Excuse me, can you explain what this plant tag actually means?
If you’re looking at a plant tag/stake, you may get completely overwhelmed and not realize where to even start! First consider the area of what you’re wishing to plant, is it shady or sunny? Does the soil regularly have a lot of water? How big is the area I’m wanting to plant? These among many other questions are all things you should ask yourself when picking out the perfect plant! Here is a list of the most commonly found items on plant tags that you may find useful…
- SNAP IT / MICROSOFT TAG APPLICATION
Some retailer plant tags are now including the Microsoft tag technology. It’s a new type of bar code where a person can scan the tag from their mobile phone and then instantly connects you to more information without having to type anything!
Download the FREE tag reader application & start scanning today… HERE!
- GROWTH RATE
Some are slow, some are fast. This way you know how quickly you can expect your plant to grow.
- BLOOM TIME
Bloom time will tell you at what specific times in the year you can expect to see blooms for that plant, this will also give a key to what is in season. Pay special attention to this detail when you are getting ready to transfer into a different season.
- SUN / SHADE
This is extremely important! There are several types that you need to pay attention to. Take a day or two and observe the amount of sun (if any) the area you’re wanting to plant receives. Are you getting 8+ hours of straight sun? Try plants marked as full sun. Other guidelines you can find are for partial sun that are for 4-8 hours of sun or shade plants that need 2-4 hours of daily sun.
- WATERING
Watering sections of plant tags indicate the amount of water a plant needs whether daily, weekly etc. Remember to pay attention to how much rain you’ve received as well before you over water your plants.
- SIZE / SPACING/ DIMENSIONS
For an overall look design this is important. How large a plant will grow will tell you how much room you need to plant things apart from each other for your desired design. You may see spacing and size together or separate but it’s the same principal. Make sure you give your plant ample room to grow properly. Also pay attention to growth habits that may be listed. You can find upright, spreading or spilling types of plants most commonly in your garden center.
- COLD ZONES
Most local retailers will pay attention to what plant they are trying to sell you per what zone you are located in, but the consumer should pay attention to this as well. As described here there are different cold zones. This will tell how hardy a plant is in that zone. For example, if you lived in Alaska you wouldn’t want to plant your yard full on tropical plants that wouldn’t survive in the cold temperatures throughout the year. You may either find a zone number or an actual temperature range on the tag like 0 to -10 degrees F.
- PRUNING NEEDS
You will find instructions like, prune while dormant or remove spent flowers or little pruning required. These instructions will help you keep your plant look its best!
- FERTILIZING
We’ve already talked about giving your plant a drink, so now it’s about your plants hunger! Fertilization parts of tags most often will tell you when to fertilize whether it buy a season or monthly time period. It is so important to make sure your plant has the proper nutrients.
- PLANTING INSTRUCTIONS
This parts of a plant tag will walk one through step by step on how to plant the item, from how big to dig the hole to whether to add a layer of mulch at the end.
- HELPFUL HINTS, NOTES, TIPS, OR TRICKS
Some tags will have helpful hints like whether a plant should be staked, what type of soil it likes best or that it is a great border plant. You can find plants that conserve water, attract hummingbirds, or deter deer. The hints may also give you an idea, like grows well in containers!
I hope you found this useful so the next time you are going to a garden center to purchase plants that will turn into a beautiful garden for you to enjoy! Make sure you read your plant tags as they are a wealth of information. Please feel free to contact us with any questions that you may have.
Happy Planting!
Melissa at Young’s Plant Farm
Send an email to melissa@youngsplantfarm.com to automatically receive new blog posts alerts.