What could be more enticing than daydreaming of spring gardens during the chilly, dark winter months? If you’re like most gardeners, you might find yourself browsing printed plant catalogs or internet nurseries when the snow is swirling outside. Even though it can take a few months until they ship, you can quickly stock your virtual shopping cart with must-have plants. And do you recall reading the small print regarding how your package of perennials would be shipped when it eventually arrives? When choosing plants, it’s easy to overlook whether a plant will be transported bare-root, in a nursery pot, or in liner. What should a gardener do if they obtain a bag of roots that is completely devoid of any signs of life?
Breathe deeply and unwind. Those dried-out roots will eventually transform into a gorgeous addition to your yard! How to plant bare-root perennials is as follows:
First, Unpack Your Perennials
The first step is to remove the plants from the box, whether you got bare-root perennials or plants in pots. If you ordered plants in the winter, the nursery will hold off on shipping them until the weather is mild enough to allow for planting in your zone. (Reputable nurseries all refrain from shipping plants during extremely cold weather because they may be harmed in transit. It’s not acceptable if you reside in the north and get your order in February. Call the business’s customer service line!)
Inspect Your Bare-Root Plants
Check out your new plants. Perennials with bare roots are normally dug, divided, and stored in the fall until the time comes to send the dormant plants in the spring. When you open your order’s box, you might be concerned if you’ve never planted bare-root perennials before, but don’t be concerned! Although the dormant roots and crown may appear strange, they will eventually produce magnificent plants in your landscape.
Examine the health of the roots. Perennials come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and their roots can be either thin and fibrous or robust and mushy. The roots should be solid and dry, not mushy or slimy, regardless of the structure. Simply cut off any broken or damaged roots you come across. When the perennial is put in your garden, new roots will sprout.
Store Bare-Root Perennials
As soon as your bare-root perennials arrive, you should be prepared to plant them. But don’t worry if a late freeze is imminent, spring rains last for a week, or you’re overworked. Your bare-root plants can either be planted in nursery pots or stored in a bag with some peat moss in a cool, dark location (above freezing). They get a head start on the growth season by being started in nursery pots, allowing them to emerge from dormancy indoors while you wait for the weather to warm up outside. Remember to harden off the plants before planting them in the garden if you start your bare-root perennials indoors. Introduce the plants to the new environment gradually by gradually acclimating them to outdoor conditions like temperature and sunlight over the course of each day. Your new perennials, which have been growing in a protected indoor environment, need to toughen up a little in order to successfully move to the outdoors. Prior to placing the plants in garden beds, let them to harden off for a period of 10 to 2 weeks.
Plant Your New Bare-Root Perennials
Plant bare-root perennials immediately into garden beds or containers if the weather is cooperative and spring appears to be approaching. After your last anticipated spring frost date, which you can see here, the soil should have warmed up before planting outdoors.
While you prepare the garden bed, soak the perennial roots in water for about an hour. In order to improve drainage and enhance nutrients, if your garden has poor soil—heavy clay or sand—add compost or other organic material to the bed and mix it with the current soil. Create a hole that is somewhat deeper and wider than the roots. Fill the hole with water and let it to soak into the ground fully. The roots should then be placed on top of the soil mound that has been created in the middle of the hole, spreading evenly. Ensure that the crown of the plant is level with the soil line by adjusting the location. (Avoid burying the plant’s crown; it could decay.) Once the bare-root plant has been placed correctly, fill the hole with soil and compact it close to the roots. To ensure that moisture reaches the roots and to flush out any air pockets, water the plant well.
Label Your Plant
To help you remember what perennials are in your garden, it is always a good idea to add a plant tag with their name. A plant tag makes it easier for you to prevent injuring roots when you drill holes to put more plants nearby. Bare-root plants might not show growth right away. You’ll also be able to identify the cultivars you’re cultivating by adding tags. You could have purchased hardy geraniums on your winter shopping trip, but how will you identify them when they begin to bloom in the spring? Are they Geranium Azure Rush, Rozanne, or Blushing Turtle? Labels simplify your life!
Add Mulch
Mulch should be spread all the way around the plant’s crown base. Mulch inhibits weed growth while assisting in soil moisture retention. Also, it gives your garden beds a “completed aspect.” As organic mulch breaks down over time and adds organic material that aids enhance drainage in rocky soil, such as double-ground hardwood, pine needles, or bark nuggets, it also improves the soil.
Create a Container Garden
The same procedures apply if you want to use your new bare-root perennials to build a container garden. Verify your plants, saturate the roots, spread the roots, and maintain the crown level with the soil. Choose a container with drainage holes, though, as roots can decay if they are submerged in water. A lightweight potting mix made specifically for pots is another option. In the summer heat, container gardens require extra watering since they dry out more rapidly than garden beds. With repeated watering, heavy garden soil compacts, which can choke roots. Lightweight potting mixtures drain well and allow the plant’s roots to spread out and expand.
Water the Plants
To evaluate their water requirements, check your new plants periodically. Many plants require about 1 inch of water per week, so if there isn’t much rain, you might need to help Mother Nature. How do you determine when to water? Insert your index finger one inch deep into the ground close to the plant’s base. No need to water if it is wet. It’s time for a drink if it’s dry!
Even if a perennial is advertised as “drought tolerant” or “water-wise,” like Delosperma Fire Spinner, newly planted perennials still require regular watering to become firmly established in their new environment during the first year. Make sure the soil where these perennials are planted has adequate drainage, but don’t forget to water them as they establish roots and expand. You’ll later profit from these gorgeous environmentally friendly products!
Fertilize the New Perennials
During the growing season, perennials require feeding. When the plant has three sets of new leaves, treat your perennial with an organic liquid fertilizer that encourages flowering. Start with a half-strength treatment on young plants. (Directions are on the label.) Midway through the summer, give the plants another feeding to encourage strong root growth.
Container gardens might require feeding more frequently. Nutrients from the soil seep out as the water passes through the container. A fertilizer that dissolves in water aids in replacing nutrients that plants require to grow. Observe the fertilizer’s label’s instructions.
Really, it’s easy to raise bare-root perennials. Your garden will soon be bursting with magnificent foliage and lovely blooms, all of which were started from those bags of dry roots that you hurriedly purchased during the gloomy days of winter. Don’t you feel happy that you did? Happy expanding!
How are bare root geraniums started?
The geraniums should be carefully dug out before the first fall frost. Remove the plant’s roots’ soil by shaking them. After that, put one or two plants in a sizable paper bag and keep it dry and cool (45 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit). It might be appropriate to use an indoor porch or an unheated bedroom. Hanging the plants upside down in a cool, dry area is a another (somewhat messier) method. Eventually, the leaves and the shoot tips will wither away. Trim or prune each plant in March. Get rid of all the dried-out, lifeless stuff. Return to firm, green, living stem tissue through pruning. After pruning, pot the plants and give them plenty of water. Put the potted geraniums in a window with natural light or next to a light source. March pruning and potting of geraniums should result in lovely plants that may be put outside in May.