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Project Difficulty:
Easy
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Planting container-grown plants tree or shrub into its hole, step back and take a look. Then turn it partway, or try tilting or tipping it a little to one side or the other. Once you've decided which side and position looks best, start filling in the hole with soil. Stop and check again before you firm the soil into place. The fine points of spacing When you're planting a group of the same kind of plants, such as perennials, bulbs, ferns, or ground covers, it generally looks best if you space them informally, in slightly curved or zigzag rows, with the plants in one row offset from those of the next row. Don't arrange plants in a straight row unless you want to emphasize a line, such as the edge of a bed. In that case, make the row perfectly straight by sighting down it and adjusting any plants that are out of line. After planting, step back and evaluate the effect. If you want to adjust the placement or position of any plant, now is the time to do so.
Rake, water, and mulch:
Use a garden rake to level out any high and low spots that remain after planting. Water enough to settle the soil into place around the roots. You can use a hose or a watering can and water each plant individually, or you can set up a sprinkler to do the whole planting at once. Monitor the new planting and water again as often as needed, depending on the weather. Mulch the entire planting area with 1 to 3 in. of composted bark, wood chips, or other organic matter. Mulch is indispensable for controlling weeds and regulating the moisture in and temperature of the soil. If you're running out of time, you don't have to spread the mulch the day you plant, but try to get it done within the next week or so. Most of the plants that you buy for a landscaping project today are grown and sold in individual plastic containers, but large shrubs and trees may be balled-and-burlapped. Mail-order plants may come bare-root. And ground covers are sometimes sold in flats. In any case, the basic concern is the same: Be careful what you do to a plant's roots. Spread them out; don't fold or coil them or cram them into a tight hole. Keep them covered; don't let the sun or air dry them out. And don't bury them too deep; set the top of the root ball level with the surrounding soil.
Planting container-grown plants
The steps are the same for any plant, no matter what size container it's growing in. Dig a hole that's a little wider than the container but not quite as deep
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1.
Check by setting the container into the hole–the top of the soil in the container should be slightly higher than the surrounding soil. Dig several holes at a time, at the positions that you've already marked out. Remove the container
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With one hand, grip the plant at the base of its stems or leaves, like pulling a ponytail, while you tug on the pot with the other hand. If the pot doesn't slide off easily, don't pull harder on the stems. Try whacking the pot against a hard surface; if it still doesn't slide off, use a strong knife or scissors to cut or pry it off. Examine the plant's root
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If there are any thick, coiled roots, unwind them and cut them off close to the root ball, leaving short stubs. If the root ball is a mass of fine, hairlike roots, use a sharp knife to cut three or four slits from top to bottom, about 1 in. deep. Pry the slits apart and tease the cut roots to loosen them. This cutting or slitting may seem drastic, but it's actually good for the plant because it forces new roots to grow out into the surrounding soil. Work quickly. Once you've taken a plant out of its container, get it in the ground as soon as possible. If you want to prepare several plants at a time, cover them with an old sheet or tarp to keep the roots from drying out. Set the rootball into the hole.
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Make sure that the plant is positioned right, with its best side facing out, and that the top of the root ball is level with or slightly higher than the surface of the bed. Then add enough soil to fill in the hole, and pat it down firmly.
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