Gardening Advice & Tips for Irish Gardeners

We are a bit late this year but now the garden centres are stocked up and the bare root season can begin. This means gardeners around the land will be busy digging trenches and preparing planting holes for a whole range of hedging and tree species.

Bare root plants are plants sold in a garden centre or nursery without any plant pot, hessian wrap or container; making the roots exposed or ‘bare’. Having bare roots makes storing and transporting these plants easier and therefore makes them cost less. During the dormant season these plants are asleep and therefore can deal better with the stress of having their roots exposed for a short period of time.

If you are choosing to grow a hedge or grove of trees using bare-root plants there are a number of tips and advice to help you on your way:

Buy early

As with the spring bulbs, bare-root trees and hedging should be bought as early as possible. Garden centre really do order in a large amount of bare-root plants, but they also sell a large amount, so if you want to get the pick of the bunch and the straightest, healthiest and freshest plants then you should buy yours at the end of October to the end of November.

Keep roots covered

This is essential to do. Even though it is the dormant season and the plants are asleep, it is still vital that the roots are covered and protected from strong winds, sunshine and frost. If the plant’s roots dry out or freeze then the root will die; killing the plant.

Handle with care

Bare-root shrubs come in bundles of 10 or 20 depending on the size of the plants. Garden centres store these shrubs in the ground, generally in sand. Be sure to remove the plants carefully in order to protect the plant’s roots. Place the plants into dark plastic bags and tie it closed.  Bare-root cuttings should be planted within four days of purchase

Heeling in

If you are unlikely to plant your bare-root plants within four days of purchase then you will need to ‘heel them in’. This is a process of temporary planting where you plant bundles of plants in a trench; similar to the way the garden centre would have them prior to purchasing

Planting

When planting bare-root soil preparation is very important. Digging out a hole large enough for the roots to spread out is important. All plants benefit from a good feed of farm yard manure also.

Planting depth

With all trees and shrubs, planting depth is important and often over looked. There is a saying; plant too low, tree won’t grow. Plant to high, tree won’t die.

Watering

Most importantly, be sure to water plants well before and after planting. It is recommended that you soak your bare-root plants in muddy water for 10 minutes before planting.  Soak them again after planting.