Plants Need to be Placed in Outside Environments with Care

Q. Last Christmas a friend bought for me a tiny pine tree about 6" tall. It is now 2' tall and I need to transplant it. When is the best time of year to do this?

 

A. It is April and getting too late now. I would wait and plant it some time between mid-September and mid-October as temperatures are cooling. However, if you run the risk of losing it, plant it now.

            You don’t mention how you were growing it. If you were growing it inside, not outside, you will need to gradually bring it into the outside environment or it could go into shock. This is called plant acclimatization and requires about three weeks inside a garage or outside shade shelter and then planting it.