Narcissistic tendencies aside, its always a huge pleasure to watch a plant you have grown from seed mature to the stage where it is ready to take its permanent position in the soil. Even more so when that plant is a long-lived species that will likely be standing proud for your great-grandchildren to admire.
Seeing the window of opportunity to plant trees is closing I thought I would put together a step by step guide to planting out including a few things to consider before and after planting.
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| Tree Planting Guide |
Planting out Guide
A few things to consider before planting
- The best time to plant is when the soil is moist after a rain. If the soil is very wet, treading can cause compaction so avoid working on very wet soils particularly if you have clay.
- In choosing the position for your plant bear in mind the light, fertility, water, temperature, space and community needs of the organism.
- Consider the maximum size of the plant and how it will relate to the surroundings of the position you have chosen.
- For plants that require cross-pollination or are dioecious you will need to consider the pollination needs and make sure you have a pollinator in the vicinity.
- If you are planting bare-rooted plants ensure that the roots are not exposed to direct sunlight for too long and that they do not dry out.
Planting instructions
- Dig your hole sufficiently big to allow some space around the root ball or roots i.e do not cram the plant into a small hole. Twice the diameter of your pot is adequate.
- When digging, separate the topsoil and subsoil layers. This is best achieved by placing two boards or tarps next to your hole. Dig the topsoil out and pile it on one board/tarp, now dig the subsoil out and pile it on the second board/tarp.
- Make sure the bottom and sides of your hole are not compacted from digging. If there are any smeared surfaces, scrap them loose with a fork. This ensures easier access into the soil for establishing roots as well as providing good drainage and air spaces.
- Water the empty hole well and allow time for the water to drain away. If your plant is in a container then rough up the sides of the root ball. The purpose of this is to ensure the fine roots make good contact with the soil when you infill the planting hole.
- Due to the fast-draining sandy loam, I normally work with I plant a little lower than ground level to provide a dish for water to collect in. If you have poorly draining soil (heavy clay) and or a high water table then you should consider planting higher then ground level.
- If your planting site has a history of intensive application of fungicides you should re-establish the Mycorrhizal community. Mycorrhizas are symbiotic relationships between fungi and plant roots (the term means literally 'fungus root'). They are very common on crop plants as well as in wild plant communities, and in several cases, they have been shown to be important or even essential for plant performance. The fungus obtains at least some of its sugars from the plant, while the plant benefits from the efficient uptake of mineral nutrients (or water) by the fungal hyphae. You can reestablish the Mycorrhizal community by simply adding half a spade full of soil from a healthy soil ecosystem nearby which should contain many of the beneficial fungal organisms. Mix the healthy soil with your pile of topsoil.
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| Picture shows how the plant can draw upon a much larger pool of soil resources with the assistance of mycorrhizal fungi |
- Backfill the hole with the subsoil first, pack the soil in firmly around the roots or rootball and then add the topsoil, again tampering the soil firmly to ensure good contact is made between soil and roots. The idea behind keeping the soil layers in order is to create minimum disturbance to the existing soil ecology. It may just look like plain earth but there are a myriad of organisms at work in there.
- You can remove surrounding vegetation to approximately 50cm radius of the plant stem so you end up with a circle of bare earth approx 1m diameter with your plant in the center. If your plant is small then you can make this area smaller.
- Imagine which way the water would flow across the land surrounding your plant and pile up the organic matter you have scraped away from the surface along with any leftover soil to create a barrier that will block the water from moving away from the plant. You want to keep the water around the plant where it can drain into the soil slowly and soak through to the roots below the ground. It may be that on flat ground you need a barrier surrounding the plant creating a dish in which the water fills. If you have a low water table, lots of rain in your area and poor draining clay soil then this is not advisable.
- Water the plant again applying more water then you think you will need and watch to see how well the water stays around the plant root zone. If you see the water escaping make some amendments to your barrier.
- Once the plant is watered apply mature compost, approx 2-3 cm deep, covering the bare earth and place wet cardboard sheets or old clothing or cloth over the compost. If more than one piece of cardboard is needed, overlap the cardboard so there are no gaps. This layer provides a barrier to prevent weed seeds in the soil from germinating and will decompose to add extra fertility to the soil. You can also buy mulch mats.
- Cover the cardboard/cloth with a further 3cm of well-matured compost and then cover this with a 10cm layer of straw mulch (or other seedless mulch).
- In order to prevent collar rot, it is very important to make sure that the soil and mulch layers are not in direct contact with the bark around the base of the stem. To allow air circulation, be sure to clear away the mulch and compost from that area so that you end up with a visible gap of at least 5 cm between stem and soil. You should check this every so often as the mulch usually makes its way back around the collar
Aftercare considerations
- If planted in Autumn it is likely that your new plants will not need watering until the mid-spring. Keep an eye on your plant and water if you see/feel the soil below the mulch is dry. It's important to keep the plant from drying out in the first few years so plan time to monitor. 90% of all problems with newly-planted trees are because the steward didn't water them.
- If planting a tree whip, according to some reports and contrary to popular belief, staking is not necessary. It is claimed to be counterproductive and discourages a young tree from forming strong and secure anchor roots. Large container trees will, however, need staking.
- Tree barriers are recommended to prevent herbivores from eating your plants, so if you have a lot of herbivores around you should consider using guards.
- Check your plant from time to time and make sure the mulch has not made its way back around the stem collar. Keep the area weed-free for a few years by topping up the cardboard and if you have planted a tree with high nutrient demands apply extra compost the following autumn.
- Finally, enjoy your plant.
We have a great selection of trees, shrubs and herbs reared at our small but growing Bio Nursery. We can deliver plants to anywhere in Europe so take a look at our stock list and get in touch to make an order,
Regenerative Landscape Design - Online Interactive Course
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We're super excited about running the course and look forward to providing you with the confidence, inspiration, and opportunity to design, build and manage regenerative landscapes, gardens, and farms that produce food and other resources for humans while enhancing biodiversity.
Regenerative Landscape Design Online Course
You can find out all about the course here and right now we have a 20% discount on the full enrollment fees. Just use the promo code RLD2023 in the section of the registration form to receive your discount.
We are looking forward to providing you with this unique online learning experience - as far as we know, the very first of its kind. If you are thinking of reasons why you should do this course and whether this course is suitable for you, take a look here where we lay it all out. Looking forward to it!
We're super excited about running the course and look forward to providing you with the confidence, inspiration, and opportunity to design, build and manage regenerative landscapes, gardens, and farms that produce food and other resources for humans while enhancing biodiversity.
|
| Regenerative Landscape Design Online Course |
You can find out all about the course here and right now we have a 20% discount on the full enrollment fees. Just use the promo code RLD2023 in the section of the registration form to receive your discount.
We are looking forward to providing you with this unique online learning experience - as far as we know, the very first of its kind. If you are thinking of reasons why you should do this course and whether this course is suitable for you, take a look here where we lay it all out. Looking forward to it!
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If you appreciate the work we are doing you can show your support in several ways.
- Make a purchase of plants or seeds from our Bionursery or Online Store
- Consider joining us for one of our Courses or Online Courses
- Comment, like, and share our content on social media.
- Donate directly via PayPal to balkanecologyproject@gmail.com or via FTX Pay
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