Advantages to planting in late summer!
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So we took your advice and cut out all the brown a few
weeks ago. We went so far as to take some things out because they
really don't thrill us anymore. If we can find the plants, can we
plant in fall? We want more perennials but we're hoping for an end
of season clearance sale! How late in fall? - S.C. -
Fall is a great time to plant. Root growth is key to plant
establishment and roots grow like crazy from when nighttime summer
heat ends until fall's hard freezes begin. (In our neck of the
woods that's third week of August until some time in November,
nearly three months.)
However, you can plant now. We do. There may be more deals to be
had during the slow shopping days in August than in September. We
saw perennials for $3 each or 10 for $25 at the farmers' market
recently. Dollar figures aside, there's always a "sale" going on
after midsummer, based on what small potted perennials can give you
by the time they take their turn to bloom next year.
Another good thing about late summer shopping is that it's
simpler to focus on late blooming perennials. They're more
likely to impress you now and go into your cart. They'll fill the
color gaps in your garden, carrying on after the bloom's done on
those that caught your eye during spring shopping.
We also love small pots any time of the year for a quicker
"take."
Late summer offers "plant small, water small" advantage
That small potted plants become established more quickly, with
less water, is a matter of geometry.
Right: A four inch square pot has 16 square inches of
water-collecting surface we must keep moist. A six inch round has
28 inches. Keep that surface moist for a sunny week. (Notice the
ridge of soil around the plants -- we've told you before, in What's
Coming Up #110 and What's Coming Up
#38, how watering rings help with watering and establishment!)
Both plants may then extend their root tips an inch in all
directions. That makes the four inch pot 225%
of its former self. Meanwhile, the six inch pot has only
expanded
to 179% of its planting-day area. Having more than doubled
its
water-collecting area the smaller pot is further on its way to
independence.
Don't buy just any perennial in a small pot, however. Take only
those with leaves that have good color and size, a sign that
they've been handled as befits a plant with limited root space.
Forum Moderator Karen Bovio of Specialty Growers says Yes
we do have plenty of small pots... yet to be shifted up to gallons
for next year's crop. We are very good... at keeping things in
great shape here. It all boils down to water and fertilizer and
some timely cutting back."
Right and below: This may seem like it would hurt the plant
but it helps, by breaking up the log jam of root tips where they'd
congregated at the bottom of the pot. After the cuts, root tips
exist all over the root ball's outer edges and sides. Since root
tips are where growth occurs, that cut root ball has more places
with a chance to grow.
Plants still in small pots in late summer or fall are often
rootbound. When you cut and split that root ball it will grow out
of its tight configuration. If you don't cut it, you'll be amazed
when you dig it up because "It's just not making it," that even
years later it's still be in a little bitty wad of root. Just
remember the tipping-over willow tree where rootbound- became
girdling roots (What's
Coming Up #155) and you'll know what we've seen on plants
from Azalea through Hibiscus to
Zelkova.
So what you see above is what smart growers do when up-potting
small plants. They make sure it has plenty of root ends all around
the outer edge of the container, rather than only in a knot at the
bottom where they would all be vying for the moisture in that
relatively small area.
Below: Some plants in small pots are not rootbound in later
summer. That includes those grown specifically for late summer
sale. Our friend, Forum Moderator Margaret Thele, let us de-pot one of the
Belgian mums she sells at the Farmers' Market to show you the root
system. Such beauty! These roots are perfect, no cutting
required.
Below: Although buying large perennials can satisfy the urge
for immediate bulk, these perennials in four inch pots will
establish more quickly and be as big or bigger next spring than
larger plants of the same type set in the ground the same day this
summer or fall. Grower and Forum Moderator Thele says, "You can buy
two or three larger perennials if instant fill is what you need,
but for the same amount you can buy this whole garden of plants
that will grow as big or bigger by next spring."
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