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Planting Container Trees & Shrubs
The main difference with the container grown plants is
getting the container off the rootball.
It's a good idea to give the plants a good watering the night
before you plant. If it's too dry, the rootball could fall apart on you when
planting.
With small one to two gallon containers, you just get a grip
around the crown of the plant at the top of the rootball and then turn it upside
down.
Once it's flipped over, just tap the sides to loosen the
container, grab the container and let the rootball slide out.
For larger containers, just lay them on their side, rap on
the sides and pull the container off. You can also cut the container off.
These container grown roots tend to grow in circles. So
before planting take a knife and make 4 or 5 vertical cuts down the roots to get
them growing out again. Then it's ready to go in the hole.
Now the rest is the same as for balled and burlapped shrubs:
backfilling, watering and building a basin for water above the rootball.
Water is absolutely essential for new plants. You want to
soak them for the first week to help them get established and then back off so
they don't get too much water which can really be a problem after that first
week.