Planting shrubs is the perfect way to give your garden a lasting foundation of vibrancy and beauty. Autumn is ideal for planting shrubs of all sizes! And container-grown varieties are ready to be planted at any point in the year.
What you’ll need:
Garden spade, garden fork, garden compost, slow-release fertiliser
Planting your shrub
- Before planting, give your shrub a good drink to get them ready for the big move! Make sure you dig a hole that’s twice as wide and deep as their root-ball – note that roses need special attention here so be sure theirs is even deeper. Then use a fork to break up the edges and base of hole.
- Then gently place one hand over the root-ball and wrap your fingers around its stem for support. Then with the other, carefully pull off its pot— hopefully it’ll come right away! If it doesn’t come away easily, try tapping against something hard or cutting the pot off when all else fails.
- Before planting, check the shrub roots. Gently untangle and straighten out any roots growing around the root ball. Then place the plant in the hole so that the top of the root-ball is level with the ground surface.
- To ensure your shrubs get off to a good start, make sure to back-fill the hole with soil around their roots and firm as you go to get rid of air-pockets. After that’s done – just top up with more soil if needed then water well! And remember to water in very dry weather in the first year of growth.
- Finally stand back and watch as your shrub blossoms and blooms!