A gardener has shared a trick that could guarantee your garden centre plants thrive at home, and it just involves doing one thing to the roots before planting.
The Simple Root Hack
Making one change to your plant's roots can help them thrive. If you don't have the patience to grow plants from tiny seeds, chances are you've been to your local garden centre to buy flowers that you can put straight into your own soil. These plants are an excellent way to kickstart your garden, as they will add instant colour while still having the potential to grow bigger and bolder in the years to come. However, if you don't take care of them properly, it's easy for garden centre plants to not reach their full potential, resulting in stunted growth, minimal flowers, and potentially even the risk of them dying early.
Most of the problems garden centre plants face are caused by their root systems being unable to properly explore the bigger pot or flowerbed you put them in. When you first buy them, they are crammed into small pots, and you can see their extensive roots when you take them out to replant them.
According to one gardener on social media, completing one important step before you replant your flowers can help guarantee the plants will thrive, and it takes just a few seconds. Dan, who regularly shares budget gardening tips on his TikTok account, said that if you buy plants from a garden centre or supermarket, you should gently agitate the soil around the roots before you plant it.
He said: "Take it out of the container, and then see the roots? What I do is I just give them a little tease around the edges, maybe open up the bottom just a little bit. What we're doing is we're opening up the roots. If you were to plant it [without doing this], there can be a tendency for the roots just to wrap around the compost and not spread out. To give the plant the best chance it needs, you want the roots to spread out into the soil. So that's why you do that."
All Dan did in his video was take the plant out of the pot, and then gently rub the edges of the soil so that some of the roots became unstuck from their rigid position. He also gently pressed at the bottom of the soil to help the roots untangle themselves, which is something anyone can do with little to no gardening experience.
Commenters on his post were blown away by the hack, with some saying they had always thought about doing something like this but thought they would "damage the roots." Dan replied: "They'll be fine after this, they are far more hardy than you may think!"
Tips for Planting Garden Centre Plants
Established plants bought from a garden centre or supermarket should have a good chance of surviving in your garden, as they've already been through the delicate seedling stage. However, to make sure your plants successfully establish themselves in your garden, consider the following tips:
- Hydrate before planting: Don't plant your flowers straight into the soil with no water. Submerge the plant's rootball in room temperature water for 15-30 minutes until the bubbles stop, as this helps ensure the roots have plenty of hydration before being planted.
- Dig the right hole: You should dig a hole twice the diameter of the rootball, but exactly the same depth. Do not plant too deeply, as this can smother the stem, while planting too high can cause the roots to dry out.
- Tease the roots: As Dan explained in his video, gently loosen the roots with your fingers or a hand fork if they are tightly wound or matted. This helps them grow outward into your soil instead of continuing to curl around themselves.
- Water deeply: After planting, water the area generously to help settle the soil and eliminate air pockets around the rootball.
