Planting trees
 

I have acquired a handful of young trees, each between 30 and 90 cm tall.
There's one each sweet (Spanish) chestnut, common birch, hazel and mountain
ash.
I intend to plant them a reasonable distance away from the house, to avoid
blocking light, but apart from that, is there anything I should do/look out
for/avoid doing?
I assume I need to stake them, any advice on that?
TIA!

--
Cat(h)
The world swirls...

"Cat" wrote in message
...
I have acquired a handful of young trees, each between 30 and 90 cm tall.
There's one each sweet (Spanish) chestnut, common birch, hazel and
mountain
ash.
I intend to plant them a reasonable distance away from the house, to avoid
blocking light, but apart from that, is there anything I should do/look
out
for/avoid doing?
I assume I need to stake them, any advice on that?
TIA!

Hi Cat,

I wouldn't bother staking them when they are only that tall. If they are
heeled in well, you'll get little root movement, any branch movement will
actually encourage deep root growth and a strong trunk when older. Having
said that, check they haven't lifted after any frost, and reheal as
necessary.

HTH

Nick
http://www.ukgardening.co.uk

Nick Gray wrote:
"Cat" wrote in message
...
I have acquired a handful of young trees, each between 30 and 90
cm
tall. There's one each sweet (Spanish) chestnut, common birch,
hazel
and mountain ash.
I intend to plant them a reasonable distance away from the house,
to
avoid blocking light, but apart from that, is there anything I
should do/look out for/avoid doing?
I assume I need to stake them, any advice on that?
TIA!

Hi Cat,

I wouldn't bother staking them when they are only that tall. If
they
are heeled in well, you'll get little root movement, any branch
movement will actually encourage deep root growth and a strong
trunk
when older. Having said that, check they haven't lifted after any
frost, and reheal as necessary.

Yep. But I'd prepare the soil well: they used to say "A guinea tree
is worth a guinea hole", and trees haven't changed as much as the
value of Sterling. Chuck in a bit of bone-meal. If you're on clay,
avoid just making a hole full of compost that will invisibly fill
with water: break it up and work a bit of rotted organic matter, if
you've got some, well into the soil for a few feet around. As Nick
says, firm them in nicely.

But plants can't read the books, so you'll usually get away with what
would in theory be murder. This gardening lark is easier than some
would have you think.

Mike.

The message
from "Mike Lyle" contains these words:

But plants can't read the books, so you'll usually get away with what
would in theory be murder. This gardening lark is easier than some
would have you think.

Strange, that. You'd think that as so many trees actually *BECOME*
books, they might show a little more interest innit.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:
The message
from "Mike Lyle" contains
these
words:

But plants can't read the books, so you'll usually get away with
what
would in theory be murder. This gardening lark is easier than some
would have you think.

Strange, that. You'd think that as so many trees actually *BECOME*
books, they might show a little more interest innit.

It's down to their primary socialization, I'm afraid. When they're
little, their mothers try to frighten them into good behaviour by
threatening them with being made into copies of the Daily Mail and
Lord Archer's novels. This gives the poor things a lifelong horror of
the printed word.

Mike.

"Nick Gray" wrote in message
...

"Cat" wrote in message
...
I have acquired a handful of young trees, each between 30 and 90 cm
tall.
There's one each sweet (Spanish) chestnut, common birch, hazel and
mountain
ash.
I intend to plant them a reasonable distance away from the house, to
avoid
blocking light, but apart from that, is there anything I should do/look
out
for/avoid doing?
I assume I need to stake them, any advice on that?
TIA!

Hi Cat,

I wouldn't bother staking them when they are only that tall. If they are
heeled in well, you'll get little root movement, any branch movement will
actually encourage deep root growth and a strong trunk when older. Having
said that, check they haven't lifted after any frost, and reheal as
necessary.


I take it heeling means firming around the rootball with my heel after
planting?

Many thanks to you and Mike for advice.

--
Cat(h)
The world swirls...

In article , Cat
writes

I take it heeling means firming around the rootball with my heel after
planting?

My understanding of 'heeling in' is a temporary measure of holding a
tree, shrub or perennial plant while it is waiting to be permanently
planted. The plant is placed into a shallow hole, the root-ball is
covered with soil which is firmed down with the heel, then it is given
plenty of water and hopefully priority in the planting programme.
--
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.

Hi Cat,

I wouldn't bother staking them when they are only that tall. If they are
heeled in well, you'll get little root movement, any branch movement
will
actually encourage deep root growth and a strong trunk when older.
Having
said that, check they haven't lifted after any frost, and reheal as
necessary.


I take it heeling means firming around the rootball with my heel after
planting?

Many thanks to you and Mike for advice.

Yep you got it, firm the soil down around the roots with your foot (it
doen't have to be your heel, but that's normally where you can apply most
pressure), so the roots are in contact with the soil. After firming, water
in well, this should get rid of any air pockets.

Cheers

Nick
http://www.ukgardening.co.uk

"Alan Gould" wrote in message
...
In article , Cat
writes

I take it heeling means firming around the rootball with my heel after
planting?

My understanding of 'heeling in' is a temporary measure of holding a
tree, shrub or perennial plant while it is waiting to be permanently
planted. The plant is placed into a shallow hole, the root-ball is
covered with soil which is firmed down with the heel, then it is given
plenty of water and hopefully priority in the planting programme.
--
Alan & Joan Gould - North Lincs.
Hi Alan,

You are right that the term 'heeling in' is used to store whips, saplings,
shrubs and small trees in a shallow trench, until ready for planting. See
Tree Council for a full definition:
http://www.treecouncil.org.uk/info/packng2.html. I meant it in the context
of firming the soil around the roots with your heel, in the planting hole,
which is (IMO) still valid.

Cheers

Nick
http://www.ukgardening.co.uk

"Nick Gray" wrote in message
...

Hi Cat,

I wouldn't bother staking them when they are only that tall. If they
are
heeled in well, you'll get little root movement, any branch movement
will
actually encourage deep root growth and a strong trunk when older.
Having
said that, check they haven't lifted after any frost, and reheal as
necessary.


I take it heeling means firming around the rootball with my heel after
planting?

Many thanks to you and Mike for advice.

Yep you got it, firm the soil down around the roots with your foot (it
doen't have to be your heel, but that's normally where you can apply most
pressure), so the roots are in contact with the soil. After firming, water
in well, this should get rid of any air pockets.


Sorry for being so ignorant, but I assume now is an OK time to plant trees?
Or should I wait longer, bearing in mind that the trees in question are
currently in pots (at a wild guess 1 or 2 l pots)


--
Cat(h)
The world swirls...

"Cat" wrote in message
...



Sorry for being so ignorant, but I assume now is an OK time to plant
trees?
Or should I wait longer, bearing in mind that the trees in question are
currently in pots (at a wild guess 1 or 2 l pots)



Wait until the leaves are off as the roots are then being asked for much
less water, and they will then have all winter to recover from the damage
done when planting them.

--
Anton

On 8/10/04 2:45 pm, in article , "Cat"
wrote:

snip
Sorry for being so ignorant, but I assume now is an OK time to plant trees?
Or should I wait longer, bearing in mind that the trees in question are
currently in pots (at a wild guess 1 or 2 l pots)


Yes is the answer. In theory, container grown plants can be planted at any
time of the year; bare root plants are safest planted in autumn.
While lack of rain is not likely to be a problem, mini droughts can occur in
October in parts of UK, so don't let the tree dry out. Dig a hole a little
wider than the tree's roots and no deeper than the current soil mark on its
trunk. In an ideal world, don't let grass or weeds grow up to the trunk for
a year or two and keep it well watered.

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

"Nick Gray" wrote in message
...

I take it heeling means firming around the rootball with my heel
after
planting?

Many thanks to you and Mike for advice.

Yep you got it, firm the soil down around the roots with your foot
(it
doen't have to be your heel, but that's normally where you can apply
most
pressure), so the roots are in contact with the soil. After firming,
water
in well, this should get rid of any air pockets.

There would appear to be two uses for the term "heelong in". The
alternative is to put newly acquired shrubs in a large drill, the
roots lightly covered with soil, until the ground is ready for proper
planting.

Franz