new plants

i know fall is best to plant bushes and trees but our local nursery had great looking plants and very low price--since i am so looking forward to having something in my back i purchased quite a few--our summer has been wet and mild so far but the area i am planting them has little shade--any ideas of how i can baby them along since i will be putting them in at the worst time!!! thanks for any ideas

If you have a way to rig up some shade cloth over the area that'll really help if your blazing TX sun comes back. Then of course make sure you're watering them plenty (but check the soil to make sure you're not watering too much--wilting doesn't necessarily mean that you need to water more). The other thing you could do is keep them in their containers until the fall (preferably in an area where they get a bit of shade at least during the hottest part of the day), this is what I typically do with plants that I buy over the summer. I've found it's easier to keep them alive if I leave them in the containers and then put them in the ground in the fall vs planting them in the summer.

I do like ecrane--put them in a protected area (mine gets morning sun only) and baby them along until fall. I almost always move them to slightly larger inexpensive plastic pots that will hold moisture better than the typical nursery pots they come in. I learned the hard way not to let my excitement over seeing them in the yard where I want them become a costly mistake. I've lost quite a few plants because of my impatience. Now I will go ahead and take advantage of those wonderful markdown deals but keep them in my little "nursery" until the weather is more favorable for putting them in the ground. If you plant them now, you're in for a lot of work trying to keep them alive.

i love those ideas!! here i was thinking the exact opposite--that i had to hurry and get them in the ground as soon as possible or they would die! there are quite a few and i would prefer not to have to repot them before i transplant them but will they be ok until sept in their present pots? i do have lots of shade in my yard and so could put them in a less hostile (hot!) area until then---and kind of slowly move them into the sunnier areas as the summer fades a bit? i like the fact that i can do that later since i have so much that i am taking care of already and now i can spread it out a bit--thanks again

If I'm short on pots and have to leave some in nursery pots, I put some sort of saucer, pan, whatever, under them to hold some water. You know how fast those nursery pots dry out! If they become root-bound, I would definately move them to a little larger pot then.

I've kept things in pots for many months before planting them out. I do end up repotting some things though--a lot of stuff that comes from the nursery is close to pot-bound already so with a number of things I've potted them up to the next size. But assuming you have an appropriately sized pot and you're careful about watering, you should be able to keep them until fall with no problem.

my neighbor said she likes to make sure the plants are in early to establish good roots before a possible bad winter--our winters are usually mild but can get very cold on occasion---and we did have one long ago that everyone remembers for a long stretch of below freezing weather--what do you think about the establishing roots idea?

What zone are you in? If you're in 8 or 9 or even probably 7 then planting in the fall is going to be fine, the plants have enough time to get established before it gets too cold. Personally I don't think they're really going to establish very much until the fall anyway because they'll be so stressed by needing water and having too much sun/heat, so you're better off keeping them healthy in the container until the fall and then planting them. If you live in a colder part of TX and planting in the fall doesn't give the plants a good chance to establish before it gets really cold, then you're better off waiting until spring. Planting in the summer is never a good idea.

thanks for the help

Not sure what zone you are plano, but I have planted numerous trees, shrubs and flowers over here in my area, zone 8a, in mid-September and they seem to have had plenty of time to set down roots and even grow just a little before it gets cold. We don't normally get any real cold weather until late December through February. I would imagine you are pretty close to us weather-wise. BTW, I always add some root stimulator to the planting hole when I transplant anything--it helps a lot.

thanks--i have the root stimulator and if i plant while it is hot i will make sure i also give them a very nice hole to start in!! with peat, garden soil and root stimulator--i am also in 8a ---

I would not use any root stimulater in the hot weather or you are going to stress the plants even more, if you really have to plant them in the hot weather, all you can do is give them plenty water, it aint what happens under the soil that kills the plants in the heat, it is the top growth that suffers first, this happens by the foliage being baked in the hot sun, they cant take in moisture and air through the foliage, so it turns brown, then the roots start to die off because the growing foliage is under stress, so if you have to plant out now, then a plant food added to the soil will be better as it will be slower releasing to the roots, new plants need time to settle into the new soil and temp's and want to get the roots spread naturally rather than overwhelmed by stimulants, If you have a shaded area in your yard, you can always plunge them in their pots into the shaded soil and then dig them into the final planting area in the fall, in September, the soil is still warm enough to give the plants a good start, yet the heat is well out of the sun, or spring, just as the soil begins to warm up, but either way, you need to prepare the soil for your planting if these plants have half a chance to survive.
You should ask yourself why the garden centers sell of their plants at cheep prices at this time of year, it is because they take a lot of care and attention at this hot time of year and time is money to them, better to sell them to us and make some money, than have them die off in the store at a loss, they dont really care if they die in your garden as they have their cash anyway, but you will have wasted your cash if you dont care for them properly, most experienced gardeners buy plants now when they are cheeper, but they know that to save the plants, they will have to repot them as Ecrane sugested and care for them till the right time comes to plant them out. so good luck and hope you find a salution to youe problem. WeeNel.