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Review of the in-basket
Easy Gardener appreciates the great questions you all ask about your garden issues. She reminds you that there are no dumb questions. Keep asking!!!
Q. We are thinking of remodeling and maybe expanding the footprint of our house. I know there any tree issues we should be thinking about. How wide a ‘No-Work’ area is necessary?
–Jack
A. Jack: Thanks for asking BEFORE and not AFTER planning construction!
Trees are our biggest plants and need lots of thoughtful care. This includes plenty to eat and drink. A big tree needs 800 gallons of water per day for its needs!!!
The three key things to avoid during construction are: cutting tree roots; compacting the soil over tree roots; and damaging tree bark.
Very fine, threadlike root hairs (‘feeder roots’) take in rainwater and any other available water from the soil. The largest roots hold the tree secure in the ground and keep it from toppling over. But it is the ‘feeder roots’ that require good care to keep doing their job.
The drawing shows how wide the feeder roots extend, and helps us to understand why a Tree Root Protection Plan is necessary to keep our tree(s) viable long after our building projects are over.
Contacting the City Arborist, Todd Bolton, on 301/891-7612 is your first step.
Q. I want to move a Rhododendron out of deep shade. Should I wait till Fall or is it OK to do it now?
–Tom
A. Tom: Getting a Rhododendron ready to transplant is a process and not an event. Therefore, you should probably wait until September, to give your shrub an excellent chance to thrive and live many years in its new home.
To move a shrub, water it deeply with a slow hose trickle, placed at 2 or 3 places around the outer edge of the rootball (your shrub will need a very WIDE rootball). Let the shrub stand 2 days. Repeat.
This process allows it to take up enough water through the roots to reach the farthest leaves/flower buds.
Dig the hole in the new location before digging up the shrub. Amend with lots of TP leaf mulch and some sand/gravel, if the soil is very clay-laden. The hole will need to be wider than the root ball, but not deeper.
Transplant; mulch, and make a raised collar (like a donut) of soil and mulch. This will create a ‘saucer’ in the area that represents the outer edge of the root ball. Mulch should not lay against the trunk/stem. Watering inside the saucer prevents runoff and permits the water to trickle downward toward the rootball.
Water generously at planting time. Repeat in 24 hours. Repeat 48 hours after that.
Then water deeply every two weeks. CRITICAL: water very very deeply in late Fall so the shrub will take up all that important moisture in its stem, branches, leaves, etc. before going into Winter.
Since it is June already (what happened to May?), best wait until September to move your Rhododendron.
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| photo:Julie Wiatt |
Rhododendren |
Pat Howell is a Takoma Park gardener and landscape designer/contractor. She is available for hand-holding and answering questions through Deephaven Landscapers.
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