Planting advice
Follow this easy guide to give your tree the best start.
On collection day, the tree roots will have been pre-treated with a mycorrhizal fungi, which increases the plant's survival. The fungi act as extensions of the plant roots and gather moisture and nutrients from nearby soil in exchange for sugars.
Planting of bare root trees must be done in winter months, when trees are in a dormant state. The weather is often wetter which means plenty of water for the roots. We advise you plant your tree straight after collection to ensure the best chance of survival.
When choosing where to put your tree, refer to the tree information to evaluate the soil, light and size factors, then choose a place that ideally avoids dips in the ground, heavy shade and dry soils.
Use the notch method for planting:
- Look at your tree, you will see a soil line around the bottom of the stem, this is where the soil was up to in the nursery. Use a spade to make a notch in the ground which will be deep enough to reach the soil line.
- Move the spade back and forth to make space for the roots.
- Slide the tree gently down into the notch at an angle and deeper than required, then pull the tree upwards towards the right depth.
- Use your feet to tread the soil down carefully and firmly around the stem, don’t tread to hard so that a dip is created.
- After planting give your tree plenty of water to help it get established, this can be a whole bucket or watering can, pour slowly around the stem.
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Early maintenance
Check up on your tree, it may need a little help from time to time, especially in its early years. Try to keep the area around your tree free from weeds and long grass for the first year, as these compete with the tree and reduce its growth.
You can pull these weeds out by hand and/or you can apply mulch. Mulch is a collective term for materials that keep heat and moisture to aid root growth and can be a sheet material, wood chippings, bark, leaflitter or mown grass.
Watering
Water as directed above, then start to water once a week when you see buds first appearing in spring onwards, to give the tree a better chance of survival. Warmer, drier summers make it harder for young trees to establish, so they will need plenty of water.
For more established trees, it is recommended that trees are given around 10 litres of water once per week and watered every 3 days with 20 litres in the hottest periods. The water should drain within 10 minutes, if there is pooling on the surface, reduce the amount of water used. When autumn rolls around, you can begin to stop watering as there should be enough rain.