Discover how to care for your new seedlings!
Whether you’ve successfully germinated seeds or purchased native plant seedlings from a local nursery, the next steps of caring for your seedlings can be tricky. After all, seedlings for different native plants will thrive in different potting environments, and you’ll need to take good care of your seedlings to make sure they become healthy grown plants. To start, you’ll usually want to keep seedlings potted through the summer before transplanting them to your garden or landscaping, where you’ll have to make sure they stay well watered and weeded. Here are some tips for caring for your native plant seedlings.
Consider Time and Space
There are several things to keep in mind when it comes to making sure your seedlings become healthy native plants. It’s important to know that native plants grow more slowly than many common annual plants that you may be used to gardening. This is related to the strong root system that native plants develop over the first year or two of growth. This root system is part of what makes native plants so resilient and beneficial to the ecosystem, but it also impacts how your seedlings will do in a pot. Slowly growing seedlings will do well when potted together, but those that grow more quickly may find themselves crowded and dry out.
Repotting
As your seedlings grow, their environment will need to grow with them. Repotting your native plant seedlings will go a long way, supporting their growth without disturbing their roots. Make sure not to bury the stems when you repot your seedlings, and try to avoid dividing the seedlings to transplant them to multiple pots. While this is what nurseries do with seedlings, it will disturb the roots much more than repotting your seedlings in one large clump. If you need to repot your seedlings in multiple pots, just be sure to use high quality potting soil, give them plenty of water, and keep them in the sunlight to encourage growth.
Fall Planting
Finally, the early fall is the perfect time to plant your seedlings in your garden. Wait until September to enjoy the benefits of planting your native plant seedlings, and be sure to weed them well after planting. Just be sure to label the plants so that you can find them again in the early spring, and enjoy the benefits of your beautiful native plants!
AMERICAN NATIVE PLANTS
Whether you’re looking to build a rain garden or beautify your property, American Native Plants can provide you with the right plants for the job. With an inventory of over 400,000 native trees, native shrubs, and herbaceous plants consider American Native Plants your one-stop shop for wholesale native plant needs.
Our nursery, conveniently located in Middle River, Maryland, is open year-round to accommodate your native plant needs. We are constantly updating and increasing our inventory to meet the demands of our customers.
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