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New Plants Sitting in Water After Rain

Pistachios (Zone 7)

7 years ago

I planted several new things within the last few weeks. After a week of heavy rains, I decided to move two of the plants. Upon digging I found that the root ball of both plants were soggy and they were both sitting in water. Did I definitely plant these wrong or is it possible the heavy rain + lack of root establishment could be the issue?

One of the plants already had a noticeable increase in size, so there was no indication of a problem until I moved them.

Additional details: I have heavy clay soil and I did not amend the soil when I planted these flowers. They are natives.

Thoughts? Thanks!

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Pistachios (Zone 7)
Original Author

7 years ago

UPDATE: I figured someone might read this in the future because they had the same question. EVERY single plant was perfectly fine.

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Comments (7)

bossyvossy
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
if they are natives, chances are they could survive. Google the specific plants and if the literature says they don't like "wet feet", moving to a drier location may help. However, once they've sat in water like during the past recent rains, survival is unlikely and all you can do is wait and see. As to the one which looked fine, research that one too, but it sounds like it is OK. You don't mention the plant names, can you share? Also your general area. What is tough is one area, may be a wimp in another.
Pistachios (Zone 7)
Original Author
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
The strange thing is how well everything is doing with the rain. The two that I moved were Bee Balm & Phlox.

Does this type of thing happen during heavy rains when roots haven't yet been established?

I'm in zone 7/VA.
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bossyvossy
7 years ago
I have a type of phlox and it is tough. Id say chances are they will survive in case of too much water or no water. In regards to your question, and again, not knowing where you live, I will speak about Houston where I live. We had the wettest April in recorded history and water came to within inches of my front door. We'd had no rain in March so the water was absorbed quickly. However, in the last week of the rainy spell, ground was saturated. I was trying to plant a shrub and when I shoveled, water seeped into the hole. I happens in cases of EXTREME rainfall but I would not say it happens every time it rains heavily. More like when it rained and rained and rained and water finally had nowhere to go fast.

Cant speak about bee balm as I don't grow it.
Kaillean (zone 8, Vancouver)
7 years ago
Beebalm likes wet in my experience. You might be ok.
Pistachios (Zone 7)
Original Author
7 years ago
Thanks for the comments. I really suspect I planted these as I should have and that they just need a bit of time to get established.

Everything looks great, so I'll just appreciate the rain helping to establish these plants and hope for the best!
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
7 years ago
thx for the update ... they usually are ... unless the water stands for weeks or months.. actually creating a bog ...

roots need air as much as moisture.. and when the soil is sodden for a long time ...... lack of air can rot the roots ...

but that is extremely rare ...

keep on learning.. ken

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