How to check if plants are root-bound before buying
Q: Is there a way to test if a plant is root-bound in its container before buying? I’ve purchased too many plants that are so root-bound it is nearly impossible to unspiral or separate the roots. — Ralph Mobley, email
A: I rarely see people doing it, but the best way is to tug the plant out of the pot and inspect the roots. A good nursery will encourage this. Frankly, if you can pull it out easily, it’s not root-bound. I don’t mind seeing roots loosely going around the interior of the pot. Hopefully, some soil will drop out of the center of the root ball.
Many plants, including ornamental grasses, can grow a lot of roots from spring to fall. Good news: A plant that’s got a rock-hard root ball can still be salvaged. Take a machete or other sharp tool and shave a half-inch of the root ball all around the perimeter. This will expose new roots, and when planted, they will grow outward as they’re supposed to.
Another technique is to use the sharp tool to go up from the bottom of the root ball, about two-thirds the distance between the bottom and top roots. Rotate the root ball 90 degrees and cut up again. You’ll have to have two strong hands to pull the quartered root ball apart, but the roots, thus exposed, will grow quickly.
Q: We recently had a pine tree removed and the stump ground up. We are thinking of replacing that space with a crepe myrtle. It gets full morning and afternoon sun. Should we plant now or wait until spring? — Rick Davis, Dunwoody
A: I think you should wait until early spring. My reasoning is that you need to give the stump chips as much time as possible to break down. It’s impossible to separate all the stump chips from the soil that piled up when the stump was ground. The chips take nitrogen out of the soil for their own purposes, leaving little for the crepe myrtle. They will not be completely broken down by then, so take that into account and add extra nitrogen for the crepe myrtle.
I recommend you mix a half pint of 10-10-10 fertilizer with the soil that you use to backfill the hole. By June, you’ll find out if this is enough fertilizer. If it’s not enough, the leaves of the crepe myrtle will be a light yellow. If this is the case, scatter a pint of 10-10-10 around the area. Eventually, the wood chips will give back the nitrogen they absorbed, but it will be gradual. Keep an eye on the leaves: green is good, yellow is bad.
GARDEN QUESTIONS? Send them to Walter at georgiagardener@yahoo.com. Questions with good pictures, if appropriate, are preferred but not required.
