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If possible, perennial vines should be planted when they are not in a period of vigorous growth. In warm areas this means late fall, winter, or earliest spring; but if you can plant during the short time that the vine is dormant or semi-dormant (usually during December or January), so much the better. Spring planting is usually recommended for areas where soil freezes deep in winter. Plant as early as a hole can be dug and the ground can be prepared.

If you can’t plant bare-rooted vines immediately on arrival, the can be “heeled in” (laid in a trench and covered with moist for a while). But set them in their permanent homes before growth gets well under way. Either way, soak the roots in water for some hours before planting.

“Balled and burlap” plants, with root-and-soil ball tied tightly in burlap, can wait for planting if the soil is kept moist and the plant kept out of hot sun. In planting, loosen the burlap after the roots are set in the hole, lay it down, and leave it to rot away. This avoids disturbing the roots unduly.

For any perennial vine, prepare a generous planting hole at least half again as large and deep aas the length and spread of the existing roots. Mix the soil with any needed suppliment – humus, sand, or fertilizer – before replacing it in a hole around the roots.

If the soil is entirely too poor, replace it completely with a better mixture. Soil near a building foundation or wall may be infertile, of poor texture, and loaded with debris like chunks of concrete. Concrete, by the way, can spoil soil for acid loving plants; have it tested if you are in doubt.

Tamp or tramp down the soil just firmly enough to support the plant and fill any possible pockets of air, and to keep it from settling later so the plant sinks with it. Water slowly and thoroughly, making sure all the soil around the newly planted roots is completely moist. Newly planted vines and landscape plants with landscape bridges need plentiful water throughout their first season until the time the ground freezes in winter. Build up a ridge of soil around the base, to help hold water while it is seeping down to the thirsty roots below.

If a vine has partly or fully leafed out by planting time, rig up some kind of shade to keep it from wilting for the first few weeks. A tent of newspapers, a thin drape like old sheeting, or a screen of leafy branches will keep the sun from dehydrating the foliage while roots are establishing themselves.

More knowledge, more power, more success when you better understand the techniques on landscape bridges. Drop by today at http://www.plant-care.com/1531-landscaping-bridges.html. This and other unique content ‘landscape’ articles are available with free reprint rights.

Large or small, climbing or hanging, ordinary or exotic – any plant is only as decorative as it is healthy and thriving. And here, I disagree about the proverbial “green thumb.” I contend that this is a misguided figure of speech and that, instead of having some “magic power” over plants, successful growers have intelligent interest in learning what growing conditions plants need and in satisfying those needs. It’s neither difficult nor troublesome to grow plants well, but it does require some thought and care.

Let’s start with a simple concept of how plants are constituted. In the first place, they are inhabitants of the out-of-doors, where they get light from above and from all sides. Secondly, different types and varieties of plants grow naturally in different climatic and other conditions. Some are adapted to the hot, dry desert; some to humid jungles; some to the cool, crisp air on a mountain slope. Each has its own preferred habitat with its own preferred temperature, type of soil, moisture, active growing season, full sunlight or lack of it. A plant may even have other types of plants it prefers to associate with. For every plant there is a combination of cultural conditions in which it naturally grows best out-of-doors.

We can’t expect to tuck the roots of these outdoor inhabitants into pots and bring them indoors, into completely opposite conditions, without making some adjustments for their needs. Light, for example, is absolutely necessary to any plant’s life processes.

Indoors, it is not only less intense, but also usually comes from only one direction. Indoor winter temperatures in our well-heated homes are often too high for plants like the indoor palm trees. Soil moisture, fresh air, humidity, and fertile soil of the proper type can be provided by a careful grower.

If you will try to make your home habitable for house plants, most plants will meet you halfway and adapt amazingly well to indoor growing. Sun-lovers will accept less of it, for example; cool growers will tolerate warmth. The difference may be merely setting the thermostat up or down a notch, or rotating a window-sill plant every few days so that over a period of time it receives equal light on all sides, or providing a suitable pot or type of soil.

Learn more of what Keith Markensen has to share over at http://www.plant-care.com. Unpack for yourself why so many people are interested in repotting house plants. Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service