Native Plants
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
rate this answer
Wednesday - March 10, 2010
From: Floresville, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Propagation, Transplants
Title: How to transplant agarita in Floresville, TX.
Answered by: Joe Marcus
QUESTION:
How is the best way to propagate Agarita? I have acres of them in the pasture but want some for the house landscape and to grow. I was told they go dormant for a year if you dig them up to transplant.ANSWER:
We're tempted to advise you to put in a section of barbed wire fence where you want the agarita to grow and let the birds do their thing. But we won't. Besides being inconvenient, you'd have to pull out a lot of privet and hackberry seedlings if you did that.
Mahonia trifoliolata (agarita) is usually difficult to transplant; large plants are especially difficult. A big part of the problem is that they are often growing in such rocky soil that it is very hard to get the plant out without severely damaging the roots of the plant. The smaller the root ball, the slower the plant will recover from the stress of transplantation.
If possible, dig around the shrub you wish to transplant in the spring to cut some of the roots. By fall, the plant will have made new roots within the area that you'll be digging up to transplant. Dig and translplant the agarita in mid to late fall. Remove about 1/3 of the top growth of the plant when you transplant. Water it in well and water again from time to time through the winter if it's a dry year. Even with all of that, your plant is likely to sit and do nothing much for a year or two. Good luck!
More Propagation Questions
Propagation of cardinal flower with variegated leaves from Wakefield RI
August 21, 2013 - I purchased cardinal flower seeds from the Brandywine museum & have had great success for over a decade. Recently I spotted one cardinal flower with variegated leaves. Is this a plant worth propagatin...
view the full question and answer
Trillium seed collection
August 08, 2008 - I am interested in propagating trillium from seeds. When are the seeds ready to be harvested? I removed day lily pods prom the plants and then found out I had picked them too early
view the full question and answer
Proximity of male possumhaw to female
January 11, 2009 - Mr. Smarty Pants,
In regards to fertilization, how close by must a male possumhaw be located to a female possumhaw?
view the full question and answer
Native bulbs for the northeastern U. S.
November 23, 2007 - What native bulbs could we plant in the Northeast? Can they only be planted in the fall as Dutch bulbs are?
view the full question and answer
Growing Texas wildflowers indoors for a March wedding from Austin
October 01, 2013 - I have learned so much from this site! Thank you! I am getting Married this March and I am hoping to use Texas wildflowers for the centerpieces. I hope to grow them in containers indoors and have the ...
view the full question and answer
| Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |