How to Grow Shrubs? Nothing improves the aesthetics of your landscape more than a few plants. It’s never been simpler to give your yard the green splash it needs with so many common types that can thrive in almost any setting.
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How to Grow Shrubs?
You may give your garden more depth and variety by planting bushes. They can be used to establish borders, frames, or fences around your house, or they can be used to add colorful splashes to your backyard.
Most homeowners can complete planting shrubs themselves in a free afternoon, saving money by not employing a professional.
Step 1: Consider your Shrub’s Needs
Shrubs occur in almost infinite variations, many requiring different kinds of maintenance. Certain shrubs, for example, demand full sun, meaning they need at least six hours of direct sunlight each day.
Shrubs that thrive in partial shadow only need three to six hours of sunlight daily, but full-shade plants only need a maximum of three hours.
So, before planting a certain shrub, make sure the place receives enough sunlight.
Step 2: Plant During the Right Season
After determining the best locations for your yard’s plantings, take planting season into account. When the shrub has gone dormant, which is usually in early November, you should plant bare-root shrubs.
Alternatively, you can wait until early spring, when new growth begins to appear.
Although container-grown or balled and bur-lapped shrubs can be planted at any time, it is often ideal for them to be planted according to the instructions on the plant tag or the same schedule as bare-root options.
Planting shrubs in late spring or summer requires careful watering since the newly planted plants can dry up rapidly, which stresses the deep root system that is still forming.
Step 3: Plant the Shrub in the Right Soil
Well-draining soil is usually necessary for shrubs and bushes. Though this isn’t always the case, higher-ground locations typically have better-draining soil than lower-ground locations.
Use these methods to determine how well your soil drains if you’re unsure:
- Excavate a hole that is one foot deep and wide.
- After adding water to the hole, let it empty.
- After filling the hole once more, give it a half-hour.
- To determine how much water has drained, use a ruler.
1 to 2 inches of soil per hour drains in well-drained soil. You’ve discovered an excellent spot to plant most plants if, after 30 minutes, a half-inch to an inch of water has drained.
If the majority of the soil in your yard drains slowly, you can help it by tilling a 15-foot radius of soil around the area you want to plant.
Step 4: Prepare the Planting Site
To get ready for planting, remove mulch, leaves, and other detritus from the designated planting locations. Next, measure the area your new shrubs will take up when they reach maturity and plant the bushes appropriately.
Mark the locations of each plant by placing markers or by excavating shallow holes.
Step 5: Dig a Hole for the Bush
The type of shrub or bush you are planting will determine how big of a hole to dig.
Grown in containers or rolled up and wrapped
Create a hole that is twice or three times the root ball’s width and depth. To encourage drainage, either level the dirt at the hole’s bottom or slightly raise it in the center.
After being inserted, the top of the root ball should either rise slightly over the hole’s top if the bottom was leveled or sit flush with it if a mound was created to aid with drainage.
Bare Root
Soak the roots in water for a couple of hours before planting. Next, excavate a hole that is approximately the same depth as the soil that the shrub was initially planted in.
This can be estimated from the soil mark on the trunk or the plant’s tag. Planting too deeply can hinder the roots’ ability to receive oxygen, so be careful.
At the bottom center of the hole, create a slight cone shape, but make sure the hole is large enough to allow the spreading roots of the shrub to pass through.
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Step 6: Set the Bush
To check the plant’s depth, gently place it inside the hole and make any required changes at this time. Plant it with its most appealing side facing outward.
Unless the burlap has been treated or contains vinyl, you don’t need to remove all of the burlap when planting a plant covered in it. Burlap generally decomposes naturally.
Instead, peel back the burlap until it reaches roughly the top third of the root ball from the trunk. Remove any wire, wood, or plastic that is still affixed to the bush.
If the roots of your container-grown bush are tightly coiled, gently loosen and separate them with your hands or a knife.
Spreading the roots over the cone-shaped depression you made at the bottom of the planting hole is optimal for bare-rooted bushes.
Step 7: Backfill the Hole
- Once the shrubs have been planted in their designated holes, backfill each one until it is flush with the surrounding landscaping.
- Using the soil, you dug up to form the hole, fill half of the excavated space surrounding the plant.
- To assist the roots, settle and remove any air pockets, cover the soil with water.
- Tamping down the remaining soil as you add it will help to keep the plant erect and stable.
- Add a topsoil layer with a shovel.
- Water once more.
Step 8: Don’t add Fertilizer
It is not advisable to fertilize recently planted shrubs since the nitrogen in fertilizers might stress and inhibit the growth of their root systems.
Generally speaking, you should wait a minimum of a year before using fertilizer.
There are always going to be some exceptions to the norm, especially for gardeners. You may need to add fertilizer if your soil test results show that it is seriously lacking in nutrients.
In this situation, it’s a good idea to ask a specialist in the specific shrub you’re planting—possibly the nursery or grower from whom you purchased it—for advice.
Step 9: Add Mulch
Over the topsoil, spread a layer of mulch 1 to 3 inches thick, being careful to keep the mulch pile 3 to 5 inches away from the main stem or trunk of the shrub.
Mulching protects the roots from temperature changes and aids in moisture retention. For most bushes, wood chips or bark mulch work well.
Hay and straw can also be used, but they need to be replaced frequently because they break down quickly. Generally speaking, it also doesn’t look as well as wood chips or bark mulch.
Step 10: Water the New Plant
Water a newly planted bush slowly and thoroughly, making sure the soil and root ball are completely moist. Consult the grower’s directions to determine a continuing watering strategy, but bear in mind that newly planted shrubs require more water during their initial growing season than they will the next.
Watering newly planted shrubs should be done every two to three days for the first week or two, then every three weeks to three months after that.
Next, water it roughly once a week, based on the environment and weather where you live.
Conclusion
With a little knowledge and work, you may now explore the world of growing shrubs! With careful consideration of sun exposure, plant selection, and maintenance, you can create a landscape that thrives.
Always keep in mind that patience is essential. Shrubs will reward you with beautiful foliage in the fall and vivid blooms in the spring.
Now go forth, get your hands filthy, and observe how adding these adaptable and fruitful plants can change your garden. Happy raising your shrubs!