Spring: An Excellent Time To Plant Trees & Shrubs

Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes

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Now is an excellent time to establish new trees and shrubs is your landscape. Container-grown or balled-and-burlapped trees do best with a little time to become well established before hot weather comes.

Just dropping trees in the ground is not going to insure their success so I am sharing some of the best ideas to help you successfully establish the plants in your landscape. Keep in mind that the advice contained here might differ from some long held "olds spouse's tales" of how things should be done.

Soil preparation is another important part of tree survival. Break up the soil until the clods are no smaller than a grape and no larger than an egg. Remove large rocks and any construction debris you might find. If your soil is not good quality with too much sand or clay, add compost, peat moss or other amendments over the entire area.

Previously, many erroneous publications, recommended replacing the soil with various types of organic matter. That is not a good idea because it then creates a natural flower pot so that the roots only grow in that soil and never move into the native soil. That develops a very small unnatural root system and that affects the long term growth of the tree.

After getting the soil prepared, then it is time to dig the hole. When I was young I always heard that "You should not dig a dollar hole for a ten dollar tree." Adjusting for inflation, it now reads, "You should not dig a ten dollar hole for a 100 dollar tree."

What that means is that the hole needs to fit the tree. Older textbooks recommended excavating a very deep hole and then backfilling the bottom of the hole with amended soils. When that happened, the tree root ball was placed on unsettled soil. When it compacted, the tree sank and was buried too deeply.

When the bark on the trunk of a tree gets buried, it then stays wet and is not exposed to oxygen. This often rots the base of the tree and kills the tree. To further aggravate the problem, the sunken hole collects additional water that helps make the problem much worse.

Dig the planting hole about one inch less than the depth of the root ball of your tree. That places the tree on firm soil that will not settle. Dig the hole several times wider than the root ball so as the tree roots start to grow out, they can spread without restriction.

Some trees have taproots but do not be concerned about them when transplanting your trees. In production nurseries, the taproots are removed when they are root pruned. Consequently the roots on all trees need to spread out and not go down.

The biggest controversy is what to do about what is holding the root ball together. Some root ball-packing material is almost indestructible so remove wire, plastic, fiberglass or anything else that will not rot quickly that might interfere with normal root or trunk growth.

Having said that remember that the pots, wire baskets and the burlap are to hold the root ball together and prevent it from breaking. Remember a broken root ball usually means a dead tree so handle them carefully to avoid destroying the plant.

Balled and burlapped trees with wire baskets should be carefully set into the planting hole using the wire baskets. After backfilling about a third of the way up the root ball, then carefully cut away any wires or strings on top and then cut away any treated burlap.

Remove container stock from the pot very carefully and place it in the hole. Then backfill around the root ball while you water it in. Avoid stomping or otherwise compacting the soil when planting. Water to keep the soil moist but do not overwater.

Plant them right and give them the care they need. Trees can grow for centuries but improper planting will send them to an early grave. Take the time to do it right the first time.