Successfully planting a shrub

There are shrubs for every use in the garden. In a grove, isolated, in a bed or in a hedge, these plants will accompany you for many years if you take a few precautions when planting them.

Before buying

It is necessary to find out beforehand about the shrubs you wish to introduce into your garden. Each terroir, climatic zone or type of soil will have a certain number of plants.

Thus, turn to acidophilic shrubs such as rhododendron, camellia or hydrangea if the pH of your soil is below 6. In neutral soil, everything is allowed by adding the right amendments if necessary (compost, sand, green manure...). In soil with a pH higher than 7, choose plants that appreciate limestone! You will find pH tests in all garden centers.

Remember also to make your choice according to the exposure of your garden, some shrubs appreciate the shade, others really need full sun to thrive.

Another important parameter is the persistence of the foliage, especially when it comes to creating a privacy hedge! Think about this before choosing your shrubs!

If you prefer flowers, think about encouraging biodiversity by choosing shrubs that will bloom over several months and produce berries to feed birds and small mammals.

Finally, find out how tall your shrub will be so you can tailor your purchase to the size of your garden. There are low-growing varieties that are ideal for urban backyards, patios, or very small gardens!

Soil preparation

Logically you have made your choice according to the parameters described above. We will therefore start with a shrub adapted to the soil in which it is to be planted, which avoids many worries.

• Ideally, the hole should be dug at least two weeks before planting, which will give the soil time to loosen and rebalance itself, thus promoting a better recovery.
• Choose the best planting time, depending on whether it is a bare root or container shrub. As a reminder, bare-root shrubs are planted in fall and winter outside the frost period, while containerized shrubs are planted in fall or spring. Note that the first ones have a better chance of recovery.
• Soak the root ball in room temperature water for at least an hour to hydrate it. Dress (prune) the roots of bare root shrubs if necessary and prune them.
• At the bottom of the hole, spread a thick layer of a mixture of garden soil and compost, add a good dose of mycorrhizae to promote recovery and ensure a better resistance of your shrub to weather conditions, pests and diseases. Don't neglect this step because the results are often spectacular!

Planting

• Install your shrub in the hole previously prepared by adjusting the height so that its collar is flush with the ground. Add soil to the bottom of the hole if necessary.
• Fill in the empty spaces until the hole is completely full.
• Water thoroughly to evacuate any air bubbles in the soil, then add more soil if the level has dropped during watering.
• Create a basin at the foot of your shrub to facilitate watering and to keep water at the foot of the plant.
• A mulch will prevent competition from weeds and protect the stump from the cold in winter and from evaporation in summer. This mulch is very useful on shallow-rooted shrubs such as raspberry bushes for example. Avoid it, however, on xerophilous shrubs that would not tolerate this constant humidity! To prevent weeds from growing, use a mineral mulch for these plants, which will retain heat and release it while remaining very attractive.

After planting

Every shrub needs about three years to establish itself and develop its root system properly. Be very careful about watering spring plantings, which will require a lot of water in the summer to ensure their recovery. This is why fall plantings are preferred, however, they can only be done on hardy varieties.

Remember to water your shrub well the three years following its planting, and don't forget to do so in winter, especially in southern regions where drought can last for long weeks even in winter! If it rains enough, don't add more water, because an excess of water can be as harmful as a lack, it's all a question of the right dosage.

Scratch a little compost and a few granules of organic fertilizer at the foot of the shrub in the spring to support the vegetative recovery, do the same after a pruning operation.

Pruning will take place at different times depending on the variety and the flowering period if the shrubs are in bloom.

A cleaning pruning in winter will favor the entry of air and light in the center of the shrub, which will avoid the installation of many parasites and diseases. Pruning also ensures a more opulent flowering on the shrubs that bloom on the new shoots produced.

With all these precautions, from selection to planting to maintenance, you are assured of a much better success with your shrubs!

Knowing where to plant your shrubs

Each garden has its own ecosystem, divided into several zones that may or may not be of interest for planting shrubs. It is important to know where to plant them to ensure optimal success.

The microclimates of the garden

Each garden has its own specificities. Exposure, climate and soil type will help you determine the ideal location to plant your shrubs.

1- Exposure

With a southern exposure, the garden will be able to accommodate most flowering shrubs or variegated foliage because, contrary to what one might imagine, this exposure is not the most delicate, except in very hot and dry regions where the choice of plants should be made accordingly. An eastern exposure poses a little more concern, because the morning sun after a frost can cause the plants' tissues to burst. The prevailing winds also often come from the East, drying out the plants, breaking branches and inducing more evaporation. A western exposure will avoid the phenomenon of burning after the frost, the shrubs will be subjected to the afternoon sun and will have less direct contact with the wind. In the North, the cold and humidity are more important, so hardy shrubs should be planted there, which can tolerate little sunlight.

2- Climate

Each region, or even micro-region, has its own climate, well beyond the specificities between the North and the South. However, in the North and in mountainous regions, it is wise to plant shrubs adapted to cold and humidity. Avoid non-hardy subjects, of Mediterranean or tropical origin, which would have a hard time establishing themselves.

Rainfall is another important factor. Some regions are subject to regular and very frequent rainfall. Shrubs should be chosen with this in mind. As for snow, it can be a good winter protection against the cold, but in regions where it is abundant, you should preferably choose hardy shrubs with branches that are flexible or strong enough not to break under its weight.

In very hot regions where the summer is very dry and the winter mild, you can introduce more chilly subjects that appreciate this type of conditions and are resistant to drought in order to avoid continuous watering.

Regions subject to thick and frequent fog but where the temperature is mild will appeal to many shrubs because the dew that settles down facilitates gas exchanges and of course increases the hygrometry rate. On the other hand, the most fragile ones are likely to be sensitive to cryptogamic diseases.

3- The nature of the soil

Acid, fertile limestone, poor or balanced, the soil of your land will partly determine the choice of your shrubs. There is no point in trying to grow calcifugic plants that require fresh soil, such as rhododendrons or camellias in the garrigue of Marseille! You will be faced with disappointment. Always choose your shrubs according to their specific needs.

A hydrangea with blue flowers

You chose it for its beautiful deep blue color, but surprise, once installed in your garden for some time, your blue hydrangea has turned into pink. Did the fairies of 'Sleeping Beauty' come to you? No way! Let's see how to give it back its original colors.

Mysteries of Nature

Hydrangea macrophylla, better known as the florist's hydrangea, is a spectacular flowering plant, as much for the rounded size of its inflorescences as for its colors. Some varieties have a variable flower color passing strangely from blue to pink. There is no mystery behind this, it is simply a physical phenomenon that comes into play in the color of the flowers: the pH and the composition of the soil.

In a soil with an acidic tendency, the flowers remain blue or are purple if the variety chosen was it at the base.

In a calcareous soil with a pH higher than 7, the color turns spontaneously to pink, or even to red if the variety allows it.

Another parameter concerning the soil, the iron and aluminum content in their assimilable forms must be sufficient. Knowing that in calcareous soil, iron is very poorly assimilated by plants, everything is explained...

How to maintain the blue color in hydrangeas?

As we have seen, the color varies according to the pH of the soil. It is therefore obvious that it will be a little complicated to maintain a beautiful blue color in calcareous soil. However, here are a few ways to help:

• Apply a fertilizer rich in potash and alum in August when the future flower buds are forming to prepare for the next year's bloom.
• Apply every spring and during the growing season a bluing product.
• Be careful with tap water, which, if hard (calcareous) will not suit your hydrangea. Always prefer to water it with rainwater in these conditions.
• When planting, if the soil is chalky, dig a pit of 1 meter by 1 meter and fill it with heather soil, compost and a little dried blood before installing your hydrangea. Each fall, scratch some heather soil on the ground.
• If the soil is very calcareous, prefer planting in a large container in a mixture of heather soil.
• Mulch the base of your hydrangea with a thick mulch of pine bark. This mulch tends to slightly acidify the soil. If you are a fan of mineral mulch, don't hesitate to mulch the base with crushed slate, known to give a beautiful blue color to the hydrangea.
• You can find it in DIY stores or garden centers under the name 'Blueing Fertilizer for Hydrangeas' . These products contain iron sulfate and alumina, in addition to NPK formulations adapted to hydrangeas.
• Remember to water your hydrangeas regularly so that they do not suffer from water shock and so that the roots can synthesize the elements provided.

How to choose your bamboo?

To appreciate the quality of a healthy and vigorous bamboo, you should not only look at its aerial parts but also unpack it to discover its rhizomes.

If it is impossible to remove the pot, i.e. if it is swollen by the rhizomes or bursts under their push, this is the plant you need.

Once the pot is removed, we observe:

• Root system condition with the presence of rhizomes. It is the future of your plant which will give the future turions. Check that the roots and rhizomes are dense enough.
• A beautiful hair (assimilating roots) with beautiful root caps mainly in spring when there is a resumption of the vegetation. These rootlets will allow a good absorption of water and mineral salts. They can go down to several meters under ground.
• The bamboo can develop a bun, that is to say to make a spiralization of the roots. What is a handicap for many plants is not for bamboos. Once planted, it will not repeat this way of growing. It has developed a bun by constraint due to the pot. Once released, the rhizomes will resume their horizontal growth.
• Advice: at plantation, separate the rhizomes which spiral by distributing them in the ground.
• In summary, it is better to choose a bamboo with few culms but many rhizomes than the opposite. Vigorous rhizomes are more important than beautiful stems. The future of your bamboo depends on the reserves stored in its rhizomes.

The characteristics of a rhizome

• Horizontal underground stem
• Hollow and partitioned stem (fistulous rhizome)
• The nodes carry eyes that will develop into new culms.
• Roots adapted to the storage of energy reserves (starch) for its future growth. A well-fed and well-maintained bamboo the year before will give beautiful culms the following year.
• It fixes the plant to the ground with its adventitious roots. There are also docking roots that make the culms more resistant to wind.
• The rhizome is a potential propagule. From a section of rhizome one can obtain another plant (cloning)
• Although endowed with a positive geotropism, the tip of the rhizomes sometimes emerges from the ground to give a culm (positive phototropism). It can also be diverted from its trajectory (stone...), go out of the ground and then enter it again under the effect of its positive geotropism.

The questions that we must ask ourselves are the following

Different types of underground devices ?

A cespitose bamboo has pachymorphic rhizomes (from the Greek prefix meaning thick) .

The apical bud of the rhizome evolves in thatch. It doesn't go very far in the ground. In this case, the internodes are short and more or less swollen. Horizontal growth is done only on a few centimeters. Bamboos with these pachymorphic rhizomes form tight clumps. They do not spread on the surface.

A tracing bamboo has leptomorphic rhizomes (from the Greek, leptos=thin and morphos=shape), often with unlimited growth (monopodial). In this case, the internodes are long and thin. Their growth is horizontal.

Does the plant have a good root system?

The most important is in the substrate which is not in sight. It is the rhizomes that will ensure the future of your bamboo plant and not its culms.

Was the bamboo well fed last year?

Its rhizomes, which store reserves thanks to the photosynthesis of its foliage, not only allow the plant to be fixed to the ground but are also the carriers of future culms. The good work of the nurseryman is mainly found in the quality and the richness of the rhizomes. The good conditions of culture (heat in spring for a good exit of the shoots and in summer to facilitate the accumulation of the reserves in the rhizomes) make it possible to obtain a subject with well augusted shoots, resistant to the cold and rich rhizomes for the future of the plant.

Bamboos for all tastes

Bamboo has become an essential plant in our gardens. Fast growing, sometimes even invasive, this carefree plant comes in countless varieties, each with its own place in the garden. Giant, slender or bushy, dwarf or variegated, you will find the bamboo that suits you!

Ground Cover

Take advantage of the power of expansion of this plant to cover spaces where you want to eradicate weeds or create green areas without worrying about requiring only low maintenance. Indeed, the tracing roots and the density of the foliage will prevent the regrowth of weeds and will avoid you the always painful chore of weeding.

Choose the Sasa genus with its shiny and wide foliage which will do wonders in shady and humid areas. In dry and sunny soils, Pleioblastus is preferable as it can be pruned at will and will cover large areas very quickly.

Isolated subject

Always very elegant installed in a large pot, it will enhance a wooden terrace. Cultivated in a pot, the water and fertilizer must be constant to keep the brightness and beauty of the foliage and avoid its wilting. For this use Semiarundinaria fastuosa will give good results because it is not very tracing. Its culms rise very straight like candles erected towards the sky. In the sun it takes a beautiful amber color very characteristic. Very graceful, Phyllostachys decora resists well to dryness and will find its place on Mediterranean terraces.

Boundaries and borders

Bamboo, if well contained, can also be used to create borders, as well as to stabilize sloping ground. The genera Sasa, Shibataea or Pleioblastus lend themselves well to the creation of borders and the delimitation of paths as long as they are well contained with the help of anti-rhizome barriers. In early spring, prune them very short to induce the formation of new foliage and keep a compact habit.

Bamboo hedges

This is the most common use of bamboo. These hedges offer excellent visual, acoustic and wind protection, creating favorable microclimates for fragile plants.

Fargesias and Phyllostachys are most often used to create hedges. Beware, because if the conditions are right for them, their growth can be very fast, and they will easily reach 15 meters high. But don't panic, they can be pruned in height as well as in width!

Fargesia robusta 'Campbell', a non-tracking bamboo

What is a non-tracking bamboo ?

A non-tracking bamboo is a bamboo whose clump will thicken little by little, about 5 cm on each side, every year.

Most of them belong to the Fargesia family. Among them, Fargesia robusta 'Campbell', particularly requested by individuals and professionals.

The advantages of Fargesia robusta 'Campbell' bamboo

1. Its growth is relatively fast.
2. It can reach 3 to 5 meters high, depending on the growing conditions (soil quality, irrigation...), and its growth habit is erect, which allows it to be used to form a hedge, whereas other Fargesias, such as Fargesia rufa, have a much more open habit.
3. It tolerates full sun exposure, whereas many Fargesias will require a semi-shaded exposure or a cool soil with relatively mild temperatures, as in Normandy or Brittany.

How to grow Fargesia?

Fargesia will produce canes twice a year: a first important time, in the second part of spring, then a second time, more modestly, in the beginning of autumn.

Be careful: if the canes are very strong when they are out of the ground, they are very fragile when they emerge.

Fargesia accept most soils, not too sandy (too filtering), nor waterlogged in winter. They are greedy grasses that appreciate generous contributions of compost at planting. Then, we install an organic mulch (straw, RCW, small thickness of lawn clippings) in order to keep the soil fresh while letting the young canes grow. Woven fabric should be avoided because the canes have difficulty to pass through.

Once planted, bamboos require no maintenance and are pest free.

How far apart should bamboo be planted to make a hedge?

Knowing that the bamboos will eventually join together will depend on your patience. If you are in a hurry to get a compact hedge, plant every 20 to 30 cm. But if you have time, or if your budget is limited, you can space them one meter apart (then count on ten years for them to join).

The multiplication of bamboo

Bamboo multiplies by division, which explains its price, sometimes a bit high: the division takes time. Some bamboos are also multiplied 'in vitro'. But this can lead to a more compact habit and a smaller size in the first years.

Can Fargesia be grown in pots?

Be careful, Fargesia is not a very drought resistant bamboo. It is therefore necessary to be vigilant, especially since it does not show any particular signs when it is thirsty. In winter, if the water in the pot freezes, it can die of thirst.