Time to plant!

Depending on where you are located, bare root planting season takes place before buds, leaves, and flowers make their full appearance in the surrounding landscape. In the Prescott, AZ area, February, March, and maybe April will be a good time to get your bare root plants and trees in the ground. I have been out digging in between snow storms this year when the ground is soft enough to step a shovel into the soil. This allows the bare root to get acclimatized early and delays budding in the outdoor cold (rather than sitting in a bucket in the garage that may be a warmer climate).

The advantages of bare root are expense. They are cheaper than purchasing a tree or plant already in dirt in a bucket come late Spring and Summer. This allows people to try out new types of trees and plants with less expense & stress of possible failure or gopher attack! Planting windbreak tree rows are cheaper when planting bare root, although the trees will be smaller and the time to grow into a windbreak will be longer. Time vs. Expense is up to each individual. Bare root also involves less “muscle” to plant. I have successfully planted many fruit trees, shade trees, bushes, and hundreds of grapevines by myself. They are light, because there isn’t any soil attached, and the holes to be dug will be smaller than dealing with a huge root ball from a container tree or bush.

There are some great nurseries on the internet, just beware that cheap may also mean poor customer service, poor quality, and your bare root purchase may not arrive when “estimated”. I have started to appreciate small mom and pop farms because they know their nursery stock and they want to please their customers.

Joining the Arbor Day Foundation allows members to get 10 tiny trees suited for your area as a membership gift. There are heirloom tree websites and even small farms that sell bulk bare root tree stock if you are trying to create a small forest on your property. I have even purchased from Forestry websites in the past. Your local favorite nursery may have some bare root trees in stock. Also look for bare root plants and bushes because they all need to get in the ground soon! Another method of obtaining bare root plants, may be a friend who is complaining that they have too many, and all you need to do is bring a shovel and a bucket! Keep your ears open for folks that are needing to split or thin out their lilacs, azaleas, forsythias, raspberry patches, asparagus clumps, or strawberry beds etc… It’s a great way to help out a new gardener, help create sustainable living, & maybe even create new friendships!

As of this writing, I happened to be at the Home Depot in Prescott and they just had a shipment of bare root fruit trees arrive. I was told by the staff that they haven’t sold bare root trees in the past, but if there is enough interest, and these current trees sell out; then they will consider adding more to their shipment next year!

Soil: I would like to share my experiences with bare root planting. I have dug trees into places that I knew the soil quality was poor. But I amended the hole and continued to amend above the soil line to create a perimeter of healthy soil to nurture the plant. The amendments included manures from our farm animals, bark chips, pulled weeds, & leaves. Peat moss & steer manure can be purchased from stores. If you have a neighbor with sheep or chickens, or ducks, they may be more than willing to share some of the manure with you. Again, bring a shovel and a few buckets! I have seen animal manure for free on craigslist ads which is a great way to start a pile in your yard where you can mix amendments for your garden & other plants. If you see landscape companies with chippers, they may be happy to dump an entire load of chips onto your property. Also, the local transfer stations and city or county dumps may have an area of chipped brush that you can load for free or for a small fee.

If I leave a newly planted grapevine, tree or other plant for weeks at a time without a means for watering, I fill wine bottles and invert them in the soil to keep the roots moist. I would also make sure that there was a lot of mulch around the base of the plant. The wine bottles also work in your planting pots and garden areas. Soak the soil first, then fill the bottles with water and invert next to the plants. If there is enough mulch, the plant should stay hydrated for about a week. If in doubt, add another wine bottle for extra water.

• Please do not string trim near the wine bottles because they can break. Also do not leave them in the ground during the winter because the temperature changes can cause them to break or someone could step on them if covered by snow.