February 20, 2017 – Pull Pots installed in Spring for Fall bulb planting

          Now is the time to set out Pull Pots.   Here in the South, during the late winter and early springs, we have soft ground [easy for digging].  We also have our spring bulbs up and we know where we need to put additional bulbs for a naturalized display or a continuation of an existing naturalized display.  You usually don’t have all that going for you in the fall around here.

          So, I devised a system of PULL POTS that allow you to plant fall bulbs exactly where you need them without slicing into previously planted bulbs.

          I have a collection of one gallon pots that I keep for this project.  I take about a two-foot section of inexpensive poly rope [see note] and lace across the bottom first, then through two of the drainage holes [across from each other] in the bottom of the pot and bring it up to the top on the outside and tie it into a square knot over the center.  The objective is to have rope under the bottom of the pot as well as inside along the bottom of the pot so that you are pulling the pot out of the surrounding hole once it has soil in it.   [Give it a test run to see that you have the poly rope secure enough. Not all plastic pots are strong enough for such “abuse”.]

          I dig a hole setting the soil aside in a container.  [A plastic trash can lid is perfect for this.]   I set the pull pot into the ground so that it is just below the surface.  I amend the soil with compost and then pull the poly rope slightly to the side while I fill the pot with amended soil. The pot rim should not show above the ground, just the poly rope knot.  I then peg the knot in the center with a plant marker.

          In the fall you merely have to pull the pot in order to quickly plant your fall bulbs.  Depending on the soil structure in your garden you might have to give your pot a little nudge with a trowel or small shovel.  You yank it out, fluff up the soil in the bottom of the hole, and you are ready to place your bulbs.  Crumble the soil out of the pot on top of the bulbs then pat down and replace the marker. 

          Save the PULL POTS for the next year.   It is a serious time saver especially when the weather is cold and nippy in the fall as well as inadequate rains making the soil hard as a rock [like it is in much of the red-clay south].

NOTE:  I purchased a 50 foot by 15 m poly rope from one of those dollar stores.   Looks like a ¼ inch diameter rope.  I never was very good at converting “m” to “inches”.

Hope this idea gives you food for thought.

Good Gardening to you.