Are you new to gardening? here are my plant shopping tips that will make your first-time experience less overwhelming.
If you follow me on Instagram you already know I love plants and all things green. Ever since I switched to all-natural 3 years back, I’ve been making a conscious effort to live a green and sustainable lifestyle. I am far from my goal, but every step I take makes me closer to my goal.
A week back we visited a nursery that was closing permanently (they weren’t out of business but shifted their occupation to landscaping instead). So everything was on 75% off sale. It was like black Friday for plant shopping in July.
We spent the entire morning on the day the nursery was closing, buying plants. It was seriously the best day of the year. I have been to almost every nursery when I was in Cleveland to take pictures for the blog. I would browse around and take mental notes on what plants to buy and which pots/baskets to put them in.
I was just waiting to move to Columbus and find a place with a backyard. So it was a dream come true to find everything I wanted at a deal-breaker price and embrace my new plant shopping pastime.
We ended up getting nearly 15 plants and 10 pots, which was around 4-5 dolly loads and 2 car trips 🙂
10 Plant Shopping Tips for the First-Time Gardener
Plant Shopping Tips #1:
Buy plants at your local Nursery as they have knowledgeable staff who can answer any gardening questions you have like what potting soil to use. how often to water? and suitable weather conditions, etc.
Plant Shopping Tip#2:
Buy plants that are suitable for your weather conditions. If you live in colder areas, opt for more houseplants as they don’t need sunlight and require very minimal maintenance.
Plant Shopping Tip#3:
Never miss a sale at your local nursery. Plants and pots esp. the bigger ones are very expensive in general so bingeing on a sale is worth it.
Plant Shopping Tip#4:
Always buy plants that come with instruction labels showing the plant in bloom, how much sunlight the plant needs, how often to water, and the expected growth size and spread of the plant. This will help in potting your plants.
Plant Shopping Tip#5:
Do a quick check on the plant to see if it is healthy. Avoid plants with wilted leaves and stem. Turn over the pot and check if a mass of roots is growing through the drainage holes. If yes, it means the plant has been in its pot too long. Re-pot such plants once you buy them.
Plant Shopping Tip#6:
Get saucers (preferably matching as they look good :)) for all the pots you are planning to put indoor so water doesn’t come on to the carpet or floor.
Plant Shopping Tip#7:
You can basically plant into anything just make sure you make a hole at the bottom for water drainage.
Plant Shopping Tip#8:
I always repot plants I buy to make sure they are growing in healthy soil. I mix the potting mix I have with the soil the plant comes with.
Plant Shopping Tip#9:
For large pots, fill the bottom with pot fillers or materials like pebbles, aluminum cans, plastic bottles, etc.
Plant Shopping Tip#10:
It is advised to plant within a day or 2 of bringing your plants home.
We spent the following Sunday evening potting all the plants. It was so much fun with music and friends! I would love to relive that day again and again.
The next morning I woke up to this 🙂
My porch has become my favorite workplace now. I move my iMac over the weekends to work on my blog.
Lastly, I am super excited to finally add the Home category to my blog with this post. Stay tuned for more green home-inspired posts. Also, let me know if you want me to write anything particular in the comments below.
Shop This Plant Shopping Post
Outfit #1: Old Navy Jumpsuit (similar 1,2,3 ) | Sandals (also here; similar here) | Bag | Watch c/o Wood Grain Watches
Outfit #2: Sweatshirt c/o Lemotto | Boyfriend Jeans | Bralette (also like this)
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Thank you for the post! This will be so helpful next summer! ❤️
That’s impressive! You must be proud of him
I am glad you find it useful
I love gardening so much, love your tips. They are super helpful for anyone who is new to gardening. I like the little garden in your patio.
I learned all of them while going to nurseries often! I didn’t had any knowledge about gardening except that I have to water plants ?
I usually love gardening but this year has been awful. My neck of the woods has not gotten any rain and I cannot afford to keep watering everything. Plus the horrible heat is simply killing most of my plants. Only my tomatoes are hanging in there.
Oh that’s bad! It’s been opposite for us! Raining very often even though I don’t mind watering them everyday!
My 9 yr old son loves to garden. He grew a cabbage this year.
How I wish I could garden. I have a black thumb!
You certainly looked stylish while you shopped. I love that outfit. I don’t think our local place would know how to act if I showed up looking that good. LOL
Great tips! We buy our stuff from our local nursery, but most of our stuff still can’t handle the Texas heat and we’ve lost a lot of our vegetable plants the last couple months.
Great tips here! I think if you’ve got the space for a greenhouse then growing your own from seeds is always nicer, but when I had my flat I couldn’t grow much on the balcony as it didn’t get much light 🙁 x
Wow that’s such an amazing reduction, I love greenery but I am so bad at keeping things alive so I’d worry about having too many plants x
I love to garden. These blue pots are so pretty. I need to get a few new plants to put in my living room.
Oh I ,love plant shopping especially as it reminds me of my cultural heritage! I just read your post on natural skincare products by the way and I applaud you. I too try and use non toxic skincare but I also use products that do not test on animals and wear clothing that does not use animal skin too! I am also a vegetarian!
I always admired people that had a green thumb because I sure don’t. Have a great time with your new favorite past time, and you look great doing it too.
I’m going to use your tips when buying plants. I always end up with plants that die and it might be that they’re not favorable to my conditions either indoors or out. I’ll focus on reading what they require light wise and how much to water them. I tend to overwater.
I love plants and this can totally help me out soon. Great tips you got here!
I love gardening, but I just do not have a green thumb. Thanks for the great tips though!
Great tips! I want my future apartment to be filled with plants. Also, I really like your jumpsuit 🙂
The plants look lovely and you look damn happy surrounded by them. Would love to have a green corner in my house, too 🙂
Wow! You hit a jackpot with that 75% off deal. Plants bring so much of positive energy into the house, and make it more like a home. All of these tips that you shared are really helpful. Thanks for sharing.
I always love to have my own garden but I still can’t figure how to start. Thank you for your helpful tips, I will surely wait for the sale!
Gardening is too wonderful topic for me as well (garden enthusiast). Just a few months back I started taking interest in my garden but I was too confused about it. This post has made me to adjust myself well with the garden.
Plants bring positivity in home..surely.
Looks like a great haul! We picked up some lavender, rosemary and a strawberry plant at the beginning of the summer. I love how uplifting it all is!
Shopping for plants are fun! Your porch looks so dreamy and perfect – I really like all your plants selections. Great taste!
This is my new hobby. I can proudly say that I have 3 pots with plants now!!
That is something I want to get into very soon. That is the reason I miss Jamaica so much because here I live in an apartment.
Planting is very gratifying. I live your black jumpsuit.
What a great tips for the new beginner in gardening. I really like the blue pots, so cool. I really like green corner in our house, It looks so refreshing.