Wash First: Successful Strategies for Replanting Natives
Your native plants should not struggle much once established. As a lifelong gardener, learning through experience, aka trial, error, perseverance, and a lot of reading from experts, there has been a single activity that has resulted in a very high success rate with plant installations- the bare root method or washing off potting media prior to planting. Before applying this method, I found that many trees and shrubs would struggle to survive in spite of following the traditional planting instructions and keeping them watered well beyond reasonable timeframes. It is not sustainable to install plants that require watering every few days indefinitely; and drought tolerant plants, especially when native to my region, should absolutely be able to establish and then thrive.
Washing the potting media and correcting deformities in the roots (if necessary) prevents this often gradual decline I have observed so many times, which wasted, if not months, several years of hope and time. This of course requires many steps afterwards, but once the plant is established, if it is the “right plant in the right place,” that tends to be the end of needing to water it, aside from a drought perhaps, for plants that are sensitive to those time periods, which would be now. The current season is hot and dry! This is typical for late spring, early summer in Florida.
Root washing allows for rapid establishment. Potting media gets extra dry quickly and makes the situation worse for the plant trapped in it and surrounded by our native soil. I’ve found roots tend to not grow beyond the potting media and numerous other issues, which this method solves. Roots left in soilless media quickly dry out compared to our native soil and the difference in particle size causes the water to always wash through the potting media. Potting soil is intended to prevent roots from dying in pots due to anaerobic conditions that can occur with smaller particles, like sand. In a nursery, plants receive watering daily and are intended to be sold as quickly as possible or up-potted; soil media quickly degrades and must be replaced. The particle size in potting media is larger than sand, often high in organic material that will break down leaving air holes, causing the plant to sink- when this happens, the same troubles planting too deeply can result. Leaving root balls intact creates textural discontinuities between the roots and the native soil, and poorly structured woody roots are not going to correct themselves. So why not embrace a practice that removes both the soil and root problems? Try to picture what happens in a pot: the primary and secondary tougher, woody roots will grow around in circles in the shape of the container. Imagine what happens if deformed roots aren’t corrected after installing the plant in the ground. The root will not self-correct. New growth happens at the tips of roots, so the encircled or J or L shaped root will continue to grow only in girth. These girdling roots will cut off the supply of water and nutrients and eventually kill the plant. This can be very tragic if this happens when it is very old. Losing 10-20+ years is tragic.
The problems with roots happen very early on in its life and when it is up-potted, in nurseries with large quantities of plants, correcting these young plants often doesn’t happen. Profits are very low in nurseries; we need to support our native nurseries and learn to adapt to the situation. You will see, when you correct a plant, it is time consuming and requires skill and care.
When you are about to install a plant in the ground, ideally soak it in water after removing it from the pot, no longer than 24 hours preferably; but a few minutes of soaking is better than not.
I’ve found this step isn’t necessary, but it makes the process better for the plant and your efforts. Then, with a hose and hand (or tool), gently tease the potting media off of the roots and begin the detangling process. Think of it like hair. Usually at the very center, after getting all the potting media off, you will find out what’s going on with the tougher roots, which are the most important. If these are not corrected, it can struggle to establish, and in the future, the plant will essentially cut itself off from acquiring the water and nutrients it needs to support itself and eventually die. If the root cannot be corrected by straightening them out like spokes of a wheel, they must be pruned. This is scary, but scientific evidence and my personal observation has been, just as when you prune a branch, new growth occurs from that point, it does the same with roots. My philosophy with these situations is, “If it can survive, it will” and I will do everything I can to assist it in surviving- keep soil moist until established and mulch it (dip your finger in the soil to test moisture level and check for air hole)! The hole should be only as wide as the roots and it should not be amended with anything but native soil - Fill the hole with removed soil to bury the roots. Do not amend the backfill around newly planted trees. Use the potting media on the top as part of the mulch. After the major operation, it will need to be watered daily or almost daily for the next few months at least, don’t let it dry out. It's possible the leaves will look sick or fall off. Do not prune anything, that communicates to the plant to grow at the location it was pruned, diverting energy from healing and growing roots.
This process has a lot of concepts to learn about to feel confident. Experiment with plants that don’t cost a lot to gain confidence and experience. If you want to research it more, here are helpful links:
Jennifer Hopton-Villalobos
Cuplet Fern Director at Large
