Did you receive only a few small plants and bulbs?
Did you receive woody perennials like shrubs, trees, or vines?
Did you get your plants only a week or two before you expect to plant them?
If you have only a few comparatively small plants and bulbs, unwrap them as usual to check and adjust moisture levels around the roots, rewrap them, and put them in the vegetable crisper of your refrigerator. The temperature and humidity levels are just right to keep the plants in good condition until the weather outside says that it’s time to plant.
When you are planting woody perennials like shrubs, trees, or vines, you can help to prevent transplant shock by setting the unwrapped root balls in a bucket containing a slurry of soil and compost for between 8 and 24 hours. Not only will the roots be rehydrated when they go into the soil, but small particles of this mixture will also adhere to them, making the transition easier. You can use the same technique if you are waiting only a short time before you plant. Unwrap the root ball and set it into a mixture of soil, compost, and water. Place this in a cool spot so you don’t encourage much growth.
Place your plants in a cool but not freezing area. Basements and attached garages are often just right. If the area seems just a bit cool, put a sheet of plastic on the floor and put a 1-foot layer of peat moss or straw in the center of it. Set plants on this "mulch" and add more mulch around the root balls. Tie the plastic around the stems to enclose the mulched root balls. The goal of storing plants before planting them is to keep them alive. It’s also best to keep them in a dormant state.
Heeling-in is a technique that involves storing plants in the soil until it’s time to plant them. The idea is that you make a trench, stand the still-wrapped plants in it at about a 45-degree angle, and heap soil over the roots and the bottom of the stem. Then, when conditions are right for planting, you uncover the heeled-in plants and plant them where they are to go. To protect heeled-in plant roots from freezing, cover the soil you have heaped over them with a thick layer of mulch. Straw bales are the best choice, but any deep organic mulch will work.
Miranda Smith, (2004), Gardener's problem solver, The Reader's digest Association, Inc., Pleasantville, New York/Montreal
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Hi! I’m Sreten Filipović. I graduated from the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Belgrade, with a master's degree in Environmental Protection in Agricultural Systems. I’ve worked as a researcher at Finland's Natural Resources Institute (LUKE) on a project aimed at adapting south-western Finland to drought episodes. I founded a consulting agency in the field of environment and agriculture to help farmers who want to implement the principles of sustainability on their farms. I’m also a founding member of the nonprofit organization Ecogenesis from Belgrade whose main goal is non-formal education on the environment and ecology. In my spare time, I like to write blog posts about sustainability, the environment, animal farming, horticulture, and plant protection. I’ve also published several science-fiction short stories.
You can find me on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/sreten-filipovi%C4%87-515aa5158/
