On Fri, 29 Nov 2002 09:46:35 -0000, "Karen"
wrote:

I ordered some bare-rooted plants for a hedge, and they were dispatched on
Tuesday. Unfortunately the carrier seems to have messed up and they have
not yet arrived.

If they don't come today I am guessing the earliest is Monday. Will they
still be okay? I haven't used bare-rooted plants for many years, so I'm not
sure how long they can be out of the ground. They are a mixture of
quickthorn and blackthorn with possibly a couple of other native species.

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance,

I once met an old gentleman who had two gardens, one around his
home and another on a large (one or two acres?) lot in the far
suburbs. (The second was far and away the more beautiful, I might
add.) Among the features of his "other" garden was a small apple
orchard which, as things are done around here, was planted from
bare-root stock.

The relevance to your question is that he described once
receiving a shipment of young bare-root whips that had been
delayed in transit and were badly desiccated. He simply immersed
them in water for a couple of days before planting them, and they
established without a hitch.

It's certainly been my experience that the real risk when plants
are shipped is rot, from excessive moisture, rather than
desiccation.


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada