Following 33 yrs producing a gardening column for the Put up-Dispatch, Chip Tynan is retiring from the Missouri Botanical Garden. We are rerunning some beloved columns for a several weeks, but the backyard garden will resume the column shortly. Be sure to proceed to ship questions to the deal with under.
Q • My parents are offering me three dawn redwood seedlings that have to be dug from their backyard garden. In moving them, are there any exclusive preparations for planting that I need to have to do to get ready the soil or the location in which to plant them? How a great deal soil should be taken up to assure the roots are not damaged?
A • Dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) transplants fairly easily and grows finest in comprehensive sunlight and a deep, moist effectively-drained web site that has been amended with natural subject and has a a bit acidic response.
If you have a preference concerning significant and lower floor, plant on large floor to avoid “frost pockets” associated with low ground wherever chilly air tends to pool in winter.
Decline of some roots is unavoidable any time you transplant trees. You don’t say how large your seedlings are. A very good rule of thumb to decide the dimension of the root ball for compact trees is to make it at minimum 12 inches broad for just about every inch, or portion of an inch of trunk diameter, measured 6 inches earlier mentioned the soil line. The top of the root ball is identified by the density of the roots, but for seedlings, the depth of your spade need to be ample.
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