Any bush or tree purchased at a nursery was at one time a bare root plant that was potted up. When you purchase at a nursery you are paying them to have grown and nurtured that plant for a year or so before selling it to you. This isn’t a bad thing at all, when you purchase from a nursery you can inspect the plant and you know you are getting something healthy with a good established root system. However you are going to pay extra for that. I usually buy trees from a nursery, those are big investments and I want to make sure I am getting something strong and healthy. For things like raspberries, roses and strawberries I buy bare root, especially when I am planting in quantity, I just can’t afford to go with a nursery.
Also when buying bare root the varieties available to you open up. With a nursery you are limited to what they have in stock or are willing to order for you, which usually means you will only be able to pick from varieties popular in your area. This too, isn’t a bad thing, you are pretty safe with popular varieties, it usually means that they will grow well in your area. However if you want to branch out and try something a little special the Internet opens up so many possibilities.
People sometimes have a hard time getting bare root plants to grow and flourish. They do need special care, and a tad more time.
Once your plants arrive you need to get them in the ground as soon as possible. Bare root plants are shipped dormant, and if they sit in your warm house they will come out of dormancy and that can be very disastrous. For instance, when I received my plants, they all looked like dead twigs (perfect) and we were able to plant them within two days. The very next week the weather turned cold again, and the last few days we have had freezing cold wind and snow. Had those bushes broken dormancy all the tender new growth would have frozen and died, and put undue stress on the plant.
(sorry the pictures aren’t better, it was a sunny day…)
Before you plant your bushes spread them all out and inspect your plants. If the roots are super long you can trim them a bit, but don’t take too much.
Dig a nice big hole, in soil that has a good amount of compost mixed in. In this instance I am planting raspberries that will be there for years, this is my only chance to work compost into the soil. Don’t plant in straight compost, you will burn the roots and your bush will die, always mix with the existing soil.
Then place your bush in the hole, spreading the roots out as best as you can.
Then a little at a time fill in the hole. The trick here is to make sure the soil completely surrounds the roots. If there are any air pockets around the roots that part of the root system will die, making for a weak plant or possibly killing the plant.
With the raspberries it was pretty easy to fill in the dirt, sometimes when I have planted roses we have had a harder time, the roots being very strong and woody, we have at times filled in the hole using a running hose to help the soil flow around the roots.
Pack it down nice and firm, leaving a little dish like indentation around the plant.
Then add water, and lots of it, soak that little puppy! The indentation around the plant helps the water puddle and soak in.
Water everyday, those roots need to say pretty moist, until they start to leaf out. When the leaves come you will know that the plant is out of dormancy and they are starting to establish a strong root system.
That day we planted 15 raspberries, 10 blackberries, 7 grape vines and a pear tree. It took about an hour to do it all (not including the soil prep), not much more than if we had had rooted bushes in pots.
In case anyone is wondering this is where we got our plants from:
Are you adding any bushes or trees this year?
Looks like you'll have lots of berries in the future.
We haven't planted any berries I wanted to do strawberries but haven't had any luck learning about growing them here. But recently I found someone who is selling plants near here so that is a start.
We will be picking wild fruit this year.
Erika
I need to add some raspberries. I keep planting and killing them. I have one bush that is thriving but no cross-pollinators, so we don't get any berries. Bummer.
Lilacs and hydrangeas are going in up front. I got all of my plants last week and next week we'll be planting. Sadly, we couldn't do it right away, it was VERY freezing here up until a couple of days ago. I'd like to do it now, however that requires a trip to the store for a new shovel, a claw thingie (nice and technical eh?), and a new hose. I'm trying to be patient and hold out until next week.
I have a lot to learn about all of this Aimee…THANK YOU so much for giving as many details as you do. I'm inspired to go out and plant some berries now!!!
Oh, that sounds so nice! I want some berries, but don't have much space, and DO have a whole lot of rabbits, so everything we plant has to be fenced. The blueberries we put in a few years ago got nibbled down to nubs. [sigh] But my garden is developing. Every year we add a little something!
This year we got a maple tree, 2 peach trees, and 2 apple trees. We want to go berries at sometime but need to prep the ground. . .it'd be nice if the weather would be warmer a few more days so we can do something outside!