GOOD PLANTING WEATHER AND PRACTICES

[Gary]

GOOD PLANTING WEATHER AND PRACTICES
By Clodagh and Dick Handscombe
Practical gardeners and authors

A good time to plant
After recent rains most readers now have easy to dig soil so making tree and shrub planting holes,  digging over new flower beds and rotovating vegetable plots is a practical proposition without breaking ones back or even tools.
If you are in truly frost free coastal situations most things can be planted with the benefit that roots will have grown by the Spring. However if you do get frosts only plant up genuinely frost resistant things. If in doubt check the frost resistant columns in the descriptions of practical plants in ‘Your Garden in Spain’.

Good planting practices
Size of plants
In general smaller plants and trees establish good root systems faster than larger ones sold root bound in small pots in relation to the size of the plant. So if two sizes of a plant is available we would purchase the smaller one for both our and others gardens.

Size of planting holes
In the UK we normally got away with making a planting hole the same size as the compost around a purchased plant. But there the surrounding soil was not metres of clay that can dry out to create the equivalent of a thick walled terracotta pot that soaks away moisture from the soil around the recently planted and watered new plant like a dry sponge. So make planting holes twice as large and infill with a good soil/compost mix with a little added sand and TerraCottem soil improver – search TerraVida on the internet for information about this useful product.

Improving the soil
If possible improve the soil of an entire new perennial plant or shrub bed before planting.

Spreading the roots
Entwined roots in a pot bound pot , or plastic tube in the case of trees, are likely to continue to be entwined as they grow and often start to strangle each other in a growing corkscrew shape. Eventually plants and trees stunt and even die. If the citrus fruit tree planted a few years ago is growing poorly this may well be the cause. So do ensure that roots are spread out downwards and sloping 45 degrees sideways before planting.

Splitting root bound perennials
Many root  bound  perennials are best split to create additional plants before planting. We created a dozen separate plants from the last gazania plant we purchased.

Staking and tying
Ensure you stake trees and tall shrubs at the time of planting to ensure that they do not lean and loosen roots in high winds and heavy rain.
Likewise climbing plants need tying onto support frames or screw eyes fixed  to walls and fences.

Mulching
Prevent early drying out by mulching the soil around newly planted plants and trees with compost, grit, rocks , chippings or stone slabs. The latter especially useful for protecting the roots of  climbers .
If you have had torrential rain do allow the ground to dry out a little before making new plantings.
Happy autumn gardening.

Clodagh and Dicks books are now available from their website www.gardeninginspain.com  as well as high street and internet bookshops. They are essential to new gardeners to Spain and make good presents. On their site there is a special offer involving their latest book Living Well from Our Mediterranean Garden.



(C) Clodagh and Dick Handscombe   www.gardeninginspain.com   November 2011.