Rootgrow for bare root hedging plants

[blueberry]

We have ordered some bare root hawthorn plants for a hedge in our back garden and the nursery is recommending something called rootgrow to help the plants establish.  Has anyone used this, and is it worth buying some (although we haven't seen any in our local garden centres)?
???

[blueberry]

[kenkew]

Bare root? What's that?

[blueberry]

As far as I know, bare root plants are grown in open ground, rather than in a pot and they seem to be cheaper than buying a container grown plant.  We bought some bare root beech hedging last year and it looked like were planting dead twigs, but most of them did actually produce leaves and grow.

[ipt8]

Hi blueberry
I have worked in forestry most of my life and have planted hundreds of thousands of bare root trees and thousands of hedging plants. This is the standard commercial product. All forest trees are planted this way and most hedging plants. Your container grown trees and shrubs are mainly produced so garden centres can sell them to you all year round.

You may have seen  my messages in other threads recomending cutting back the plants to a foot when you plant them. This makes them bushy at the base instead of bare and gives a good amount of roots to shoots.
Remember not to plant them too deep. The root collar should be at soil level and you can usually see where the soil was before.

I have never used rootgrow or anything like it and have never seen the need to. Having said that if root grow is one of these soil microbes which work in unison with the roots then it would be a good idea. I might not have the correct technical terms but you get the idea.

If it is not too late I would recomend buying 1u1 transplants(one/undercut/one). These have been grown for a year, undercut, then grown on for another year. The roots produced are very fibrous and establish well.

Good luck and do not let hawthorn roots dry out before you plant them.

Ivor

[blueberry]

Hi Ivor,
Thanks for your advice.  Should we soak the roots before planting, or is it enough to keep the roots covered and protected from the wind etc?   Also, should we cut it back as soon as we have planted it?  Thanks again!
:)