The Lemon Fool

I just bought 4 shrubs, each evegreen but not 100% hardy so will be in cold greenhouse over winter

each shrub is in a pot 7 inches high and 9 inches diameter at top
shrubs are about 15 inches from soil level

I intend these shrubs to be in 'nice' pots near to the house as they will be 'features' and with luck around 3-4 ft tall

but I read somewhere that putting plants into pots that are very big encourages roots but not foliage growth
so should I leave in current pots until I see roots underneath....even though plastic pots not so visually nice?

or pot on into big pots?..........if so...now? or leave until spring?

mutantpoodle wrote:I just bought 4 shrubs, each evegreen but not 100% hardy so will be in cold greenhouse over winter

each shrub is in a pot 7 inches high and 9 inches diameter at top
shrubs are about 15 inches from soil level

I intend these shrubs to be in 'nice' pots near to the house as they will be 'features' and with luck around 3-4 ft tall

but I read somewhere that putting plants into pots that are very big encourages roots but not foliage growth
so should I leave in current pots until I see roots underneath....even though plastic pots not so visually nice?

or pot on into big pots?..........if so...now? or leave until spring?

Wait until the spring.

RC

ReformedCharacter wrote:Wait until the spring.

What RC said. For most shrub-type plants (not sure about all?), the rule of thumb is that they do better if you don't give the roots too much of an unrestricted run at any one time. Monty Don is fond of saying that the right time to pot things on is when you lift the plant from its pot and find that there's more root than compost on its outer perimeter.

Wrap a bit of fleece around them, or maybe some bubble wrap, if a hard frost threatens. Some evergreens don't like being over-watered, but that would depend on exactly what they are.

BJ

mutantpoodle wrote:I intend these shrubs to be in 'nice' pots near to the house ... plastic pots not so visually nice?

You could always put the plastic pots "in" the posh pots, with or without soil?

I would tip the plant out, and see how 'pot-bound' the roots are. In my experience, everything I buy from garden centres is pot-bound to a greater or lesser degree. There is no harm in repotting in a slightly bigger pot, say 1" all round.

I would certainly leave everything until the spring. They will be dormant over the winter anyway. Furthermore an unheated greenhouse is not proof against frost. I lost a couple of very attractive alstroemerias (not shrubs I know) last winter that way so keep an eye on the weather.

Dod