Trees and Utility Line Planning & Planting, Part 8
 | Author:
Patrick Plantenberg, Tree Board Chair
Townsend Tree Board Chair, Townsend Rotary Club |
Trees and Utility Line Planning & Planting, Part 8 Patrick Plantenberg, Tree Board Chair Note: This is the last in a series of articles to help prepare residents for any planned tree planting or pruning in their yards this coming year.
The Townsend Tree Board is proud to provide this series of articles on tree planting and pruning considerations. A demonstration site on the northwest corner of D Street and South Walnut Street here in Townsend is being used.
In last week’s article, we learned: • How to prepare a site for planting. • Don’t plant a $50 tree in a $5 hole! • And make sure you locate utilities before digging!
The frost is out of the ground. Pruning season is coming to an end as the buds on trees start to break. The only thing left to do is remove any volunteer trees coming up around your yard. Dig them out if possible. If you cut off a volunteer tree in your yard, make sure you kill the stump otherwise it will just keep coming back. The most common volunteers in our yards in town are Siberian elms. Make sure you use a recommended stump killer and not salt or other products that will kill the soil.
This week we will learn how to plant a tree. The hole is prepared as discussed last week. You have selected a tree that is adapted for our climate (i.e., USDA Hardiness Zones 2-4) and you checked its suitability for the planting site and eventual size on your cell phone before you left the nursery or box store. Make sure the tree you purchased has a good branching structure and no broken or rubbing limbs.
The Townsend Tree Board does not recommend ball and burlap (B&B) trees as they are expensive, hard to plant, and have lost most of their roots in the digging process. We prefer bare-root trees, but they are the hardest to find.
The most common choice you are left with is container-grown trees. Container trees have 100% of their roots but you still need to remove roots that are circling around the container. Once this circling process has started circling in the tree hole, it will continue until the roots eventually strangle the tree.
Try to pull the roots apart with a large screwdriver so they spread out in the hole. If they are so rootbound that you cannot spread the roots out, you will need to cut off the roots around the root ball and at the bottom of the container. This can be best done with a reciprocating saw. It is recommended to remove about an inch from the four sides of the root ball and an inch from the bottom of the root ball. Then try to spread the roots out again with the screwdriver. You can remove up to 30% of the roots from the container tree in this process. Don’t worry, B&B trees have lost as much as 90% of their roots in the digging process!
Whatever type of tree you purchase whether B&B, container, or bare root, place the tree in the hole and ensure it is not too deep. The first main root should be at the soil surface or slightly elevated. Better too shallow than too deep! Place the prepared native soil as described last week in the hole and water the soil with a garden hose to ensure there are no air pockets around the roots (see Picture 1). Do not pack the soil with your feet.
To complete the planting process, check the internet for a reliable source of information, such as the Arbor Day Foundation, on how to plant a bare-root, container, or B&B tree at: https://www.arborday.org/trees/planting.
Happy planting!
Article Images
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PhotoCredit: Pat Plantenberg
Image 1 Caption: New Tree Being Watered
