It’s a good thing to exercise control at a plant sale, but it’s not always humanly possible.
That’s where a technique called “heeling in” enteres the picture.
Heeling in is a bit like a rental for newly graduated students: It’s not where your plants are going to live forever, but it’ll keep them alive until they find a permanent place in the garden.
If the plants are very root-bound, repot them into larger containers using fresh potting soil.
Then choose a cool, shaded spot — like the north side of a house, shed or stand of evergreens — and dig a trench or plot a few inches deeper than the containers are tall. Place the plants, in their containers, in the trench and backfill around the pots with the extra dirt from the trench.
Keep them watered as usual, remembering that as they go dormant they will need less water, says Denver Botanic Gardens’ Dan Johnson.
Once-frosty nights become a regular event, place several inches of clean mulch over the soil in the pots. When the weather begins to warm in spring, remove the mulch and start looking for a permanent spot for your bargain perennials.
Susan Clotfelter
