Planting Plugs
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Planting Tips
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AftercareWhile the new wildflowers are getting established it is important that they are not allowed to dry out. Make sure to keep the root balls moist until the plugs have had a chance to send new roots out into the soil. When you water, water slowly and deeply. You can check this by sticking your finger down into the soil to see how far down the water has gone. This also works to check how dry the soil is and if it is time to water again. You must continue to monitor and water your new transplants when needed for the first year while they work to grow the deep root systems that will allow them to become self-sufficient. Excessive watering will produce weak plants with lazy root systems that require your continued attention. If you are not sure if it is time to water dig down into the soil and see where the moisture level is. Wildflower plantings should be hand-weeded as they become established, read more on this topic in The War on Weeds. Allowing the dead vegetation to remain in the fall has many advantages with the first of course being that it’s the easiest thing to do. This debris or natural mulch helps to protect the roots and crown of the plants as well as providing a winter home for insects like butterflies which in turn attracts hungry birds in search of a meal. Seed is allowed to mature and disperse when this is desired and there is winter interest in some of the seed pods and dried vegetation. As the winter freeze up approaches, it is a good idea to make sure that the ground is wet enough to freeze solid for the entire winter. A late season deep watering will definitely help ensure that new plants make it through the winter. This is especially important in the Chinook Zone where temperatures can be in the teens for days and then plummet to minus twenty for a week only to shoot up again and melt all the snow cover with warm drying winds. In the spring the woody stems and large pieces of debris from the previous season’s growth should be cleaned up to make way for the new growth but leave the smaller leaf litter and debris behind to act as a mulch layer and feed the soil. |