How To Plant A Tree or Shrub

[Bizzlefrits]

A thorough yet concise overview of how to plant something outside. This goes along very closely with what I was taught, too. Great refresher, thanks!

[growingwisdom]

There are always evolving opinions on how to plant trees and shrubs. I try to take the most widely accepted techniques when doing a video and then add in some of my own experience. Dave

[mrdreamyard]

nothing wrong with this video. we all vary a little in the way we do things. I believe getting rid of the burlap is an advantage for the roots though. the first couple of years of root development can be criticle so any restrictions can be bad. hard to go wrong with a 50/50 mix either. Cross reference everything you see with other videos and you shouldn't go wrong.

[TheKyleroach]

always leave the burlap on. there is no need to inspect the lower root system, the only root problem would be a gurdel root and that would be at the top. I belive that a 50/50 mix is always best for a backfill, but he was planting a rhodo so its justifiable with all the fungi they are subject to. The espoma brand fertilizer he uses is great for transplanting. Now they carry a Bio-Tone specificly for new planting.

[ToryMattzu]

1 ) Buy tree

2 ) Dig hole

3 ) Put tree in hole

4 ) Bury roots

5 ) Water

boom done

[onedollah]

i wish it were so easy, but there's a ton of smaller more important steps in between.

[cheekizms]

win

[Snikerbox]

Growingwisdom: I don't quite understand why triple (super) phosphate ought to be the ONLY fertilizer used in transplating. I always use a 5-15-5 mix with a root stimulator and it works great, never burns. So, you can still add a fert. that has low N and K.

One more question. Why does my city put 12 inches of mulch around their trees? Is this a tactic for watering less often?

[AznEnrique]

2:30: The burlap should always be taken off. It allows you to inspect the rootball for damaged or problematic roots that can be corrected before the shrub/tree is planted. Not all plants B&B'd have just been dug from the field. Sometimes there are wire baskets that are intact as well that need to be removed.

[growingwisdom]

Arayan. Normally, mix 1/2 the soil you pulled out with new soil. Then the plant has time to get use to the existing soil with some really good stuff. In this example the soil was horrible.  I might have said if the soil is really bad choose an new site or dig a hole 3 or 4 times as wide and ammend the soil with some native left. Good point on your part. Thanks!

[arayan83079]

At 4:00, you mention that your backfill was lousy so you aren't going to use it. Your planting hole is about 3"-6" wider than your root ball. If you fill in the rest of the hole with different fill, the roots will start in the new fill, but then what happens when they grow beyond the new fill?

I think you should've put the old fill back in, since that is the soil the tree is going to have to get used to over the long run.