crown Archives - Loreeebee

One of the garden projects I have been working on lately reminded me of what not to do when planting shrubs.

What Not to Do

These shrubs were not planted deep enough so the root balls heaved out of the soil this past winter. As a result, the row of shrubs was all dead, and very unsightly. When I dug them up (didn’t even require a shovel, they came out quite easily) the root balls were still in the shape of the pots. So were the holes.

The Correct Way of Planting Shrubs

The correct way of planting most plants, shrubs or other, is to:

dig a hole twice as wide as the pot the shrub came in and the same depth
remove the shrub from the pot and loosen the root ball
if the shrub is very root bound, use a sharp knife or trowel to scarify (gently scrape/loosen) the roots
add water to the hole before and after planting the shrub
add a handful of bonemeal or other suitable granular fertilizer to the hole
water daily until shrub is established, (one week) preferably in the morning
ensure plant crown is neither too deep or too far above ground. Roses do prefer their crown just below soil level

Needless to say, the shrubs pictured above were all replaced with properly planted ones.

“It’s not the temperature” is a common Canadian phrase, followed by either “it’s the windchill” in the winter, or “it’s the humidity” in the summer. We Canadians tend to be very weather obsessed.

In this case, however, I am talking about why I cover the base (crown) of my roses in my gardens…

It’s not just the cold temperature (although it is advisable to choose plants hardy to your area) that affects (kills) the roses, it’s the freeze and thaw cycles very common to Ontario weather that do them in. The mounded earth helps prevent the rose crowns from heaving out of the ground in these freeze/thaw cycles. Be sure to use clean soil (I purchase plain garden soil in easy to manage bags for this purpose) to avoid introducing mold, mildew, bacteria or insects and their eggs to the roses.

I counted twenty-two rose crowns to cover in my own gardens, lots more in my client’s….