Avoiding the Blame Game

When purchased plants fail to thrive in their new environment, a blame game can erupt — and often does.

The end user instinctively looks at the installer if they used a professional, or the garden center if they purchased the plant at retail. The landscaper points to the landscape architect, figuring the plant was inappropriately selected or positioned improperly in the design.  The landscaper and architect both might blame the wholesaler for passing along sickly plants. The retail nursery does the same. The wholesaler turns to the propagator, assuming the plants were weak to begin with.

It’s easy to get caught up in this, no matter what stage of the supply chain you represent. Sometimes it will cost you actual money, but at minimum your business reputation is being chipped away each time an installation suffers with transplant shock or failure to thrive.

Even if the blame game never begins because the end user blames himself, the plant still languishes. It’s still a failure and a waste.

Our Advice

The best way to win the blame game is to avoid it altogether. Whatever your place on the supply chain from propagator to retailer, inoculate against transplant stress with Mycorrhizae, beneficial microbials, and other nutrients and enablers at the time of planting. DIEHARD™ Transplant is a great place to start because it jump starts nature’s own processes and manages water supply in the meantime.

Transplant shock is a plant’s natural response to being placed in a suboptimal environment — stripped of nutrients the plant would naturally have and the beneficial microbial activity that would be serving the plant in a natural setting. Transplant shock is markedly reduced when we improve the soil they are placed in and the root system they are sending out. Transplant shock should be a key consideration at every stage of a plant’s journey from sprout to retail.

So stop the game already. We know what plants need, so let’s just give it to them!

Supply Chain, Unite!

In the end, we’re all on the same team. We all want healthy, thriving plants in our landscapes. Struggling plants are a waste of money, a reputation risk, and a disservice to the plants themselves.

With a vibrant, beautiful end in mind, let’s each do our part to put an end to transplant shock. It really is within our control!

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