HARDINESS ZONE
Ooh, this is my favorite part of planting and plant care! I love soil, as do most avid gardeners. Judging the quality of soil is an ability most of us have. You can tell when it's compacted, hard, shale, stony, dry, wet, stale, or sandy. For the most part, you judge good soil from not so good soil. That's enough for most gardens to be successful. Always remember to trust nature. Amazingly, in all soils everywhere some types of plants survive. So how can you get yours to survive?
Soil provides oxygen, nutrients (food) and water to the roots of every plant. So, how do we know if your soil can do the job? Nature tells us so. I can guarantee that if you do nothing, your plants still have a really good chance of being successful. However, our goal is to make your garden thrive and perform at it's best. Our biggest enemy when it comes to soil is compaction. Hard, compacted soil cannot provide the level of oxygen, nutrients and moisture to most of the plants we value in our gardens. To correct this issue, the addition of organic matter is needed. What is organic matter? It's what Nature has forever placed back to the soil. Leaf compost, cow manure, rotted apples and dead flies... you get the idea. Organic matter will benefit any soil type by providing air-space, loosening the soil and improving drainage. All of which are needed for good growth.
When preparing your soil, this is the time to add other soil amendments as recommended by the "Grow Team" or by your local professional. These amendments may include lime, sulfur, phosphate and fertilizers depending on your soil types. Are soil tests needed? I do not think it is necessary for homeowners. Your local garden center professionals are very familiar with the soils in your area and can easily make recommendations for any amendments you need. Our goal here is to have a healthy soil but not over provide for your trees and shrubs. Great soil is Great, but Good soil is also Great.
HARDINESS ZONE
The Cold Hardiness Zone map was designed to help choose plants that are best suited for winter temperature in the climate of your area. The temperatures displayed are based on the average lowest temperatures recorded from the last several years.
In order to select plant material suited to thrive in your climate, gardeners and homeowners need to familiarize themselves with the Hardiness Zones. Each Pennsylvania Pride plant has a "Zone" applied to it that corresponds to the color-coded key and the various colored lines on the map. (NOTE: cold winter temperatures are never guaranteed.) Although this map can be used as a valuable tool to choosing the proper plants for landscape, variables such as rainfall, soil type, winds, altitude, overall plant health and snow cover may all effect a plants ability to withstand those really cold Northeast winters.
Confused Yet? Let Us Help. Determine the Hardiness Zone where you live by finding your location on the map. This means you need to select plants that are rated for your particular Zone or lower. Example: If you live in Zone 4, you can choose plants that are identified with Zone 4 thru Zone 2.
Remember that Hardiness Zones are a guide. Variables that were mentioned above can effect a plants survival in severe winters. Even the location of the plant within your landscape can determine a plants survival. For example, you may have a very cold winter with below average temperatures but if a particular plant is located against a south facing wall, the temperature may not effect the plants growing performance the following spring.
Never forget to always ask your local Pennsylvania Pride Preferred Garden Center for any further assistance when choosing plant material that is best suited for your climate and the location in which you would like to plant them.
TREES FIRST
A little about my home garden design. I enjoy talking about my plants as well as anybody, so please bear with me. My home garden design consists of trees only. All kinds of sizes, shapes, colors, flowering times and textures arranged without lines or reason, almost by accident. Yet, I constantly hear how beautiful our home gardens are and how fortunate I am to have this ability. I have no more ability than the next guy and certainly no more than you do. My gardens came about via trial and error, and when I didn't like what was going on in the garden, I changed it.
Show me a beautiful garden without trees, it's impossible. Show me a beautiful home without trees, there's no such thing. Trees are truly the foundation of any garden and property management plan. Tree lined streets, parks, gardens and shopping malls all become vacant and cold without trees. As it is with the home garden. Trees first. Begin your home arboretum today!
PLANTING & SITE SELECTION
Instructions on how to plant can vary widely from professional to professional. However, to insure success in planting, we have all agreed on certain basics of planting. A very important first step when I plant a container grown tree or shrub is to gently slide the root mass from the container to inspect the root system. If it is overgrown and massed with many roots, I will cut and tear the root mass to induce new root growth into the surrounding soils. Listen, I'll do this very aggressively at times and the response is wonderful. Where root masses are not overgrown, which I prefer, I will still gently disturb the outer layer of the root mass. Either way, it is imperative to water very well and firmly compact the soil around the tree or shrub afterwards. In addition, I wholeheartedly recommend container grown trees and shrubs over field grown balled and burlap. The risk of transplant loss is tremendously reduced with container grown plants because the roots are not disturbed from the soil as field grown plants are during harvest, allowing for year round planting as opposed to spring only.
Site selection is key to successful gardens as well. As important as hardiness and good planting, site selection can determine overall plant success just as dramatically. Consider prevailing wind direction. Some plants just cannot handle wind in any season, especially during the winter months. You may be able to expand the recommended plant lists for your area or zone by planting in protected spots throughout your garden. A warmer southeast exposure may allow less hardy shrubs and trees to do well where normally they would suffer or fail. Every garden has microclimates and most likely you already know yours. We all know where the warm side of our house is in January, don't we?
How about this business of full sun, light shade or dense shade? Had enough? So have I! Here on the nursery we grow everything in full sun, everything. Even those items I will recommend planting in shade throughout our Pennsylvania Pride Landscape Guide. When we talk about a plant not being able to take full sun, that means full sun on consecutive hot days in July with no rain or clouds. And when we say a plant does not do well in shade, we mean, dark shade where mushrooms grow and all kinds of creatures crawl around, and it's always wet. The rest is balance. Balance in gardening is very important. Trust nature and trust your own judgment, even if you think you have nothing to base it on, trust your gut instincts.
Planting Instructions for Trees and Shrubs
SPACING & SIZE
Trees and shrubs grow (but remember that Pennsylvania Pride trees and shrubs grow better!) and allowing enough space for this growth at planting is needed. Height and width of plants depend on many conditions, including, soil, water, climate, light and pruning. Any of these factors can affect the mature size of trees and shrubs.
Keep this in mind as you plant and design your gardens. You have the power to control the growth of any plant. Constant daily pruning creates miniature specimens of even the largest growing trees in the world. The art of bonsai is proof of this. Plant spacing may depend on the type of application you intend for your tree or shrub. An example may be that you choose to use a shrub as a hedge, planted close together vs. a specimen planted individually.