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General Shrub Culture
Upon arrival: Keep roots moist & tops dry. Keep away from direct sun. Do not soak in a bucket of water for more than 1 hour. If frozen, allow to thaw slowly. Do not thaw in microwave!. If unable to plant at once, “heel” the plant into the ground by digging a shallow trench and covering the roots with soil until ready to plant. Water well.
Site prep: Before taking your new plants to the intended planting area, make sure all preparations are complete. Loosen the soil, remove rocks, weeds, etc. Dig a proper size planting hole: As the saying goes, “dig a ten dollar hole for a one dollar plant”. This means to dig the hole oversize so that the root system can be spread out and not cramped. It is also a good idea to do soil testing. If certain nutrients are lacking or the ph is wrong, this is a good time to correct this. Do not fertilize heavily! This will result in lush, leafy growth at the expense of flowers that can winter-kill easily.
Location
Most shrubs prefer full sun, but most will tolerate partial sun, and even some light, afternoon shade. Once established, most shrubs needs only moderate watering, unless the summer is very dry. See the individual listing for your particular shrub for any other requirements regarding locations.
Spacing
Hedges: Privet 1-2’; Barberry, 3-6’; others: 6-12 feet
Windbreaks: 12-20 feet on rows, 3-7’ for shrubs in those rows.
Planting
Set stock at the depth it was growing in the container or nursery to 2” deeper. This is usually obvious by looking at the soil line on the stem. Press soil down firmly and soak with water. Adding mulch at this time is a good idea as it keeps down weeds and conserves moisture. A 2” layer of shredded bark or a 4” layer of straw is recommended. Do not use sawdust as it competes with the new planting for nutrients as it breaks down. During the first growing season plants should be watered every 3 to 4 days unless rainfall has been abundant. Soak the soil to a depth of 4-6” when watering. Light sprinklings do more harm than good as they encourage the root system to form near the surface which can lead to weak plants and winter-kill.
Fertilizing
If the planting area is properly prepared and mulched, your new shrubs will be satisfied with a light annual application of a balanced fertilizer (10-10-10) at the beginning of the growing season, and then once again in the middle of the blooming season. Do not fertilize too late in the season or the lush growth resulting from a late application will winter-kill.
Pruning
When your shrub has finished blooming, you can prune for shape. Only lightly prune plants until they are well established at about 2 years old. After which you can prune to desired height. Fast growing shrubs such as pussy willow, Weigela, forsythia, and dogwoods will benefit from a hard pruning to induce new growth. This will result in the best display of flowers and color. Lilacs and honeysuckle should have all old wood removed every three to four years leaving the new to 2 yr. old wood remaining.
Hedges may be trimmed or sheared to the desired height. Do not take off too much at once! If it has gotten away from you, do it in stages allowing the plant to recover and bush out.
Seed:
Seeds such as Northern Bayberry require that the waxy coating be washed off first in warm water and mild dishwashing soap. Dawn seems to work best. It may take two or three washings. Use very warm water, but not scalding hot. If your seeds appear to have a waxy coating, wash them first!
Soak seed for a minimum of 24 hours in warm water before stratification. The Seeds need to be stratified before they will germinate. To avoid using up space with a myriad of pots during stratification, place about a cup of seed-starting mix, (such as Jiffy-mix or Redi-Earth) or fine vermiculite, just moistened (not wet), and the cleaned seed (remove any outer purple coating by rolling around gently on fine sandpaper) in a plastic zip-lock bag. Place the bag in the refrigerator (not freezer) for at least 9 weeks, or until you're ready to grow the seedlings. The seeds will germinate at different rates, but most will start to sprout about 2 weeks after you remove them to room temperature. Check the bag frequently and pot up as they germinate. Keep the bag out of the sun or they will cook rather than germinate! This method saves space, as it eliminates having pots sitting around which contain seeds that may never germinate. However, they may also be started in pots if you have the space.
As an alternate, they may be planted directly in the ground 1/4-1/2" deep in the fall for germination next Spring. A layer of mulch over the seedbed during the winter is recommended
