Plants, like any other commodity we use, do cost money. However, unlike, say, a vacuum cleaner, they grow more valuable as they grow older.
You should expect to pay a fair price for any plants you decide to use in your landscape. But, since the price depends largely on the amount of work the nurseryman has put into the given plant, you should always buy smaller specimens. Properly cared for, they will grow into valuable shrubs, flowers and trees.
If you have enough time, patience, and skill, you might try developing your own shrubs - a difficult task but one that will stretch your gardening dollar.
Cash Outlay
Do not, confuse the fully grown plants shown many magazines, websites and books with the ones you will plant when you start to landscape. These plants are often shown mature in order to help you visualize what you will ultimately have.
Your initial cash outlay, however, will not be for mature plants or even large specimens. You will be buying plants for much less because you are going to wait for them to mature.
Not even extremely wealthy people buy mature plants. The shade tree that you buy will be about 1 to 1-1/2 inches in diameter. You may pay around $50 for it; in ten years, when its diameter will have reached about 5 inches, that tree would cost at least $1000. Even a man in the higher income bracket would have to think twice before buying 10 or 15 mature shade trees.
Less Expensive Plants
Most home owners choose evergreens or calathea plants for foundation plantings. When asked why they select evergreens, most people will say that in winter they do not like to look at plants that have lost their leaves. They think of them as a dead bunch of twigs that mar the appearance of the front of their house.
Is this so? Next time you have the chance, study closely the delicate twig arrangements of any deciduous shrub during the winter time. Note the wonderful patterns formed when they are covered with snow or ice. Then you will think before committing yourself to the added expense of evergreens. - 30228
You should expect to pay a fair price for any plants you decide to use in your landscape. But, since the price depends largely on the amount of work the nurseryman has put into the given plant, you should always buy smaller specimens. Properly cared for, they will grow into valuable shrubs, flowers and trees.
If you have enough time, patience, and skill, you might try developing your own shrubs - a difficult task but one that will stretch your gardening dollar.
Cash Outlay
Do not, confuse the fully grown plants shown many magazines, websites and books with the ones you will plant when you start to landscape. These plants are often shown mature in order to help you visualize what you will ultimately have.
Your initial cash outlay, however, will not be for mature plants or even large specimens. You will be buying plants for much less because you are going to wait for them to mature.
Not even extremely wealthy people buy mature plants. The shade tree that you buy will be about 1 to 1-1/2 inches in diameter. You may pay around $50 for it; in ten years, when its diameter will have reached about 5 inches, that tree would cost at least $1000. Even a man in the higher income bracket would have to think twice before buying 10 or 15 mature shade trees.
Less Expensive Plants
Most home owners choose evergreens or calathea plants for foundation plantings. When asked why they select evergreens, most people will say that in winter they do not like to look at plants that have lost their leaves. They think of them as a dead bunch of twigs that mar the appearance of the front of their house.
Is this so? Next time you have the chance, study closely the delicate twig arrangements of any deciduous shrub during the winter time. Note the wonderful patterns formed when they are covered with snow or ice. Then you will think before committing yourself to the added expense of evergreens. - 30228
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