Tips for tree-planting
Today is Arbor Day, that day devoted to encouraging people to planting a new tree or three.
You might run into a variety of differing advice on exactly how to do this deed correctly. It doesn’t help that the recommended best practices have changed over the years.
Here’s a rundown on how to plant a tree, according to the current generally accepted process used by pros:
1.) Loosen the soil at least three times the width of the rootball but only as deep. Digging deep holes leads to soil settling, which ends up sinking the tree lower than it should be after planting.
2.) If the soil is poor, improve it with a little compost… but no more than 10 to 20 percent of the total volume. Don’t over-improve or the roots will circle in the “good stuff,†plus water will back up in the hole when it can’t seep out the sides as fast as it’s draining into the improved soil.
3.) Plant so the root flare (the widened base of the trunk just above the roots) is above grade.
4.) Fray out any circling roots before planting, and remove burlap, wire, baskets, and any other non-root items once the tree is safely situated in the hole.
5.) Don’t stake unless necessary. If you do, use wide bands â€" not wire or rope. Remove staking within one year.
6.) Cover the soil with two to three inches of bark mulch in a minimum six-foot diameter mulched area around the tree. Keep mulch two to three inches away from the trunk. No volcano mulching!
7.) Water well immediately after planting, then often enough to keep the soil consistently damp just below and all around the rootball… but never so much that it’s soggy. One good soaking every five to seven days is better than daily watering.
8.) There’s usually no need to fertilize a new or mature tree. Too much is as bad as not enough. Base your fertilizer application on what a soil test recommends.
Do-it-yourself Penn State soil test kits are available for $9-$10 from county Extension offices, many garden centers, and online at Penn State’s soil test lab.
9.) Other than removing broken branches, don’t prune before or right after planting. Begin your pruning to shape the tree the second year.
Don't pack mulch high up on tree trunks. This kind of "volcano mulching" can harm or kill trees.
Mulch that can kill
A little mulch is a good thing. Too much, though, can stunt plant growth and even kill large, mature trees.
Mulch is anything that covers the soil, but in the central-Pennsylvania landscape, it’s usually a layer of shredded hardwood (ground-up trees and branches), bark, or wood chips.
In moderate amounts, mulch chokes out weeds, slows moisture loss from the soil, moderates swings in soil temperature, and adds nutrition and organic matter to the soil as it breaks down.
A total layer of two to three inches is fine around trees, shrubs, and evergreens. One or two inches is enough around flowers.
Adding more and more mulch every year causes a buildup that can hinder oxygen exchange in the soil, causing roots to suffocate. So if you already have the suggested amounts in place, don’t add more.
If you have a little too much, cultivate the existing layer to break up matting and allow improved air exchange and drainage.
If you have a lot too much, you’re better off removing it down to an optimal layer. Use the excess in an area that’s short on mulch, use it to expand mulched areas around your trees, compost it, or pile up it for use later.
One of the worst practices is packing mulch up on the trunks of trees. It’s usually done by over-zealous weed-warriors or possibly by people who think the extra mulch helps support the tree or makes it look nice.
Compounding the problem is that even some landscape companies pack mulch a foot or more up tree trunks, a practice that’s called “volcano mulching†because of the shape of the result.
Volcano mulching is not only bad for suffocating roots, it encourages bark to rot. The effect is akin to burying a tree too deep and exposing a tree’s trunk and bark to conditions similar to underground â€" not to above grade where the trunk is adapted.
Packing mulch against the trunk also makes it easier for insects and rodents to feed on the trunks under cover.
If you have any volcano-mulched trees, the best thing you can do is get out there and pull it away ASAP.
All mulch should be kept a few inches back away from the bark of trees and shrubs â€" and from the stems of perennials, for that matter.
If you’re trying to save work by reducing the back-breaking job of mulching altogether, cover bare ground instead with low-growing, groundcover plants.
Most annual flowers shouldn't be planted until all danger of frost is past.
When to plant?
End of April marks the milestone of the Harrisburg area’s average last killing frost of the spring.
That means that approximately half of the time, we’re done already with frost.
If you’re a gambler, you’ll probably start to plant your summer annuals (petunias, geraniums and such) and your warm-weather vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, beans, etc.)
Keep in mind that you might need to cover these early-planted warmth lovers in years when a late-April or early-May frost pops up.
Products such as floating row covers, frost blankets, and even old sheets can buy a few degrees of protection for the few sub-freezing, overnight hours that otherwise would kill a begonia or bell pepper.
Most people elect to wait until our all-time latest killing spring frost, which is May 11 in the Harrisburg area. Frosts have happened in late May in rural areas and in higher elevations of northern Dauphin County and beyond.
That’s why you’ll often hear gardeners using Mother’s Day as their cue to plant summer annuals and warm-weather vegetables.
A compromise is to wait until the end of April and look at the 10-day temperature forecast. If there’s nothing in the outlook even close to freezing, that would be a reasonably safe bet to plant early.
By the way, there’s no need to cover plants that are adapted to spring cold when a late-April or early-May frost occurs.
These include spring-flowering bulbs (daffodils, hyacinths, tulips, etc.); perennial flowers already blooming or poking up (salvia, sedum, daylilies, etc.); cold-hardy vegetables (cabbage, broccoli, onions, spinach, lettuce, etc.), and trees, shrubs, and evergreens that are listed as winter-hardy in our area.
Most of the Harrisburg area ranges from Zone 6A to Zone 7A, indicating winter low temperatures bottoming out at minus-10 to 5 degrees above zero.
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