Summer Planting and Transplanting

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gardengym western Piedmont, NC(Zone 7a) Jul 06, 2003

"When you shop in your local nursery or garden center, you are buying plants that were dug and balled or potted much earlier when the plant was still dormant. What you are doing when you bring your new shrub or perennial home is PLANTING not TRANSPLANTING. You didn’t dig it up so you haven’t disrupted the root system or shocked the plant. It is the act of digging out that causes severe stress. Many folks put off their planting until fall because they’ve read or heard that they shouldn’t do it now. This thinking is flawed by a lack of understanding the difference between planting and transplanting......"

entire article here http://www.hewitts.com/bowden/pb6-27-2000.htm

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Baa Jul 06, 2003

While the author is technically correct, like all garden articles, it misses a few important points.

Summer is a main blooming time, any plant bought bearing flowers and/or buds will not be at the strongest to survive planting out into a new situation. This is especially true of plants not propagated in the local area, they have to become used to the climate as well as the soil. Many nurseries stock plants that are exported too and that has to be considered.

The watering situation during summer can be difficult. How well you know your soil and climate is a key factor, any amount of watering in a sharply drained, gritty soil during a hot summer isn't going to help the plant establish any better than if it was planted 2 months later. Poorly drained soil and over watering will just drown the roots, over watering or underwatering will give the same effect ... a wilted then a dead plant.

Despite protestations from the author, I know that even if I could dig a planting hole in our front garden without using some sort of boring tool or pick axe after two weeks of sun, the soil wouldn't drain well enough to give the plant the best start in life.

In my experience (and I know experiences vary) the absolute best time to plant anything hardy (potted or transplant) is late summer/early auumn when the soil is still warm and the flowers have gone. For slightly tender plants, it is indeed, better for them to be well established but prior to buds/flowers and in mid spring to mid summer, besides summer is too hot to be out there digging. August is not an august month for gardening, it's a time to be enjoying the fruits of your labour.

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darius So.App.Mtns., United States(Zone 5b) Jul 06, 2003

Baa you are too funny! "August is not an august month for gardening..."

Enjoyed all the info.

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