Planting Native Plants It is the goal of native gardeners to create conditions as close to natural for their plants as possible.  The planting of potted native plants, however, is quite unnatural for these plants.  It takes some special care to get them through their first year or two after planting them from a pot.  Do NOT over water nor fertilize these plants after planting.  Follow the watering guideline for each plant in this web site.  Leave the debris or litter which falls off the plant in place as would nature.  Water by hand or with bubblers (You may want to read our watering philosophy page as soon as we put it up) .  Drip systems do not work well on native plants.  What does work well on native plants is leaving them alone to do their thing.  Maintenance should consist of only occasional weeding.

1.  Water the plant in its pot and set it aside.  Dig a hole three times the width of the pot and twice the depth of the soil in the pot.  In a pile to the side, mix that soil with 10% to 20% Amend mulch or equivalent.  2.  Refill the planting hole to about one inch above the bottom of the pot with the mulched soil.  3.  Tamp the area where the plant will sit down one inch where the top of the plant's soil will be even with the top of the ground.   This will prevent the plant from sinking and resulting in trunk rot which may kill the plant. 4.  Remove the plant from its pot and gently loosen any bound roots with a fork.  Place the plant in the ground and check to be sure that the top of the plant's soil is level with the top of the ground. 5.  Refill the hole with the remaining mulched soil, tamping it down as you go, until the soil in the hole is level with the ground. 6.  Build a berm around the plant approximately the size of the outer border of the hole.  Water the plant twice.  You have now successfully planted your native plant.  (Just a note:  This is also the best way to plant all plants except that non-native plants prefer 50% mulch in their planting soil)