On 04/10/2014 10:54, Bob Hobden wrote:
"stuart noble" wrote

sacha wrote:
stuart noble said:


A lot of shrubs are doomed from the start if the root system isn't
right. I always soak them overnight and tease the roots but, if the
root ball is too dense, they will always be rather feeble
specimens. I
have learnt not to trust garden centres in this respect. You're
better
off buying from a market stall where the turnover is high.

Most nurseries and garden centres have a very rapid turnover!
There are
certainly some good market stalls and bargains can be found but it is
then a case of caveat emptor all too often.

I'm sure the family run centres are as good as they ever were :-)

Too many round here appear to be part of large groups. Shrubs that
don't sell hang around till the following year and the price increased
because they're that bit bigger.

Our experience with a gc near us is that they chuck things out,
especially once they stop flowering. Only the very largest and most
expensive things are kept over. They never, ever re-pot or pot on,
which is a tragic waste of money and is of course a hidden cost passed
on to the buyer! Nurseries, by contrast, do pot on and a higher price
reflects that in terms of time, pot, compost, general nurturing. I do
wonder if the OP, being rather new to gardening, checked the root system
of his shrubs, and dug a big enough hole to let the roots spread easily
into their new home. It is just possible that, if he waits for the
plant to go dormant and then digs it up very very carefully, he'll find
the roots still need a bit of teasing out. As you say, if they were
pot-bound they won't get off to a good start.

Teasing the roots isn't always easy IME. I've had shrubs where cutting
slits in the root ball was the only option.
My local GC has just emptied all unsold seed packets into a dustbin
and marked them down to 50p. Now that they're all jumbled up, they
won't sell any. I know because they do it every year!

Yes Wyvales do that presumably to save space for their Christmas
display. I have occasionally saved a lot on seeds I want and did this
year, but they hadn't jumbled them up when I looked.

Ah yes, Wyevales who became part of GC Group but are now apparently
taking them over! Crazy place.