Today I’m going to talk to you about growing plants in beds, and when it makes sense and when it doesn’t.
Whether you are growing plants for yourself or to sell it doesn’t really make a difference. Gardeners are gardeners and we all love plants. I’ve been doing this my whole life and I really don’t know how to do anything else.
Today is April 16th and Duston and I are pushing to get things dug because once things leaf out we can’t dig them up anymore. I love Japanese maples and when we bought this property I bought thousands of them as seedlings from Heritage Seedlings in Oregon.
Clearing out this bed
I have this bed that I need to clear out for more room. There are several different varieties and sizes of Japanese maples in this particular bed.
Digging up Japanese Maples
Wrapping rootball in burlap
As you can see in the video below, growing plants in a bed is a lot of work. For me it makes much more sense to grow in containers. It’s a lot easier, less strenuous, less time consuming and a lot less physical labor!
My only drawback with potted plants is that you have to water them every day. Mike, when you were starting out did you water all your potted plants by hand everyday? I have an odd schedule at the fire dept. where I work two days on and then three days off. So for me watering every day by hand isn’t realistic. Do they really need to be watered every day? I had my fruit trees in pots all through last summer because I wasn’t ready to plant them yet. They sat on the North side of my house, so they got a decent amount of shade. I watered them on my three day breaks usually only on the first and third day. I guess I’m answering my own question, but these were in 2 or 3 gallon pots. How would 1 gallon pots do if only watered 3 or 4 times a week?
Thanks for your time.
Aaron,
Small pots need to be watered daily in the summer. Out of stock at the moment, but the controller that comes with our system, https://mikesbackyardnursery.com/mikes-plant-propagation-kit/, has the ability to control six different valves, all on different schedules. One for propagation the others can be used to automate watering. Extra valves are $20 or less at a big box store, standard lawn irrigation valve.
Mike,
Just watched both your videos-in the ground and in pots. I have several plants in the ground and haven’t started to pot up,am I too late to do so? Hope to pot up several and have my first “go” at selling plants for profit at a local farmers market. Then will offer plants selling at our farm. Also what is the secret to putting in pots, mine don’t usually do too well potted- I have your books and online stuff about potting soil and fertilizer etc. but still seem to have some issues.
Thanks,
Terry
Terry,
I guess that depends on where you live. Here in northern Ohio, zone 5, we still have a few more days here at the end of April when we can still dig plants. Actually the digging season is normally over around April 20th, but the cold weather has extended it. Once the plants leaf out they cannot be safely dug until early winter. I urge you to join our members area, the daily conversations in the members area will keep you on track. Our Backyard Growers Members area is awesome! Learn all about it here:
http://backyardgrowers.com/join
Plants in pots should do fabulous if you have your potting mix correct. But they also need a good slow release fertilizer.