Avoid ‘flopping plants’ from garden centres and choose natural growers
Buying plants in garden centres is not a good idea, according to Karin Bodewits. Go to the growers with a heart for biodiversity who know what they are selling.
This is an unofficial translation by Stichting Turfvrij. The original article was published in nrc, April 14th 2025.
The reality behind buying a plant is much more complex than just choosing something green. Green is not always necessarily sustainable. Anyone who walks through a garden centre sees all the plants perfectly displayed along spotlessly clean aisles. Rows and rows of identical specimens, every leaf shiny and spotless. Many plants are already in bloom, while they should only be waking up from their winter rest. It is clear: this is not right.
We know the ‘flopping chickens (plofkip)’ in the bio-industry. Millions of ‘flopping plants’ are grown in unnatural conditions like those animals. They are forced to grow in heated greenhouses, on artificial fertiliser, heat, light, and water regimes that completely ignore their natural growth. Just like flopping chickens in the bio-industry, these plants are programmed to be ‘ready for sale’ at precisely the right moment. Efficient? Yes. Sustainable? Absolutely not.
Vulnerable
The result? A plant that does not grow on its own, but often wilts after a season, is vulnerable and eventually dies. And all this has a price: poison that remains in the soil and air, the use of fossil fuels for energy-intensive production and the destruction of peat bogs elsewhere in Europe for potting soil.
The problem with such a garden centre is that the sellers don´t know what they are selling and the buyers don´t know what they are buying. Take the perfectly shaped, prematurely flowering lavender bush with an organic label from the shelf. What kind of potting soil was it grown in? Is there peat in that potting soil? It is unknown. Little wonder: transparency in this sector is rare. No labels, no lists of ingredients.
Plants ‘ready for sale’ at the right time, sustainable? Absolutely not
But in addition to these garden centre chains, small, independent growers still dig in the soil themselves. Where plants are not in neat, straight rows but are healthy and strong. Without signs saying ‘buy three, pay for two,’ but where you can hear enthusiastic stories about which bees and butterflies are attracted to which flowers. Growers whose plants are poison-free and grow in leaf compost, instead of peat-rich potting soil full of artificial fertiliser and other misery. The difference is enormous: knowledge and love versus commerce and ignorance.
Don’t choose over-hyped, weak plants from a greenhouse that will die after one season. Plants for which peat areas in the Baltic States were dug up. Choose sustainably grown, robust plants that will last for years. Plants that are a paradise for insects and birds and fit perfectly with the soil in your garden.
Growth promoters
So when looking for plants, it is better to drive past those slick garden centres. Find a small, poison- and peat-free grower with a heart for biodiversity. One where ‘bee-friendly’ is not just on the label because it sells well, but because it really is. Where plants are not rushed with growth promoters, but are simply given the time to grow strong naturally in the open air. These nurseries are a breath of fresh air. Buying plants from someone who truly loves nature is not only more sustainable – it is also just much more fun.
