How to Plant a Perennial
A perennial is a non-woody
plant that lives in the ground for more than two years with little
attention from you after planting. Many die back to ground level
in autumn and resurrect themselves in spring, sending up new shoots
from their bases. These are termed herbaceous perennials . Some
are evergreen , providing you with valuable green ground cover throughout
the year, and some even flower in winter - the Christmas Rose (Helleborus
niger) for example. Perennials are versatile, and offer a varied
range of different leaf shapes, textures, colours and, of course,
flowers. Whatever style you're aiming for, you will want to include
some perennials somewhere in your garden. You will find them in
four forms: container-grown ; bare-rooted (many mail order perennials
are supplied like this); seeds (this keeps the cost of the plants
right down); and self sown seedlings (some perennials are great
self seeders). This workshop shows you how to plant a container-grown
perennial. You can plant these at any time, but spring and autumn
are the best seasons, as you'll need to keep the soil around them
moist as their roots get growing.
What You Need:
A dug over border or area of soil; a spade or hand trowel (depending
on the size of the plant); hand fork; watering can. Optional: thin
gardening or rubber gloves; organic fertiliser, mulch such as bark
or cocoa shells..
.
Step 1
Dig a hole where you want the perennial to grow. Make it about half
as wide again as the plant's container, and a bit deeper than the
pot. Put the earth you dig out on one side of the hole. Remove any
large stones from the hole and loosen the soil in the bottom and
sides of it with the fork.
Step 2
Give your plant a really good soak - immerse it in its pot into
a bucket for an hour or so if the compost is dry, or water well
with your watering can. Then, holding the compost around the base
of the plant in one hand, slide it out of the pot with your other
hand.
Step 3
Use your fingers to remove the very top of the compost, about 2.5
cm. This may sometimes have small weeds and weed seeds in it, or
may look a bit like a mossy crust. Keeping the main part of the
compost rootball of your plant intact, gently loosen its roots at
the sides and bottom of the compost with your fingers.
Step 4
Put the plant into the hole and check that the top of the plant
is level with the soil at the sides of the hole. Adjust the depth
if you need to by adding soil from the pile or taking more away.
Hold the plant with one hand and fill in around it with the loose
soil. (This is called backfilling ). Firm the soil around the plant
roots with your hands.
Step 5
Loosen the soil surface around the plant with your hand fork. If
you're using organic fertiliser, shake some around the plant and
scratch it into the soil with your hand fork. Water the plant thoroughly.
Apply a mulch if using one, this will help keep in moisture and
control weeds. Check that the soil around recent plantings does
not dry out.
Source: Greenfingers
