Trees, Shrubs, and Vines: Dry Rootball

Problem
The entire plant is wilting. The soil surrounding the plant is moist, but the rootball is dry.

Analysis
Plants that are sold in the nursery balled and burlapped are grown in fields. When the plants reach a size suitable for selling, they are dug up with a ball of soil around their roots. Sometimes the soil in which they are grown is extremely heavy. When the heavy soil is balled and burlapped, it sometimes shrinks as it dries or is compacted, and the ball becomes impermeable to water. After planting, water runs off the outside of the ball rather than moistening the soil, causing the roots to dry out. Rootballs of balled and burlapped plants or of container plants may also dry out if the soil in which the plant is set is much lighter or heavier than the soil in the rootball. The water runs into the lighter soil instead of moistening the soil around the roots; or the surrounding heavy clay soil draws out the water from the light soil in the rootball, causing the rootball to dry out.

Solution
To wet the rootball, build a basin around the plant the diameter of the rootball. Keep water in the basin for 3 hours. Add a wetting agent (which can be purchased at your local nursery) to the water initially. Continue watering in the basin for 6 weeks. Water whenever the rootball (not the surrounding soil) is moist but not wet 1 inch below the surface. Water or soak the rootball before planting. If the soil texture in the rootball is very different from that of the surrounding soil, provide a transition zone, using a mix of rootball and native soil. Build a basin and water as above for 6 weeks.