planting anemones with sharp drainage
Providing sharp drainage under the roots and around the crown of your anemones will keep them healthier, without the root and crown rot problems they’re prone to.For excellent drainage, use turkey grit, available at animal feed stores. Turkey grit is granite chips, about 1/2 in. in diameter, fed to turkeys to help them grind their food. The chips have sharp edges, so they don’t pack down. And granite is pH neutral, so it doesn’t change the soil pH. If you can’t find turkey grit, marble or granite landscaping chips work, too. Steer clear of limestone chips, though, as they’ll pack down into a cementlike pad around the plant and change the soil’s pH. Chips should be fairly large (3/8 to 1/2 in.) to provide lots of water drainage.
Dig the planting hole twice the width of the pot, and 3 in. deeper, as in the illustration above. Replace the bottom 3 in. of soil from the hole with a mix of half soil and half turkey grit. The plant’s crown should be slightly above the soil line when it’s set in the hole. Backfill with soil, but don’t push soil up around the crown. Instead, use the grit to cover the top of the root ball.
After several years, soil will drift into the turkey grit, so you’ll need to pull it away from the crown and add some fresh grit.
