The first key issue in ensuring a plant lives and grows at its maximum potential is to plant it correctly. Our recommended planting procedures are based on our years of research, experimentation and the results (and non-results or negative results) obtained from various planting methods. Our family has been successfully planting trees in this area for the past 138 years and what we recommend is what we currently find to result in the best performance of the plant in the customers landscaping from the date of planting onward.

Pre-Planting Care

Plant The Plant Immediately When You Buy It

Homeowners should plant plants as soon as possible after buying them. Plants require an extensive amount of care during the timeframe between harvesting and planting. They must be protected from drying and overheating, given varying levels of shade, handled in a specific manner, watered in a specific manner, etc. to insure they remain viable when they are to be planted. Let Country Arbors do this, that’s one of the services we provide. You can always make arrangements to have whatever stock it is you need available when you need it. This way you ensure the material you receive is viable at the time of planting.

Prepare the Planting Site Prior to Planting

The planting site should be clean at the time of planting. All competing non-desired vegetation should be removed. There are several methods by which this can be done.

• Multiple Tilling
• Kills non-desired small vegetation over time
• Requires 2-4 tillings over a couple of months

• Opaque Plastic Sheeting
• Kills non-desired small vegetation in 20-30 Days
• Stake down the plastic over area a month before planting

• Hand Weeding
• Ready for planting immediately
• Hard work and time intensive

• Stripping (sod only)
• Mechanical means is quickest, easiest
• Hand stripping is hard, time consuming
  

• Herbicides
  
  • Kills non-desired vegetation in approximately 10 days
    
  • Extremely important that manufacturers directions are followed
    

Preparing the Planting Hole

The Importance of Planting a Tree Correctly

Planting day is here. The plants have been chosen at the nursery, the locations selected, the ground prepared and the truck just arrived at your house (or you brought it home yourself if you’re really ready to get going). Now the work is to begin, the plants have to be planted. Before addressing the issue of how to plant the material, let’s take a look at why proper planting is so important. A 2″ BB tree will leave behind 90%-95% of its absorbing root surface at the nursery when it is dug. More important however is that it brought the bulk of its weight and all its stored sugar which will fuel the new root growth which will will replace the old, removed root growth. That’s the reason the majority of all balled and burlapped plants survive when they leave the nursery if they are given any type of decent follow-up. A beautiful 5 gallon shrub will bring all its reserves and the absorbing root system with it so there won’t be any lag time relative to root replacement. There’s another issue however. Most container grown plants are grown in a soil substrate mix (which may or may not contain soil), and these mixes often cause problems. Artificial mixes such as bark often very light and the roots don’t adhere well to the mix. When the plant is planted it is very easy to “shake down” the plant until it more resembles a bare root plant than a container grown one. When it’s too heavy it’s very difficult to address a matted root situation. The key point is these plants are vigorous, growing and ready and willing to keep doing so. However in order to do so they must be planted in a manner which maintains their current vitality and provides them with the opportunity to continue to grow at their maximum capacity. Their ability to do this will depend upon two things, how well the plant is planted relative to the needs of its new location and the care the plant receives after planting.

The Shape and Width of the Hole

The planting hole should be tapered, two to three times the size of the plants ball or root spread at the top and only slightly wider at the base of the plant. This is because most root growth occurs in the upper 12 inches of soil so the planting area needs to be shallow and wide to accommodate the development of the fibrous roots (these new roots must push through the soil). If the hole is not adequate for this root growth there will not be enough loosened soil for this fibrous root growth development. In a stricter sense, the soil volume needed for healthy root growth depends upon the species, mature size, life span and stress factors. At a minimum, the hole needs to be at least one and one half times the size of the ball to enable it to be properly set.

The Depth of the Hole

The bottom of the hole should be I” to 2″ less than the depth of the ball being planted. Otherwise, the top of the roots or root ball should be I” to 2″ above the surface of the ground from its original growing level. The most common way of identifying this level is to look at the trunk flare (The point where the trunk ends and root development begins), that’s the original growing level. The bottom plant should sit on untouched soil, not amended soil. Amended soil compacts over time and will result in the plant being planted too deep. As stated earlier most of the plants roots will develop in the top 12″ of soil, if a plant is planted too deep it will have difficulty developing due to a lack of oxygen.

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