Thursday, April 30, 2009

I've picked some wild flowers, are there any do's and don't's to replanting them in my own yard ?

If you picked them rather than digging up the plant including the roots, you can't replant them. If you dug up the plants, you need to know what sort of care treatment they like. Sun, shade, wet, dry, etc. Without knowing which ones they are, I can't look them up for you, though. Other than that, all I can advise you is to plant them the same depth they were when they were growing in the wild.

I've picked some wild flowers, are there any do's and don't's to replanting them in my own yard ?
Well, first of all I hope it was legal to gather the plants. Here it is not.





To replant, your soil must be the same as where the wildflowers were growing. Most are very particular about soil, drainage, sun exposure, and water.





Also I hope you got enough root. If they are perennials, the root system is quite extensive. Annuals...you are better off collecting the seed and sowing in your garden.





Don't transplant during excessive heat, better in cooler times of the year. Keep watered for the first year until they adjust to your garden conditions.
Reply:If you picked them you aren't going to be able to replant them. To replant a plant, you need to dig up it's roots along with the plant.





For wild flowers, you might want to make sure that the conditions in your yard are very similar to the conditions where you found the plants to get a better chance of a successful transplant.





A word of caution: some wild plants are actually illegal to pick or move.
Reply:The major don't is that it is illegal to steal plants from land that you don't own, so I hope that you took the flowers from your own land or asked the owner for permission. Land that you do not own includes roadsides, public parks and farmer's fields as well as private woodlots and gardens.





If you picked the flowers instead of digging the whole plant, the only way to get them in your yard is to check if any of the flowers had gone to seed and plant the seeds.





If you did legally dig the plants including a good portion of roots, then put them into pots filled with container soil while you do the next steps. First step is to identify the plants. You will need a field guide like Newcombs or Petersons (available at your local library). Some "wildflowers" are aggressive, weedy non native plants that you will not want in your garden. Once identified, do research with garden books or on the Web to see what sun, soil and moisture conditions suit each plant, how tall it grows, when it blooms, whether annual or perennial. Next plan where to put each one based on what you now know about it. Annuals will not come up next year but may reseed themselves.





It may be better to keep them in the pots in a sheltered location and well watered until late August or September. Mid July is a tough time to transplant and the plants will certainly suffer transplant shock and may die.





When time to plant comes, dig a hole deep enough and wide enough to accommodate the plant roots, water the hole with transplant starter fertilizer (diluted in water), gently remove the plant from its pot and place in hole, making sure that the plant crown (top of roots) is not planted deeper than when it was growing wild. Add soil, tamp lightly and water with transplant starter.





Water when soil feels dry to more than an inch below surface; too much water is just as bad as not enough. The plant may wilt and lose leaves for a few weeks but should recover and send up new shoots next spring.


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