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9/24/07
Planting By Degrees From:
Avant Gardener 10/07
Submitted By: Mark Burchick
Planting By Degrees
Avant Gardener
October 2007
Except where cold
comes early and is
accompanied by high
winds, fall is the
best season for
planting
trees and shrubs.
A long autumn, plus
fall rains spur
rapid and abundant
production of new
roots because the
plant does not need
to put energy into
making and
maintaining new,
above-ground growth.
Most references say
its safe to plant
woody plants until
the ground starts to
freeze.
A more precise
safe-date
determination was
made by researchers
from Cornell
University.
Plantings were made
on the 21st of each
month from August
through November.
Evaluation of the
plants
during spring and
summer of the
following two-years
showed that those
planted as late as
October 21 had only
slightly more winter
injury than earlier
plantings, but those
planted on November
21 suffered
significant to
considerable winter
injury, with reduced
size and quality,
still evident
two-years later.
The November
plantings were found
to have developed
virtually no new
roots, due to the
soil temperature
a 6-inches depth
having fallen below
40-degrees at the
time of planting.
Thus the last safe
planting date the
researchers
concluded, is
about 4-weeks before
soil temperatures
in the root zone
falls to 40-degrees,
at which time root
formation is halted.
Maryland Soil
Temperatures
The Belstville
Agricultural
Research Center has
a 24-hour/7-Days
per week soil
temperature reader
off of Powder Mill
Road and six years
worth of data.
The soil temperature
reader covers 2, 4,
8, 20 and 40-inches
in depth. I
tried to get mean
monthly temperatures
for 4 and 8-inches,
during September,
October, November
and December and
then extrapolate
when we hit the
40-degree mark on
average, and then
backtrack 30-days.
I can't interpret
the data. Maybe you
can?
I've always
understood that late
September thru the
end of October was
'prime time'
for hardwood
planting, and never
planting past
Thanksgiving, then
being better to wait
until the
March/April planting
season, especially
for evergreens.
9/24/07
