A few weeks back I was harping about why gardeners don’t bother with compost and fertilizer when they are planting. This week I feel the need to talk about the importance of good planting practices. No matter where you purchase your plant material, I can guarantee you they will croak if it they aren’t planted properly. Here are some of my tips to help you succeed…
NEVER PUT A PLANT INTO DRY SOIL. If you surround a root ball with dry soil it will suck all the life out of the tiny feeder roots and be the kiss of death for that plant. The solution is to pre-soak the planting hole by filling it up and letting it soak in until it is all gone. This could take some time, but it will also let you know if you have any drainage issues. If there is water in the bottom that won’t go away, fill the hole up with just enough soil to get above the water.
DON’T DIG A GRAVE. Dig your hole just as deep as the root ball and twice as wide. It is important to keep the soil level the same as in the container.
ROUGH UP THE ROOT BALL. Container-grown plants can be extremely root bound and might need aggressive action to loosen them up, while some may only need a gentle scratching - I like to use a linoleum knife to do this.
BALLED AND BURLAPED. Inside that burlap sack is a dense clay ball. If you let it dry out at any time during the first season, chances are that your plant will die. If it is already dry at the time of purchase, soak it down good to get it rehydrated before planting. Once it is in the planting hole, cut the string and either cut off the upper half of the burlap or push it down into the hole.
Once you’ve placed the plant in the hole, replace half of the soil (with some fertilizer and compost blended into it) and firm it up. Now add several gallons of water to the hole and let it soak in (less if it is just a one gallon or smaller plant). Again, replace the rest of the soil, firm it up like before and make a moat (we call them watering wells) around the plant that you can fill with an inch or two of water. Fill the well once, let it soak in and fill it again, and if it soaks in really fast then fill it once more. The concept here is to saturate the soil surrounding the new root ball so that the plant has enough water to draw from for several days. When this is done properly you should only have to water once or twice a week and after a month you can remove the watering well, grade out the dirt and finish off with some compost or bark mulch.
If you follow these directions, you should be successful - I don’t care how hot it gets. Plants that are properly planted should not wilt or drop any leaves. If this is happening, then either the plant is too dry or it is drowning. Dig around and find out which it is before it is too late.
Next week I will school you on how to keep established plants alive in this new normal of summer drought (we are already 6 inches below normal rain fall year to date) so that your landscape investment will continue to thrive and appreciate in value. In the meantime, keep on gardening!
