Tammy SonsFounder/CEO, TN Nursery · CEO TN Nursery

Unboxing plants from TN Nursery! #tnnursery #gardening #hummingbirdvine #garden #plants

9 Mar 2026 · 2 min

Watch on YouTube

2:03

In this instructional gardening video, the creator demonstrates how to plant bare‑root native milkweed, sourced from TN Nursery, as part of a plum‑tree guild to support monarch butterflies and enhance garden aesthetics. The speaker explains why milkweed is essential for monarch caterpillars, describes precise planting depth by aligning sprout tips with ground level, and details soil preparation by replacing red clay with quality garden soil and adding mycorrhizal fungi to boost root development. Placement is strategic—milkweed is positioned at the 11 o’clock and 1 o’clock positions around the plum tree to create layered backdrops that frame the tree as the plants mature. The narrative emphasizes the value of layered guilds for both productivity and visual movement, highlighting how milkweed benefits pollinators and beneficial insects. After planting, the creator waters the seedlings thoroughly, reinstates mulch, and anticipates midsummer blooms, inviting viewers to follow the progress.

Chapters

If you want monarch butterflies in your garden this year, you've got to plant milkweed. Monarch caterpillars can only survive on milkweed. Without it, their life cycle stops. So today I'm planting bare root native milkweed, which I got from TN Nursery. Go check them out, love them. So today I'm planting milkweed here up on the hill as a part of our plum tree guild. Milkweed can get pretty big, so placement absolutely matters. For the first planting, I'm putting it in the 11 o'clock position around the plum tree. Eventually, as this plant starts to grow up, it's going to help frame the tree from behind. Now, because this came as a bare root, planting depth is really important. You don't want to plant them too deep. As you can see, these have already started to sprout, so I'm going to match the bottom of the sprouts to the ground level. For the soil, I took out about half of the red clay that I had and replaced that with some really good garden soil. And to this, I also added mycorrhizae to the roots and directly in the hole. And mycorrhizae is a beneficial soil fungi, and it forms relationships with the plant's roots. They basically extend the root system underground, which helps the plants pull in more water and nutrients from the soil surrounding it, which helps the plants to establish faster. Now I'm planting the second milkweed at the 1 o'clock position. With plants at 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock, you can start to see that as they grow in, They're gonna create a really nice backdrop for this plum tree. My favorite thing about building these fruit tree guilds is creating layers. You don't just want productivity, but you want that beauty too. So instead of everything being flat, plants growing at different heights create movement through the garden. You want your eyes to be able to dance through the scenery, and milkweed is perfect for this because not only is it beautiful, but also supports the pollinators and the beneficial insects. That go to help the ecosystem as a whole. And now that these are planted, I'm going to water them in really nicely, make sure to put the mulch back, hopefully seeing blooms by midsummer. You want to see what these look like? Follow along.