A Hort Moment

I thought that I knew how to plant a tree!  But at the Shirley Meneice Horticulture Conference I took a workshop called “What Made My Good Plant Go Bad” and I learned that ideas about how to plant trees have changed.  Since late fall is a very good time to plant a tree, I thought this would be a fine time to share what I learned. Here are the latest methods to see that your new tree thrives.

• Dig a hole that is 4 times wider than the root ball of the tree but no deeper than the root ball.

• Amend the soil with a soil inoculant (such as Tree Root Saver) that combines mycorrhizal fungi and beneficial bacteria to stimulate new root growth.

• Remove ALL burlap and any basket supporting the tree.  If you have someone doing this work who tells you leaving any of this is OK, please tell them that you want the work done YOUR way and that it must be removed. 

• Place the tree on the hardpan bottom of the hole, making sure that no roots are twisted but that they are spread out toward the edges of the large hole.

• Gently fill in around the roots up to the trunk of the tree.  You may amend the soil some but do not use manure or anything too rich.

• If the tree is small, it does not need to be staked.  Staking should really be done only if the tree is in a spot where it is subject to lots of wind.  

• Some movement of the trunk helps the roots grab and improves the stability of the tree.

• Water well and mulch to conserve moisture but make sure that the mulch does not touch the trunk of the tree.  You want a space of three to four inches between the trunk and the mulch.

• If staking is done, be sure to remove in one year.

Today I am digging and planting some small volunteer American Sycamore Trees.  I hope my newly learned tips help my trees thrive in their new location. What might you plant this fall?