At first glance, all the plants in the nursery look lush and glorious. Usually they are. However there are times when a few quick checks can prevent you from bringing home a lemon. Take some time to look over your purchase, before you introduce a problem into your garden.

1. Quality of Nursery: Take in an overview of the plant department. Look to see that the majority of the plants seem healthy and well cared for.
2. Foliage: Evaluate the condition of your specific plant. Are the leaves green, shiny and lush? Steer clear of any plants that are wilting or yellowing. Stressed plants may or may not recover.
3. Shape: Consider the shape of the plant. Is it compact and full, with multiple stems? Taller is often not better. It could mean the plant has been straining for light and has grown thin and spindly.
4. Insects & Disease: Inspect closely for signs of insects or disease. Check both sides of the leaves and the potting soil. Signs can include: blackened areas, holes, spots, mushy areas, stickiness and distortions.
5. Root System: Don’t neglect the roots. If the plant is pot bound and the roots are growing out of the bottom, the plant may be stressed and take time to recover. If there aren’t many roots and the plant lifts out very easily, it was probably recently repotted and could use more time to become garden worthy.
6. Stem Damage: If the plant has a thick or woody stem, make sure there are no cracks or scars. Even prior damage can weaken a plant.
7. Weeds: Weeds in the pot are competing with the plant for nutrients. They also signal some neglect on the part of the nursery staff.
8. Root Ball: When buying a balled-and-burlapped tree or shrub, the root ball should feel solid. If it appears broken, there’s a good chance the roots have had a chance to dry out and the plant will suffer.
9. Buds & Flowers: Plants in bud will transplant and thrive better than plants in flower.
10. When All is Said and Done: If you’ve just got to have it, go ahead and buy the plant. With a little pampering, it just may defy the odds.

A better idea than pulling weeds is to keep them out of your garden in the first place. You can't stop every bird from dropping a weed seed here and there, but there are several things you can do to limit the amount of weeds brought into your garden and prevent weeds from getting out of control.

Tips for Limiting Weeds in the Garden:

1. Border Patrol: Inspect all new plants for hitchhiking weeds. The longer a plant sits in a pot at the nursery, the more likely a weed seed will settle in and germinate. Make sure you don’t plant the weed along with the plant you’ve bought.
2. Don’t Disturb: Keep cultivation to a minimum. There are always weed seeds in the soil, but many will not germinate unless they are exposed to sunlight. While some scratching and cultivating of the soil around plants is good to keep the soil from compacting, frequent cultivating just leads to more weeds. You are better off applying an organic mulch and letting the earth worms do the cultivating for you.
3. To Till or Not to Till?: For years tilling has been recommended for clearing a new garden bed. Tilling is a quick way to break up the soil and incorporate some of the green material into the bed, but you’ll never get rid of all the existing plants that way. And just like with shallow cultivating, you are also turning up buried weed seeds that will sprout now, with exposure to the sun. If you do chose to cultivate, it’s easier to do when the ground is damp, but not too wet or the soil will stick together.
4. Cover Up: Mulches are still one of the best ways to keep weeds from taking over your garden. Mulches, whether organic or synthetic, will smother weed seeds, while cooling the soil and retaining moisture. Remember that mulches will also smother seeds of self-seeding plants that you might want as volunteers in your garden. If so, don’t mulch until later in the spring, when you can see which young seedling you want to keep and which should be weeded out and covered.

Knowing whether the plant you are putting in your garden is an annual, perennial or biennial is important, because their growth habits are quite different. Understanding the life cycle of your plants will make you a more sensitive, knowledgeable gardener.

Annuals: Annuals are temporary plants that live out their life in one year. Usually they grow from seed in the spring, flower and set seed during the summer, and are killed by the first frost of the winter. Marigolds and petunias are examples.

Hardy annuals are the most tolerant of cold and can even endure a light frost without damage. Half-hardy annuals can tolerate some cold weather but usually do not survive frost. Tender annuals are those which are native to tropical areas and are quite vulnerable to cold weather.

Biennials: Biennials have a 2-year life cycle in which they grow from seed into leafy plant the first year, then flower, set seed and die in the second year. Hollyhocks and foxgloves are typical biennials.

Perennials: Perennials live more than two years. It can take several years for a young perennial plant to develop to its full-size and flowering habit. Examples of perennials are iris and daylilies.

Perennials have tougher roots than those of annual plants. They die back to the ground during the winter, but the roots remain dormant, sending up new growth in the spring. This cycle can continue for many years, particularly with long-lived perennials like peonies and hostas.

Packs of ready-grown bedding plants can be bought from garden centres. Look out for ready-made combinations, or buy trays of one colour to plant together and make a big impact.

Seedlings

If you have a big bedding scheme you can buy tiny seedlings from mail-order companies. Between 100 and 400 seeds are sown in trays filled with compost and because they're so crammed in, the baby plants need to be potted into little pots or spaced out in separate seed trays to give them space to grow.

Plugs

Plug plants are bigger than seedlings and are grown in trays containing lots of v-shaped cells. They're available in many sizes, including mini-plugs, which will need to be potted into bigger containers before planting outside or more expensive jumbo plugs, which can be planted directly into containers or the soil. Good quality plugs should arrive damp, have green, healthy leaves and roots that are just appearing through the bottom of each cell.

Pots and trays

The most common way of buying bedding plants from a garden centre is in individual pots, trays or in tear-apart packs. Buying in pots is expensive, while trays containing lots of plants are cheap. However, as these plants are growing together in the same compost, roots can be damaged when separating to put into individual pots. With bedding grown in packs each plant has its own growing cell, and this makes them easy to plant without damage to the roots.

• If you have time, most bedding plants are easy to grow from seed. All you need to do is fill a 7.5cm (3in) pot with cuttings compost, firm and follow the sowing instructions for the variety you're growing - some plants will need covering with compost, while others are left on the surface.
• To germinate, put in a heated propagator or cover with a clear plastic bag held in place with an elastic band. Place on a windowsill and seedlings will quickly appear.
• Some smaller seeds, such as begonia, are trickier to grow from seed and are better bought as young plants.

• Most bedding plants, whether bought or homegrown, will have been started in warm conditions and like to be acclimatised before being planted outside.
• To do this, put plants in a cold frame or unheated porch for a few weeks before planting out.
• Dig out a hole in a container or in the soil that's large enough for the rootball to fit comfortably.
• Separate out plants, gently removing individual rootballs. Place in hole, so the compost is just beneath the level of the surface of the soil and fill in the gaps around the plant with soil. Firm and water.

Soil Conditions for Planting
At the time of planting the soil should be moist and friable and not frozen, excessively dry, or water-logged.

Planting Requirements
The excavated hole should be of sufficient size to accommodate the spread of roots and the stock should be planted so that after any settlement it is at the same depth as it was grown on the nursery. If the sides of the planting hole become smeared during digging, particularly on heavy clay soils, the smearing should be broken up before planting.

Stabilising Support and Protection
Most plants above 1m high will need a support to hold them secure at ground level either by stakes or by cables for very large stock. Stakes or stout canes should be inserted before planting. Plants should be held secure against the stake by the use of a proprietary tie, or similar method, ensuring that the stem does not chafe against the stake and there is space for stem expansion. Short stakes to hold the base of the stem are preferable but individual guards or shelters may be needed to protect against physical damage by vandals, cattle or rabbits, mowers or strimmers.

Treatment of Plants immediately Prior to Planting
Bare Root Plants should be kept in polythene bags until immediately before planting. They should be kept out of direct sunlight. Similarly all containers and wrapping, unless fully bio-degradable, should be removed at the latest point before planting.

Back-filling
The backfill (excavated soil, fertilizer and organic compost mix) should then be returned to the hole and gently firmed around the root system. Gentle but firm pressure can be applied to the backfill material around the plant by boot heals or by treading, but the soil must not be compacted. Each plant must then be well watered at least one watering can of water per plant, apply slowly to allow the water to soak in and not just run off. We recommend that all plants are then mulched with either bark mulch or another organic material. Remember to check the plant regularly and water as required, especially in the summer months.

Water plants daily in the summer - plants in containers and hanging baskets may need watering twice a day during dry weather.

Add liquid feed in your watering can and apply once a week.

Remove dead flowers from winter and summer bedding plants as they fade to keep them tidy and encourage new blooms.