Q. I have been having problems with my shrubs and plants
growing this year and am hoping you can help. I started planting in April, I
planted mostly evergreen shrubs because I like to look at the green all year
around. I used top soil to plant them, and they have all died. Is there
something I am doing wrong? Can you tell me what evergreens I should plant(ones
that stay green all year around), what month I should plant them and exactly
how I should plant them? What soil to use? And how often I should water them? I
don't have a watering system so I water them myself. I aprreciate it so much
and am hopeful you can help me. Thank you.
A. You have asked for a whole
book worth of information. It is not something that I could do or explain to
you easily. Any planting you want to do now that is summer should be delayed until the end of
September to the middle of October, no later. Dig and prepare your holes BEFORE you buy
your plants.
Start
with trees first. This is a “window shopping” trip. Don’t buy them yet. You
will leave with something, but not the trees. When you leave the nursery you
should be leaving with the plant, the phosphorus fertilizer, a bag of soil
amendment for each plant. Stake the trees. If the tree is really small and you
plant it correctly, you may not need to stake it. Shop for trees that will
shade the south and west side of your home for some break from the summer heat.
For these two spots I would pick trees that don’t get more than 20 to 30 feet
tall for a one story house and they should drop their leaves in the fall. Leaf
drop in the late fall will allow some winter sun in that can warm the house and
reduce you heating costs. Do not plant these trees any closer to the house or
themselves than half of their mature height.
Once you
have found the trees you want, then go home and dig the holes and take all the soil prepartion stuff with you. All these plants will need to have soil improvement before
you plant them. This means you will have to dig each hole about five times
wider than the container it comes in. It should be the depth of
the container, not much deeper.
Next, remove rocks larger than a golf ball from the soil
taken from the hole. When this is done you will mix a “planter mix” soil
amendment with the soil removed from the hole. I would also add a phosphorus
fertilizer to this soil as well, something like 0-46-0 or similar. About two
handfuls of this for each hole will be enough for shrubs and small trees. This is all
mixed together and put back into the hole and soak it with water as deep as you
can.
The next weekend buy your plants and plant them
in this improved soil. Plant them in this hole the same depth as they were in
the container. Add water to the hole as you are putting the soil back in around
the roots. Make a tall ring around the plant about two feet from the trunk and
six inches tall. This will be the basin or container you will use for adding
water with your hose. This is important to do. Water twice a week for three
weeks. Each time you water, fill the basin twice. Water once a week the same
way after this.
Most of the plants you are looking for are sold locally.
If you go to a nursery and ask someone for help and explain to them what you
are looking for, they will direct you to “foolproof” evergreen plants for your
home. There are plants that will be fairly easy to grow and then there are
plants that are difficult to grow. They can help guide you. Always buy the
smallest plant that is in good health you can get. Why pay the grower more
money when you can grow it larger yourself?
Also, if you have been losing plants then you will not
want to invest a lot until you get this growing thing down pat.
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