How to Plant a Shrub?

Adding shrubs to your landscape will add beauty and value to your property, but it takes more than just digging a hole and plopping the shrub in to get the plant to live. Use these guidelines for planting a shrub so you and the plant will enjoy success. 

Preferable Location: 

Match the location with the needs of the shrub. Don’t plant a sun-loving shrub, like Rose-of-Sharon, in the shade or vice-versa. Bear in mind the mature size of the shrub when selecting the location, the plant will need plenty of room to grow.

When To Plant Shrubs? Spring is the best time to plant shrubs that will give them several months to become established in their new home before winter. Attempting to plant them during the summer places and under too much heat stress and they usually won't survive.

How to Plant Shrubs?

As a general rule when planting shrubs, the hole should be twice the diameter of the root ball and twice as deep as the root ball is tall. The large planting hole, which will be back-filled with loose soil that would give the roots plenty of soft soil to grow in and become established.

Once the hole is ready, add a layer of peat moss to the bottom of each hole, then add organic matter (compost) to the hole and pack it down firmly. Place the shrub in the hole to make sure that it's setting at the same depth as it was in the container. Adjust the amount of organic matter accordingly until you get the shrub at the proper height before you actually plant it and back-fill the planting hole.

You may consider your soil is just dirt, but your shrubs don't. The soil in which the shrub is planted will be its home for many years and they need good soil to thrive.

Back-Fill Tips:

Set the shrub in the center of the hole and back-fill with the soil you removed. Firm the soil around the shrub and make a slight indentation in the soil around the base of the trunk. This indentation will act as a basin to catch and hold water for the newly planted shrub.

Add a layer of organic mulch around the base to help retain moisture and prevent weeds. Keep the mulch 3 inches away for the trunk of the shrub.