Transplanting Plants: a 101
Maybe you’ve just received an adorable native plant from our Seedling Exchange. Or maybe you’re starting a garden, or adding some beautiful plant relatives to a strip of land in your hood. No matter the plant, the process of planting them into the ground is more or less the same. And in hot and sunny Southern California, in the lands of the Chumash, Tongva, Tataviam and other relatives, this transplanting is a vital step to ensuring the health and long life of your plant.
a thriving california Native poppy bush in a backyard after 2 years of care, and very little water. She and her sisters are easily and successfully reclaiming their land from the grasses that have colonized it for the past centuries.
1. Learn the land.
It is vitally important to learn from Native folks about the land you are standing on. It is equally as important to learn from the land itself. Take some time to sit with Her. That means get familiar with where you will be planting. Learning the land is both a spiritual and a practical experience. What does it sound like? Can you hear wind, birds, squirrels? How much sun does it get, at what times of the day? Does that change throughout the year? What is the soil like? Does it feel friendly, welcoming, alive? Are there other plants thriving there? Or not? All of these things can tell you a lot of information about the Earth beneath you, and what she needs. There are a lot of different microclimates in a small backyard, or even on the porch. Maybe there’s a water cooler that casts a particular shadow, ora spot with no shade at all in the hot sun, or another spot that moves from shaded to sunny in four hours. Or maybe all 3. These observations can help you decide where which plants might (or might not) thrive best.
2. Gather your supplies
All you need are a few things:
Water (enough to fill a plant-sized hole 3x-9x); a shovel; and your seedlings.
3. Decide where to plant.
I’ve chosen this spot because it gets full sun year round, and is close to other native plant friends. It’s also around the edge of my garden, so checking on them is easy but they won’t be disturbed too much on accident.
4. Dig a hole (and make sure it fits)
Just a note, that this is a great place to give a prayer, or at least some thanks, to the land before you open a hole; if you are not in consistent relationship with Her already it can help to ground you in what you are doing and why.
5. Fill the hole with water. 3-5x, let in drain in between.
pre-watering the land; pouring water into the hole dug.
6. Place your plant.
you wanna make sure the top of the soil in the pot is at the same level as the soil in the ground.
7. Refill the hole.
filling the hole around the plant with soil. depending on the plant, you may want to plant deeper into the hole, to make a little cup (called a berm) of raised soil around the plant so water stays inside. that can help hydrate a plant, especially at the beginning.
8. Check back frequently.
When transplanting, it’s important to monitor the progress of your plant friend, to make sure they’re acclmating well to the environment. This means at least a couple times a week for the first few weeks/months, you should be going out and checking the soil, checking visually for signs of a healthy, vibrant plant, and giving them a deep watering. Native plants thrive in their own soils when well-introduced, so your plant should not need much from your after a few weeks. Except for deep watering in the hot months, and perhaps a little selective pruning to support their thrival. For more information on how to best care for Native plants in this area, follow Tongva and Chumash farmers, gardeners and plant resources, like Nicholas Hummingbird, the Tongva Land Conservancy.
Love and happy planting!
