Tag Archive for: project

Planting Seedlings for Arbor Day

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by David Yost, Merrifield Plant Specialist

Update to our seedling giveaway event:

Thank you for your participation in our 2018 Arbor Day seedling giveaway! The response was overwhelmingly enthusiastic. We encourage you to send us photos of your planting projects at photos@mgcmail.com!

As a garden center, Arbor Day is one of our favorite holidays. Each year we celebrate by encouraging our friends, family and customers to cultivate and care for our environment by planting trees in their gardens.

This year, we are excited to take this celebration a step further by actually giving away native white dogwood seedlings for families to plant! Take on a planting project with your children, your family, or your friends this year to celebrate the environment and add a beautiful new plant to your home and garden. As the white dogwood seedlings grow, they will improve the air quality of our region, create habitats for local wildlife, and serve as a food source for birds, pollinators and other animals.

How to Plant a Seedling

Seedlings can be planted in the ground or in a container. It is best to plant them within 24 hours of bringing it home, but if you cannot do so, keep the roots of your tree moist. Wrap your seedling in plastic and store it in a cool, dark spot between 40 degrees and 60 degrees, then plant your seedling as soon as possible.

Container Planting

Supplies:

  • Container (At least 1 gallon in size and 6-7 inches deep)
  • Water soluble or slow release fertilizer
  • Merrifield Potting Mix

Steps:

  1. Select a container with a drainage hole that is slightly larger than the root system in depth and width (a one-gallon pot that is 6-7 in. deep is generally enough to maintain the growth of the seedling for one year)
  2. Soak your seedling’s roots in a bucket or bowl of water for several hours.
  3. Top soil and garden soil are generally too heavy for seedlings. Use Merrifield Potting Mix to get your seedling off to a strong start.
  4. Place the seedling in the container, and fill with Merrifield Potting Mix to the top of the point where the roots begin.
  5. If your potting mix does not contain a slow release fertilizer, apply a slow release fertilizer at half the concentration recommended for house plants. Re-apply once per month.
  6. Water your container thoroughly. Test the soil for moisture regularly and water as needed when the soil is dry.
  7. You can keep your tree in a one-gallon container in a spot with full sun to part shade for approximately one year before transferring it to the ground.

Planting in the ground

Supplies:

  • Shovel
  • Bucket or bowl
  • Mulch
  • Garden hose
  • Watering Wand
  • Merrifield Planting Mix

Steps:

  1. Select a location for your tree. Ideally, it should be sheltered from weather, wildlife and lawn mowers for the first few years, then transplanted to another location. If you will be planting it in the spot you intend to be its permanent location, place a fence around the tree to protect it from lawn mowers and foraging wildlife.
  2. Soak your seedling’s roots in a bucket or bowl of water for several hours.
  3. Dig a hole as deep as the depth of the roots for your seedling, allowing plenty of room around it for the roots to grow and spread out.
  4. Place your seedling in the hole, making sure that the top of the roots is at the level of the soil line.
  5. Mix your existing soil with Merrifield Planting Mix or other soil conditioner and use this mixture to backfill the hole.
  6. Apply a water-soluble fertilizer at half the concentration recommended for house plants once per month.
  7. Water thoroughly and deeply with your watering wand, saturating the root zone. Water deeply whenever the soil is dry to encourage deep roots.
  8. After planting, mulch 2-3 inches deep around the seedling to retain soil temperature and moisture. Leave unmulched soil around the trunk.

Celebrating Arbor Day

Looking to celebrate Arbor Day with a planting project, but prefer to plant a tree larger than a seedling?

Visit our post on trees and shrubs that grow well in our region.

Pruning, Winter

Getting Your Garden into Spring Shape

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David Yost, Merrifield Plant Specialist

Spring is almost here and it’s time to start getting our gardens ready for the season. As you plan your March and early April gardening projects, here are some tasks you may need to complete.

Ornamental Grass Pruned

Prune Perennials and Shrubs

Cut back the old, browned growth of perennials and groundcovers and trim the leaves of grasses and liriope back to almost ground level. Removing the old growth will make way for fresh, green growth that will emerge this spring. Remove old stems of sedum, coneflower, chrysanthemums and other perennials back to where the new buds are beginning to emerge. This will help keep your perennials full and stocky while giving your garden a fresh look. After cutting back your perennials, thin boxwoods and prune hollies and yews. Needled evergreens such as junipers and cypress can be lightly sheared or thinned, but avoid any extensive pruning. If you prune back into the old growth on these plants, they will not fill back in. This is also a great time to prune crape myrtle, roses and other summer blooming shrubs, with the exception of bigleaf and oakleaf hydrangeas. Avoid heavy pruning for these plants, as this will interfere with their flowering. If you are looking for more detailed information on pruning times and methods for some of our most popular landscape plants in our northern Virginia region,check out our tree and shrub pruning guide.

Clean Up Landscape Beds

Give your landscape beds a professional look using a spade or edging tool to define borders with smooth, sweeping curves or straight lines. After this is complete, add fresh mulch to protect and improve the soil, conserve moisture and discourage weeds. There are several different types of mulch to choose from, and they all do a good job. Pick the one with the color, texture and price that suits your taste. As a note: never layer more than 3 inches of mulch in your landscape beds – it is possible to have too much of a good thing!

Eliminate Weeds

Get ahead of the weeds! As you are cleaning up your established landscape beds, pull out any weeds that crept in this winter and apply a weed preventer. Weed preventers create a chemical barrier in the surface of the soil to inhibit germinating seeds from becoming established. Just be sure not to use weed preventers in any beds where you will be adding new plantings this spring. For more information check our blog posts on treating winter weeds and preventing summer weeds.

Prepare Garden Beds for New Plantings

Amend the soil of garden beds where you will be adding new plantings with fertilizer and soil conditioner. We recommend using Merrifield Starter Plant Food for your fertilizer and Merrifield Planting Mix for the soil conditioner. Preparing beds now will make it easier and more enjoyable when you are ready to start planting.

Plant Cold Hardy Trees, Shrubs, Perennials, Vegetables and Annuals

You can begin planting cold hardy trees, shrubs, perennials, vegetables and annuals. Be aware that we will continue to have freezing temperatures and frosty mornings throughout our area until late April. If you have plants with tender new foliage or flowers, be prepared to cover them with a frost cloth on those cold nights and days. Pansies, violas and primroses will all provide spring color, but are cold tolerant and can handle the chill of early spring. We get new plants all the time, so you can always stop by and ask our plant specialists about what will work well in your garden. Improve the growth, color and flowering of your favorite garden plants by fertilizing now as the growing season begins. We have made this super easy. If you want to promote blooms, use Merrifield Flowering Plant Food, if you want to promote lush, green vegetative growth, use Merrifield Tree and Shrub Food.

If you have any questions about preparing your garden for spring, give us a call, email us at service@mgcmail.com, or drop by the store and talk to us!