How to Plant Container Plants in Your Yard

When planting flowers and other container grown plants in your yard:

1. 1. Dig a hole the right size for the plant.

1. 1. Add compost, fertilizer, or other amendments to the soil around the plant.

1. 1. Add water to the hole BEFORE planting the plant in it.

1. 1. Plant the plant in the hole, forming a small basin around it to hold water.

1. Water the plant again after planting it.

Watch this video to find out more.

Further Information

• How to Plant Container Grown Trees and Shrubs (article)
• Flower Containers for Beginners (article)
• Tips for Planting in Pots and Containers (video)

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Danny Lipford: Well Tricia, this is working out pretty good. I’ll keep bringing the plants, and you keep planting them.

Tricia Craven Worley: Thanks for your help, Danny.

Danny: Now, how can you really go wrong with planting plants like this? I mean they seem very healthy, but you put them in the ground, you’ve got soil. Any problem with that?

Tricia: Well, you can put them straight into the ground, but you know there are ways to give them a little bit of a head start. And one thing that I like to do is after digging the hole the right size, I put in a little amendment; or, in this instance, a little compost just to give a little bit of nutrition.

Danny: I see.

Tricia: And then I put some water, right now.

Danny: Water it before you even plant it.

Tricia: Absolutely. If you take a look at this primrose, you can see its leaves are a little bit wilty.

Danny: It is kind of sad looking, isn’t it.

Tricia: It is. So when I put this in the soil, it’s going to get the water into the roots immediately.

Danny: Okay, well that makes sense.

Tricia: And what happens with a lot of gardeners is you get involved, and you think well, I’ll go back and water it at the end of the day.

Danny: Right. Easy to forget.

Tricia: Easy to forget, and that sometimes at that point it’s a little bit too late. So how I finished it off is I water it right now, right when I put it in this space. And then something else that I always like to do is give it just a little bit of a basin. See what I’m doing here with the trowel?

Danny: Similar to what you would do with planting a full tree.

Tricia: Correct. Just a little bit of an area where when you pour the water there, it’s going to catch it and give it a little bit more time to sit.