Planting Tips
Dig a $100 Dollar Hole…….
Oldtimers say that it is better to plant a $1 dollar plant in a $100 dollar hole then a $100 dollar plant in a $1 dollar hole.
Steps to proper planting.
build a berm around the plant 1 to 2 inches in height. This will capture rainfall, and
direct it to the root zone.
The most important factors to ensure your plants survival and healthy growth are selecting quality plants, proper sun, soil amendment, and watering new plants until established.
First, good plant selection is key. When the Flourish Irrigation and Landscape team installs plants we hand select the best plants available. We look for symmetrical growth, and in cases of flowering plants number of buds and color. You should be careful not to select plants that that have fungus, mold, or leaf spot. The nurseries and department store will still sell you a plant that is not up to par, because let's face it they are thing to make money, so do your homework or hiring a professional. Another sign of a healthy plant is root growth pattern. You may or may not be able to pull the plant out of the plastic container, but if it is possible look for roots that are spanning out throughout most of the volume. When are grown they are usually propagated from a cutting which is started in a tiny container, and as the plant grows it is transplanted to larger containers until it makes the size that you have purchased. If you get a 3 gallon plant, and take the plant out, and 2 gallons of dirt are left in the container, the plant is not growing healthy roots or has been sold before the plant had an opportunity to fill the majority of the larger size container. On the other side of that situation if the plant has been in that size container to long root binding may occur. Root biding is when the plants roots reach the edge of the container and start to circle the pot. This means the roots are growing well, but this can be a problem as the roots will want to continue to grow in that circular direction and not reach out radially to enable proper water collection for that plant size, leading to stunted growth or death. In this situation it is necessary to gently unbind the roots before planting, this should be done without braking too many roots. Simply, use your hands to pull the roots out of the ball before placing the plant in the amended soil.
Maybe one of the biggest mistakes made by noive landscapers and DIY’ers is improper plant selection. Meaning that some plants require different amounts of sunlight for optimal growth. Most of the plants sold in Houston, Sugar Land, Katy and Pearland are selected because they flourish in this climate. Many of the eye catching landscape plants originate from South China and Japan because they share are climate, more can be read about this in the Common Climate article. Although plants are selected because they thrive in this climate, they still have different sun requirements. It is important to look to ensure that the area you are planting has adequate light for the selected plant, most plants sold have tags that have this information available or use the Plants section of this website to reference this information. The most common mistake is planting pretty flowering plants in areas that are mostly shaded. Many homeowners wonder why there Roses, Butterfly Bush, Loropetalum, and other flowering plants do not have many blooms or great color. In most cases, flowering plants require direct and continuous sunlight to produce the best growth, color, and blooms. Information on shade gardens and plant selection can be found in the Shade Garden article.
Plants similar to a humans are affected by their diet, and their environment. When we eat healthy we feel better, get sick less, and recover quicker, so do plants. Soil in the Houston area tends to have a high concentration of clay, which is a decent medium for plants to live but holds water leading to plants over saturated causing death (see Drains). It is always best to amend the soil when planting. I recommend using a planters mix, compost, manure, or potting soil. This amendment gives plants the necessary nutrients to grow healthy and strong. The law of conservation of mass tells us that as your plant grows larger it gets its mass from the soil around it. It is easy to imagine that during the lifetime of a plant the soil around the plant becomes depleted of its nutrients, obviously plants can not get up and move to a new undepleted place. This is why I recommend using mulch at least once a year. Mulch is usually recycled from landscape debris that is shedded form local landscape upgrades or trees cleared to make way for construction projects. When you use mulch sold from local retailers you are actually recycling old vegetation that would otherwise end up in a landfill. Furthermore, because the mulch is shedded plants once it degrades the same nutrients that plants use are put back into the soil. It’s the circle of life.
Finally, water is the most important key assuming proper sunlight. Proper watering while becoming established give plants the best opportunity to survive, and become a asset to your landscape. Planting without watering in the following months is asking for disaster. The transplant causes stress on the organism, because the plant wants to adapt quickly to its new environment. This would be similar to a elementary student to a new class, it is important right off the bat to create an environment of comfort and safety. Without water the new plant will not have the ability to conduct photosynthesis to create energy to stimulate growth of the roots. It is commonly recommended to water 2-3 times per week until established, more if in a heat wave. As may be seen in this article and others on this site, conservation of resources is something that Flourish Irrigation and Landscape feels is important. It is important not to over water when using irrigation. For one thing it is wasteful, expensive, and counter productive. Over watering a plant is like over feeding a human. The plants have never had to want for water, and do not grow an extensive root system that it would if watered only by rain. This leads to plants require more water to survive due to malformed roots, plants susceptible to drought, and even possibly fungus.
By following these guidelines, your landscape should be able to Flourish bring you joy by creating a beautiful eye catching landscape that does not over consume. To reiterate, the article, proper plant selection, adequate sun, soil amendment, and proper watering, will insure your landscapes success and show you have a green thumb.
Oldtimers say that it is better to plant a $1 dollar plant in a $100 dollar hole then a $100 dollar plant in a $1 dollar hole.
Steps to proper planting.
- Water the plant to be planted before planting. Water will go from high concentration to low when you plant the plant in the ground the ground will pull the water from the plant.
- Dig a hole two to three times as wide as the root ball of the plant tamping (compacting) the base of the hole to create a good foundation for the root ball.
- Mix removed dirt/clay (75%) and place on a plastic tarp, with organic matter or soil amendment (25%). If dense or compact clay soil mix with a 50/50 ratio.
- Remove plant from container it was grown in. Place the root ball in the hole, insure that the root ball is slightly above ground level. This is to prevent the plant from sinking below grade preventing water from lingering around the trunk and roots creating root rot, and to provide adequate drainage.
- Use soil mixture to backfill area around the root ball compacting the soil to remove air pockets. This helps avoid the plant sinking or tilting later when watering.
- (a)Deeply water the plant until soil is most 4-6 inches deep. If the water starts to run off wait a while and water again.
build a berm around the plant 1 to 2 inches in height. This will capture rainfall, and
direct it to the root zone.
- Apply an organic mulch or pretty moss 1 to 2 inches thick and slightly off of the trunk. This prevents rodents/pests from making a home out of highly stacked mulch and nibbling on the trunk.
The most important factors to ensure your plants survival and healthy growth are selecting quality plants, proper sun, soil amendment, and watering new plants until established.
First, good plant selection is key. When the Flourish Irrigation and Landscape team installs plants we hand select the best plants available. We look for symmetrical growth, and in cases of flowering plants number of buds and color. You should be careful not to select plants that that have fungus, mold, or leaf spot. The nurseries and department store will still sell you a plant that is not up to par, because let's face it they are thing to make money, so do your homework or hiring a professional. Another sign of a healthy plant is root growth pattern. You may or may not be able to pull the plant out of the plastic container, but if it is possible look for roots that are spanning out throughout most of the volume. When are grown they are usually propagated from a cutting which is started in a tiny container, and as the plant grows it is transplanted to larger containers until it makes the size that you have purchased. If you get a 3 gallon plant, and take the plant out, and 2 gallons of dirt are left in the container, the plant is not growing healthy roots or has been sold before the plant had an opportunity to fill the majority of the larger size container. On the other side of that situation if the plant has been in that size container to long root binding may occur. Root biding is when the plants roots reach the edge of the container and start to circle the pot. This means the roots are growing well, but this can be a problem as the roots will want to continue to grow in that circular direction and not reach out radially to enable proper water collection for that plant size, leading to stunted growth or death. In this situation it is necessary to gently unbind the roots before planting, this should be done without braking too many roots. Simply, use your hands to pull the roots out of the ball before placing the plant in the amended soil.
Maybe one of the biggest mistakes made by noive landscapers and DIY’ers is improper plant selection. Meaning that some plants require different amounts of sunlight for optimal growth. Most of the plants sold in Houston, Sugar Land, Katy and Pearland are selected because they flourish in this climate. Many of the eye catching landscape plants originate from South China and Japan because they share are climate, more can be read about this in the Common Climate article. Although plants are selected because they thrive in this climate, they still have different sun requirements. It is important to look to ensure that the area you are planting has adequate light for the selected plant, most plants sold have tags that have this information available or use the Plants section of this website to reference this information. The most common mistake is planting pretty flowering plants in areas that are mostly shaded. Many homeowners wonder why there Roses, Butterfly Bush, Loropetalum, and other flowering plants do not have many blooms or great color. In most cases, flowering plants require direct and continuous sunlight to produce the best growth, color, and blooms. Information on shade gardens and plant selection can be found in the Shade Garden article.
Plants similar to a humans are affected by their diet, and their environment. When we eat healthy we feel better, get sick less, and recover quicker, so do plants. Soil in the Houston area tends to have a high concentration of clay, which is a decent medium for plants to live but holds water leading to plants over saturated causing death (see Drains). It is always best to amend the soil when planting. I recommend using a planters mix, compost, manure, or potting soil. This amendment gives plants the necessary nutrients to grow healthy and strong. The law of conservation of mass tells us that as your plant grows larger it gets its mass from the soil around it. It is easy to imagine that during the lifetime of a plant the soil around the plant becomes depleted of its nutrients, obviously plants can not get up and move to a new undepleted place. This is why I recommend using mulch at least once a year. Mulch is usually recycled from landscape debris that is shedded form local landscape upgrades or trees cleared to make way for construction projects. When you use mulch sold from local retailers you are actually recycling old vegetation that would otherwise end up in a landfill. Furthermore, because the mulch is shedded plants once it degrades the same nutrients that plants use are put back into the soil. It’s the circle of life.
Finally, water is the most important key assuming proper sunlight. Proper watering while becoming established give plants the best opportunity to survive, and become a asset to your landscape. Planting without watering in the following months is asking for disaster. The transplant causes stress on the organism, because the plant wants to adapt quickly to its new environment. This would be similar to a elementary student to a new class, it is important right off the bat to create an environment of comfort and safety. Without water the new plant will not have the ability to conduct photosynthesis to create energy to stimulate growth of the roots. It is commonly recommended to water 2-3 times per week until established, more if in a heat wave. As may be seen in this article and others on this site, conservation of resources is something that Flourish Irrigation and Landscape feels is important. It is important not to over water when using irrigation. For one thing it is wasteful, expensive, and counter productive. Over watering a plant is like over feeding a human. The plants have never had to want for water, and do not grow an extensive root system that it would if watered only by rain. This leads to plants require more water to survive due to malformed roots, plants susceptible to drought, and even possibly fungus.
By following these guidelines, your landscape should be able to Flourish bring you joy by creating a beautiful eye catching landscape that does not over consume. To reiterate, the article, proper plant selection, adequate sun, soil amendment, and proper watering, will insure your landscapes success and show you have a green thumb.
