HOW TO PLANT POTTED SHRUBS

1:REMOVE SHRUB FROM CONTAINER

2: CUT OR ROUGH UP ANY GIRDLING ROOTS

3: FIND ROOT COLLAR OF SHRUB

4: PLANT AT OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE ORIGINAL DEPTH OF  SHRUB

5: BACKFILL AND WATER SHRUB

Friday, 8:30 AM.  36 degress F, wind ENE, light.  The sky is overcast and it is very foggy.  The humidity is 97% after heavy rainfall of over a half an inch last night.  The barometer stands at 29.47".

   I and Dave and Lincoln,  of Jay's Tree Care, installed the first planting job of this late season yesterday,  a continuation of the large landscape project for a new home on the lake shore.  We planted fourteen shrubs in five gallon pots along the lake side of the home.  We managed to get the shrubs (PJM Rhododendrons, Arctic Blue willows, old fashioned bridal wreaths and  a PG Hydrangea) planted, mostly in the rain.  It was a messy undertaking but turned out well.  The plants still need to have weed barrier and mulch put around them so we are not quite finished.

   Most shrubs and  small to medium sized deciduous trees and conifers are now grown and brought to market in containers.  On the whole, container grown plants perform at least as well as those grown in the ground, and they are on balance easier to store, transport and plant than bare root or balled and burlapped plants, but a few fundamental rules must be followed to insure a successful planting.

   First, remove the plant from the pot.  If the plant has become root bound in the pot, the pot may have to be cut off.

   Second, remove any girdling roots.  Container grown plants tend to become root bound in the pot.  When the plant is removed from the pot any girdling roots, those that spiral around the ball because they have grown against the pot, must be pruned off with a shears or cut with a knife. If the root ball is very mostly fine, fibrous roots those must be loosened up as well.   A good procedure is to rough up the entire circumference of the ball with a sharp knife.

   Third, find the correct planting level of the root ball by rubbing away any loose accumulation of soil and mulch at the top of the ball, until the root collar is found.  Plants grown in pots tend to have a build up of decomposing mulch that raises the level of the soil in the pot, and if this layer is not removed the plant will be planted too deep.

   Fourth,   place root ball at or slightly above the original level of the soil it is being planted in. It is always  better to plant sightly too high than too deep.  The planting hole should be generous (the planting hole in the above photo is actually a little small), so that there will be no air pockets when the soil is backfilled, and the roots have loosened soil to grow into.  Amending the soil in the planting bed is usually not necessary when planting trees and shrubs unless it is heavy clay or really sterile sand or gravel.  At this location there was enough good topsoil to mix with subsoil dug from the planting hole that no amendments were needed.

  Fifth,  soil should not be heavily compacted when backfilling around the root ball, but air pockets should be eliminated.  Water the plant in well to settle the soil.  Potted plants have been watered automatically in the nursery and usually have heavy root systems so they must be watered in well at planting and be monitored for watering until well established. On this job we planted in the rain and mud and watering was not needed.