The old adage – Plant a $5 plant in a $25 hole holds true in Kansas City’s Landscaping.

On a  recent project I planted over 70 Hostas, Coral Bells and Astible in an existing garden.  This garden had gravel already put down and the soil underneath was not great.  Normally, when making a new bed it is best to amend the entire bed with high quality organic compost.  However, this is not possible in a bed that already is covered with several inches of gravel.  So you have to amend the planting hole.  You have to be careful when doing this though.  You have to make the hole quite large in comparison to the plant you are planting.

Start by removing the rocks from where you are going to dig the hole.    Notice that the hole is about 3x as big as the plant itself.

The laws of geometry then say that you are not just increasing the volume of the hole by 3 – but closer to 9x the original plant container size so you will need to add a considerable amount of extra compost.  I use a high quality compost made from landscaping debris.    It is tested regularly to ensure its purity of toxins. 

After mixing the compost with the native soils – carefully plant the plant.

With Coral bells specifically – Be careful of their crown and make sure that crown of the plant is carefully planted just below the surface.

Then slide the rocks back in place around the plant.

Each plant can take upwards of 10 minutes to plant carefully and correctly.  So it truly is a $25 hole for a $5 plant.  However, The long term growth and vigor of the plants will be worth it to the customer.  However, with 70+ plants to plant – it is not a quick job.