Ten Tips to Consider when Planting Shrubs

Has your home's landscaping become dull, shabby, or just plain sickening to look at? Maybe you need to add some shrubs. You don't have to make a colossal project out of it. Often, just a few well-chosen, well-placed shrubs can significantly enhance your landscaping's appearance.

But before you plop those shrubs into the ground, there are few things to consider. Here are 10 important things to remember when planting shrubs:

10) Wear gloves. Some shrubs are prickly and some aren't, but with every shrub there is a possibility for some kind of allergic reaction. Wearing gloves when planting your shrub will decrease the risk of you suffering any cuts, pokes, or weird rashes (and who likes weird rashes?).

9) Make sure to check (or have somebody check for you) for gas lines, water lines, cable wires, etc. Just to be safe, you should know if there are any underground wires or pipes that you might have to contend with when digging the hole. Severing your cable wire might be an inconvenience, but hitting a gas line could be REALLY dangerous.

8) Consider the time of year. The best time for planting shrubs is the fall. This is because your newly-planted shrub will not have to contend with the heat and dryness of the summer and because the plant will shortly be entering its dormant winter state, allowing it to adjust to its new location gradually. Alternately, spring is also a good time, as the weather is moderate and usually moist, giving your shrub a little bit of a head start before the hot days of summer.

7) Don't sever the ropes on a burlap-wrapped shrub. If your shrub comes wrapped in burlap and tied with rope, go ahead and plant it as is. There is no need to remove either the ropes or the burlap, as they are formulated to rot away long before they could ever strangle your shrub or its roots. The roots of your shrub will have no trouble growing right through the burlap.

6) If the shrub is in a pot, be careful when pulling it out. A shrub that has been in a pot for a while will already have a well-developed root system that holds tightly to the dirt. This is the kind of shrub you want if you can find it. In some cases, though, the only shrubs of a particular type are only very recently potted. If this is the case, the roots do not adhere very well to the dirt and may actually pull completely free when you attempt to remove the shrub. To lessen the chance of this happening, try turning the shrub completely upside down and holding it over the hole it is to go in before you begin to pull it. A newly potted shrub will tend to fall out along with the loose dirt. At least if you are pulling it out directly over the hole, all the fertilized dirt will fall where you want it to go.

5) Consider the distance of the surrounding trees and shrubs. Sure, that shrub might look small sitting in its little pot, but it will grow. Check the tag on the shrub to see how much and then measure the full-grown distance from the nearest plants to decide on a spot to dig. If plants get set too close, they tend to grow into a giant, jumbled monster that looks crummy and makes it hard to distinguish between the individual shrubs.

4) Consider the distance of the shrub from your house. If you are planting your shrub next to your house or in a bed next to your house, be aware of the distance. For one thing, you don't want your shrub to get so big that it actually starts brushing up against it. There is a certain amount of heat that your house generates, and many shrubs planted to close to the wall will get a "scorched" look to the back of them if planted to close or may even die. Check the label on the shrub to see what kind of spread it has and plant accordingly.

3) Consider stakes for thin, wobbly, or unbalanced shrubs. While the ground you plant your shrub in, depending on its consistency, will offer some stability, it may not be enough. If you find your shrub has blown over or simply can't support itself, you will need to stake it. To do this, take a stake and drive it into the ground about five inches from your shrub (or farther, depending on the size of the shrub) or just outside the root ball if your shrub has one. If you only have one stake, take some elastic belting (or other expandable material) and wrap it around the stake and trunk of your shrub until there is a moderate amount of pull. Now, tie the belting and cut off the excess. If you have two stakes, you can wrap the belting around the first stake, then around the trunk of your shrub, and over to and around the second stake. Just be sure not to use wire, rubber hose, or fishing line, as these will eventually dig into the bark of the plant as it grows.

2) Be careful with fertilizer. Unless you have gone to some disreputable black market nursery, the shrub you have purchased will have been watered and fertilized very recently. While the water can be used by the plant or evaporate relatively quickly, the fertilizer is not going to vanish overnight. Give the shrub a couple of weeks to adjust to the soil and use the fertilizer that it was given by the nursery. At that point, feel free to add a little fertilizer.

1) Don't plant your shrub too deep! Consider this the unholiest of unholy shrub planting sins. Why? To begin with, no matter how firm the ground is that you're planting your shrub in, it's still going to settle. If you plant your shrub with the top of the attached dirt flush with the ground, it may settle significantly. Not only does this look awkward, it could lead to the death of your shrub. While all plants need water, there is a serious danger of "drowning" your plant if it is set too deeply in the ground. Always allow for couple of inches of the top of the attached dirt to show above the ground.

Tired of that landscaping? Add some shrubs! With a little preparation and lot of care, you can make your landscaping beautiful again.