On Mon, 26 Jul 2004 09:50:45 -0400, William Wagner
opined:

Dig good sized holes
& slip them out of the pots & into the ground without disturbing the
roots.

What is the current thinking these days?

$10 dollar tree and a $50 dollar hole or is it now $50 tree and a $10
hole.
Perhaps it is somewhere in between? I've seen paint wounds larger than
you thumb to don't use tree paint.

William(Bill)

The current thinking is to dig a big ugly hole.
This means you don't dig a hole with smooth sides. Really dig a rough shaped
hole about three times the size of the container. Make sure you plant the tree
so you can clearly see the root flare after you put the soil back. It is always
better to plant the tree too shallow, than too deeply. After planting the tree,
with the root flare showing, apply a nice layer of fungal compost, then top that
with a few inches of mulch. Do not cover the root flare. If you do not see
this flare at the base of the tree, it was probably planted too deeply in the
container to begin with. It's a problem which is showing up everywhere.

Do NOT add any compost or other amendments to the soil. Only use the native
soil to fill the hole after you plant the tree. The reason for the rough sided
hole is so that the roots will not girdle around and around in a smooth sided
hole. It will provide a break in the soil tension for new roots to push through
the surrounding native soil, which is not softened in the hole you plant the
tree in.

The first step in this process, before you remove the tree from the container
is to thoroughly saturate the plant in the container. I recommend using liquid
seaweed as a drench before planting, not for fertilization, but to help
stimulate new root development. The trace minerals in the seaweed promote this
process and helps the tree with transplant stress, particularly in the summer.

Trees which are balled and burlap do not plant well in summer. They should be
heeled in and kept moist all summer then planted in the fall when the
temperatures remain below 75 during the day.

Victoria


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