Tree planting questions....

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danjenkins New York, NY Jun 09, 2010

Hello folks!

Thanks in advance for your advice... We're starting a new container garden in our NYC cement courtyard - we have a few trees and plants finally and want to make sure we're proceeding properly!

1. Can we safely plant the small grasses and impatiens at the base of our dogwood and Japanese Maple trees?

2. We have good potting soil, but want to make sure we are planting the trees properly - do we need to use rocks at the bottom of our plastic planters? Also, should we make a platform with casters for drainage and/or moving? (No plans to move the trees at the moment....)

More questions to come, I'm sure, but thanks for your advice...!

Best,

DJ

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Cearbhaill Russell, KY(Zone 6b) Jun 10, 2010

Yes, you can underplant your trees. Just be aware of the moisture needs of each and don't mix types too broadly- I wouldn't put anything too water needy under a JM, for example, and in sun impatiens can be very water needy.

Raising your pots will help you keep the floor underneath them from staining, and rolling bases are extremely convenient. The water will still drain with the pot flat on the floor (assuming the drainage holes are adequate) but you will get algae and evaporated salts stains. And while you may not think you need to move your trees, sun shifts throughout the year, cleaning of the floor needs to happen, and aesthetically changing things up can be very welcome. I recommend rollers on anything too heavy to lift, but that's me- plenty of people don't use them.

Be aware that most commercial potting mix is very heavy and can benefit from being amended with perlite, or if you need water retention as well as drainage, vermiculite.
Some plants have very particular drainage needs- I know the folks over in the Japanese Maples forums are leaning towards a mix with bark and grit- really fast draining stuff.

Putting a layer of gravel or styrofoam peanuts on the bottom helps drainage in that the pots holes don't get clogged up with soil, nor does soil leak out. I have also had great success with plastic gutter guard material or even a layer of burlap.
If your plants are the least bit top heavy gravel or rocks will help keep them from blowing over, so is useful that way as well.

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Daisies87 Pelham, NY Jun 11, 2010

http://www.davidsansjapanesemaples.com/care-guide/

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