HOW TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR NEW LANDSCAPE PLANTINGS is the name of this page
Watering
Watering by hand is the most efficient way to water your new landscape plants(as opposed to a lawn sprinkler). Water is a vital resource that should always be used efficiently and never wasted.
It isn't easy to know exactly how much to water.If you over do it the plant will drown in soil filled water where oxygen should be. If you don't water enough the plants will wilt. If you are in doubt about whether you are watering correctly,wait one day after your last watering and dig down in where the roots are and see what is going on. If the soil is soupy then you are watering too much. If the soil is dry then water more frequently or for a longer duration.
Here are some guidlines for watering your new plants.
For trees, water the rootball for a count of 60 every other day for about three weeks. On shrubs, a count of 10-15 is good every other day and on perennials 6-8 every other day.
After 3-4 weeks you can water twice per week in the summer and once per week in the fall. Once your landscape has been in for one year and as long as you put down a new layer of water conserving mulch, you need only to water during extended dry periods, say once per week in the summer heat.
Annual plantings grow at such a high rate and therefore will thrive if watered lightly almost every day throughout the spring and summer.
Weed control
We use a natural organic topsoil in all of our landscape plantings. The benifts to your plants are numerous. There is however one drawback, natural topsoil is typically loaded with weed seeds. To counter this we use a preemirgent herbicide that will kill the weed seeds before they germinate. We then put a 2 layer of mulch down that further prevents weed seeds from germinating. A few weed seeds always seem to battle their way through our control methods and sprout into weeds.
You can eliminate these few stragglers by pulling them or using Roundup. Roundup is a contact herbicide. You can apply it to the weeds even if they are growing next to your new bushes. The roundup does not move in the soil, it must contact the weed leaves to work. Once the weed surface has been sprayed that weed will die completely, roots and all. Just be careful not to spray your landscape plants because it will damage them if you do.
Hint: if you do accidentally get some round up spray on your good plants just pick the contacted leaf off immediately.
Fertilizing
Since we fertilize with a slow release fertilizer at the time of planting there is no need for you to fertilize the first year. We do recommend that your plants be fertilized with a timed release fertilizer once or twice per year beginning the following spring after planting.
Pruning
Trees and most shrubs typically do not need pruning the first season. They are busy growing roots under ground and most of their energy is focused on root growth at the expense of top growth. Some shrubs and most perennials do need to be cut back almost to the ground in late October even in their first season.
By the second season the rest of your shrubs will benefit from a light shaping. This will help to keep them full. Your trees can go for years before ever needing to be pruned. However always prune any dead twigs and branches so these dont become pest entry points.
Hint: Many woody plants are composed of two parts, a variety on top grafted onto a more rugged rootstock. The point at where they meet is called the graft union. All growth should originate above the graft and any that comes from below should be pruned off.
