all be in place and any applicable sales prices will be in effect. Best of all, the nursery won\u2019t be as crowded as it will over the weekend so help will be more available.<\/p>\n
Before you ever go plant shopping, have a good idea of your goals and your needs. It\u2019s called a \u201cplan.\u201d What a great concept. It keeps you from bringing a new tree home when you already have too many trees. It helps you avoid shade-loving shrubs when all you have is hot, western exposures. Instead, you take a walk through your landscape, and you make notes of what needs to be replaced or added to fill voids and new needs.<\/p>\n
It all boils down to \u201cfinding plants for the home\u201d instead of \u201cfinding homes for the plants.\u201d Nothing is sadder than falling in love with a beautiful plant at the nursery, then getting it home and realizing you have no place to use it.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s carry it one step further. Let\u2019s say that you don\u2019t have a real plan for your overall landscape design. You\u2019re hoping to make major changes after the past several bad seasons. How can your local nursery best help you?<\/p>\n
Some nurseries offer landscape design services. Although they may be running a few weeks behind this time of the year, there are ways you can get basic answers to simple garden design questions.<\/p>\n
Take photos of areas you\u2019re trying to improve. Phone photos can work, but be certain they\u2019re wire-sharp, then print them to 8 1\/2 x 11-inch size, preferably on photo quality paper.<\/p>\n
Take precise measurements of critical spaces. Those might include heights of windows if plants will be used beneath them or widths of walks or patios you hope to install. You could estimate the height of a new retaining wall by driving in a marked stake to show changes in grade in 6-in. increments. If you do any sketching, everything should be shown to scale.<\/p>\n
Buy nursery stock (boxwood in this case) sized to suit your needs. Neil Sperry Special to the Star-Telegram <\/p>\n
Have a list of your design priorities and how each part of your landscape will function. Think of the various areas as \u201crooms\u201d as you design. What you do for a front yard and entryway will be different from where you and your family relax on your patio and in the backyard. This will be one of the first things your landscape designer will want to discuss with you. It may end up with you prioritizing and breaking your improvement plan into several smaller projects spread over two or three years. The critical thing there will be to accomplish the most permanent parts first, so they won\u2019t damage the things that follow in successive years.<\/p>\n
Keep records and receipts of the things you do and the products and plants that you buy. Keep details of your bulb plantings and irrigation system plans in those files. That will save much frustration years in the future. Make notes of what pests and problems passed through your gardens and the dates and years when you observed them. Record any unusual weather happenings such as extreme high and low temperatures, prolonged droughts or flooding rains over long periods of time and how they impacted particular plants.<\/p>\n
The internet has brought an entire new spectrum to our plant and product searching capability. It comes, however, with a redoubled warning to be ever cautious. Buy only from companies with outstanding ratings and reviews. These online sources have been around long enough that the best ones should have enough good vibes to let you identify those you can trust. You don\u2019t need to be the one who lets others know of sources to avoid.<\/p>\n
What a fun time of year to celebrate being a gardener in Texas. Look around you. Shop near you. Shop far and wide. Immerse yourself in the world\u2019s greatest hobby in this most exciting season of the year.<\/p>\n
Japanese maples are great for shady locations. Neil Sperry Special to the Star-Telegram
A local independent nursery was among first to handle Texas Gold columbines in nursery. Neil Sperry Special to the Star-Telegram
Look for a wide assortment of plants and products in your local nursery. Neil Sperry Special to the Star-Telegram
You can find a rich assortment of perennials in Texas nurseries. Neil Sperry Special to the Star-Telegram <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As Spring Fever ramps up to full speed, you\u2019re likely to find yourself in several nurseries over the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":214265,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[116,118,117,83896,83897,50380,27],"class_list":["post-214264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth-headlines","tag-fort-worth-news","tag-gardens","tag-neil-sperry","tag-nursery","tag-texas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/214264\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/214265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=214264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=214264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}