New Plants Need Babysitters

 By Ron Dieter, Sunnyfield Greenhouse & Gardens

Summer is officially here now and most of us will spend a few days away from home for a relaxing vacation. Unfortunately, that trip can spell doom for the newly planted shrubs, trees, annuals, perennials, and hanging baskets left behind unless someone is appointed to care for them. Lucky is the vacationer who has a neighbor with a green thumb and a concern for plants.

I’ve had some folks tell me that before they head out on vacation, they give all their new plants a good soaking. I think to myself that they are either planning just a weekend trip, or they are going to be very disappointed when they get back home.

You can save yourself a lot of grief if you will treat newly installed plants like babies. Babies cannot fend for themselves and depend on us for nourishment and care until they can fend for themselves. Young plants also need that kind of help at first. Maybe that’s why both babies and plants start out in a nursery.

Let’s consider a new shrub, for an example. When you bring the plant home from the nursery it is happily growing in its little pot, all its roots winding throughout the soil ball of the container. You carefully remove the plant from the pot , untangle or cut any circling roots, plant it in good soil, and give it a thorough soaking.

Now if you think the job is done, you’ll be sadly mistaken, unless Mother Nature provides an unusually long wet spell. You see, until the new plant sends its roots out into the surrounding soil and becomes "established", its only source of moisture is the soil of the original root ball. That soil ball can dry out quickly. The sun and wind, as well as the plant itself, draw moisture from the soil ball. Even though the surrounding soil is wet, the plant can wilt because that moisture is not available to the shrub until it has sent roots out there to use it. It usually takes several weeks for small trees and shrubs to become well established.

So what can you do to help conserve soil ball moisture? Mulch the surface around the plant. Use dried grass clippings, chopped leaves, compost, small bark chips or shredded bark. A three inch layer will help prevent the sun and wind from drying the soil out so quickly. Check the moisture of the soil ball often the first couple weeks. Add water if it feels dry to the touch.

Some shrubs are particularly fussy about drying out. The leaves of spireas and barberries will dry up and turn crisp if the soil ball dries out. If that happens, just keep the soil ball moist and the plant will recover and re-leaf, if it hasn’t been dry too long.

If you leave home for a weekend, most newly installed plants in the ground will get along fine if they are adequately mulched. Plants in containers and hanging baskets are another matter.

It is best to take down hanging baskets and window boxes and put them in a shady spot, out of the wind and sun. Move patio pots and containers into the shade too. They’ll get by fine for a day or two this way. If you’re going to be gone for longer, however, enlist the aid of a neighbor or friend to water them for you. Get someone reliable. You don’t want to be gone for two weeks and have your plants watered once the night before you get home.