When you begin with the best-quality care-free plants you can find, you can look forward to excellent results from your efforts in the garden. It is wise to buy plants in the proper season, which is spring for most annuals, perennials, shrubs, and trees in most parts of the continent, although in areas with mild, rainy winters and hot, dry summers, many plants are best set out in the fall. In any season, shop early, when the selection is good, even though you may be buying plants that are just emerging from, or going into winter dormancy. Purchasing plants that have already gone dormant, and planting them in early spring, is a smart investment. As plants begin their most active season of aboveground growth, they are also poised to develop vigorous new roots over the long, upcoming growing season, and a strong root system will carry them safely through their first winter in the ground.
Study plant tags carefully before making your selection, because the tags often contain useful information about plant size, spacing, and requirements for sun or shade. Plants that are purchased from mailorder catalogs or on-line catalogs often come packaged with detailed instructions for planting and care. Set aside a place in your home where you can keep all your plant tags or instruction sheets so that you can refer to them in the future, should you need to order more of the same variety, or review the cultural information.
Waste no time in getting your new plants planted in the ground. If you must make your plants wait for a few days, set them in a sheltered outdoor spot, out of blazing sun or drying wind, and make sure that their roots do not dry out. When rainy weather forces you to delay planting of dormant bare-root plants or hardy bulbs, make room for them in your refrigerator if you can, or put them in an unhealed garage or basement. Cool temperatures help to keep these plants dormant until you are ready to plant them in your garden.
Buying Healthy Plants
Annual bedding plants and many perennials will be actively growing when you buy them, which makes it easy to select strong plants. Here are some shopping details worth checking.
Leaf Color
Look for plants with healthy looking green leaves that have no signs of yellowing, which is the most common symptom of plants that have been stressed by a lack of fertilizer and water. The only time this rule does not apply is if you are examining golden-leaved varieties, which will be labeled as having chartreuse leaves.
Roots
A few small roots growing out of drainage holes are a sign of a strong root system. Avoid plants that have been held in pots for so long that roots have grown into thick tangles near the bottoms of the containers or are emerging from drain holes.
Buds and Flowers
Flowering plants that show a blossom or two are young and vigorous with a long flowering life ahead of them, but bypass those that appear to have been in bloom for several weeks. Annuals may be stressed and "bloomed out," and perennials that are already in bloom may transplant successfully, but usually will not bloom heavily in your garden until the following year.
Comforting Compost
Substances that you mix into soil to improve its texture and overall hospitality to plant roots are called soil amendments. The most useful and versatile soil amendment is compost, which is made by mixing together various organic materials, such as kitchen vegetable scraps, lawn dippings, and dried leaves, so that they decompose within a few months into a dark, crumbly material that is also called humus. Mixing compost into soil enhances the soil's ability to retain both water and air, and provides it with a crumbly texture that roots can easily penetrate. In addition, compost contains enzymes and micronutrients that benefit plants by boosting their immune system.The neutralizing effect that compost has on soil pH helps plant roots absorb nutrients from the soil. Compost should not be considered a fertilizer, because compost usually contains only a little nitrogen, the nutrient most needed by growing plants, and the nutrient that is abundant in most fertilizers.
You can make your own compost by piling together plant debris, soil, grass clippings, shredded leaves, and vegetable materials, and then adding enough water to keep the mass moderately moist. Turning the pile speeds the decomposition process, which is always faster in warm weather, taking up to 3 months in winter. And while composting is a convenient way to recycle garden refuse, if you are planting numerous plants you will probably need to buy extra compost.
Compost is sold in bags at garden supply stores, or you can buy it by the truckload from farmers who turn out batches made from sources ranging from rotten hay and stable litter to spent mushroom-growing medium. And, many towns and cities now compost leaves and make the material available to residents at a very reasonable cost. Because compost is so variable in content and nutrients, it is often wise to buy a small amount from any given source, try it, and then decide if you want more.
Acidic Amendments
Plants that require acidic soil, such as ferns, azaleas, and rhododendrons, benefit from being mulched and having their planting holes amended with acidifying humus, such as peat moss, pine needles, or oak leaves. Peat moss has the added advantage of being a poor medium for soil-borne fungi, so it is also good to use in situations where root rot is to be avoided at all costs. For example, a mixture of peat moss and sand makes a good rooting medium for soft-stem cuttings.
Leaf mold is nothing more than composted, or rotted leaves. Fully composted leaves will be nearly
neutral in pH, but if you use partially decomposed acidic leaves like oak leaves, it will be slightly acidic. Leaf mold is seldom sold, but it is easily made. Simply pile leaves in a shady place where they will be regularly dampened by rain, and forget about them for two years. That's how long it takes for tree leaves to decompose into a material that, when stirred lighdy with a digging fork, breaks apart into dark brown, crumbly leaf mold.
Plant at the Right Depth
As a general rule, it is best to set plants in the soil at the same depth at which they grew in their containers. Be especially attentive to planting depth when setting out shrubs and trees, which have the highest transplant survival rate when their roots are disturbed as little as possible. It is usually better to dig a broad planting hole than a very deep one, because most new roots grow outward rather than straight down. Also bear in mind that when you place a plant into a hole with several inches of cultivated soil at the bottom of it, the plant will sink deeper as the soil settles and becomes compacted. For this reason, setting plants slightly high in the prepared hole, so that the soil over their topmost roots forms a small mound, makes a good start. After several weeks, the soil around the plant usually settles until it is even with the surrounding soil.
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