Landscape Architect Articles

LCN Tree Care February, 200402-01-04 | News

Tree Planting Preparation

By Sean Stowell, LCN

Planting a tree is a fairly simple procedure. Keeping it healthy in the early stages is the real challenge.

As a tree care professional you understand the importance of proper planting in a tree’s success. There’s the width of the hole, the height of the root ball, and what to use as backfill, that makes this process more than just placing a tree in a dug up piece of earth.

The top of the tree’s root ball should be level with or slightly above the surrounding soil. This limits the amount of settling that takes place after planting. Then the landscape contractor should crush the soil dug out from the hole and use this as backfill. Soil can be added around the tree until the hole is about half full, then the soil should be made firm to eliminate air pockets. The hole can then be filled all the way and the soil firmed up again.

“A tree should be planted at grade or slightly higher,” said Robert L. Crudup, Jr., president and chief operating officer of Valley Crest Tree Company. “The pit should be deep and wide enough to get the tree in the hole and it should be backfilled with native soil.”

1. For specimen tree planting, dig the hole one to three times the root ball width, but not any deeper than the root ball depth.

2. It is important to stake or guy a tree after it has been planted. The nursery stake should be removed as it is only designed for temporary use.

Crudup advises that the hole should be dug about one-and-one-half times as wide as the root ball and only as deep. He also said that the edges of the hole should be scarified, creating a rough surface for the roots to penetrate.

Possibly the most important factor in the success of a newly planted tree is proper drainage. So the planting pit should be checked before setting the plant. Fill the pit with water. If the water drains out within six to eight hours, there should be no problems. If water is still standing, artificial drainage should be installed.

“Drainage is especially important in soils that don’t drain well like compacted soils found on commercial construction projects or clay soils,” Crudup said. “Clay soils hold water and do not drain well.”

Trees more often than not fail upon planting for two reasons&too much water or too little water and this is where drainage plays a key role.

3. Planting a palm tree requires backfill of 100 percent washed plaster sand. The palm trunk should also be vertical.

4. There are many different planting and staking details used throughout the industry. While there are some site specific situations that require specialized detail, those shown here represent the more common methods.

“The key is for the root ball to get wet,” Crudup said. “Often times what happens is the water gets to the pit and the backfill takes in water but it doesn?EUR??,,????'???t get to the ball itself. The ball dries from the core to the edges and it is hard to get the ball wet again.”

Once the tree is planted it should be staked or guyed, depending on the situation. It is important to remember that nursery stakes be removed, as they are not designed for long-term use.