bigredfeather
Garden Ornament
I am going to be planting 3 apple, 2 pear, and 2 peach trees tonight. Any insightful tips or no-no's to follow.
Planting Fruit Trees
- Thread starter bigredfeather
- Start date
Greenthumb18
Deeply Rooted
Oh thats sounds like fun!! 
As long as you give them enough room in between and planting them at the right depth you should be fine. Maybe add some good compost mixed into the hole when planting them couldn't hurt. Give a good watering after planting would be good.
Have Fun!!
As long as you give them enough room in between and planting them at the right depth you should be fine. Maybe add some good compost mixed into the hole when planting them couldn't hurt. Give a good watering after planting would be good.
Have Fun!!
- Thread starter
- #3
bigredfeather
Garden Ornament
Well, so far I'm doing good then. Last night I removed the sod where I want to plant them establishing the spacing, then took out a few shovels full of dirt out of each hole and put a few shovels of compost back in its place and mixed well.
patandchickens
Deeply Rooted
It would really be better NOT to mix compost (or anything else) into the planting hole. You don't want the roots to stay there and grow round and round -- you want them to grow out into the surrounding soil.
I know that amending the planting hole is the old-timey recommendation, but this seems to be one of those cases where tradition is *mistaken* as to what's best.
JMHO, good luck, have fun,
Pat
I know that amending the planting hole is the old-timey recommendation, but this seems to be one of those cases where tradition is *mistaken* as to what's best.
JMHO, good luck, have fun,
Pat
ducks4you
Garden Master
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I think I dug about a foot lower and two feet in diameter LARGER than the root ball, to enable the roots to dig a little easier. It's more work, but it helps the tree. Fill in the remainder and MOUND it around the exposed base. Rain will wash the excess dirt down, and it should settle in a couple of months.
Manure or compost at the bottom of the hole helps.
Handle the roots carefully, just as you would with a little seedling.
Super soak it with water immediately after planting. If your trees have that hard plastic sleeve, you can put the hose in that through the top, then turn on the water pressure low in order to soak it.
As YOU KNOW, trees can be a costly investment, and it's no fun when they die. The only one that's died on me was a super-special $6 apple tree, so I didn't mind too much.
ALMOST forgot--You're gonna wear out planting these trees, so remember: they can live fine in those pots for a few days, while they wait in line to be planted--just water them while they sit. AND, save the pots for something else in the future--I have last summer's geraniums in MY tree pots, living happily in the basement windows, awaiting May sunshine before they go into the ground again.
Manure or compost at the bottom of the hole helps.
Handle the roots carefully, just as you would with a little seedling.
Super soak it with water immediately after planting. If your trees have that hard plastic sleeve, you can put the hose in that through the top, then turn on the water pressure low in order to soak it.
As YOU KNOW, trees can be a costly investment, and it's no fun when they die. The only one that's died on me was a super-special $6 apple tree, so I didn't mind too much.
ALMOST forgot--You're gonna wear out planting these trees, so remember: they can live fine in those pots for a few days, while they wait in line to be planted--just water them while they sit. AND, save the pots for something else in the future--I have last summer's geraniums in MY tree pots, living happily in the basement windows, awaiting May sunshine before they go into the ground again.
journey11
Garden Master
A $20 tree needs a $40 hole! :tools
Dig a hole plenty big enough to generously accommodate the roots, about twice the diameter of the spread roots/root ball. I mix in about 1/3 volume of compost into the dirt I removed (I'll take out the hard clay though and the grass clods). Too much will make it settle a lot as the compost continues to break down.
Fill the hole enough to get your tree up to where you want it, packing the dirt down firmly and mounding a little in the middle, then fan your roots out nicely over the mound, put a little more dirt in and firm down. Adjust height of the tree and add more dirt if necessary. You don't want it to sink down later, that's why you pack as you go.
Have somebody hold the tree for you while you give it a generous watering. At this point I like to plant dead fish/fish offal along the perimeter of the hole (I save scraps from fish I catch and freeze them for this use...just gives it a nice boost.) Add more dirt to fill the hole, firming as you go.
It's very important that the the tree's root stock/grafted area be properly lined up with the ground level. Most nurseries will mark this spot for you with paint so that you don't bury too deep/too shallow. It depends on the type of tree you have, dwarf/semi-dwarf/standard how deep you go. On the semi-dwarf apple I planted last year, it needed the grafted point above the ground with a couple inches of the root stock up. Also, you want your graft point facing towards the prevailing wind (should notice a bit of a bend in the trunk there, you want that to point out toward the direction of the prevailing wind.)
What dirt you have left over/rejected clay, I use this to make a well around the circumference of the hole to help corral water. (You can knock it flat after a year or so if you want.) With a new tree you must water, water, water faithfully and very deeply the first year until its roots get established.
If you decide to mulch to keep the weeds down, make sure the mulch is not touching your trunk. Also, good idea to stake the tree from two or three points and tie so that it will grow straight. Use a trunk guard if bunnies are a problem in your area so they don't girdle it and kill it.
Dig a hole plenty big enough to generously accommodate the roots, about twice the diameter of the spread roots/root ball. I mix in about 1/3 volume of compost into the dirt I removed (I'll take out the hard clay though and the grass clods). Too much will make it settle a lot as the compost continues to break down.
Fill the hole enough to get your tree up to where you want it, packing the dirt down firmly and mounding a little in the middle, then fan your roots out nicely over the mound, put a little more dirt in and firm down. Adjust height of the tree and add more dirt if necessary. You don't want it to sink down later, that's why you pack as you go.
Have somebody hold the tree for you while you give it a generous watering. At this point I like to plant dead fish/fish offal along the perimeter of the hole (I save scraps from fish I catch and freeze them for this use...just gives it a nice boost.) Add more dirt to fill the hole, firming as you go.
It's very important that the the tree's root stock/grafted area be properly lined up with the ground level. Most nurseries will mark this spot for you with paint so that you don't bury too deep/too shallow. It depends on the type of tree you have, dwarf/semi-dwarf/standard how deep you go. On the semi-dwarf apple I planted last year, it needed the grafted point above the ground with a couple inches of the root stock up. Also, you want your graft point facing towards the prevailing wind (should notice a bit of a bend in the trunk there, you want that to point out toward the direction of the prevailing wind.)
What dirt you have left over/rejected clay, I use this to make a well around the circumference of the hole to help corral water. (You can knock it flat after a year or so if you want.) With a new tree you must water, water, water faithfully and very deeply the first year until its roots get established.
If you decide to mulch to keep the weeds down, make sure the mulch is not touching your trunk. Also, good idea to stake the tree from two or three points and tie so that it will grow straight. Use a trunk guard if bunnies are a problem in your area so they don't girdle it and kill it.
vfem
Garden Addicted
Water often and mulch this whole year!!! Gets them good and established. ENJOY!!!! 
ENJOY!!!! - Thread starter
- #8
bigredfeather
Garden Ornament
Thanks everybody. I got them planted last night. Need to finish staking them today. It looks so nice to see two rows of new trees in my yard. Now I just need to figure out how to take care of them (spraying, pruning, ect) I guess that will be an upcoming post.
Thanks again for the help.
Thanks again for the help.
Southern Gardener
Deeply Rooted
Yup, I just planted a pear tree and the tag said NOT to amend the soil.patandchickens said:
simple life
Garden Ornament
I have never mixed anything into the holes when I plant trees because thats exactly what the people at the nursery told me, that the roots would stay where they were since they didn't have to go out and search for nutrients.
The new fruit trees I just got said the same thing on the guide they sent with it.
The new fruit trees I just got said the same thing on the guide they sent with it.
