Planting Trees and Shrubs in Winter

Kelly:

Hi, I’m Kelly with Plants for All Seasons, and today we’re going to talk about planting trees and shrubs, and when’s the best time and how to do it.

So right now we’re in mid-December in Houston, Texas, and it is still a fine time to plant trees and shrubs. A lot of parts of the country, it gets way too cold this time of year to be sticking a shovel in the ground, but here we’re mild, typically in the winter, and it’s a great time to plant.

So we have all different kind of trees and shrubs that you could do this time of year. Your basic evergreen things like your Ligustrums, gardenias, loropetalums. There’s an endless supply of plants that you could really do in the fall, and even through the wintertime because we’re so mild. I know we’ve come off of a run of some pretty horrific winters, but on average, winter’s not that scary here. We wear shorts at Christmas a lot, you guys.

So let’s think about that, and that we can garden year-round. So for trees and shrubs, March through… Sorry. Yeah, October through March is actually a great time to plant. We’re furthest away from hot summer, which again, traditionally is our worst time of year for heat and planting, because it’s hard to figure out how to water them. But in winter, we’re usually mild and have a decent amount of rainfall. So consider planting this time of year. There’s lots to still choose from, and it’ll be way easier on you, it won’t be nearly as hot. So make your selections and then let’s talk about planting.

Things you would need. A good compost, possibly some expanded shale, and we’ll talk about that more in a second. A good root stimulator, whether you’re choosing something like a Super Seaweed, or your Genesis granulated if you’re not into mixing liquids while doing your gardening.

So, why would we need the expanded shale? Well, Houston has a heavy clay soil and expanded shale is kind of magical. It will help wiggle its way through that clay, and create places for air and water flow.

So a lot of people will mix this into the hole with their good compost, and your soil that you took out of the hole. Mix that 50/50, and throw it back in once you’ve planted. Do your root stimulator, whether you’ve added the Genesis to the hole or drenched with the liquid seaweed, and you’re done. Easy. You’ve planted in the fall or the winter, and you’ve ended up way ahead of the game before we get to hot summer. So plant anytime.