Quick Tip: Spring Planning
Spring weather is getting less predictable, so planning ahead matters more than ever. For this blog, we share simple tips for adjusting planting schedules and helping your Landscape Plugs™ succeed, no matter what the season brings!
Quick Tip: Spring Planning!
“Prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”
As time passes and seasons change, it’s a good idea to have contingency plans for shifting seasonal weather patterns. In our area, when talking to the folks who have lived here their whole lives, there’s been an observation that spring comes earlier, and it seems to be drier than it was in the past. If that’s what you’re noticing for your locale, we encourage you to consider the more regular occurrence of a dry spring by shifting the future planting schedules to plant in the fall or early winter.
For those experiencing the exact opposite - prolonged summer temperatures with increasingly drier falls, shift planting focus into winter and early spring in anticipation of the return of precipitation.
If you’re in the sweet spot where both seem to be true all at once, well. In the past, people could be less reliant on supplemental irrigation if they timed their plantings with the seasons and the return of rainfall. If those rains aren't as dependable as they once were, the contingency plan may not be changing planting schedules around but focusing on access to irrigation. In dry planting seasons, anticipate obtaining extended water access and increased watering frequency and reliability to help ensure Landscape Plug™ success rates.
Top Tips for Landscape Plug™ After-Planting:
- Keep moisture around the roots with mulch! Apply 2-3” covering of triple-shredded bark mulch, pine straw mulch, or straw to the bare ground before planting to prevent soil moisture loss and to suppress weeds.
- Water Landscape Plugs™ thoroughly before planting, and right after planting. Give them the best chance by setting them up for success!
- Plan to check Landscape Plugs™ for moisture needs routinely. In hot, dry weather or on fast-draining soil types, we have been known to water every other day until plants establish.
- Water regularly until established. How do you know if a plant is established? If you can spot new growth on your plugs, or if you do a gentle tug test. If the plants move, they’re not rooted. Usually, this takes a couple of months, depending on conditions.
We’ve had a wet winter this year, with a fall that seemed to stretch long. Seasonal changes are challenging but a part of our work. It’s hard to outsmart the weather, and usually, the wisest and most experienced say it's not worth trying to outthink Mother Nature. If that’s the case, it’s probably best to have a contingency plan and a can-do attitude. Then Mother Nature can do what she’s gonna do, and we can roll with it.
