The best time transplant landscape plants is in the winter, when the plants are dormant. In areas where the ground stays frozen most of the winter, late fall or early spring is best. If you do it right, they won't even know they've been moved. The worst time is Mid-summer. If you must move a plant in the heat of summer, do it early in the morning, or late in the afternoon, when it is cooler, and water, water, water. Avoid moving flowering plants while they are in bloom.
Fall is the best time to plant container (or balled & burlaped) plants. The greatest root growth occurs in the fall, which makes it the best time for plants to become established, and ready for spring growth. Winter is also a good time to plant them, but will not allow for as much root growth before spring.
The planting part is basically the same wheather you are moving a plant, or planting one purchased in a container or B & B. (balled & burlaped) The hard part of moving an existing plant is digging it.
If the plant has low limbs that will
interfere with digging, you can either remove them, or tie
them up with rope or string.
If plant is not to be replanted immediately, wrap rootball with burlap. Be sure to keep as much dirt as possible on roots.
Although it is possible to move any size plant, Special equipment is needed to move mature trees and very large plants. Be realistic. Unless your name is "Superman", don't try to move extremely large plants yourself. Note: 1 cubic foot of soil weighs approx. 110 lbs.
Start with a sharpened "digging spade". Your hole should be wider than your root ball, but not deeper.Unless you have really bad soil, it is not necessary to add any amendments; Just loosen the soil in the bottom of the hole a bit. If you do have really bad soil you may wish to add some good topsoil. The plant should be even with, or slghtly higher than the level it was originally planted.
If your plant is in a container, remove it. Set the plant in the hole, being sure it is not sitting any deeper than it was in the container, or than it was originally planted. Slightly higher is better. Walk around the plant, and be sure the best side is facing where it will be seen the most. Be sure it is straight. If the plant has burlap, loosen the burlap around the trunk, and fold it back along the sides. It is not necessary to remove the burlap. Fill in around the sides, using your shovel to be sure there are no gaps, and to pack the dirt.Chop up any "clods". Smooth out the dirt around the plant. If you
want you can use some of the excess dirt to make a
"ring" arund the trunk, but make it no more than a couple of inches tall. Too tall or large a ring looks silly, but a small one can help by reducing water run off.
Water the plant well, and then double check to see that the dirt is well filled in around the plant.
Do not fertilize newly planted trees and shrubs. Do not add fertilizer in your planting hole.
If you do stake a tree don't forget to remove stakng wires after no more than 1 year. If left on, they can "girdle" and kill or permanently injure the tree. Most trees do not need to be staked.
A bed is going to be your plants' home hopefully for it's lifetime. If your plants are happy in their home they will be healthy and look good. A well prepared bed can make a big diference in the success of your landscape.
Decide where you want your bed edge(s) to be. Avoid too many straight lines. Mother Nature doesn't use straight lines. Take a hose or rope and lay it out as a guide. You can play with it, move it around, and decide what shape you like best.
If you have grass in the area, you should either kill it out, with round-up, or dig it out. A sod cutter is best for cutting out large areas, or for smaller areas you can cut about 1-2ft squares, and slide a flat spade underneath the grass, and lift it out. If you start out with grass in your beds, you will always have a grass problem in the bed. The best way to prevent weeds is to start out weed free. Covering it up or tillig it under may look OK at first, but as long as the roots are still there, it will be back, with a vengance.
Round-up is a systemic. It is absobed by the leaves of plants. It is only effective if it gets on the leaves of the plant. It does not effect the soil, so it is fine to plant in the soil after using round-up as soon as the liquid is dry. It is a good idea to give the grass and/or weeds a day or two to die out if you use it, just to be sure it has been completely effective, but it won't hurt your new plants if you don't have time to wait.
It you have a lot of time, you can lay black plastic over the area for a month or so, to "smother" out the grass, but most of us don't have that much time or patience.
Once you have killed and/or removed the grass, Use a sharpened, flat spade to cut your edge. Cut straight down, about 4-6 inches deep, along your bed line. Bring the handle of the spade back, toward you, lifting, and pushing the dirt in front of the spade into the middle of the bed. Cut all the way around the bed, creating a "lip", or sort of one sided trench. It may be easiest to "cut" the whole line, then go back, putting the spade back into the cut, and pushing the dirt into the bed. You can use spray paint, and paint a line for a "guide" if you feel the need.
Next,if you have a tiller (I reccommend a "mantis" tiller.) Till up your bed area. If not, work up the soil with a shovel. (A spade is best) Don't mess up your "edge".
It is a good idea, but not absolutely necessary to add some type of good soil mix, and/or some compost, not only to improve the soil, but to make the bed area higher than the surrounding soil level. Mound your soil so that the bed it highest in back if the bed is to be viewed from the front, or higher in the middle, if it is viewed from all sides. This will create a sort of "stage" to show off your plants. Small plants are wasted in a flat bed, because all you see is the very front row. Large plants are also more impressive "on stage".
Till again after adding your soil mix, to mix it with the original soil. (or mix it with your shovel.)
The local mulch yard in my area sells a mix called "pro mix" which I use. It is a mixture of topsoil, mulch, and sand. Any similar mix, or even potting soil will work. You can also add some compost if you like. I don't suggest adding manure, but if you do, be sure it is well aged, and use it sparingly, or it can do more harm than good. Soil additives are great, but plants still like plain old dirt. It is possible to overdo the additives. Too much can be worse than none.
"Grade" or smooth and shape your bed using a garden rake, and you are ready to plant. Don't cover up your "edge". Pull the soil away from the edge, toward the middle or back of the bed. (depending on wheather it is to be viewed from the front, or all sides.) If you are planting small plants, such as flowers, mulch before planting. If planting larger plants, plant first, then mulch. I reccomend double hammered hardwood mulch.
If you are planting flowers, or other small plants, use no more than an inch or two of mulch. The plant's roots need to be in dirt rather than mulch.
Don't waste your money, time, and effort on landscape fabrics, and definately don't use plastic.
Do not plant anything within 12 inches of the edge of the bed. Shrubs should be planted at least 1/2 of the mature width plus 12 inches from the edge of the bed.
Maintain your bed edge, by running a weed-eater around it every couple of weeks.
If you are serious about gardening, A Mantis tiller is a very worthwhile investment. It is well worth every penny!! I've used many tillers, large and small, nothing comes near to a Mantis!!
Even on large areas I much prefer a Mantis to a big tiller. By the time I could get a big tiller on and off the truck, I'm halfway through with the job with my Mantis! It makes the dirt so soft and fluffy that I don't even need a trowel to plant the flowers.
Tilling Tip: Your Mantis tiller will till deeper if you "pull it backward" rather than "push it forward". I seldom go forward with mine.
