07/15/2026
Summer Planting - Best Practices
When doing plantings, it’s best to layout all your plants where you want them so that you can adjust spacing and placement before you start.
Remove one plant at a time and dig the hole 2x the with and 1 1/2x the depth of the root ball. Place the plant with the pot still on immediately into the hole you’ve just dug to avoid getting them mixed up while planting.
If soils are dry and/or during warmer months the new plants will be more prone to drought.
Once you’ve dug the holes for a section with the plants placed in each hole with the pot still on, fill each hole with water and allow to percolate completely before continuing with further planting steps. This ensures that both the rootball and surrounding soils are sufficiently moist prior to planting. Using this technique will allow your plants to survive a week long drought without irrigation. It also allows supplemental watering to more easily be absorbed by the soils rather than just run off. Dry soils are hydrophobic and will repel water. You can go on and dig more holes in another section in the meantime.
Amend soil especially when planting container grown nursery stock and the excavated soils are devoid of substantial organic matter usually lighter in colour. Add peat moss, soil amender or compost to each pile of excavated soil. Plants grown in containers have an ideal growing medium which is rich in organics. A drastic change in growing mediums will act as an artificial barrier for the roots. Bone meal can also be added to aid in root development. Mix amendments into the excavated soil.
Once water has fully dissipated, carefully remove the plant from the pot. Root bound plants can be very difficult to remove and can even require having the pot cut off of them while plants without sufficient root structure, the root ball can tend to break apart while extracting from the pot. The best method is to invert the plant with one hand holding the pot and the other holding the top of the root ball grasping around the base of the plant and give a slight vertical shake. If the plant isn’t root bound, it should slide out after just a few attempts.
Once extracted, score (using a knife cut into the root ball about an eighth to a quarter inch at 6 to 8 intervals) or tease (lightly pull apart exposed roots) especially at the bottom of the root ball. This encourages the roots to venture out and preventing future root bound to occur.
Finally on to planting, add some soil to the bottom of the hole so that the top of the root ball is flush with the surrounding soil grade. The most common mistake made when planting is planting too deep. Soil against the stems or trunk of a shrub or tree will eventually rot out the bark and cambium layer.
Turn the plant so that it is best facing the area from which it will be viewed.
Continue to backfill the remainder of the hole 1/3 from the top ensuring that the soil has been sufficiently mixed with amendments and lightly compressing the soil as you go to ensure no voids are present. The soil should be firm but workable.
Top up the last third with water once again and let dissipate before finishing the backfilling.
Once you finish backfilling the hole using the same technique as mentioned above, ensure the top of the root ball is exposed and flush with the surrounding soils. If mulching the planting bed, taper the mulch to nothing at the base of each plant or tree. Again, mulch or soil against the stems or trunk can kill a plant over time.
