Gardening & Landscaping
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
trees in containers
Does anyone have experience with planting trees in pots/containers? I'm debating between dwarf japanese maple, dwarf peach and clumping bamboo. The container will be in an area with morning sun and afternoon shade. The choices seem overwhelming. I know we should talk to someone at the nursery but I'm hoping someone can give some input. thanks!
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Re: trees in containers
Boy, do I ever have experience with this. I have done dwarf Peaches and many Japanese Maples, as well as other species.
If you do this, buy a very BIG pot (30-45 gal is good), and make sure it is a "winter hardy" pot so it won't split if it freezes. My containers are kept on casters (so they can be moved around) on my deck, and they are very happy this way.
The Jap Maples require only partial sun, the peach required much more, BUT that isn't a problem if you can just roll the pot across the deck after work to catch the afternoon sun. I moved that one every day to make sure it got enough sun to bear fruit.
The peach tree met the same fate as many of my plants- I sold it to a client. My largest Japanese Maple went to ground last summer, and is doing very well. I have repotted many trees and shrubs into larger containers. I have planted many long-term container grown trees and shrubs, then subsequently dug them up and repotted them again (Windmill Palm, Rhododendron, Redbud, Franklinia, Viburnum, Fig). I finally ground-planted my Lilac Tree this year, after a brutal root pruning and repotting during the hottest part of last summer. Both that Jap Maple and the Lilac tree were in 45 gal containers, and weighed about 400 lbs each.
Now, about trimming the roots: I do this all the time as a matter of practice. I root prune almost 100% of the trees and shrubs I plant OR repot. I even root prune small herbaceous plants. Some species tolerate this kind of treatment better than others (my 12' tall Beech died) but I will continue doing it nontheless- IMO it is absolutely necessary in almost every case if a plant was container grown, because the container deforms the roots.
I leave them right there on the deck. You could certainly do that in a colder climate, but keep in mind that the roots are above ground and only have a small amount of soil and pottery insulating them from the cold, as opposed to yards of it. The pottery I use is hardy: it is very thick, glazed, and kiln-fired so it doesn't hold water and crack in the winter. Mine are over an inch thick, not sure what you'd need there. I've also had excellent survival with lightweight pressed composites (similar to hard compressed styrofoam), but again, I don't live in Wisconsin. When I plant containers, and I want the plants to come back, I drop down in hardiness rating by at least one number, depending on the size of the container. If it's a small container, like a windowbox, I will select zone 5 (or lower) plants; if it's a whiskey barrel I will use zone 6 plants, etc. You also have to keep them watered, same as in summer, if the soil dries out then it's much easier for the roots to freeze.
I'd probably plant really large annuals (like elephant ears) around that eyesore you mentioned. Or corn if you have enough sun, LOL.
This is helpful thanks! I haven't ventured into the land of container gardening yet. I was planning to use all or mostly annuals when I do get some containers going just because it's easy. That and if I follow that rule I'd be a zone 3 so my choices for perennial would be pretty limited. I know local gardeners typically add styrofoam to the inside of their containers to help protect the roots during the cold months but I wouldn't want to push it with something as expensive as a shrub.
I have never seen published research on this, but it doesn't make sense to me at all. Here's what I think: chunks of styrofoam in the soil would most likely LOWER the insulating properties of moist soil, because the styrofoam doesn't hold water and the water is what freezes. This is why the roots will freeze if the pot goes too dry- because the roots contain the water (we DO KNOW this much)! Styrofoam would work IF it is applied in a consistently even, unbroken coat that sits directly inside or directly outside the pot, WITH NO GAPS, but I think the practice I have seen of packing peanuts in pots makes the plants LESS hardy, if it has any effect at all.
When I put stryofoam peanuts in pots, it was to reduce weight/amount of soil. I had a smallish plant and a large pot and didn't want to have to buy/move that much soil. I would think once it was wet and got cold it would be like ice cubes.
I have seen insulating blankets to put around the outside of pots though.
Yes- wet soil freezes. Or rather the WATER in it freezes, which protects the roots from freezing. In FL, they turn on the sprinklers in the orange groves when the temperature drops below the freezing point, to encase the oranges in a layer of ice, so the fruit won't freeze.
I have also added stryofoam to make pots lighter; and for that purpose, it works. But lining pots with chunks of styrofoam will not protect roots from frost any more than wrapping ice in chunks of stryofoam will keep it from thawing. The styrofoam has to be unbroken. Once an icebucket is compromised or cracked, it is little more effective than regular plastic Tupperware. In fact I think unbroken Tupperware would be superior. Wrapping blankets around pots or foliage is also a good choice, because blankets trap a huge amount of air inside their fibers.