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Storing and planting your plants
If you cannot plant immediately, because of inclement weather or other unforeseen
reasons, you will need to store your plants in a suitable location.
Storage for Nature's Pride potted plants
Open the plastic wrapper that contains the pot. Replenish the moisture every other
day until planted. Do not over water, but do not let roots dry out. Keep the plants
out of extreme heat and cold. Store the plant in an area where it will receive partial
shade during the day and place in an area such as a garage where it will not freeze
at night.
Storage for Nature’s Pride Select plants (bare root)
Upon arrival of your bare root plants, open the plastic bag and keep the sphagnum
moss moist until planting. Store all bare root plants in a cool location between
38 and 50 degrees. Keep the roots covered with moist moss. Please cover the roots,
not the top of the tree. This will reduce mold. Do not allow plants to freeze or
to over heat in direct sun. A satisfactory place for storing your bare root plants
would be on a garage floor. Keep storage time to minimum. If you must keep bare
root plants stored for over a week, dig a small trench and place the roots in the
trench and cover the roots with soil. Water the soil adequately.
Planting instructions for Nature's Pride potted plants
Carefully remove the pot from the plant. Make an effort to keep as much of the soil
medium that envelops the roots intact. Place the soil and root ball a hole at the
same depth it grew in the nursery. The soil level of Nature's Pride potted plant
should be flush with surface of the ground. Leave a shallow depression around each
plant to hold water. Water the plant thoroughly after planting to settle the soil
around the roots. Do not let plant roots dry out at any time. Your plants will need
regular rain or watering each week to optimize survival and healthy growth.
Keep your plantings free of weeds. Using mulch around each plant is a great way
to provide a weed free environment for your plants
Planting instructions for bare root plants
Remove plastic bag from the root area. Moisturize roots thoroughly. Spraying or
dipping the roots in water is recommended. Keep the roots covered and moist until
the moment you place them in the soil. Never let the roots be exposed to drying
winds or direct sun.
Plant at the same depth it grew in the nursery. If you look carefully you can see
a small tree ring circling the trunk where the root system and trunk divide. Do
not plant extra deep, just make sure the roots are covered with soil. Leave a shallow
depression around each plant to hold water. Water the plant thoroughly after planting
to settle the soil around the roots. Water about once a week for the first year
if possible.
Keep your plantings free of weeds. Using mulch around each plant is a great way
to provide a weed free environment for your plants.
All plants end up in a hole, but not any old hole will do...
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The most common mistake when planting is digging a hole, which is both too deep
and too narrow. Too deep and the roots don’t have access to sufficient oxygen
to ensure proper growth. Too narrow and the root structure can’t expand sufficiently
to nourish and properly anchor the tree or plant.
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As a general rule plants should be transplanted no deeper than the soil in which
they were originally grown. The width of the hole should be at least 3 times the
diameter of the root ball or container or the spread of the roots. This will provide
the plant with enough worked earth for its root structure to establish itself.
When digging in poorly drained clay soil, it is important to avoid ‘glazing’.
Glazing occurs when the sides and bottom of a hole become smoothed forming a barrier,
through which water has difficulty passing. To break up the glaze, use a fork to
work the bottom and drag the points along the sides of the completed hole. Also,
raise the bottom of the hole slightly higher than the surrounding area. This allows
water to disperse, reducing the possibility of water pooling in the planting zone.
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To plant, first build a cone of earth in the center of the hole around which to
splay the roots. Dig a round hole and make a small mound of soil in the bottom of
the hole. Spread the roots out in all directions, using the mound as a root support,
and pull loose soil back over the roots, filling the hole half way. Lightly tamp
soil down or fill with water. Then, back fill the rest of the hole, tamp soil again
and re-water. Do not compact the soil by tamping wet soil. Soil compaction eliminates
oxygen, which roots need to survive.
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