buying plants online
"Would you like to learn the secrets that pros use when buying plants online? Learn how with these easy-to-follow tips."
Do you want to save money and buy plants online that are perfect for your garden landscape design? Whether you are an experienced gardener or a beginner, buying plants online can be a positive experience for you and your garden.
Why should you buy plants online?
One very good reason to buy plants online is that online nurseries always have a bigger selection. Your local nurseries and garden centers, having limited space available to them for storing and displaying plants for sale, will often carry a small selection of plants that are hardy and easy to care for. When buying plants online, you can choose your plants from large reputable nurseries that carry many varieties or from smaller nurseries that specialize in rare, hard-to-find plants, like the old, fragrant rose variety that your great-grandmother fussed over when you were a child.
Why do you buy anything online? Convenience. When you buy plants online, you get to compare prices, find the best quality, research growing conditions, and learn about the plant variety’s history all from the comfort or your living room. Most of the plants that you buy online will be shipped to your home at the optimal planting time, so all you have to do is note when they will arrive and be ready to get them in the ground where they will start growing, making your garden landscape beautiful.
When buying plants online, they may be shipped bareroot, meaning that all the soil has been removed from the root system. Don’t panic if plants are shipped this way. The plants are shipped bareroot to keep costs down. Just remember, if your plants are being shipped bareroot, you should be prepared to plant them immediately so the roots won’t dry out!
When buying plants online, remember to follow these guidelines:
- When you are browsing the different nurseries to buy plants online, be sure remember the common and botanical name of the plants that interest you, so you can compare shipping sizes and prices between retailers.
- As you look for the perfect plants for your garden landscape design, check the hardiness zone and growing information for each plant. You want to be sure the plants can handle your climate and the conditions specific to your garden.
- When you place your order to buy plants online, make note of what you ordered, the shipping dates, and the deadlines for shipping. Plants are shipped during the optimal planting time which could be months after the order date. If you have any problems with your order, you will need contact the nursery’s customer service before the shipping deadline. Your detailed records will also keep you from ordering the same plant twice while you wait for it to ship.
We recommend buying plants online from the following nurseries:
- Spring Hill Nursery - Save $25 Off $50 Order
Spring Hill Nursery has been a leading developer, researcher, and provider of perennial gardens since 1849. Since its inception, Spring Hill has been America's Favorite Mail Order Garden Center. Now you can benefit from their years of experience when buying plants online. - Breck's Bulbs
No organization has more knowledge about which bulbs grow and bloom best in all sections of the U.S. than Breck's. They take advance reservations, and then just as soon as the crops are harvested, the staff of Dutch Bulb Experts makes an on-the-spot selection of the finest bulbs available to fill those reservations.
- Dutch Gardens
For nearly a century, Dutch Gardens has been supplying Holland's finest bulbs and plants to beautify gardens throughout the U.S. When you're buying plants online, be sure visit their website.
- Park Seed
For over 135 years, Park Seed Company has maintained the highest standards of excellence in products and service! On the site you will find everything from a complete collection of flower and vegetable seeds to easy-care annual and perennial plants, bulbs, shrubs, and trees. Park Seed even has seed-starting supplies, tools, garden art, and gifts.
- Wayside Gardens
Your garden deserves only the finest trees, shrubs, perennials, and bulbs, and you can find them all at Wayside Gardens. From Hydrangea to Japanese Maple, Wayside Gardens has classic favorites, surprising newcomers, and choice treasures - even gardening accessories from tools to statuary!
- Jackson & Perkins
Jackson & Perkins is a full-service nursery offering all kinds of flowers, trees, shrubs, ground coverings, bulbs, decorative garden gifts, tools, garden accessories, plant care products and, of course roses. Over 3 million roses and other plants are shipped to customers every year.


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