Landscaping – Transplanting

Landscaping – Transplanting

Transplanting is always tricky, but sometimes the health of your plants requires it. Different plants are best transplanted at different times of year, so no ‘one-size-fits-all’ strategy is possible. But there are some general guidelines to go along with specific recommendations.

Try to make sure the plant activity is at a minimum before undertaking to transplant it. Flowers in the full bloom of Spring or Summer are performing a needed function for the plant at the same time they supply you with beautiful color. Try to avoid interrupting that natural growth cycle.

Many perennials, for example, do better when transplanted in late Summer. August and early September (in the Northern Hemisphere) are the best months for digging up, dividing and re-planting. But these periods can also still be quite hot, so take care. Be sure to water the plants well the day before planting to let them soak up plenty of moisture.

Carefully remove the soil from the surface around the plant, in a circle about one foot in diameter. Then, slant down and repeat the procedure until you’ve cleared earth away from the roots. Take precautions not to cut through the roots with your trowel as you remove the dirt. For some perennials it’s a good idea to tie them gently to a slender stake during the procedure to prevent them falling over or cracking.

Once you’ve cleared the soil away from the roots, gently lift the plant from the base, while balancing the top if necessary. You want to remove the plant in one smooth motion all at once. Avoid stressing the central portions. Then, shake the base gently and wash away any large clumps of soil still stuck to the roots.

Re-plant in a similar sized hole that has been watered. Allow the water to settle before inserting the new plant, place it, then fill with earth and the appropriate amount of fertilizer for your type of plant. Depending on the type of plant, this can be accomplished with compost, manure-based fertilizer or pellets mixed into the soil.

Be sure to place the plant at the same depth as it was removed from. If some portion of the roots for that plant were above or near the surface, that’s the right level to place the transplanted plant at. Burying them too deep makes it difficult for some to get the right amount of air, heat and moisture.

Avoid performing the procedure in direct sunlight. Wait until the evening hours, or carry it out early in the morning, unless the day is very overcast. It’s also best, both for you and the plant, to avoid transplanting when the temperature is very high.

Be sure to water the transplanted plant well after you have it firmly in place.

Different plants, such as vegetables, will do better by transplanting at different times of the year. Find out which is best for your particular one before transplanting. Transplanting is stressful for almost every growing plant, so check the details to maximize the chances of recovery.

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Landscaping – Tools

Landscaping – Tools

Like photography, there is no end of possible tools to acquire for pursuing this practical hobby. But there are some that are a must if you’re to achieve worthwhile results.

You’ll find that having a good shovel will save you hours of back breaking effort. A good shovel is one that doesn’t break the first time you hit hard dirt and yank back on the handle. It should also stand up well to rocks or clay, keeping a good edge. Since the purposes for which it’s used are basically the same, but vary in detail, you’ll probably find it best to have more than one style.

A square ended shovel will help you remove large amounts of earth more easily, but they are harder to force into the dirt. You’ll want to use them on soft earth or moving piles that have already been created. They also make good instruments for distributing manure-based fertilizer and compost over areas you want to focus on.

A triangular spade makes for a good all-purpose tool, and is especially good for creating those larger holes needed to plant trees or transplant larger plants. One great variation is a telescope-handle shovel with a very narrow blade – somewhat like a trowel but with a long handle. They can be used to make small holes while standing and are perfect for certain weeding chores.

Gardening shears are a basic necessity. They come in a dozen shapes and sizes, but be sure to get some that fit your hand. Most have moon-shaped blades, with one side being concave and the other convex. They’re great for trimming off dead flowers, stems and branches. The type that have a lock to keep them closed are good for an extra margin of safety and easy storage.

An ordinary rake is handy for more purposes than you might suspect. Even if you have a powered leaf blower, you’ll find there are times it’s easier and neater to use a rake. It’s also indispensable for de-thatching the lawn in the Spring, or preparing it in the Fall.

For small re-seeding jobs rakes are handy for working the seeds into topsoil. And, nothing beats a rake for scraping away those dead weeds, small rocks, and other unwanted material. Plastic ones are becoming more common, but the metal ones still stand up best under heavy use.

You’ll find that some kind of wheelbarrow will get used more often than you would have suspected. If you have a dozen annuals in small pots to transport, it’s often easiest just to lay them in the bottom and be on your way.

They can make distributing manure-based fertilizer a lot easier. You can pile the bags in the wheel barrow or empty the contents, then dump it over an area and spread with a rake. Much easier than holding a 40 lb bag in both arms and shaking the contents out.

Beyond the basics there are dozens of useful hand tools. A folding saw or a pole saw for pruning is helpful if you have trees. A mattock comes in handy for loosening earth during transplanting and weeding. A hoe will be used often. Gloves, of course, are useful for picking up those prickly plants even if you like to garden with bare hands. A watering can, trimmers, weeding tools… the list is endless.

Better get started today!

Landscaping – The Zone System

Landscaping – The Zone System

For gardeners who want to optimize their results, the Zone System is indispensable.

The Zone System was created by the USDA (U.S. Dept of Agriculture) and divides the country into eleven zones. The divisions are based on the minimum average winter temperature with zone 1 the coldest, zone 11 the warmest. Maps of the zone system are readily available online and they’re very helpful for pinpointing which zone you’re in.

The USDA Zone System isn’t the only one around, however. Sunset, the famed gardening publication company, developed its own system, and it is even more extensive. The Sunset Western Climate zone system has 24 divisions for the western portion of North America, with additional zones (A1-A3) for Alaska and Hawaii (H1-H3).

[The Zones are:
Cold and Snowy: 1-3
Rainy Northwest Zones:4-6
Northern and Interior-alley California Zones: 7-9, 14-17
Southern California: 18-24
Southwest Desert Zones: 10-13]

Sunset uses more than just minimum winter temperatures. Its algorithm also includes summer temperatures, annual rainfall, elevation, humidity and other climate factors such as marine and mountain geography. But that’s not all. The Sunset system factors in the length of the growing season – by examining the average number of days between the beginning of Spring and the first frost of Fall.

Even with all this extensive information, zones can be divided into micro-climates, for those who want to narrow down their area as much as possible. Some areas like the panhandle of Northern Idaho are protected from the harshest Winter weather by its unique configuration of mountains. Just on the other side, Montana has much more severe weather.

Mountain slopes can channel warm or cold air into an area in the same way they keep other influences out. In the wine growing region of Southern California, for example, the narrow gap in which most of the vineyards sit, traps hot summer air. At the same time the valleys get a cool breeze in the evening from the nearby Pacific Ocean. The combination of these (and other) factors creates a zone that’s perfect for growing wine grapes.

Using micro-climate information, it’s possible to grow some plants that otherwise you might suspect wouldn’t thrive (if you considered only the zone number). There are limits, however. Lemon trees will still do better in Southern California than they do in Eastern Washington.

Some experimentation will always be needed to determine which plants will grow best in your particular environment. But using the zone system as a starting guide will help you avoid costly mistakes. You can grow a plant that’s rated, say, as hardy up to Zone 5. But if you live in a Zone 2 you are almost certainly wasting your time and money in that instance.

Since the hardiness of a plant is largely genetic, there is little you can do to adjust the plant, apart from hybridization. But selecting which plants thrive best in which zones is a straightforward exercise. There’s ample information online to guide you.