Sowing Seeds or Buying Plants?

Whether to buy plants or propagate your own plants and sow seeds is a dilemma every gardener faces.

Yet buying plants is one of the most pleasurable aspects of gardening. A thoughtful choice, based on sound knowledge of the conditions in your garden, the space available and the plant in question, is fat better than impulse buys, which rarely work out well.

Doing your homework beforehand, so you know exactly what you you want and what a healthy specimen should look like, helps to prevent disappointment or problems since garden centre staff may not be as knowledgeable or helpful as you might wish, and labels may be inadequate or misplaced.

Knowing where to buy is also important. It is often best to buy your plants from reputable garden centres and nurseries, which usually have access to the most reliable sources.

To give new plants a healthy start, they must be planted in the right position, at the right depth and at the right distance apart. Annuals, bulbs, shrubs and trees should all be planted in a slightly different way — and, of course, planting in containers demands an entirely different technique.

Since new plants are vulnerable until they have become established, aftercare such as watering, weeding and staking is vital. With shrubs and trees — the most permanent and expensive plants — this initial care is doubly important.

Plants grown from seed are the cheapest, option, and seed catalogues offer greater choice, especially of annuals, than garden centres. Using the right technique for preparing your seed trays, for sowing seeds, and for caring for the seedlings after germination can make the difference between success and failure. Home-saved seed, especially of hybrids, however, doesn't always breed true to type and fresh replacement seed is best.