Gardening Tips - General

Why Good Plants Go Bad

• ROUGH TREATMENT - Nurseries sell plants in containers of various materials and shapes. Plants in containers are easily knocked out. Don't pound containers to loosen the soil. Don't pull the plants out of the containers. Tap the sides of the container and allow the plant to fall out into your hand. Don't do anything to balled and burlapped stock save cut the ropes away from the top after being placed in the hole.

• NO DEPTH PERCEPTION - Not too deep, not too shallow. Dig the planting hole just a little deeper than the root ball, but shovel back the soil mix so that the plant sits no lower than it was grown at the nursery. (Make the hole about five inches deep for one gallon plants; nine inches deep for five gallon plants.) The top of the root ball should be level with the ground.
  
  
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  IGNORING WIND AND SUN - It may take only a day or two for wind and sun to pull water out of a newly planted root ball, even when the surrounding soil is wet. Make sure that the ball stays moist while the roots are spreading out beyond it. Build a small temporary basin, a little larger than the root system. Water every other day for the first ten days if the weather is hot.
  
  
• PLANTING IN A BATHTUB, WITHOUT A PLUG - Dig a hole twice as wide as the root ball, then fill it with water to test for drainage and to soak the surrounding soil. If the water doesn't drain out of the hole in a reasonable time, bore a center hole to better drainage or plant in raised beds.

• NO SENSE OF HUMUS - When gardeners talk about humus, the generally mean humus making organic materials such as compost, peat moss, ground bark, and the like. Adding organic matter changes the structure of problem soils. It makes heavy soils mellower and easier to work with and improve water drainage. It helps sandy soils hold water and plant foods longer. To improve appreciably the structure of a soil, spread a two inch layer of peat moss, compost, ground bark, or similar organic matter over the ground and work it in to a depth of six inches.