Climate area?

7A. I generally buy the largest shrubs I can within reason, depending if I decide to look at the price tag....cause if I did, I would never buy the larger ones.

On smaller stock, they are not usually rootbound. More often they are repotted from the smaller size up as I can sometimes spot different potting medium layers.

On the larger sizes, sometimes, ya know, you just gotta cut the pot open to get them out. With the recent sub freeze temps we are going through, it's got me thinking does younger shrubs who have had a couple seasons of hardening fare better than one that's sat a good part of it's life in a warm bubble

So aside from plant hardiness for it's location, buying/planting as big as one procures should have no ill effect when transplanting in ground. thx

i think that simplifies it down too much ...

i dont know where you are buying [big box..etc].. but you have to take into consideration where the plant was grown.. where it was shipped from ... how the grower treated it the prior winter, where ever it was grown ... how the transporter handled them in shipping.. how the retailer handled them.. etc ...

in every part of the supply chain.. there are odds that the plants became stressed ... and stress is what kills .... imo ... bigger plants.. can have bigger stresses ..for a multitude of reasons ...

please go to your members page.. and add your location.. like the rest of us ...

ken

ps: many of us are collectors ... when i collected.. size didnt matter ... only how many names i could add to my database ... ergo ... the smaller ... the cheaper.. the happier i was ... back when i was in suburbia ... there was usually a reason to buy big ... like hiding a neighbor.. lol ... and that is what i did .. if the price was right ...

As long as you buy and plant AFTER the last chance of frost in your region, you should be fine with any potted tree or shrub. It will acclimate over the summer and should be prepared (due to its own genetics) to take whatever your winter will bring -- provided it is appropriate for your zone and has been taken care of (watering, etc).

I've seen many a nursery plant shipped up from the south and put on display only to have it's fresh new growth severely damaged by frost.

Yes, plants from the south being temporarily ahead of northern growing seasons when first sent up in spring is the only problem with using southern grown stock in the north - when the particular items being discussed are ones otherwise genetically adapted to northern conditions. With them being produced in the south having no effect on their inherent characteristics.

alan, are you under the impression that nursery grown woody shrubs are grown inside?