Plant Care instructions
Watering
How often do I water?
Answer: New plants should be
checked for water needs
every two or three days,
unless the weather
conditions require checking
daily, for the first 12
months. After 12
months water as needed.
How do I check my plant for
water needs?
Answer:
Pull the mulch back with
your hand and feel the soil
underneath. If the
soil is dry or powdery then
the plant will need water.
If the soil under the mulch
is moist or cool then the
plant is sufficiently moist.
Recover the inspected area
with mulch when done.
My plant needs water, how
much do I put on?
Answer:
On most plants smaller than
2 feet tall 15-20 seconds of
hose time is enough.
For plants from 2 -6 feet,
40 seconds of water will
work. For plants 6+
Feet then 60-90 seconds will
be needed. When you
water try not to use spray
nozzles this drastically
cuts down on the amount of
water reaching the roots of
the plant.
My plant is wilting what do
I do?
Answer:
Before you do anything,
check the soil under the
mulch and water if needed.
If the soil underneath is
wet, then your plant is
getting too much water. Plants will wilt because of
both too much water as well
as not enough water.
That is why it is so
important to check the plant
before you just start
watering. We cannot stress this
enough. During
droughts we see people lose
as many plants to
overwatering as to the
drought.
What do I do if my plant is
getting too much water?
Answer: First, pull
the mulch away from the
plant and leave it away for
a couple of dry days.
Mulch acts like a blanket
over the soil preventing
water from evaporating.
By pulling it away you
greatly increase the amount
of drying. Once the
plant dries out you can
replace the mulch and
continue your monitoring of
the moisture. If the
soil does not dry out after
a day or two, then you will
need to gently remove the
plant from the ground and
raise it up with fresh soil
underneath then cover with
mulch after you get it
replanted. If your plant
still struggles with too
much water after you raise
it then you will need to
move it to another area of
your landscape and replace
it with a more water
tolerant selection.
As a side note: Treat your new plants as if they were a new pet. If you leave on vacation for two weeks in summer, without having someone to water, don't expect your pet or plant to be either happy or alive.
If you are having trouble
keeping up with your
watering, we have a couple of
handy automated watering
tools available.
TreeGator Slow Release
Watering System. Add
water and the TreeGator
releases 20 gallons of water
evenly over 8 hours.
Great for trees.
DIG hose end watering timer.
Set the watering times and
durations. Then turn
on your hose and the DIG
timer does the rest.
Great for vacation watering.
Fertilizing
How often do I fertilize?
Answer: Fertilizer
should be applied to
landscape plants in April,
June, and August. Some
fertilizer recommendations
vary widely so follow the
directions on the label if
you have questions.
Do not apply fertilizer to
plants after the 1st of
September. This will
allow the plants to harden
off for winter naturally.
What fertilizer should I
use?
Answer: All
fertilizers pretty much work
the same way. Either
organic fertilizers or
synthetic fertilizers will
help a new plant become both
established and attractive.
Look for the set of 3
numbers on the labels when
shopping for fertilizer.
These are the NPK analysis
numbers and it will tell you
how concentrated the
fertilizer is. The
numbers will look like this:
20-15-15. The first
number is the Nitrogen
available in the fertilizer.
Nitrogen stimulates the
growth of leaves and
branches. The second
number is the Phosphorus
concentration available.
Phosphorus helps a plant by
stimulating root growth.
It also increases amount of
blooms and the longevity of
the blooms. The final
number is the Potassium or
Potash available in the
fertilizer. Potassium
helps plants use water and
resist drought. It
promotes healthy green
leaves and enhances the size
of fruits and vegetables.
Generally we recommend
using a slow-release
granular fertilizer on new
plants for the first two
years. Avoid high
Nitrogen fertilizers.
Anything over 12 available
Nitrogen. We recommend
this because you want to
establish a strong root
system before you actively
promote leaf and stem
growth. This will make
it easier for your new
plants to survive the heat
and droughts that our
summers have been know for.
After the first two years
you can switch to high
Nitrogen foliar applied
fertilizers or fertilizer
stakes safely.
Pruning
When should I prune my
plants?
Answer:
That entirely depends on
which plants you are
pruning. Each plant
has a best time and pruning
size that best suits it.
A rule of note though, Do
not do heavy pruning in the
fall. This weakens the
hardiness of the plant.
Late winter or early spring
is the ideal timing for most
plants to be pruned back.
If you have any questions
that we did not answer here
concerning the care of your
plants, or
you have a concern please
contact us here.