Caring for New Native Plants
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Susie
Location: Washington, Southwestern
Posted: Feb-25-2005
Lisa, I caught your talk yesterday and enjoyed it! You asked several times if anyone in the audience had particular native plants and I never once raised my hand. If I attended your talk today I would raise my hand each time, since today the plants I ordered from the local extension agency arrived. Now I have to decide whether to take Ann Lovejoy's advice and pot up the starts, treat them like nursery plants for the summer, and then plant them in time for the fall rains, or plant them now and spend the next 7 months running around our hillside with the hose trying to keep them watered. Any advice, with this threat of drought and rationing?
Lisa A
Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro
Posted: Feb-25-2005 at 9:26am
Thank you, Susie, for your kind praise! Please come forward next time and introduce yourself.
How big are the plants you purchased? Are you able to tell how long they've been potted? Which ones did you purchase? Depending on your answers, my advice may be to leave them in containers through the summer and plant them out in fall, especially if they are young starts without sufficient root systems.
JeanneK
Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro
Posted: Feb-25-2005 at 11:59am
Sounds like they haven't been potted up yet? I have to agree with Lisa. It might be best to put the starts in pots and make sure they get water during the summer. At least grouped together in pots, they may be easier to water!
Jeanne
Susie
Location: Washington, Southwestern
Posted: Feb-25-2005 at 6:00pm
What did I get? Well, in one gallon pots there are red flowering currents, snowberries, nootka roses and a bitter cherry. There aren't alot of roots showing at the bottom of the pots, but there are stems are growing out of the bottom of a few, which leads me to believe they've been in pots for a while.
Bareroot are salmonberries, indian plums and mock oranges. These are between 2 and 4 feet tall, excluding the roots. There's also salal and kinnikinnik in 6 inch plugs.
I went ahead and potted up the salal since there is no shade what-so-ever on the hillside, yet. I was hoping to get some of the shrubs established before planting them out.
What do ya think?
Lisa A
Location: Oregon, Greater Portland Metro
Posted: Feb-26-2005 at 12:00pm
In light of our drier-than-usual weather, I'd be more inclined to pot up the bare root plants and hold them, with the others, to plant out this fall. Whether they are in containers or in the ground, they will require water through the summer (all plants, even drought-tolerant natives need water the first season to get established). If they are all in one area, I won't have to rely on my memory to make sure I don't miss giving water to a plant or two or more. This could spell death for them in the heat of the summer, especially for tiny, new plants whose roots won't extend out very far yet. Slope planting and the subsequent water run-off complicates the summer watering issue.
I'd group them in a spot with some shade (relief from hot afternoon sun would be good) and mound mulch around their pots to keep the roots cool and perhaps conserve moisture.
An alternate would be to plant them temporarily in a nursery bed - a holding area for them until fall. If you want to keep the smaller ones - salal and kinnikinnick - in containers, because of their small size, that wouldn't be a problem.
When you do plant them out, create a small berm on the downside of each plant to slow the water's flow downhill. This will help prevent soil from washing away from their roots and keep more moisture at the root zone.
After that, watering the first season should estabish them except for the salal. It does best with even moisture - such as that from a soaker hose - until it is established, which can take 2-3 years, especially in full sun conditions (it's best in part shade to full shade). After that, it is very drought tolerant. Adding some rotting wood or humus at planting time seems to help them establish, according to anecdotal evidence from native plant enthusiasts.
Okay, I've got to get back to my classwork (taking on-line courses). If you have additional questions, post and I'll do my best to answer them.
Susie
Location: Washington, Southwestern
Posted: Feb-26-2005 at 6:24pm
Jeanne & Lisa, I potted up the bareroots today and will keep them over the summer as you suggest. Thanks for the planting instructions, and especially the advice about the salal. I think I'll find a different place to plant them, and order more in a few years when the hillside has some shade for them.
Gardening for the Homebrewer: Grow and Process Plants for Making Beer, Wine, Gruit, Cider, Perry, and More
By co-authors Debbie Teashon (Rainy Side Gardeners) and Wendy Tweton