Finding the plants that you want for your space

You may have already decided what types of plant to use, either in consultation with an interior landscaping expert or from your own experience, but are they there in the market place?

Each tree is a unique living individual.  Whilst it is true that nurserymen will do their best to grow trees to a consistent standard, it has to be remembered that there will always be some variation between individual trees.  Therefore, you will need to shop around to find the trees that are the right shape and size for the space that you wish to fill.

An experienced interior landscaping company will be able to help source the plants that match your specifications.  You might wish to visit the grower and see the plants on the nursery or you can get good quality photographs of a selection of trees to choose from.  The use of digital cameras and e-mail makes this process a lot more economical and speedy.

As soon as you have selected your trees, the grower will tag them with a unique label and keep them for you until needed.

Shipping, acclimatization and paperwork

Large specimen trees that are imported from far-away places need time to adjust to their new surroundings.  As well as recovering from a sea journey that may take a couple of weeks or more, they will need to adjust to new environmental conditions.

A tree that has spent its life in a sunny field in Florida is going to need time to adjust to an indoor atrium.  Even the best lit, glass fronted atriums in full summer are dark, gloomy places compared with the outside.  It may surprise you to learn that the amount of light that a plant will receive in an atrium may be 100 times LESS than it would get growing out of doors.

A typical response to the new conditions is the loss of all leaves for several weeks, followed by the growth of new foliage.  The old leaves are not able to cope with the low light, so new ones grow that adapt to lower light levels as they emerge.  This process may take several months, which is why it is important to make sure that you, or your interior landscaping contractor, have the facilities to allow this to take place.

If you are importing plants from another country, you will need to make sure that they carry a recognised phytosanitary certificate.  The import restrictions on plants vary considerably from country to country.  Australia and New Zealand have extremely tough requirements and imports to these countries are difficult.  Quarantine arrangements may be put in place as well as a regime of pest control.  The controls in other countries are less stringent, but it is important that you ensure that any imported plants meet the requirements of your country or state.  There are links to the regulatory authorities for some countries in the menu on the right hand side of this page.

Arranging for the delivery and installation of your plants

Now that your plants have been acclimatized, they are ready for delivery to the building and installation.  Details about preparing the site and the resources required for installation are covered in another section of this module.

Here, we will briefly cover some factors involved in the final delivery and installation of your large plants.

Arranging transport

Large plants are heavy and tall.  You will need to book heavy goods vehicles with sufficient capacity.  It may be necessary to transport trees in a climate-controlled vehicle if it is especially hot or cold.