Steve Harris wrote:
: In article ,
: (Robert) wrote:

: No it's not necessary at all.

: What I think IS necessary is taking heed of Hassayon's basic idea - that
: plants that have spent time in a container need something LIKE his
: "planting mixture" between the soil and the root "ball".

: When I started gardening a couple of years ago, I put several shrubs
: straight in the soil. When I pulled up the dying plants recently, there
: was a very dense lump of roots the shape of the original container.

: If you can't find peat locally (Try Wilkinsons), use some sort of
: compost instead in preparing "planting mixture"

Mayn recommend teasing out roots from the root ball and preparing any
planting hole with compost etc. This should mena the roots expand from the
pot shaped root ball.

Youy should be using peat for this sort of stuff. You wonder how gardeners
ever managed before the stuff was introduced!