"Is there anything that you can just throw in the ground (fibrous?) and let be"

Sounds like you really need to plant a bunch of bald cypress and black gum at your place, along with a diversity of serviceberry species and chokeberry. If the bald cypress do alright, maybe add some dawn redwood and an Ogon and variegated dawn redwood. Swamp white oak would be another great option for boggy soil that doesn't drain.

John

I have one bald right now, it is doing okay, one of the few I can count on fingers... I've tried two blackgum (pricey), lost both, can't lose more money...nursery has beautiful wildfild blackgums now, cheapest are $115, I lost a lot of plants and money from this nursery

I'll try serviceberry in future, if I can correct more of the bog.. I hear it can succumb to a number of diseases and when I saw at garden center, all were in terrible shape (leaf foliage issues).. dawn I tried, killed, root rot... it was from forest farm, a dwarf... I'll remember your list...

THANKS

amy

I rarely bareroot anything anymore. But also don't have any tolernace for excessively pot bound plants.

Teasing the roots and eliminately all roots above the root flare are my rules for planting.

Sounds like you lost quite a few deciduous plants which is a bit unusual.

Perhaps this nursery just isn't up to snuff with quality.

well ... the root of your problem.. thats a pun ...

is the size you are buying them at ... IMHO ...

if you are insisting on immediate gratification.. and demanding a 4 to 6 foot plant.. well ... someone had to start with a small sprig.. in a 2 1/4 inch pot.. and then up-pot to a gal pot.. then to a 3 gal pot.. then into the ground or into a 5 gallons pot....

most of this stuff doesnt pop out of nowhere at 4 to 6 feet ...

so if you really want to avoid a vast majority of this.. you start smaller ... and get this.. it will still be root bound in a 2 and 1/4 inch pot.. but that wont take you hours to fix ...

besides.. after some instant gratification.. you ought to have more time for small stuff to get going ...

and of course.. there's that whole thing about how many $25 plants you can get for the $150 you spend on the big one.. losing one occasionally doesnt hurt as bad ...

as to field grown ... those are usually the ones that didnt sell in the 5 or 7 gallon pot.. and where stuck in mother earth.. already badly root bound.. or not ... but even these have inherent problems.. at 4 to 6 feet.. when 70 to 80% of their root mass is cut off in the BB process ... its actually quite amazing how many do survive when you think about it ...

your learning curve is expanding greatly ... i have seen it in your posts ... and you are having to fix many of your original mistakes ... we have all been there.. done that ...

but what you really need to do.. is strive for the knowledge.. without worrying about it all ... and i think that is really hard for you ...

a lot of this stuff is really.. really hardy.. just do it .. do it fast.. get it over with.. and dont look back.. either you win or you lose.. but dont worry!!!!

i have often wondered.. if it is better to do the process barbarically.. i mean really .. and forgive the term.. abusing the ball.. and getting the job done.. and the thing in the ground in say 15 minutes..

as compared to 2 or 3 hours of methodical surgery.. while the roots all dry out..

i take a hose.. with a pressure point on it.. and simply.. at full pressure.. blast off all the media or soil ... snip the roots at 90 degree angles.. backfill half way.. drown the thing ... adding soil to cover all the roots.. and come back a while later.. fill the hole to 90% .. drown it again.. settling and compacting the soil on the roots getting rid of air pockets .. let the water drain.. complete the fill .. add mulch.. and walk away ...

and as to large mistakes.. start digging plant.. determine your ball size.. go dig new hole.. go back to plant.. finish ball.. literally drag to the new hole.. adjust for ball surface height and veticality .. backfill half so its stable.. drown it.. fill the rest of the way.. mulch .. prune off whatever broke in the dragging ... and be done with it ...

it always falls back to the saying ... they are NOT children.. they dont need to be coddled ... just do what you have to do.. and be done with it.. there are other things in life that require precision ...

so.. buy smaller.. invest less .. worry less.. get the job done .. and make it more enjoyable ... [see its just so simple.. lol]

good luck

ken

ps: peeps who rely on large expensive stock.. are usually those relying on local places .. EVERYTHING is available.. cheaper.. smaller ... mail order ... and boy can you get the rare stuff this way ...

Here is a link that might be useful: this thing with an off-er/on-er at hose end to adjust presssure ... will blast soil off anything

Although the method above is sound, it only works with fully dormant plants with NON fibrous root systems in my experience.

And never flood the hole/soil unless you have an extremely well drained soil. You'll completely disrupt the soil texture and some cases create a concrete mix.

I was so interested in the responses, I want to try to address each..
whass, you dont have tolerance for extremely potbound, but you can't tell when you buy them (heaven forbid you try to get them out of their pot)...losing quite a few isn't unusual in my case.. long story, doing things at times when my thinkings ...off, or trying to be perfect, and soil issues that needed addressed prior..etc.and obviously being too brutal in root pruning, but there's a root rot everywhere that, as the soil's been stirred up and all, is affected most... ideally you leave fallow for at least a year, up to 4... this garden center not up to snuff this year, but i was too exhausted typically to do more than the 5 min. drive... 2 other places were just as bad... I don't understand...repelled..
Ken, I read, and read.. maybe too much, as all say differently, and I don't remember how I used to do things...

yes, i worry about everything, a major personality flaw.. and what I can't fix, I throw into what I used to know..

whass, your last post, I did learn that the hard way too

now, after this post (will need to print out), i've learned my root pruning was way too aggressive..I think..

but again, done for the year, except backbreaking soil admending, now down to $4 for a bit over a week, and car needs gas... and tooth is going to fall out, crumbling, but no dental insurance...

amy

nurseries/garden centers don't honor their guarantee either for a year... it's the typical (top growth looks fine)... frustration is at max... txs for link

amy

one last question, last year I got in trouble by damaging the white feeding roots too much too late in a wet warm season... this year what's in pots in poor situtions have lots of long healthy feeders (too long) but I had to last minute drastically cut some of the woody storage roots (I think that's the name)... from bonsai I read a while back... I thought (maybe wrong) that in winter the trees need the wooden roots more for the storage of sugars/whatever, but again I could be wrong... some is just anchoring... Did i do wrong again with the few that are trying to be saved? I couldn't wait till dormant with a few...

No money for the gritty mix shorter term to wait till dormant to plant, but would it be best? Still have to ammend the bogs (mix the clay into the top) but body's rebelling...

Trees are quite resilant, yes.. but I'd prefer no more wrongs

These fringe trees, I thought they liked MOIST soil (not water logged) but they grow at streams edges for peats sakes... sometimes the moist but well drained confuses me

ditto with ninebark, but they too want well drained moist... hmmm..

Thanks to apparently pandemic bad practice here you pretty much can't get woody stock with well-dispersed, non-deflected roots unless you buy it bare-rooted (roses, deciduous trees, orchard fruits, berry bushes etc.). So you either plant it with crap roots or you have to work on the roots at planting time.

Or grow your own, from seed or cuttings.

The worst damage is done when growers leave small stock in small bands, liners or pots too long. I've seen 300 dollar tubbed camellias here with 4" squares of deformed roots sitting on top of the soil, at the base of the trunk, in full view. And main stems emerging from impossibly tight turnips of primary roots, again not even hidden by the soil. Such circumstances are impossible to rectify, and are common.

While it is true that the white "feeder" roots are the ones doing the absorption of water and nutrients in solution, I think we sometimes get too hung up on these things. Trees form, excise, and reform feeder roots constantly during the growing season. In fall planting, it is probably the fatter storage roots that most matter. Spring planting too quite likely.

+oM