How to Plant Evergreen Shrubs

Picking Your Shrub

Consider your yard’s conditions when picking out your shrub. It may sound obvious but it’s really important to select the right shrub. Unfortunately picking the right plants for your garden is a bit like picking the right clothes to wear. You can’t always get the ones you like the look of—they have to suit your size and the weather you’re in. When picking a shrub, consider: The amount of sun or shade. Water levels. Shelter. Soil type (including drainage and pH level). It’s also important to consider how much maintenance you want in terms of garden chores such as pruning and watering. Some shrubs need more care than others if they are to to look their best.

Understand soil pH. It’s a good idea to understand the pH (acidity or alkalinity) of your soil before you choose shrubs for the garden. You can get a soil testing kit to do this. Acid-loving or ericaceous shrubs (such as azaleas) will favor a pH range of 4-6, and ideally pH 5-5.5. If your soil is more acid than that, don’t despair—you can incorporate some ericaceous compost to correct this.

Consider the amount of space you have. Some shrubs (such as some varieties of Spirea) grow to the height of small trees. If you don’t want to be a slave to your pruning duties, consider shrubs that will grow to an appropriate size for the available space. Also consider how much the shrub will block the light to other plants nearby.

Think about how far the plant will spread. Some plants (such as Japanese rose) may spread everywhere unless you are attentive to removing the suckers as they form.

Planting Evergreen Shrubs

Prepare your soil ahead of time. When planting any kind of plant try to prepare the soil well ahead of time. Incorporate some compost or well-rotted manure into the location.

Improve soil drainage before you plant your shrubs. If you know the soil to be clay-heavy, or if you notice puddles form after rain and do not quickly drain away, it’s likely your soil drainage may be poor. Few shrubs will tolerate this. You can improve soil drainage by: Incorporating plenty of horticultural grit into the soil. You may also like to incorporate a slow-release fertilizer such as blood, fish and bone into the general area around the planting site.

Consider the needs of your acid-loving plants. If you are planting ericaceous—acid-loving—plants such a rhododendron, acer, camellia or azalea in an area with alkaline or lime-heavy soils, it’s a good idea to plant in pots containing an ericaceous compost. Some gardeners try to incorporate ericaceous compost into the ground but this isn’t always successful and the plant may fail.

Know when to plant your shrub. Try to plant evergreens in the spring or fall. Avoid planting when the ground is frozen or waterlogged. If your shrub was supplied bare rooted, it’s especially important to get it planted quickly.

Soak your shrub’s roots before planting. However your shrub was supplied, soak it for up to an hour (not overnight) in a bucket of water ahead of planting. You’ll want to remove any string or wrappings supplied with bare rooted plants, but unwrap them as close as possible to planting to reduce moisture loss. Some bare root shrubs will be supplied in wrapping materials described as biodegradable. The label may advise that you don’t need to remove this but try to remove it if you can do so without harming the plant.

Dig a hole. Dig a hole the depth of the shrub’s root mass. You can tell what this is by looking at the depth of the pot the shrub comes in, or in the case of plants supplied bare rooted, look at the line where the soil ends on the main stem. The hole should be at least twice as wide as the roots.

Loosen up your plant’s roots. If the roots are bunched up, give bare rooted plants a gentle wiggle to try to loosen them a bit. If the shrub is potted, try to loosen any bunched roots as gently as possible. To do this: Gently tease them with your fingers until they separate a bit and no longer exactly match the shape of the pot that constrained them. Try to retain as much of the original soil as possible as this helps preserve the roots.

Fill in the soil and water the ground well. Avoid treading down the soil surface as this can damage roots. A light firming with your hands will suffice. If you didn’t dig a slow release fertilizer into the soil earlier, consider doing it now. For example you can lightly rake some fertilizer pellets into a shallow layer of the soil. However, don’t go too deep or you’ll damage the roots.

Add mulch. Apply a mulch of about 2 or 3 inches (5.1 or 7.6 cm) of compost, leaf mold or well-rotted manure to the surface of the soil. Make sure the mulch covers all of the ground below your shrub. The mulch will help protect the roots, keep weeds from growing, and retain soil moisture.

Caring for Evergreen Shrubs

Water your shrubs until they are established. Shrubs should be kept well watered until they are established, which usually happens after a few months. The commonest reason for new plants to fail is lack of water. Beware hot summer weather but remember wind is also very drying even in cool temperatures.

Reduce the amount of water you give your plant once it is established. Because shrubs last for many years, these plants tend to establish enough root structure that they require less watering than plants such as annual bedding flowers. Most shrubs will only need watering in the driest periods after they become established.

Top up your mulch. It’s good practice to ‘top up’ the mulch every year as this helps preserve soil moisture, reducing the amount the plant will need watering. To replace mulch: Remove any residual mulch from the previous year. Remove any weeds and then apply a fresh layer of mulching material.