Fruit trees, roses, berries and more available 'naked' and ready to plant
These are raspberry bushes, packed in sleeves for bare-root planting. Many other types of berries, plus fruit trees and roses, are available this time of year as bare-root plants. Kathy Morrison
They look funny (because we’re not used to naked roots) and kind of counterintuitive (don’t plants need soil to live?), but they may be the best garden bargains you’ll find all year.
It’s bare-root season, which means nurseries are sporting sawdust-filled bins packed with dormant trees, shrubs and perennials. That sawdust helps protect those naked roots and keep them moist while the plants are out of the ground and “sleeping.”
Bare-root season allows growers and retail nurseries to save money, and some of those savings are passed onto buyers. Fruit trees, roses and other shrubs are dug up from growing fields in fall, then chilled in temperature-controlled warehouses; that pushes them into dormancy while keeping them fresh. They chill until they’re ready to ship to customers in winter.
Before or after shipping, growers and nurseries don’t have to repot bare-root stock. That saves on shipping costs (a bare-root fruit tree weighs a fraction of a tree in a pot full of soil) as well as time and labor.
The real bonuses are for the buyer. So much of a plant’s potential garden success is dependent on strong roots and here’s an opportunity to check them out. If bought in person, the plant can be inspected from top to bottom. Ideally, choose a tree or shrub with multiple, undamaged roots.
Another plus: Bare-root plants acclimate much faster than similar plants, transplanted from pots. Those naked roots can’t wait to get growing in their new surroundings. That gives the plant a head start on getting established (key to drought survival).
In addition, customers get more plant for their money. Bare-root fruit trees and roses are usually at least 3 years old; they’re mature plants. If bought in a pot, they’d cost significantly more.
Selection – especially of fruit trees, berries or roses – is never better than bare-root season. Nurseries don’t have physical space to keep lots of different varieties in stock in pots. But bare-root season allows for a full spectrum of varieties including many not available at any other time of year.
For fruit lovers, bare-root season is time to create your own diverse orchard or add favorites to your landscape. Among the fruit and nut trees available bare root: almond, apple, apricot, aprium, cherry, fig, jujube, mulberry, peach, pear, persimmon, plum, pluot and walnuts. This is also the time to find “fruit basket” trees with multiple varieties grafted onto the same trunk.
Both wine and table grapes are available bare root as well as many kinds of berries including blueberry, blackberry, boysenberry, currant, strawberry and raspberry. Perennial food plants such as horseradish and rhubarb are sold bare root, too.
Before transplanting, remember to give your new bare-root plant a drink. It can become dehydrated after so many weeks out of the ground. Soak the plant’s roots in a bucket or tub of water overnight.
For tips on selecting bare-root roses: https://bit.ly/3GlSuLb
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Garden Checklist for week of Jan. 12
Once the winds die down, it’s good winter gardening weather with plenty to do:
* Prune, prune, prune. Now is the time to cut back most deciduous trees and shrubs. The exceptions are spring-flowering shrubs such as lilacs.
* Now is the time to prune fruit trees. (The exceptions are apricot and cherry trees, which are susceptible to a fungus that causes dieback. Save them until summer.) Clean up leaves and debris around the trees to prevent the spread of disease.
* Prune roses, even if they’re still trying to bloom. Strip off any remaining leaves, so the bush will be able to put out new growth in early spring.
* Clean up leaves and debris around your newly pruned roses and shrubs. Put down fresh mulch or bark to keep roots cozy.
* After the wind stops, apply horticultural oil to fruit trees to control scale, mites and aphids. Oils need 24 hours of dry weather after application to be effective.
* This is also the time to spray a copper-based fungicide to peach and nectarine trees to fight leaf curl. (The safest effective fungicides available for backyard trees are copper soap -- aka copper octanoate -- or copper ammonium, a fixed copper fungicide. Apply either of these copper products with 1% horticultural oil to increase effectiveness.)
* When forced bulbs sprout, move them to a cool, bright window. Give them a quarter turn each day so the stems will grow straight.
* Browse through seed catalogs and start making plans for spring and summer.
* Divide daylilies, Shasta daisies and other perennials.
* Cut back and divide chrysanthemums.
* Plant bare-root roses, trees and shrubs.
* Transplant pansies, violas, calendulas, English daisies, snapdragons and fairy primroses.
* In the vegetable garden, plant fava beans, head lettuce, mustard, onion sets, radicchio and radishes.
* Plant bare-root asparagus and root divisions of rhubarb.
* In the bulb department, plant callas, anemones, ranunculus and gladioli for bloom from late spring into summer.
* Plant blooming azaleas, camellias and rhododendrons. If you’re shopping for these beautiful landscape plants, you can now find them in full flower at local nurseries.
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