How to plant a tree?

treeguru wannabe

I've planted a few trees, but would like to know the step-by-step right way to do it to make sure I'm doing it right. I live in west-central, WI, and have mainly clay-type soil. Also, is there a different way to plant different trees? I just bought four 6 foot autumn blaze maples, and two 5 foot blue spruce that are sitting in my driveway right now in containers ready to be planted. I'm watering them every day, but first would like to hear what everyone has to say about the correct way it has to be done.

Thanks!

Eric Frei

Planting advanced burlap trees

Planting Advanced tree stock

Tree Roots| Root Types| Root Pruning| Tap Roots

Myth soil amendments

Soil| Volume| Area| Shape| Mature Trees

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TreeSpecialist

Ekka, as usual. comes through with excellent advice.

My personal experience with soil amendments is different however. I have found that amending the backfill with compost (50/50) has helped immeasurably with my own plantings.

Dr. Nina Bassuk, Cornell University, has done a great deal of work in this area. One 3 year study she did concluded that amending the back fill did indeed have a positive effect on the success of new plantings.

She used both peat moss and compost (separately) in her study and found each to work better than no amendment at all. All composts are not the same. The same is true of mycorrhizae. A good finished compost along with soil or leaf litter from beneath an established tree of the same species (to inoculate the soil with the proper mycorrhizae) makes a huge difference in my plantings.

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treeguru wannabe

Yes, Ekka has some great advice but was looking for other information as well. Thanks to both of you.

The trees I planted last year I didn't use any amendments. I just dug the holes, put the tree in, filled it with the dirt I dug up, and let it be. This year, for the ones that I'm about to plant, I did buy some compost/manure mixture that I was planning on mixing 50/50 so I'm glad you said something about that.

What would you recommend for watering schedules for newly planted trees? I always seem to water too much or too little. We have mainly clay soil.

TreeSpecialist

"Composted manures" are problematic. If they come from a large feed lot or even a dairy, they may have a high salt content.

Use it sparingly on top of the ground only. No more than 1 inch thick and then soak it well.

Newly planted trees will dry out more quickly than an established tree. Use you index finger. if it is dry up to the second knuckle, water.

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treeguru wannabe

No this stuff I bought from Wal-Mart. I'm pretty sure it's a compost/manure mixture. Does this change things at all?

Thanks for the info on watering. I'm just not very good when it comes to know when to water and how much. Same with regular plants.

How often should I water a new tree now this much? 4-6 weeks? I know my trees that I planted last year I'll water now when it's very dry only...not every week like I used to.