Time to ditch the dirt

trees or a hedge – it can cut your costs substantially and it’s a cheap way to buy rose and fruit bushes as well.

Preparation is key for this type of planting. Your bare-rooted stock will not wait around (the roots can dry out), so prepare your planting pits in advance of their arrival.

If you can’t plant immediately, you can heel them in – this means make a slit in the soil with your spade and popping the plant in where it will keep until you’re ready. I’d also recommend soaking the roots for 30 minutes beforehand.

Choose a good day for planting. Avoid times when the ground is waterlogged as there is no oxygen available to the plant in these conditions. You will also be damaging the soil by treading on it.

Heavy frosts can cause some difficulties with the ground being hard to break with a spade and will inhibit roots. The frosts can also lift new plants slightly out of the ground, exposing roots to the cold air, which isn’t ideal. However, after a light frost can be a good time to plant as the earth is nice and crumbly.

Break up the sides of the planting hole, as well as the bottom, to encourage roots to reach out.

A small mound at the base of the hole will encourage water to drain away. Add in some slow-release fertiliser and compost.

Current thinking favours putting in some mycorrhizal fungi, which encourages a mutually beneficial relationship between roots and soil.

Place stake in now if necessary as plunging it in afterwards can damage roots. Plant at the same level soil was previously – just above the flare of the roots. You can usually make out a tide line of soil on the stem.

Roses are the exception – plant these with the graft union three inches below soil – this is the swollen knobbly bit between the root system and at the base of the stems. Back fill and tread in the soil to avoid leaving air pockets.

Finally, water your new plant.