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How To Care For New Outdoor Plants

When you buy new plants for your garden, the care that goes with it can sometimes appear a complicated and daunting prospect However once you’ve understood the basics, nurturing your new addition is actually quite a simple and exciting task. Here in this article we will show you how to care for new outdoor plants.

How To Plant A New Outdoor Plant

To ensure you get the most out of your new purchase, we have put together an easy-to-follow guide for planting shrubs and to how to care for new garden outdoor plants.

Before Purchasing Your Plant:

Check your soil – what type of soil do you have? If you understand your soil, it will become easier to choose the perfect plant for your space. This will ultimately give it the best chance of prominent growth.
Choose a plant that is right for the area you wish to plant in. If you require guidance come and visit us at one of our centres. Here many of our staff and experts are always on hand to help with any questions.

How to Care for Your Outdoor Plants Once You’ve Chosen and Brought It Home:

Make sure your new outdoor plant is well watered by soaking the base of your plant in a bucket of water for around half an hour before planting.
Once you’ve checked the planting requirements dig the specified sized hole as instructed.
Generally speaking the hole should be slightly larger than the size of the pot that the plant is currently in. Unless you’re looking to improve your soil then the depth of the hole should be no deeper than the size of the pot.
If the roots seem like they’re squeezed in the pot, then gently tease the roots out before placing it into the ground.
Make sure it is steady and stands well using rootgrow (mycorrhizal) to help the roots establish and grow and compact the soil around.
Once the soil has been compacting around the base of the shrub water well.

Hillier Top Tips:

The sooner you plant your new feature, the more likely your plant will grow well!

Avoid planting when it’s frosty as this could shock them, shutting their systems down and losing the ability to transport water or soak up the nutrients it needs.

How Often Do You Water New Outdoor Plants?

Water is vital for a plant’s survival and essential for even distribution of minerals, food and nutrition from the soil around to help them to grow to their best. There are a few general rules you can follow to help care for your plants:

Assess your plants needs based upon the weather. If you are experiencing heavy rainfall, your plant won’t need to be watered. If you are experiencing hot, dry weather, your plant may need a little bit more water than usual.
After the first year you shouldn’t need to water your plants. They should naturally receive the water they need from the rain. If there hasn’t been any rainy periods you may want to give it a little helping hand with a sprinkling of water.
It is best to provide your plant with more water less frequently than it is to water them regularly with little water. The aim here is to ensure your plant is well rooted. If you water little and often, the plant roots will not need to hunt for water, therefore not expanding or growing into the soil. If you water more but less frequent, the plant roots must search for the water and will ultimately expand, becoming more secure in its positioning.
The best time of day to water your outdoor plants is early, this will give them a better chance of the roots receiving the water before evaporates.
Water the base of your plants directly avoiding any foliage.
Because outdoor containers dry out more quickly than soil outside you may be required to water more frequently.

Hillier top tip: A good way to tell if your plants need a water is if you notice a change in colour or wilting on the tips of the plants.