Planting in zone 6?

If you live in planting zone 6, spring, summer, and fall are great times to consider planting your shrubs and trees. In springtime you will want to plant as the nightly temperatures are at least 35. In fall you will want to plant as soon as the weather cools off and plan on finishing up before Halloween. During summer months planting can happen anytime as long as daily watering can be completed. Lets discuss each season below. 

During the first break of winter we all get excited to explore our landscape, we want to see what's popping out. When you see deciduous plants budding new leaves, it's time to pull out the shovel! In early spring, newly planted specimens will grow roots just as fast as leaves. The soil is cool and the air temps are moderate, plants love it and will need less water than during the hot summer months.

Summer planting in zone 6 is fine as well. During June and July you plants will need daily or every other day sufficient watering on their roots since the warm temps will enable the soil to dry out quickly. Be sure to remove lawn or existing weeds at least three feet in diameter around the new plants and mulch each newly planted specimen since mulch helps the soil retain moisture and helps prevent weed growth. Weeds, lawn, or vines may steal some of the water being applied to your new plantings. 

Fall. Fall is a perfect time to plant shrubs and trees in zone 6. As soon as the daily high temperatures drop to the low 80's and the humidity subsides, it is time to plant in just about anything. When fall arrives, the soil temperature has dropped, the days are becoming shorter, and it rains more often. Shrubs and trees love this time of year. They are in relax mode. They have been frantically growing stems and leaves all summer and fighting the heat just light the rest of us! Now that fall has arrived, they can concentrate on growing roots. Throughout the fall season up until the first really hard freezes, plants are growing roots deep into the soil with plans to survive the winter. If your newly planted shrubs and trees have time to make this happen, they will be much happier the following summer. They will need less water. They will grow bigger and faster. They will flower more and survive more often than planting in mid to late spring and summer.

In conclusion, you may enjoy planting in zone 6 throughout spring, summer, and fall. Many gardeners are unaware that fall is actually the best time to plant as they prefer spring. At our retail store in NC, I am often having this conversation with customers and encouraging them to try fall planting. Less heat, less watering, more plants survive the following summer. Plants love that.

Be sure to be on the lookout for new plants, sale items, and planting tips in our timely emails sent out from time to time. We hope this information is useful, if you have questions for us at any time, please reach out via phone 888-491-0484 or our email- sales@lotsofplants.com

Here is a link to all plants suitable for zone 6: 

https://lotsofplants.com/collections/garden-debut?selected=plant-zone