How to Plant Native Plants Successfully
How to Plant Native Plants Successfully
- Dig a hole of a size into which the plant will fit, not much deeper than, but twice as wide.
- Before you put the plant in the hole, fill the hole with water and allow to drain into the subsoil. A slow drip is best, using several gallons.
- Put some back-fill material into the bottom of the hole then moisten it, tamp it down, and slightly mound it.
- Carefully remove the plastic bag or plastic pot from around the plant and recycle bag/pot.
- Disturb the root ball as little as possible, but gently run a finger along edge so roots are not coiling.
- Carefully place the plant into the hole, slightly higher (approx.. 1”) than the surrounding soil. DO NOT ADD AMENDMENTS, just plant in your dirt. DO NOT ADD FERTILIZER. Backfill the hole with your dirt, and only your dirt, NO AMENDMENTS.
- Replace the back-fill material up to 2/3 the height of the root ball and moisten it while tamping and settling it all around the plant.
- Back-fill the remaining portion of the hole surrounding the top of the root ball, making sure the “collar” of the plant is still higher than the finished grade, roughly an inch.
- Use what is left of the soil back-fill to create an irrigation basin berm around the outside dimension of the hole. Use other native soil if you run out.
- Add 4 inches of organic mulch as a top dressing around the exposed collar and inside the entire basin area you built up, but do not smother the stem.
- Irrigate the new native plants thoroughly by filling the basin with water and sprinkling the back-fill and mulch to help it settle. Then allow the water to soak in and repeat a second time.)
- Congratulations! You have performed a successful planting!