TIps on redoing a flower bed

Cleaned out a flower bed this morning, and came to the conclusion that I’m going to have to start over as well, so

Well, since I've been renovating my landscape beds the past couple years I'll share what I've learned.

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added top soil.

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First, can you clarify is the top soil real mineral soil, i.e., "dirt", or is it bagged "top soil" which is usually finely composted ground pine bark, with sand, and no mineral (clay, silt) soil in it? I use what is called locally as "garden mix" or "garden soil" which is composted pine/wood bark with sand purchased from the local retail nurseries. It is what landscapers use. I did not add anything to it prior to planting shrubs, etc. once the beds were laid out. I built up my bed about 8-10 inches above the lawn level to promote good drainage in the beds and aesthetics. It settles downs over time as the organic matter decomposes.

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What about adding black felt

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Landscape fabric is prob the word you are looking far. I've used it in the past, and I would not recommend using it. Weed seeds will get on top it of and sprout anyway, and if you have any nutsedge, it will go right through it. However, you do want to use a nice thick layer of mulch, I use pine straw, but any mulch whatever you choose is fundamental to weed management, plus the other benefits (moisture retention etc). I get neighbors to give me their bagged leaves, chop and bag it it with the lawnmower and use that as well. I'll cover that with a layer of pine straw to make it look better, at least in the front yard.

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How late is too late to plant shrubs and possibly an ornamental tree?

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Although Nov-Feb is idea for planting container shrubs and trees, its not too late to plant container shrubs or or an ornamental tree. After all landscapers do this all year around. You'll have to be more cognizant in watering them b/c they didn't have the winter to establish, but try to plant shrubs/a tree as soon as possible. Most landscape shrubs and tree that make it through the first summer or 2 are fully established and good to go thereafter.

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How late is to late to transplant a full grown Camellia (6' tall).

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I would probably suggest you wait until winter, if you can, to move it - if not - give it try and see. Dan Gill (LSU AgCenter) was asked this on his Sat AM WWL gardening radio show about 3 weeks ago, and he told the person it was probably to late, but if they had to do it, do it that day. That said, I transplanted 2 young azaleas yesterday from 1 bed to another, but if lose them its $20 to replace them. A 6 ft camellia is more valuable.

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And I am guessing root stimulator as well...

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I've used it and have some now at the house. I'm skeptical how well it works.. A couple weeks ago on the Baton Rouge Sat AM gardening show, one of the hosts who co-owns one of the large independent retail garden centers in BR, and sells it, mentioned he was somewhat skeptical as to it efficacy. It is not that expensive and its certainly not going to hurt anything. It contains a root hormone, and light dilution of fertilizer.

Other tips (from the school of hard knocks)

1. Plant any any woody shrubs and ornamental tree a bit high in these non-draining clay soils of Baton Rouge, Make sure the top of the root ball of the shrub or tree is a 2 to 4 inches above the grade of the landscape bed unless you built the renovated bed up high. Then put garden soil (top soil) around the exposed rootball sloping it away. The shrubs will settle down a bit over time anyway. And if you think that might look funky, when you cover it it all up with 2-3 inches of pine straw mulch, you won't be able to tell it wasn't planted at ground level. Cut the root ball a bit if the container plant is root bound - usually several slits vertically from top to bottom around the root ball - before sticking it the ground.

The purpose of planting a little “high” (elevated) is to insure the root system does not get saturated with excess water, because root rot will kill shrubs,trees faster than drought will - I speak from experience! (see comment below on microirrigation)

2. After planting, you really don't need to fertilize the shrubs/tree the first year until they are established - there is plenty fertilizer already in the shrub/tree container, and you want to promote root growth the first year, not so much top vegetative growth. If you want to use a pre-emergent herbicide in the beds after planting and putting out mulch, such as Dimension herbicide, do so. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't, but I always use pre-emergent herbicides in the lawn.

3. Micro-irrigation: I hate with a passion dragging garden hoses around the yard to water, when I re did my beds, I finally installed micro-irrigation system to help with the watering during dry periods. Use a timer or not. Super easy to do, not at all expensive, and since are in BR, you can get all the supplies on Airline Hwy at Irrigation Depot (used to be PolyDrip). Of course the box store carry supplies for this as well, but Irrigation Depot has it all at good prices. Tell the employees what you are trying to do they will help you out. They talked me out buying a bunch things I thought I needed from reading how to set up a micro-irrigation system on-line. Now, when I first set it up, I was so giddy about it I really did over water some shrubs (too frequent watering, like daily) and killed some plants from root rot.

A plant will not recover from root rot, but it will recover from drought stress, if not stressed too long.

Buy a cheap rain gauge for the yard, and monitor rainfall. Put the numbers down on a electronic calendar unless you have eidetic memory. The guideline is plants (including lawn) should receive a minimum of 1 inch on water per week. If you get that amount of rain at your house, no need to water the shrubs/tree. If you get less than 1 inch of rain, then go ahead and water. Best to soak the shrubs real good until until water runs off, and don't think of watering again for at least a week. You only need to do this for a couple summers until your new shrubs/trees are established.

Those are my tips - obviously much, many of these recommendation are those of the LSU AgCenter - I try to follow them as best I can. I killed a few plants along the way by overdoing things (mostly over-watering), but by and large, these tips have worked well for me.