I know it’s hard sometimes to remember “BTI” (Before the Internet) but there was a time when what people had going for them was referred to as ‘sending away’. Even before ‘direct mail’, there were box tops, advertisements in magazines, and catalogs (remember those?). Even before credit cards were opened up in a big way in the 80s, people were putting checks, money orders and God help us, actual cash inside envelops with order forms or even just a note on a piece of paper with an order and sending it away. Many many companies have made their zillions in mail order; I remember ordering stuff when I was in college and growing begonias in my room (the other kids down the hall had some weird thing going on with a closet and a lot of aluminum foil – I never asked…). But I know a lot of people don’t or won’t order plants through the mail – I think for a lot of people there is this whole thing about ‘and what do I do if the stuff shows up and I’m not ready? What do I do?”
Well, if it’s something that you would be putting into a pot and putting onto your deck or into a flower box, then go ahead and put the plants into a big pot and keep it in a sunny place and keep it watered. Even if it’s nice in the day time and gets chilly at night, you can always put it out on the deck in the pot during the day (as long as it’s warm in the daytime) and drag it in at night.
But if we are talking about something like bushes or trees? The number of times I have gotten directions with plants that say something like, “If you can’t plant right away, open the plants and put into a bucket of water,” is legion.
Don’t do that.
I’ve done it in the past and guess what? The reason I can’t get them into the ground right then and there is the same reason that the plants are still in the bucket two weeks later and when I have planted them later, the plants have died. Toes up. The plants ‘drowned’ while they were in that bucket, no matter how often I changed the water.
The ticket is to get them in the dirt, any sort of moist dirt, ASAP. You can deal with the actual planting in a bit as long as the dirt is moist and the roots are covered up well.
Heeling in is an old technique but for some reason, it is not covered extensively in gardening books. I went through every book in our library at Chez Siberia and the only book that covered it AT ALL was the Rodale Organic Gardening Encyclopedia (which is a good reason to keep that book on your ‘books worth having’ list and when you go to used book stores or library sales or whatever, getting it). We ordered some hazelburt trees and an amelchior (what is referred to in some areas as ‘Shad Bush’, “Shad Blow”, or in Canada, as “Saskatoon”), which showed up on Monday of this week from the nursery in ‘so far in upstate New York that they really CAN see Canada from their kitchen window”. Their directions were to get those babies in the ground, even if the top was frozen (which it was because of the cold wet weather we got last week).
What we found was a) the top of the dirt in the garden WAS frozen, but when the DH hacked through it down a couple of inches, the dirt below was nice and soft. Perfect.
Here’s how to do this: Dig a trench with a sloping side that is deep enough to handle the roots. Lay the tree or bush into it, roots down and throw the dirt from the trench on top of the roots, burying them. Then if the dirt is not moist, water. Make sure the dirt on top of the roots does not dry out.
At the same time, if you already have not done so, take the opportunity to follow the directions that you got with the plants to dig the appropriate size hole in the place where you will want to put the plant permanently.
Now, just a thought for this fall – let’s say that you want to get bushes or trees this fall but don’t have a place for them yet or you get a bargain on some bushes and don’t have time this fall to get them in. You can use the same technique, though I would suggest that the best place to heel them in would be a) NOT on the south side of your house and b) ON a side of your house that is the most protected from the wind as well. This way, they will have some protection over the winter and in the meantime you can decide where you want to put them and get the holes ready in the spring.
Don’t be afraid to use the internet or mail order to order trees and bushes – Americans have been doing this for at least 150 years, with a lot of success. But you need to just think through the idea of where you will put them if you are not ready for them when they arrive.
There you go.
