Twelve step program for planting
Published by
Linda Chalker-Scott
Dr. Linda Chalker-Scott has a Ph.D. in Horticulture from Oregon State University and is an ISA certified arborist and an ASCA consulting arborist. She is WSU’s Extension Urban Horticulturist and a Professor in the Department of Horticulture, and holds two affiliate associate professor positions at University of Washington. She conducts research in applied plant and soil sciences, publishing the results in scientific articles and university Extension fact sheets. Linda also is the award-winning author of five books: the horticultural myth-busting The Informed Gardener (2008) and The Informed Gardener Blooms Again (2010) from the University of Washington Press and Sustainable Landscapes and Gardens: Good Science – Practical Application (2009) from GFG Publishing, Inc., and How Plants Work: The Science Behind the Amazing Things Plants Do from Timber Press (2015). Her latest effort is an update of Art Kruckeberg’s Gardening with Native Plants of the Pacific Northwest from UW Press (2019). In 2018 Linda was featured in a video series – The Science of Gardening – produced by The Great Courses. She also is one of the Garden Professors – a group of academic colleagues who educate and entertain through their blog and Facebook pages. Linda’s contribution to gardeners was recognized in 2017 by the Association for Garden Communicators as the first recipient of their Cynthia Westcott Scientific Writing Award. "The Garden Professors" Facebook page - www.facebook.com/TheGardenProfessors "The Garden Professors" Facebook group - www.facebook.com/groups/GardenProfessors Books: http://www.sustainablelandscapesandgardens.com View all posts by Linda Chalker-Scott
Hi thanks for this – which is all familiar from reading your posts, except “hand-in-glove as opposed to ball-and-socket.” I understand that trees grow stronger if any staking allows movement, but I don’t get the metaphors.
This has to do with root washing the root ball. “Ball and socket” is what the standard practice is, and requires staking. Individual roots surrounded by soil and water is the “hand in glove” approach that is much more stable and rarely requires staking.
thanks – good to know
Thanks for this distillation- very helpful for sharing & helps ease the transition to new ways of handling this. Please could you create a similar step by step for transplanting trees from one part of the yard to another? We need to move several small trees (loropetalums, tea olives, crepe myrtles, American hollys) that were planted as foundation plants 20 yrs ago. Now all right against the house & in the way of maintenance & renovations. I’m inclined to root prune now (April) & use air space svc to expose the roots & dig them out so root issue can be corrected before immediate replanting. Any thoughts and/or an additional doc would be so appreciated!!!
You don’t mention where you are but moving plants during active growth is generally not recommended. If possible wait for their dormant season or winter to move them. It’s a better time to expect and correct any root issues you may find.
You can root prune now if you want but there’s no real reason to, the roots will be pruned when the plants are moved. Pruning now will trigger new growth that won’t be of much benefit when the plants are moved. You might as well not do it at all. Better to have the new growth begin when the plants are in their new location.
Thanks for the info! I’m in GA zone 8 b/a – sorry I didn’t put that before. We’ll be moving the trees this Fall (as late as we can- around late OCT I think) but none of them go truly dormant here even in what passes for winter. The goal in cutting *some* roots just past the dripline the season or two before (while leaving them in place) is use the new growth effect to get more roots closer to the trunk/stem so there’ll be greater active root mass to transplant when the time comes. Since most’ve been grown in foundation/hedge groups I expect there’ll be *plenty* of root issues. I’m planning to follow your method of washing & trimming roots after the air spading removes as much of the soil as possible. We have to move them all to clear out the construction zone. I’m willing to spend some effort & resources to try saving them so we can keep at least some older trees on the property. The cramped conditions have kept them much smaller than they’d otherwise be so I think we have a decent shot at it.