{"id":2464,"date":"2025-04-15T05:44:30","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T05:44:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/turfvrij.nl\/?p=2464"},"modified":"2025-04-15T06:45:32","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T06:45:32","slug":"avoid-flopping-plants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/turfvrij.nl\/en\/avoid-flopping-plants\/","title":{"rendered":"Avoid flopping plants"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Avoid \u2018flopping plants\u2019 from garden centres and choose natural growers<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Avoid\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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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.<\/p>

This is an unofficial translation by Stichting Turfvrij. The original article<\/strong><\/a> was published in nrc, April 14th 2025.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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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.<\/p>

We know the \u2018flopping chickens (plofkip)\u2019 in the bio-industry. Millions of \u2018flopping plants\u2019 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 \u2018ready for sale\u2019 at precisely the right moment. Efficient? Yes. Sustainable? Absolutely not.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Vulnerable<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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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.<\/p>

The problem with such a garden centre is that the sellers don\u00b4t know what they are selling and the buyers don\u00b4t 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.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Plants \u2018ready for sale\u2019 at the right time, sustainable? Absolutely not<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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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 \u2018buy three, pay for two,\u2019 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.<\/p>

Don\u2019t 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.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Growth promoters<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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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 \u2018bee-friendly\u2019 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 \u2013 it is also just much more fun.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Avoid \u2018floating plants\u2019 from garden centres and choose natural growers
\nBuying plants from garden centres is not a good idea, according to Karin Bodewits. Go to the grower with a heart for biodiversity, who knows what he is selling.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2466,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_canvas","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/turfvrij.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2464"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/turfvrij.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/turfvrij.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/turfvrij.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/turfvrij.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2464"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/turfvrij.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2464\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2474,"href":"https:\/\/turfvrij.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2464\/revisions\/2474"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/turfvrij.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/turfvrij.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/turfvrij.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/turfvrij.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}