Tree & Shrub Planting Tips

There are several basic steps you will need to follow when choosing and planting new tree and shrub material. Following these steps will help your trees and shrubs reach their full growth and aesthetic potential.

Select the Proper Planting Area
Planting areas should match the specific environmental needs of the plant material you have chosen. Many times mistakes are made such as planting a shade loving shrub in full sunlight, or placing a plant that does not like excessive moisture in a wet, shady area. Problems such as leaf scorch or root rot can often occur to these plants.

Be sure to research which particular environmental conditions a tree or shrub requires before you plant it, and make sure you have a place on your landscape that will fit its needs.

Leaf scorch from sunlight

Properly Prepare the Plant
In many cases, nursery grown plants' root balls will become constrained and form-fitted to the container they have been growing in. The roots will often be growing in a circular pattern or they will begin to actually grow back inside the soil of the root ball.

Be sure to take the time to disturb the root ball and loosen up the feeder roots so that they will not continue to grow in the same pattern after planting. The root systems of "Pot Bound" plants will not spread out after planting. They will simply continue to grow in the same circular pattern. Eventually the roots will deplete the root ball soil of all nutrients and the plant will die.

Properly Prepare the Planting Area
Clay soils are notoriously non-permeable. Water does not move through it freely, and this is important to know when preparing the planting area to accept a new tree or shrub. Be sure to dig the planting hole substantially wider and slightly deeper than the root ball of the plant you are installing. Backfill the hole with non-compacted soil before installing the plant, and lightly tamp the soil around the new plant after installing it. This will allow water to seep down to the root ball, and the soil will not be so compact that the feeder roots cannot spread out in future months.

Planting