"Digging" Bareroot Plants

Do you know enough about bareroot plants to feel confident buying them? Until you have planted a few, you may opt, instead, for the already-growing leafy potted plants that seem to be so much more of a “sure thing” than the bareroots do. Given that they have already sprung from the soil, these fully sprouted and leafy options are clearly already in the game. But bareroots can do just as well, are economical, and are easy to transport and plant. With only minimal digging required at planting time, bareroot perennials, including bareroot trees and shrubs, can be some of the best plant material to seek out when spring first arrives.

Comparing Quart- and Gallon-Pot Plants to Bareroot Plants

Full, leafy potted perennials are appealing when one wants to jumpstart the season. Or are they? Certainly, by the time they are purchased, the already-growing potted plants have a good bit of height and fullness to prove that they have been at work for a while in getting ready for spring. This seems almost to guarantee their long-term success. But before gardeners can dig quart- or gallon-sized perennials into the ground, warm weather must become guaranteed, as a late frost would do a number on these plants. These plants that seem primed to do well are actually very much at risk of freezing. Thus, they require the gardener to play a waiting game, making sure the weather cooperates.

Compare this to working with bareroot plants, and you will find that quite a bit earlier in the season, unassuming bareroots can enter the ground with few issues. Emerging from their dormant state, the bareroot perennials know how to protect themselves in the early days of spring and can summon up enough power to catch up with the quart-pot crew of plants. They are, in fact, perfect for jumpstarting spring. And they require relatively little money and caretaking to do so. Bareroots are worth considering.

Viability of Bareroot Plants

The best Rose I ever grew was from bareroot stock, and planting it was simple. Also, most of my Hemerocallis, or Daylilies, were bareroot purchases. And the list goes on. Bareroots are viable as long as they have been stored right (that is, kept moist in a medium such as damp straw or paper shreds) and as long as they are planted with care. Bareroot plants can thrive.

I have taken my bareroot plants when they are at the stage of looking like nothing more than little brownish whisk brooms and have soaked them just before planting. Tree-sized bareroots can soak for around 12 hours in water and a little liquid root stimulator, but smaller plants such as Lilies and the like will need less time to re-hydrate.

Pliable enough after being soaked, the root bundles naturally spread out as they touch the soil. (Think of octopus arms heading in multiple directions, and you will know how your bareroots will look as they are being positioned.) For optimal results, the positioning should be finessed so that the roots are spread somewhat evently, like rays coming from a central point. With some shifting of the soil, the hydrated roots can be covered with light (not compacted) soil. Depending on the plant, the crown (think head of the octopus) will sit either right at soil level or often about an inch below the top of the soil. In the case of a tree, the root flare generally will always sit level with the very top of the soil around it.

Why Buy Bareroot Plants?

Bareroot plants are:

• Economical
• Easy to transport
• Easy to buy in bulk if you aim to fill large spaces in your garden
• Tolerant of being held (carefully, making sure that they are moist enough, and within a reasonable period) until you are ready to plant them
• Ready for entering the soil quite early in spring
• Requiring minimal soil preparation (no granular fertilizer, which could burn roots)

Challenges Associated with Buying Bareroot Plants

• The gardener must rely on photos to know what mature plants will look like, as bundles of roots will not reveal this. So, if you are going shopping for bareroot plants, take along your smartphone for easy researching.
• The length of soaking and the positioning of the crown/root flare in the soil will differ based on what you are planting. Search before you soak and dig, seeking out a few online resources to help you in preparing and positioning the roots just right.
• Bareroots are susceptible to being burned by granular fertilizer, so again, hold back on that. But diluted liquid root stimulator is fine; in fact, it is a very important additive to your initial soaking bath for the roots.
• You might go overboard, buying these convenient little root bundles. But considering that they are well-priced and quite sure to become beautiful perennials and thriving shrubs and trees, is that so bad?

Sure, it is fun to go plant shopping and buy the biggest bloom-filled perennials available. I love to do that in summer, purchasing beautifully matured plants that can fill my garden beds quickly. But earlier in the season, when those leafy beauties are still at risk of frostbite, and when my car has no space left for another plant passenger, I love knowing that bareroot plants are available and grow with vigor. They really do become the kickoff to a beautiful summer season. I find myself really "digging" them when the first thoughts of spring hit me.