OKGirl,

If you are in hot sweltering Oklahoma like I am, mostly you need to keep them well watered until they are well established. We are supposed to hit 100 I heard. I have some bluestem coming in from SRG next week too. Make sure you have some good soil.

Donn will probably write in, he always has the best advice for preparing soil etc. and he has years of experience.

It helps to make a "bowl" by mounding the dirt around your new plants to hold the water and let it soak in deeply. In this weather they should take off nicely if kept well watered. I'd make sure to mulch around them too.

I don't think, reading your other posts, that you are doing anything wrong or the grasses are suffering. A bit of leaf curling or browning on the tips just happens sometimes. If you had root bound plants to begin with, those take some real time to start establishing roots, I learned last year.

You need to make very sure to keep them watered a lot because that pot shaped root ball dries out quickly, just as if its still a potted plant. Cutting the roots and loosening them will help but even so, those roots take a lot more time to establish than it will for these small grasses you have coming. I avoid grasses like that now and only buy the starter sizes because they do so much better and establish so quickly.

Out of curiosity, what kind of fountain grass did you get? The P. Karly Rose I ordered last year grows real fast and started blooming about two weeks after planting it. My sister in Kansas and I both have orders coming. Great prices! She is doing a lot of the Switch Grasses. I got 'Blue Heaven' Little Bluestem.

Yes, it's HOT here too! Feels like late July already. The Miscanthus has advanced to almost all brown. Almost looks like sage brush now. There were in gallon pots from last year and very root bound. The other grasses seem to be holding in there although I haven't seen much growth in them.

I ordered Pennisetum species. I have 3 Hameln in my front bed mixed in with some purple fountains and blue fescues. The bigger fountain grasses will go in the two side beds. Hoping to find a good deal on two more whiskey barrels to put in the middle of each two grasses to hold flowers. Everythings western/ rustic looking.

I'll make sure to loosen the dirt up better and make bigger holes before planting this time. And it doesn't look like I'll hVe to worry about 5 inches of rain the day after I plant this time. I have a feeling we won't see much more rain this summer.

First, and very important, if you're looking at weather that hot when you get the SRG plants, you shouldn't plant them at all. Take each one out of it's 4" pot and look at the rootball. If it is at all rootbound, pot it up to a larger pot, and keep it well watered and in at least semi-shade until the weather improves. If it isn't the least bit rootbound, leave it in the 4" pot and keep it well watered and in at least semi-shade.

If my summers were as hot as yours, I wouldn't plant anything in a sunny spot until cooler weather in the early fall. It's easier to grow them on in pots, or in shady nursery beds.

Rootbound: There are several levels of this. When you turn the plant out of its pot, if no soil falls away from the bottom of the rootball, it's at least somewhat rootbound. With the SRG plants, I would expect to find most of them at least somewhat rootbound and many very rootbound. Look at the bottom of the rootball. If it is at all rootbound, you'll find 4 small circular clumps of roots, one at each corner. If these are thick clusters of roots, they have been in the 4" pot way too long. Before you install a rootbound plant, you need to loosen up the rootball. If it's slightly rootbound, just tease those circles apart to free up the roots. You'll lose some of the original soil, but it's ok, because that soil is spent anyway.

If it's worse, medium or very rootbound, you have to take more drastic action. If medium, I take my pruners, and stick the non-cutting blade up into the center of the rootball, it's full length, and cut right through it. I do this 4 times, all the way around the ball, and then spread open the 4 quarters of the rootball. Then I plant or pot it on a hump of soil, so the new soil goes right up into the space between the 4 quarters.

If it's extremely rootbound, with roots completely filling the pot so it cannot take up and hold any water, I take a root knife and cut off the bottom inch of the rootball. Then I use the same knife to cut up, from the bottom, making an X about an inch deep. Spread the quarters and plant or pot as explained above.

The reason I'm dwelling on the condition of the rootball, is because it is the single most important factor in success with a new plant. This late in the season, chances are the SRG plants will need rootball attention, and if you give it to them, you'll increase your chance of success a thousand times.

Whether you plant them in the ground now, or pot them up and wait for cooler weather, you must water them at least every day, unless Mother Nature helps out with at least a quarter inch of rain every day. I bottom water all my pots..that is, set them in a container full of water and allow the rootball to be completely soaked. Small pots get at least 15 minutes with the water almost up to the top of the soil in the pot. Larger pots get more time, up to an hour for 5-10 gallon pots. If your plants are in the ground, slow and deep watering is the way to go. This doesn't mean standing out there with a sprayer and soaking the plant as well as the ground. Most plants don't drink through their foliage, and getting them wet just leaves them vulnerable to disease. Drip irrigation or soaker hoses, set at very slow rates and run for a long time is the way to do it.

If you must plant in sunny locations in hot weather, try to give them some temporary shade, and water even more than once a day. Even a lawn chair, set over a new plant will provide some shade. Get some shade cloth or burlap and rig up temporary shelters from the sun. Remember these little plants from SRG have grown up in a greenhouse, with a maximum of 75% sun, temperature control, moving air and regular frequent watering. It'll take a while to toughen them up.

The planting hole: 2-3 times wider than the plant and twice as deep. Dig out the soil and pile it around the hole. Take a garden fork or some tool, and loosen the soil in the sides and bottom of the hole. Fill the hole with water and let it drain down. Do this 2 more times. Amend the soil you dug if needed, and fill the hole back to where it will hold the new plant at the same level to the ground as it is in its rootball. Tamp the soil lightly with a piece of 2x4. Fill it about a half-inch higher than the target level with loose soil. Place the new plant in the loose soil, spreading out the rootball quarters if necessary, and push it down into the loose soil, screwing it around back and forth so the roots make good contact. Fill in around the sides of the rootball about halfway up, and water it in good. Fill it the rest of the way up, and lightly tamp the soil down. Water it in again. Then finish with loose soil and mulch at the top of the hole. Water it in again.

The weatherman is already using the phrase HEAT DOME! 10 degrees above normal. At least we missed (barely) the F5 tornado that come through and didn't get the 8" of hail like last year. That 5 inches of rain was a life saver, I was getting scared.

I saw no growth on any gallon sized grasses I bought last year for the entire season. Two did exactly what you are describing. I had bought 5 Lindheimeri Muhly grasses and one went totally dry right away even with daily watering. They all came back this spring except only half of the plant in two cases, new growth coming up only one side. Same thing happened with miscanthus. I won't buy those big sized root bound grasses ever again. The small ones do much better and the big "instant gratification" ones are still sort of straggly looking for the most part. Waste of money I think because they aren't cheap to buy. I moved the miscanthus this spring and all of them looked exactly like I had just taken them out of the pots with no new root growth. However, the large sized cool season grasses I bought (Karl Forrester) and the 'Hamlyns did fine.

In other words: ITS NOT YOU DOING SOMETHING WRONG.

I am doing the "western" look too. I am collecting drought loving Texas natives. The Muhly's all look very "cowboy". SRG has the Lindheimeri, kind of a grey/green color and it just reeks "Texas" and goes great with that look along with some you might not have considered like the improved strains of bluestem coming on the market (gorgeous!). Aristada (purple three awn) when its massed in is very pretty, meaning the ordinary stuff you can collect for free in the country, which I did. When its massed it is quite ornamental and has "the look". I've seen it used a lot in Texas type landscaping and there is a beautiful native grass landscape here at one of the Government building that has it planted in a large drift where it is stunning.

I got seeds of one native called Trichloris crinata from a woman in Texas. It doesn't grow here and I think Texas and Arizona are the only places it exists in the wild. Two feet tall with very white 2" feathery seedheads all summer into fall. Another nice one westerny one is the Sacaton alkali which I ordered seeds for last fall. They come up very easy and never need watering when mature. They have thin blades, clump forming and purple seed heads all summer. $2.50 per pack at Plants of the Southwest. You can't beat that price.

By the way, you had mentioned using gravel as mulch. Thats what I have too because it adds to that overall look you are describing. Makes everything looks so clean in the same way the garden looks with a layer of snow on the ground and you get that nice clean look. I love it.

I installed a 15 gallon M.s. 'Gracillimus' this spring, for one of my customers, and stopped by to check it today. It looks just as healthy as my in-ground plants. It was about 6" tall when I planted it, and not at all rootbound. Probably a quarter of the potting mix fell away from the roots when I un-potted it. It's between 3 and 4 feet tall now, full and beautiful. He wanted 'instant gratification' for a special spot in his front foundation bed, and was willing to pay for it. It took me 4 years to grow that plant from a 4" pot, but it got special treatment the whole time, and spent the last two years decorating my front porch. I keep them in the back until they have good growth on them, and then roll them out where they can be seen. I have several large deep socket pots buried in my display beds, and can swap a variety of plants in and out at will. I pull out the potted grasses for their haircuts, and keep them in back until they grow back out. Their sockets are occupied by either earlier cold-season grasses or a variety of other items like shrubs and such, until the grasses are ready to come back out. I'm starting to use pot-n-socket in my nursery beds as well. It's a terrific way to handle potted plants. I've got them in sizes ranging from one quart up to 20 gallons, so I always have a spot for a newly potted-up plant. A few of my customers have let me sink sockets in their gardens, and I keep swapping out plants for them..sort of a rental program. This way I have even more growing space than is available in my yard.

Good advice on the mail order plants. Mine will get shade in the afternoon and daily watering in the plant site. Since it is bluestem, and just last week I moved a lot of small seedlings into a new space which still look totally fine, I am not too worried. I give them a drink everyday.

However, a large root bound plant is doomed to struggle no matter what you do going by my experience. Especially here in Oklahoma.

And Donn.............. !!!! YOU, professional grass grower delux, growing a large pot with the kind of loving care you take is 180 degrees different than what a body is going to pick up from mass produced stock at Lowes, Home Depot or Ace Hardware. We only have two or three reputable nurseries left to us here. Wish you were closer! We have no Grass Guy. I couldn't believe the prices at TLC Professional Nursery on their large grasses. Gasp!

I did go out on a limb and bought a really nice blue, very grasslike 'Sapphire Skies' yucca last night. Set me back $60. No one talks much here on this forum about companion planting with grasses but that is half the fun for me. I have a nice list of plants building chosen specifically to go great with grasses and am planning specific combinations accordingly, to compliment each plant. Southwestern plants that is. Some plants are simply awful with grasses. One good one is Spanish Broom. Looks like a large grass tree. No leaves.

Donn...This forum is blessed to have a guy like you! It's not often you come across a person so willing to go into depth and share his knowledge about things. If they do, they are often very condescending.

These grasses will be shaded from about 2:00. Hopefully the humidity will ease soon and we'll get back to normal conditions. Although I don't really think there is a normal in OK!

Cactus, I'll have to look up some of those you're talking about. I've had problems finding anything other than PFG or pampa grass around here. The one small nursery that had the Hamelns and Morning Light, most didn't look real good. Sanders Nursery in Broken Arrow was out of a lot of grasses when I was there. I don't get up there much.

The only place here with any kind of selection is TLC. Pricey, but nice. I do mail order mostly because most of the plants I like are natives or, like with the grasses, the same 'ole, same old is all you can find here. Farmers Market has some good stuff however, The plants are grown and brought in by the guy who has the nursery out by Guthrie you can see from the highway.

TLC had 'Apache Plume' plants (Fallugia paradoxa). I couldn't believe it. These are great! High Country Gardens carries them and they look fabulous with grasses because they have all those fluffy "feathers" covering them all summer and they are super drought hardy. Good companion plant for grasses with a very SW look.

I just planted seven ornamental grasses over the past couple of days. Varieties included cloud nine and japanese silver grass and one other that I can't remember.

After planting, I came across this thread. Based on Don's info above, I would say the roots were medium to very rootbound. I pulled them apart at the bottom as much as possible with my hands. Then, I dug into the sides of the root at 3 locations with a plastic gardening tool to loosen the roots some more. Not quite the extent of loosening that is suggested by Don. Also, the hole that I dug was only slightly wider than the rootball.

So, should I dig these seven grasses up, properly unwind the rootball, and dig a larger hole, and replant? Or, will they be okay?

jaidog..you'll have to be the judge. It sounds like you probably loosened up the rootball enough, but with the small planting hole, you take the chance of having the plant continuing to act like it's in a small pot. The fact there is no loose soil adjacent to the rootball could cause the roots to continue to grow in a circle, inside their new 'soil pot.' If they do, they'll quickly fill the new space, and will have a difficult time taking up water and nutrients.

You can probably widen the planting hole without moving the plant. Dig around the plant carefully, and deeper than the rootball. Backfill with nice loose soil, and water it in well.

Don -- Thanks for the advice. We had tilled the soil and added compost last fall. Do you think this will allow the roots to grow to the sides? Or do you think the soil is compacted by now and digging around it will help? I don't mean to sound lazy in trying to avoid the extra work, but my leg is in a cast so the less I need to do, the better. Thanks again.

I sure wouldn't do it if I had a cast on my leg! Just make sure you water them sufficiently this season. They should be ok.

I have 56 coming from srg tomorrow. I only need about 20 plants, but I wanted to get to $100 for free shipping. I have to fill some spots where cutting the grass is dangerous.

I'm going to stick them in the ground and mulch. I'll rip the root ball by hand if needed, maybe throw in some 10-10-10 pellets and a good soaking. I would agree that it's better to pot them up now and plant in September, but that takes a lot of time.

I ordered from srg a few years back. From what I remember, all the plants did great. They started out tiny, but became full sized by the next spring. The soil I planted them in was very well prepared with lots of compost. Not so this time.

Thats what I do, put them in the ground and they do just fine. I don't see any reason to make life harder and more complicated than is necessary, we are talking about grasses after all. I keep them well watered and mulched until they are well established and then they will pretty much do good with little assistance. I haven't lost a plant yet. The roots of the warm season grasses will establish in the existing soil before winter and be more established than if you pot them up all summer in potting soil and then plant in fall since this is their growing season.

For cool season grasses I might consider the pots depending on the variety, but I think I would choose to just order them in the Fall sale instead and bypass the headaches. Unless I was trying to make that free shipping amount! :)

"The roots of the warm season grasses will establish in the existing soil before winter and be more established than if you pot them up all summer in potting soil and then plant in fall since this is their growing season. "

This is not correct. In good potting mix, and properly sized pots, warm season grasses will develop roots just as well, if not better than in the ground. In most cases, they will be ahead of in-ground grasses when fall rolls in, in foliage and root development.

Well, Thank you Donn. I will be sure to add that to the list of other corrections and criticisms I have received from you and take it under advisement should I ever go into the retail grass business along with preparing display beds which I have nothing but room and time for. For now, I am just an ordinary person with a well loved garden worked on more for beauty and pleasure.

"..I am just an ordinary person with a well loved garden worked on more for beauty and pleasure."

No, you're also a sarcastic heckler who continues to pass on faulty information. When I see it, I'll correct you.

Just to be a devils advocate....

How is putting them in a one gallon pot much different than putting them in a one gallon hole in the ground?

I would think it's pretty much the same except in the ground, they're less likely to get root bound, shouldn't require as much watering, and won't requiring replanting with a chance of the root ball falling apart in the process. The only benefit I can see to potting is you can move them around. Like into the shade if they're wilting.

I've potted plants before, but in most cases it was because I did't have time to dig a hole. There are rocks and roots in the soil and I have a penchant for picking the worst spots to dig. Sometimes I pot if I buy something bare root since it has a very high chance of dehydration the first few weeks and I can keep them in the shade.

"How is putting them in a one gallon pot much different than putting them in a one gallon hole in the ground?"

It's much different in lots of ways.

1. You have much more control over environmental conditions like media, sun and wind exposure, nutrients and water. A potted plant will actually require less watering than an in-ground plant, because the in-ground plant has retained moisture wicked away by surrounding soil.

Portability also goes further than merely providing occasional shade. You can turn a potted plant to provide uniform sun exposure. You can move a potted plant to avoid heavy rain/flooding and heavy winds. You can water and feed the plant only, and not the surrounding soil with it's weeds and tree feeder roots.

2. There is no competition for nutrients and water.

3. It's far easier to develop an immature plant, with an under-sized root system, into a well-grown plant with a robust root system. A well developed gallon plant will establish far more quickly when planted out, than a pint-sized plant. The only reason a potted plant will become root bound is through gardener carelessness. It's quick and easy to check the condition of the root mass and pot it on if needed.

This discussion came about because of my advice to avoid planting out 4" nursery plants during the heat of summer. This isn't something unique to me, or that I made up. It has been a common gardening practice for generations, and for good reasons. Small young nursery plants have been greenhouse grown, and are not anything like tough little volunteer seedlings in your garden. They've been force-fed and over-watered in order to bring them to the size the nursery's customer expects. They have enough trouble establishing themselves in the relatively benign Spring and Fall planting seasons. In Summer, their chances of survival drop dramatically.

Your experience with watering is way different from mine. Plants in the ground require much less watering. Maybe our soils are different. I have a silty clay soil that has a tendency to hold moisture much more so than wick it away.

I have better luck putting most plants directly in the ground. Its so hot and dry here, it is difficult to stay on top of pots but mostly, I don't like seeing the mess of a lot of pots cluttering up my property. I am one of those people who cannot wait to plant something after buying it. I have a few bluestem in pots that came up mislabeled this spring that I haven't decided where to plant them. They are smaller than the ones in the ground that came up volunteer and those I planted. The whole idea of potting up until a plant reaches gallon size is alien and unappealing to me.

To each his own. Everyone has different ways of doing things and there is no single right way in gardening. Different personalities affect how different people garden. Some people are more comfortable if they can control all conditions and do things by the book and other people are more experimental and spontaneous.

Advice and sharing experiences on a garden website should be just that. Sharing. It shouldn't be a list of hard rules to be followed "or else" you will be hounded and criticized and accused of heckling.

"Advice and sharing experiences on a garden website should be just that. Sharing. It shouldn't be a list of hard rules to be followed "or else" you will be hounded and criticized and accused of heckling. "

Advice on a gardening forum different from sharing on a garden forum. There are opinions about gardening and there are facts about gardening. I don't question opinions, unless they are presented as facts, and are not factual, such as your comments on the growth of roots in pots. If you don't like growing plants on in pots, don't do it, but don't make up false facts to justify why you don't do it.

I stand by this advice. I do not think it is necessary to grow them on in pots. Its OK to do it either way, in the ground or in a pot. Period. Grass roots grow fine directly planted in the ground. Warm Season Grasses do very well by having a season to establish roots in the soil before winter sets in if you choose to direct plant. Grasses are tough plants and you make it sound like if its not done just like you say it is wrong or inferior. I am not discussing this with you further. You are not the only authority. I have read this elsewhere.

Please I ask you, get off of my case.

"You're it and I quit," eh? Typical anonymous forum wannabe response.

Please quit calling me names.

I did not say I am an authority. I said there are other authorities other than you. I have a number of years of serious gardening experience and read from many sources, other than this one, to find information but would not be so egotistical as to call myself an authority. Some information I come across is in disagreement with you or is just different. If I run into it, I will pass it on. If by experience I find it useful and successful, I will also pass it on. Different advice is not necessarily wrong or inferior and is certainly not a reason to get upset over unless there is an ego problem involved which this situation seems to indicate.

You have been consistently critical and rude to me since I first started posting here and I responded in sarcasm as a result. I apologize. I have never had such a negative and aggressively critical experience on any other forum I have been on. You do not run or own this forum. It is not an "Ask Donn" Q&A Forum. There is room for everyone. Please, just back off of me. I feel tailgated.

I already addressed the "anonymous" issue. You are out of line.

I have been neither rude nor critical of you, and certainly not "consistently." You haven't been a participant on this forum long enough to have been consistently anything.

Kindly show me where I refer to myself as an authority.

"Different advice is not necessarily wrong or inferior .."

And I haven't said it is. I've called you on some factual errors, and will continue to. You may have and express your own opinions, but you may not create your own facts.

Maybe you just don't realize how you come across. People who always want to "call you" are hard to take in any walk of life. You may win the points for knowledge but as far as people skills are concerned, that's a different matter. You are promising (more than once now) you will continue to "call me" on any error I make. Even spelling errors in one case. This feels like a threat and aggressively critical in advance. I can hardly wait. Sounds so friendly, helpful and nice.

So there is an example for you.

I planted my SRG plants a few weeks back directly into the ground. It's been really hot, but thankfully we've gotten a few thunderstorms. All are doing great and most have doubled in size. They were all extremely root bound, but I managed to rip the roots apart before planting.

I bought 64 and planted maybe 50 of them (I needed to get to $100 for free shipping). I ran out of spots to place them. The rest I managed to give away to neighbors.

I think a couple were mislabelled as they don't look anything like their neighbors which are supposedly the same. Not a big deal. I like surprises. I can't complain for what I got for the price.

Kidhorn, you must be a glutten for punishment. Or a heretic. I don't know which. I have watered so much this summer that I am sick of watering. My grasses look great however. As long as they have water, they don't seem to mind the heat and are growing like crazy.

I also direct planted my SRG grasses and they did fine too even under this heat dome we are being cursed with. Mine weren't root bound, just blooming already and the blooming stems look kind of cruddy and floppy. They are one of the improved Little Bluestems and I already harvested seed and am growing new ones to interplant this fall. The plants I grew from seed from 'The Blues' look just like the parents so I am hoping these others will do the same.

The Little Bluestem I grew from seed and planted in the ground in spring are now sending up blooms and are real "beefy" looking compared to these more scraggly greenhouse grown SRG ones but next year I should have some nice looking plants.