How To Plant Evergreens In The Fall

Writen by Doug Green

Late fall is an excellent time to move or plant evergreen shrubs. If you have to replace some damaged last winter, the prices at local garden centres will never be better and most of the plants will come with guarantees for overwintering success. Try to have the evergreens planted in the next two or three weeks for good survival rates. Woody plants such as trees and shrubs are also easily and successfully planted at this time of year although you have more time (until freezeup) to get them into the ground.

Remember the old gardening tip about putting a dollar plant into a five dollar hole when installing your evergreen shrubs. A hole that is significantly larger than the rootball allows those tender roots to shoot out and establish themselves into nice loose soil before the onset of winter. The better the roots establish themselves, the higher your survival rate will be. I generally use a shovel or two of compost into the soil when backfilling the roots. I do not add any fertilizer, the research suggests this is not needed when planting. The old time gardeners used to add bone meal to the planting hole and if this makes you feel better, then add some; it won't hurt and it might help. Compost works for me just fine.

The one thing the old time gardeners and I totally agree on is the need to "muddify" the planting hole after the plant is in the ground. Now, you won't find this word in a dictionary but as long as you turn the hose onto the plant and turn the entire planting area into a swamp, to ensure that each and every root has wet soil around it, then you have "muddified" your planting hole.

Five dollar holes and muddify, its that simple.

Doug Green an award winning garden author of 7 books answers gardening questions in his free newsletter at http://www.simplegiftsfarm.com/gardeningnewsletter.html