This is a follow-on from yesterday or the day before’s post on my blog. It is not about buying plants from reputable nurseries that are well-known. It is the bargain basement end of purchase.
61 Cotoneaster franchetii were wrapped in a gossamer of clingfilm and waiting on the pallet. These are for a customer who wants a fairly instant hedge. The plants were in 2 litre pots and height advertised was 60 to 90 cm. Each plant cost round about £5.50.
Is this a good way to buy plants? Well, the first hour of the day was spent in cutting out all the dead twiggy bit of the hedglings. There were surprising quantities of stick deadery.
Yes, the plants were big which means that the customer and her caravanserai of dogs, lolloping great dane and racing whippets and a coming and going of many people to her busy back door will not walk through the new hedge but round it. The secateurs were itching to cut back after planting. Resisted.
About 10 percent of the plants either had signs of muntjac damage or had developed aerial roots, mangrove swamp style to cope with an erratic watering regime. Every single plant was root bound. The pots had to be cut off the plants which was a bore and doubled the planting time. The tightly bound knot of roots were pushing out fresh white 
radicals, so I guess the plants were not objecting too much to subsisting in their pots. I made a slight cut into the potted balls and fed them on bonemeal.
Would I buy from this wholesale company again? I wonder. The extra time involved in preparing the plants bumps up their cost by about 30%. The free pallet that came with the job lot was the best thing about this order. And of course, smaller is better when it comes to planting hedges.
I’m afraid I must seem so mean, I buy one then take lots of cuttings, I know, no good for an instant hedge, but in the end, in 5 yrs time, who would know the difference! Do let us know how your hedge gets on!
Looking at those roots, I would have passed if given the chance to see them first. But buying over the internet, you just never know what you’re going to get. I ordered some plants by mail this weekend. I have high hopes, but less realistic expectations.
I have taken a chance on bargain basement plants and I have been fortunate. Very often, they only need a little TLC and some extra attention — but then they rally and deliver the goods.
They look sort of like they have spent a bit much too long in the pot, probably effect of the saggy economy worldwide. I have sen a lot of stuff simply “dumped” for sale at the big box stores in the USA, at unbelievable prices just so some other entity had the responsibility of watering it, or so it seems. I would have looked at it as buying a root ball and trimmed them hard. You still can.
I’m with Pauline on this one… hedge plants are generally too easy to propagate to purchase pot-bound junk that is unlikely to do well.
I had to google cottoneaster… I’m not real up on those Chinese imports, preferring to plant natives when possible.