Micro Crested Blue Myrtle

Wait about a week after planting before the first water. Then water every other week while nights stay above 60°F. In cooler weather, water only after two to four weeks without rain.

Water deeply in the warm months only when the soil is dry, and give little or none in winter. Plants in pots dry out faster and need water more often than plants in the ground.

Plant it with the same side facing the sun as in the nursery. Cover a new plant with light shade cloth its first summer, then remove it.

Below about 25 to 30°F, frost can scar the stem tips. Cover the tips with foam cups or frost cloth that reaches the ground, not plastic. Take covers off in the morning.

Now and then a normal, round stem sprouts from the plant. Cut it off at its base so the plant puts its energy into the crest.

Drainage test first. Dig the hole and fill it with water. If water is still sitting in the hole a day later, you likely hit caliche, clay or hard soil, so fix the drainage before planting. If it drains very fast, the soil is sandy. Standing water around roots is a common reason new plants fail.

Weed cloth. Cut it away from the planting hole and where the roots will spread. Remove any plastic sheeting completely, since it keeps water and air out of the soil.

Rock or decomposed granite with no soil underneath. Bring in soil close in texture to your native soil, mix it with the soil below, and build up enough depth for roots before planting.

If you can break through. Use a breaker bar, pick, or jackhammer. Dig through the caliche and break out the solid chunks. Backfill with the soil you dug out, with no compost or manure in the hole. Confirm drainage before planting.

If you cannot break through. Dig narrow holes through the hard layer beside the root ball, not under it, and refill them with the same soil, not gravel. If it still will not drain, plant on a low mound of the same soil.

Root ball. Check the outside edges for any roots circling around. Loosen or cut those so they grow outward. Do not break up the center of the root ball.

Depth. The top of the root ball should sit at or just slightly above the surrounding soil level. Planting too deep can lead to rot and kill the plant.

Drip emitters. At planting, put the emitters on the root ball, on different sides of the plant. After about 2 months, move them to the outer edge of the root ball. Over the first year, add emitters farther out toward the edge of the branches as roots grow. Once a plant is rooted, never water only at the trunk.