Trees 2020

Plant your tree properly! /

The few minutes spent planting your tree are crucial to its survival. What you do can send your tree on its way to decades of healthy growth, or cause the tree to struggle almost immediately. Nearly all trees purchased through Trees 2020 come in containers, so these instructions focus on how to plant a containerized tree. However, principles involving site preparation and proper planting depth also apply to “B&B” trees (balled and burlap) and “bare root” trees (transported from the nursery without soil around the roots).

 

Step 1: Choose the right tree for the right spot.

If you’ve purchased a tree from Trees 2020, a Tree Team site assessment volunteer has already helped you with this. Congratulations! Considerations are tree size at maturity, amount of available above-ground and below-ground space, amount of sunlight, and desirable characteristics such as flowers, fruit, shade density, canopy shape, and other factors. For a more complete overview on tree selection, see www.treesaregood.com/treecare/tree_selection.aspx. Also, if you are planting a tree in your front yard or along the sidewalk, call 1-888-DIG-SAFE to make sure you don’t plant over a gas, electric or water line.

Step 2: Prepare a wide planting hole.

Dig and cultivate the soil as wide as possible. Most of a tree’s roots will grow in the top 1 ½ feet of soil, and will extend beyond the edge of the tree’s canopy (not downwards) – in other words, if you make it easy for the roots to grow outwards, the tree will thrive. Dig a hole at least 2-3 times the width of the root ball, but the more the better! Don’t simply dig a hole the width of the container. The hole should only be as deep as the containerized root ball, so don’t waste energy digging or preparing soil below this depth (about 14-18 inches). Also, most yard situations do not require changing or amending the soil. The tree has to adjust to your soil eventually anyway. If your soil is so poor that you must amend, you should probably amend a large area rather than making a “teacup” of good soil, or reconsider planting a tree at all.

Step 3: Prepare the root ball for planting.

Remove the plastic container – lay the tree on its side, and hit the bottom and sides of the container with your shovel until the root ball is loosened to help ease the container off. Stand the tree back up, and locate or expose the tree’s “root flare,” the point where the first large roots flare horizontally at the base of the trunk. 99% of the time it will be buried and you have to dig for it, sometimes as much as 4 to 5 inches or more! This is critical. Gently remove surrounding soil entirely from the top of the root ball until you reveal the tops of large roots. Sometimes fine roots hairs have grown upwards to the surface, making soil-removal difficult. If so, here’s the secret - use a small handsaw (brutal, but effective!) to slice away the top “ring” of unnecessary soil from around the trunk’s base (careful, don’t slice the bark on the trunk) until you see the top of the root flare. Also, some trees are grafted onto different rootstock and have a 4-5 inch swelling that at first glance looks like the top of the root flare. Dig deeper, this graft union swelling should be planted above the soil. Next, snip away a section of circling roots that are larger than a pencil, especially near the top of the root ball, so that they don’t choke the base of the tree later in life. Gently loosen or separate some of the smaller circling roots, if any.

Step 4: Measure for proper planting depth, and place the tree in the planting hole.

Using your shovel, measure the height of the root ball from root flare to the ground. Compare it to the depth of your planting hole – another shovel can be placed across the hole to help gauge the proper level. You may need to add or remove some soil at the bottom to adjust the height in order to make sure the tree’s root flare is just visible at the soil line after it is planted. This is the proper depth for a tree, and is very important. Most trees are planted too deeply! Once you have it right, stomp on the soil at the bottom of the hole so that it is quite firm, to prevent the tree from sinking or shifting later on. Gently place the tree in the hole – try to lift or move the tree by the root ball, not the trunk.

Step 5: Backfill with soil and water the tree.

After you have backfilled about halfway, gently firm the soil with your foot, then fill the rest of the way. Form a temporary basin with soil around the tree, about 5 feet wide and 3 inches tall, to hold water for the first year or so. Do not mound any soil over the root flare. Water the tree thoroughly, slowly is best, about 15 gallons for a deep watering. You may need to add a little more soil if an air pocket collapsed.

Step 6: Mulch around the tree.

Place 2 to 3 inches of organic mulch over the planting site, but do not place mulch against the trunk (don’t be the person with “volcano” mulching!). Good mulches for trees are bark chips or shredded bark. Mulch is important for preserving soil moisture, moderating soil temperature, and creating a neat, finished look.

Step 7: Give your new tree care, especially the first two years.

Water your tree once a week with about 15 gallons of water, applied slowly if possible. This type of deep watering is better than giving small amounts more often, because it encourage roots to grow downward rather than remain near the surface. However, you may need to water more often during periods of hot, dry weather during the first summer. Replace the mulch every year by cultivating the old mulch into the soil (or removing some of it) and applying new mulch to maintain a 2-3 inch depth.

There’s usually NO NEED to…

• fertilize the tree. Your soil should have everything the tree needs. You may be encouraging increased foliage growth compared to root growth. Fast growth does not always = healthy growth.
• stake the tree. If planted properly, your tree won’t lean or fall over. It should be allowed to have some sway for good trunk taper and development, and staking materials are sometimes left on too long and choke the tree. However, go ahead and stake the tree if planted in a very windy site, or to protect the new tree from activity in the area. Use a soft strap such as “Arbortie” or other material, don’t use wire and hose. Remove the staking materials after one growing season.
• wrap the trunk in burlap or paper. This really does nothing for the tree, but may create moist space for insects and fungal spores to thrive.
• prune the tree at planting. The tree needs all the leaves it has to create food for its root system to grow and become reestablished. Just prune dead or broken branches, and consider pruning for structure in a year or two.