SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Are you killing your plants? Do they look fresh and healthy in the nursery, then start to fade and wilt after you take over their care? While nurseries have the luxury of concentrating solely on maintaining healthy plants, you can still get the same results in your limited schedule with some planning and effort. These simple nursery tools will keep your plants as hale and hardy as the day of purchase.

The backbone of plant care is a consistent maintenance schedule. You eat, drink and rest regularly to maintain your health - plants need the same consideration. What happens if you skip meals or don't get enough fluids? You start to wilt and fade. If you neglect their basic needs, plants will suffer too. A haphazard maintenance schedule is the most obvious reason for distressed lawn, garden or grounds.

To be able to establish a maintenance schedule for your plants, you have to know their growing requirements. The quickest resource is the tag that accompanies the plant. It should list basics such as water, sun and fertilizer. Keep the tag as a reference until you've established a pattern for yourself to follow.

Although we have a great growing climate here in Southern California, without irrigation we would look like a desert because of the limited rainfall. Water, therefore, is paramount. And in the right amounts. Most yards are maintained with sprinkler systems, so once you know the amounts of water needed, set your clocks to take care of this most of the time. But because individual plants have different watering requirements, you may need to use the sprinkler for overall coverage, then provide additional water to the plants that need it. Customized watering is demanding, but will improve the performance of your garden.

Nurseries avoid this by grouping like-plants together, making maintenance easy. While you may not be able to group plants that have all the same watering requirements, you should group sun plants with sun plants and shade plants with shade plants.

Plants can grow in the wrong locations, but they usually will not thrive. Plants needing sun will grow in the shade, but often become leggy or stretched because of the lack of light. Also they may not flower correctly. On the other hand, plants requiring shade may be able to take a little early morning or late in the afternoon sun, but will not tolerate sun in the hottest part of the day. Be sure to locate plants in the proper area to ensure the right amount of sunlight.

While Southern California gets plenty of sun, our soils are terrible. Without mulching, composting, and fertilizing there isn't any incentive for plants to prosper. After the water issue is covered, feeding or fertilizing must be made consistent also.

All fertilizers have the same basic components of n-p-k: nitrogen for leaf growth and greening, phosphorus for flowering or fruit production, and potassium which helps promote good root structure. They also provide micro-nutrients which are important to plant health. Fertilizers are available in liquid or granular form. Liquids react faster but are used up more rapidly, whereas the granular form is longer lasting. Some brands will feed plants for up to a year.
Compost and mulch offer additional help to plants. Used as a soil amendment, compost is highly regarded for its ability to improve soils, which greatly enhances plant growth. Because of its lack of nutrients, compost alone cannot grow plants. However it is beneficial to the soil, improving the soil's structure, water penetration, and moisture holding capacity. It can help prevent erosion and weed germination, while increasing the overall productivity of the soil.

Mulch achieves many of the same benefits. By spreading mulch over your flowerbeds, you can hold moisture in and help stop erosion and weeds.

One final tip to keeping your plants nursery fresh is to prune. Pruning is probably the most overlooked technique that must be adhered to if you want to maintain a healthy plant. Pruning both eliminates undesired growth and promotes new growth. If done incorrectly or done at the wrong time of year, you can damage your plant beyond repair. For example, plants sensitive to cold should not be pruned late in the fall as a frost can severely damage the new growth.

As you can see, many variables influence the health of your plants. These are just some of nursery tips to be aware of in growing your plants. No two plants are exactly alike so you may have to experiment a little, based on your location - inland and coastal climates vary greatly.

Gather as much information as possible. Aside from the plant tags and the experts at the nursery where you buy your plants, the best resources on plants for our Southern California climate are the Sunset Western Garden Book and the Ortho Problem Solver. Most plants are referenced by their botanical names but also have cross-references to the common name. The Western Garden Book features charts that list plants that thrive in shade, fast growing plants, plants to locate near swimming pools, fire retardant plants, and just about any use you may require.

Sunset and Ortho also have books with individual themes such as perennials, succulents, or shade trees.

Nurseries must produce nice looking plants or they won't be purchased. However, once you get the plant home you can keep it healthy by maintaining a regular schedule.

Alan Stockton is a California Certified Nurseryman with more than 20 years of horticultural experience and managerial expertise. He is a past president and former vice-chairman of the San Diego Chapter of the California Landscape Contractors Association (CLCA). Alan continues to lead within the CLCA as a member of the Board of Directors. He is currently key-accounts salesman for Miramar Wholesale Nurseries.