Bare-rooted plants are tempting, especially for beginning gardeners who are attracted by the low cost. Bare-rooted means just that. Small plants are in plastic bags, sometimes wrapped in moist paper, peat moss or other material, but no soil. The plastic bags are boxed, especially at garden centers and other retailers.
Raspberries, grapes, peonies, rhubarb, lily of the valley and asparagus are just some of the plants commonly sold bare-rooted in garden centers and online. Trees and shrubs are more commonly sold bare-rooted by online retailers. These plants include roses and shade and fruit-bearing trees.
Bare-rooted roses, trees, shrubs and other plants should be planted as soon as possible. Bare-rooted roses usually bloom the first year. (C) Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp
Bare-rooted plants are in garden centers now and mail order retailers ship at the appropriate planting time for our region, usually early spring.
Sometimes, we buy these plants or they arrive before we are ready to put them in their forever home. What are our options?
- Do not allow the roots to dry out.
- Give the plant a temporary home in a large enough container to accommodate the roots. Black plastic nursery pots work well for this. Fill in around the roots with potting soil, top soil or potting mix and water. Place in a protected area of the yard, but where it will get filtered sun.
- Do what nurseries do and that’s heel in the plant. The term comes from making an indentation with the heel of a shoe in a well-prepared bed of soil and plant in that. Of course, the hole or indentation needs to be large enough to accommodate the roots. Select an area that gets some sun.
- With either method, water as needed. Don’t worry about fertilizing the plant.
- Be careful when moving the plant to its new home, making sure to dig deep enough to capture any of the new roots that have developed.
- Plant it in a more permanent home as soon as you can.
- Make the hole large enough so that you can spread out the roots, being careful not to break them.
- Back fill with the soil removed from the hole with no fertilizers or other additives. Tamp down the soil and water.
- Consider placing a cage, stake or other protective device to keep people and pets from running into the newly planted specimen.
Remember the pictures in catalogs, online or on the boxes feature fully grown plants bearing fruits, flowers and vegetables. What the photos don’t convey is that that it may take years to get to image depicted.
Follow the planting instructions for planting depth and location, such as sun or shade. Be sure to allow for the mature size – height and width – of the plant.