How To Prevent Transplant Shock: An Edmonton Homeowner’s Guide To A Safe Transplanting Process
One of the great parts of having your own yard is picking and choosing where you’d like to plant or place a bush or a tree. It’s your own space, and you get to use your own preferences for a beautiful backyard design. It’s only natural that you’ll want to change up the layout of your garden by taking steps such as placing a Dogwood near your deck as opposed to the entrance. And this is all fine and dandy if you perform the transplant process safely.
If you think about it, uprooting an established plant from its original planting location would be quite a shock. It would be like moving your elderly grandparents from their rural country home, which they’ve lived in for sixty years, to an urban area. However, if you teach them the lay of the land and research ways to make them feel more comfortable, it could be a smooth move.
In this blog, our Edmonton arborists from Trusty Tree Services are going to guide you through how to prevent transplant shock, the signs of transplant shock, and how to fix transplant shock. Like all forms of nature, the more you learn about the phenomenon, the more you’ll be able to sustain healthy growth and a smoother transition. With proper tree care, your trees and shrubs will be able to thrive in mild and extreme weather conditions with which Edmontonians are all too familiar. Stick with us as we go through the essentials of avoiding transplant shock.
What is Transplant Shock?
Transplant shock is the stress a plant experiences and the temporary setback that occurs during the transplanting process. During this stressful process, plants could undergo physical and root damage, lose a significant amount of their root growth, and struggle to adapt to the different soil types or soil conditions. As a result, you will see noticeable signs of stress on your plants, such as leaf drops, stunted growth, wilted leaves, and an overall lack of enthusiasm.
If you’ve transplanted indoor plants from smaller plants to larger ones, you will understand what this looks like—sad. Like us, it takes potted plants, especially, a while to acclimate to their surroundings. Plants aren’t just the gorgeous foliage we see above the soil surface; down below, there’s a huge network of roots searching for nutrient absorption. Transplanting plants from the pots they were cozy in or the soil they were thriving in is a shock, and therefore, transplant shock occurs.
Signs of Transplant Shock
If you’ve just recently transplanted your plant, you may notice certain signs of shock from the delicate process of transplanting. However, do not panic. This is a natural process, and like all nature, the plant just needs sufficient time to recover. Nevertheless, if you’ve just moved the location of your plant, be on the lookout for the following signs of transplant shock symptoms:
- Early onset of leaf discolouration (such as yellowing)
- Excess leaf drop
- Wilting
- Loss of branches
- Plant has completely browned
Ways To Alleviate and Prevent Transplant Shock
Like planting a tree or a bush, the season and the temperature matter. However, now that you’re equipped with what transplant shock is and the symptoms of transplant shock, you can successfully prevent and even fix transplant shock. Besides creating the right size of planting hole, proper watering, and figuring out if your plant needs indirect or direct sunlight, there are some extra care tips you can take to ensure a stable environment for your plant’s new location.
Choose the Right Time for Transplanting
Temperature shock is a very real phenomenon for plants. They’ve become cozy and comfortable in the spaces they were initially planted in, but when uprooted, the sometimes extreme temperature fluctuations can cause transplant shock. Though it may come as a surprise, it is best to perform the process of transplanting during the cooler months when temperatures are milder. This will promote minimal stress on the root ball and allow the tree to adjust better. So in Edmonton, that would either be in early spring when you’re just starting to plant your gardening seed or in early autumn when you’re harvesting those plants you’ve seeded.
The plant you’re transplanting should be in either the dormant phase if it’s deciduous or while the soil is warming up for evergreen plants. You’ll want to do the transplant on a cooler day when there isn’t a lot of exposure to sunlight. This will reduce the stress of transplant shock and allow your tree or bush to acclimate to the new environmental conditions.
Carefully Handle the Planting Process
Established trees will have thick, strong roots, but less developed root systems have delicate root systems. They’re thinner and more susceptible to a higher extent of root damage. Avoid shaking off the soil or roughing up the roots if you’re removing it from a container. Then, bring as much of the root system as possible if you’re digging up a plant from an established hole. Afterward, handle the root ball with proper care, and keep the root ball moist. This is an important part of preventing transplant shock, so be as gentle as possible with the root.
Post-Transplanting Care
Hopefully, you’ve reduced as much root stress and transplant stress as possible during the digging-up phase. Now, to further decrease the chances of transplant shock, you will want to water regularly and thoroughly after the transplant. Give up about an inch of water per week. Regular watering schedules are essential to avoiding transplant shock. Furthermore, about two to four inches of mulch should be applied around the base of the tree to retain soil moisture and regulate the temperature of the soil.
Contrary to popular belief, don’t fertilize the tree after it’s been transplanted. It can actually cause additional stress to the tree. You want your newly transplanted tree to familiarize itself with the new soil composition, and fertilizer can interfere with that. And finally, give your tree ample recovery time. It wasn’t easy for it to be transplanted, so you have to have patience and consideration for its growth journey.
Prevent Transplant Shock With Your Trusty Tree Care Providers!
Hopefully, after reading this blog, you’re equipped with the necessary tools to ensure a smooth transition and avoid transplant shock. If you’d like to learn more about Trusty Tree Services and the work we do, get in touch with us today or give us a call at 780-860-5500. We’d be glad to assist with any tree services you may need, such as tree pruning, tree planting, deep root fertilization, and so much more!