Planting Container-Grown Perennials

html> Planting Container-Grown Perennials

Perennials

Class 1: Some Perennials Basics
Class 2: Garden Design
Class 3: Putting Pencil to Paper
Class 4: Soil Preparation and Planting
Class 5: Maintaining your Perennial Gardens
Class 6: Troubleshooting

Container-Grown Plants

You’ve prepared your garden bed, so the soil is nice and loose. It’s time to plant!

Dig a hole for the plant. The hole should be about as deep as the container, and about 1-1/2 times its width. (The pot should fit comfortably into the hole, so that the soil level in the pot is level with the surrounding soil.)

Remove the plant from its container. It’s easiest to do this if the soil is moist. Place one hand over the soil surface, so that the plant is positioned between your thumb and fingers. Turn the pot upside down, and rap gently on the bottom of the container. Hopefully, the root ball will slide right out. If it doesn’t, try squeezing the container, rapping harder on the bottom, or, as a last resort, cutting away the container.

Gently set the plant into the hole, double checking that the surfaces of the soil match. Don’t bury the lower leaves, and don’t leave the crown (where the stems meet the roots) exposed. Carefully backfill the hole, firming, but not packing, the soil into place.

You can leave a slight depression around the plant to hold water. This is especially helpful if you are planting on a slope. Water the plant, saturating the soil around the plant. If you are applying mulch, be sure to leave a few inches bare around the base of the plant.

Bare-Root Plants

The process is similar to planting container-grown plants, except that you’ll create a little mound or cone of soil in the bottom of the planting hole. Place the plant into the hole, arranging the roots around the surface of the mound. Hold the plant with one hand while you backfill with the other. As with container-grown plants, it’s important to place bare-root plants at the same level as they were before they were dug. Usually, the crown of the plant should be at or just slightly below the soil surface. In some cases, you’ll need to examine the stem of the plant to determine its original depth.

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