I just can’t resist a really good sale! I’m hardwired to stop, look, pick over and purchase. And – in my experience – late autumn end-of-season sales for nursery plants are my favorite and the very best sales for low, low prices.
That’s why last week just before our weather turned awful and frigid this week, we were frantically digging holes and planting a 5-gallon redbud I picked up for $6. And a 7-gallon Jane magnolia I picked up for $10. And a couple of 1 gallon purple Encore azaleas, I picked up for less than $3.
We still have ten 8” pots of ‘Neon’ sedum in the garage to get into the ground when it warms up again this weekend. My husband picked those up for 75 cents apiece. Normally they would have cost us $60. So, for an investment of $7.50, ten of these babies are hiding out in the garage until we can get them in the ground. Since the temps will go back up into the 50s/60s/70s this weekend, they shouldn’t be hiding out for long.
End of season (truly END of season) sales are hard to resist – so I don’t. It is a great way to pick up something you really want but just haven’t been able to justify the expense. But when you can pick something up for 70/75/80 or even a 90% discount, then my philosophy is to take a shot at it. You potential loss is very little and your potential reward is very great.
Trees and shrubs are my favorite late season rescues. Our property is heavily wooded, so I always have a place to plant them immediately alongside the woods, in wooded areas just outside our fence, etc.
I plant them and water heavily to get them to settle. I mound up shredded leaves around them. If they are broadleaf evergreens and I’ve planted really late, I may loosely wrap them in burlap during the coldest weeks of the first winter to protect them fully.
Occasionally, I will pick up a small tree or shrub and winter it over in the pot. When this happens, I move it to the north or east side of my home and put it somewhere it won’t get wind-whipped all winter and mound leaves, mulch or soil around the pot. Again, if it is a broad-leafed evergreen, I may loosely wrap it in burlap to protect leaves from wind damage. Even with very cold winters, about 90% of the time, I end up with a healthy specimen to plant in early Spring as long as the pot is plastic or foam and at least 1 gallon in size.
If you live in an area with a prolonged Indian summer that has a habit of turning cold and then warm for several days/weeks again before staying cold, you still have a good shot at getting all those ‘rescues’ into the ground and settled in even if you purchase plants in mid November. Beware, however, that you may have missed the opportunity to truly get a ‘jump’ on Spring.
I find that if I plant very late in the fall, I need to give the new transplants a little more attention that first year to get them acclimated. The following Spring, I may not see the profusion of flowers or new growth I anticipate – or at least not nearly as many as I’d hoped. But I rarely lose something by planting late.
Fall planting just makes more sense for me. I lose a lot more when I plant in Spring and it gets hot more quickly than anticipated than I ever do by planting in late Fall.
I don’t tend to do a lot of supplemental watering in Summer. I live on a well and I expect plants to settle in if they are sited appropriately, mulched properly and planted in Fall or early Spring. Those planted in the Fall have had a longer time to acclimate to the site and set roots, so tend to be happier overall once Summer descends and the temps soar.
A couple of things I do that help get my plants through that first summer: I tend to add water retentive soil mixes when I plant to help moisture loving specimens make it through the dry spells. And I do water heavily for the first few weeks. But I don’t water much after that initial week or two.
I also harvest rainwater in barrels throughout the year for those plants (like my fussier roses and hydrangeas) that need more consistent watering than rain provides.