Planting Guide

Planting

• To avoid transplant shock, water the plant thoroughly one ½-hour before you plant it, giving the roots time to soak up the water

• Dig a wide, shallow hole that is at least two to three times as wide as the plant and just deep enough for the roots. The plant should sit on solid ground so it won’t sink as the soil settles.

• Remove any binding rope or nails from balled-and-burlapped plants but do not remove the burlap.  For container plants, remove the plant from its pot and loosen the roots.  If you can’t pull the roots apart, use a knife to make four vertical slashes in the root ball.  You want the roots to stretch out and grow into the soil instead of continuing to grow in a circle. 

• Set the plant in the hole so an inch or two of the root ball is above the existing soil line.

• If you have heavy clay soil; mix 2/3 of your existing soil with 1/3 Farmer D planting mix.

• Make sure the plant is positioned correctly, and gradually fill in with soil.  Tamp soil down to remove air pockets

• Encourage roots to reach out beyond their planting hole by loosening ground around the hole.  Push a garden fork into the soil as deep as it will go and wiggle it to break up compacted soil.  Repeat every 12” to a distance of 5’-0” or more on all sides.

• Add two inches of mulch over the top, but be sure to keep the mulch about two inches away from the trunk to discourage animal and insects from attacking the base of the plant.

• Saturate the root ball thoroughly by laying
a hose, set on trickle, into the “reservoir” around the plant that you’ve created with the mulch.  Let water trickle for 30 mins.  Water twice a week during the growing season for the first two years.  It takes at least 2 years for the plant to become established.