Just sticks now ... but bare with me

"Going bare and getting rooted" means that this is the time to buy and plant bare-rooted trees, shrubs, asparagus roots, rhubarb divisions and much more that become so dormant in winter that they can be safely removed from the ground, roots and all, and stored in damp sand, sawdust or even just wrapped in hessian till someone plants them and warm spring weather breaks their dormancy.

Until the last few decades, most deciduous trees and shrubs were sold "bare rooted". Gardeners waited till winter to buy most of their plants - they checked the label to see what their plant would look like in summer, then bought a dead-looking stick that eventually would give glorious bunches of blooms or six cases of apricots to share with friends, fruit bats, possums and birds.

A bare-rooted plant takes up less space and is far lighter to carry than a potted one. Twenty or more bare rooted trees or shrubs can be easily bundled together and sent by post to the customer, or from the farm to the garden centre. "Bare rooted" in winter is still the cheapest way to buy deciduous plants.

It's often even cheaper to buy them in spring, when garden centres have unsold bare-rooted trees, and sell them at half price or even less. As long as you know to check the growing tips to make sure they are swelling nicely and not shriveled, you can set up your backyard orchard or rose garden quite cheaply in a weekend.

A bare-rooted tree or bush is still a bit of a risk. They may have been left in a hot spot so they've dried out, and the dead looking stick will stay dead, no matter what care you give it. This is one reason gardeners have increasingly wanted potted trees and shrubs, and even potted asparagus. Bare-rooted plants have had a shock, and almost invariably get some root damage either when they are first dug up, or in transit or planting.

Bare-rooted trees also need extra tending if they are to grow as well as those taken straight from the pot they grew in. A tree's growth in its first few years establishes a healthy plant and root system that means a bigger, hardier tree for its whole life.

Cosset the bare-rooted plants before planting them out. Soak them in water overnight, cut off damaged roots, then move the plant straight to their new site where you have dug a hole twice as big vertically and horizontally as the root system. As the old adage says: Dig a $10 hole for a $5 tree. Prune back the tops so the damaged roots have less to support.

A friend has a passion for buying almost-dead plants and reviving them. Her advice is to head to the garden centre or go online to buy as early as possible, while the bare-rooted plants have been out of their home soil for only a few weeks. Remember those damaged roots, too. Be extra careful not to fertilise without diluting the fertiliser with a long watering.

Her best tip is to spray Seasol or another organic foliar fertiliser on the leaves every fortnight or so as soon as the new purchase begins to grow. Follow her advice and you can furnish your garden far more cheaply with bare-rooted plants than potted ones.

It will be worth it. In the past few years there have been fabulous developments in fruit and flower growing. There are apples with red flesh, roses that sneer at black spot and will bloom even in dappled shade, and dwarf or semi dwarf varieties of almost every tree you may hanker after, including even dwarf eucalypts and wattle trees.

Go "bare-rooted" now, and by spring that dormant stick will be glorious, sending out leaves and blooms.