What Is the Horticultural History of the Plant?
This inquiry involves a whole series of important questions, some of which can be answered only by others, some of which you can determine from evidence at hand. For example, what is the plants transplant history? Looking at a declining 40-foot tree can be a puzzle that is pretty easily put together when you discover the tree was transplanted two years previously. On younger plants, transplant history is often quite evident. A declining rhododendron that has branches growing out of the ground and is planted six inches deeper than the root-ball grade tells a great deal about the causes of decline. The same combination of questions to ask and clues to look for applies to horticultural practices such as fertilization, mulching, pesticide spray programs, plant hardiness, use of girdling wires, and the source of plant material. You can ask about fertilization rates, but you can often find telltale signs that help ask more pointed questions, such as an excessive pile of granular fertilizer o
