Congratulations! You’ve just purchased a beautiful new tree with the hopes that this will provide shade and happiness for many years to come! To ensure the most success with your new investment, planting a tree is more than just digging a hole in the ground. Like all transplants, plants respond best when the time is taken to ensure the tree is placed in the optimal growing conditions. To those of us that are familiar with the Texas heat and Blackland Prairie soils of Rockwall County, you may ask, “what do you mean by ‘optimal growing conditions? In this soil? In this heat?’”
If you did your research and chose a native or adapted tree for this area, you are already ahead of the game. To further ensure the survival of the tree, the following planting tips will guide you down the path to shady success.
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- Select your site.
Select a site that will accommodate the mature size of the tree. Pay attention to where the tree limbs may extend over the roof or property line. Be aware of power lines or any overhanging structures. Be sensitive to driveways, sidewalks, and foundations that may be compromised as roots extend outward. And finally, pay attention to the lighting requirements of the tree that you selected. A Japanese Maple or Dogwood are specifically sensitive to our afternoon sun. These should be placed in a shady are or under the canopy of a larger tree. - Dig the hole.
Dig the hole twice as wide as the root ball (container), and no deeper than the height of the root ball. - Free the tree.
Remove the tree from the container. If balled and burlapped, remove any wire,
twine, or clips that were used to hold the burlap around the rootball. Examine the root ball for any roots that are circling the base of the tree. Gently tug at these roots to extend the roots outward away from the rootball. For stubborn roots, selectively cut the roots to ensure the roots do not continue to grow in this circular pattern. If these roots are not addressed at the time of planting, they will continue their circular growth pattern. Eventually, the roots will “girdle” and cut off the circulation to the trunk. This restriction reduces the flow of water and nutrients to the leaves. This can lead to tree decline and death. - Plant the tree.
Place the rootball into the hole so that the root collar (area above the roots) is flush or slightly above the natural grade. If unsure of where the root collar is located, examine the base of the tree to determine where the soil line was located when the tree was in its original container.
Planting too deeply can cause bark deterioration at the soil line, which can eventually kill the plant. Likewise, planting too high will also kill the plant as the tree won’t be able to absorb the moisture and nutrients it needs from the surrounding soil. And if June’s windstorm needs to be any reminder, if the root system is barely buried, the tree is very likely to topple over. - Fill the hole.
Gently fill the hole with the same soil that came out of the hole. Do not add soil amendments as we want the tree to adapt to the soils which will surround its new home. Do not pack the soil around the base. Packing the soil damages and breaks fine roots. Instead, settle the soil by gently watering the base after planting. - Add mulch. Avoid the mulch volcano.
Add mulch around the tree at least out to the drip line of the tree. Maintain a depth of 2 to 3 inches deep and up to but NOT touching the trunk. DO NOT BUILD A MULCH VOLCANO.
As stated in tip #4, building mulch up the trunk of the tree is the same as burying the tree too deeply. Instead of building a sloping mound, create a “mulch donut” where the outer edge of the mulch is built up like the rim of a saucer. This encourages water to surround the tree with each rain or watering rather than having water run down the slope of the volcano. - Stake the tree.
If high winds are a concern, stake the tree by placing two poles into the ground, each at the north and south sides of the plant. This will stabilize the tree as the winter winds and spring storms whip about the tree canopy. Using guide wires or coat hangers, run the wire through a section of old garden hose which is placed around the trunk of the tree. The hose will act as a barrier to prevent the wire from cutting into the trunk. Intertwine each loop in such a manner so that the wires are loosely suspended around the tree trunk. The concept here is to stabilize the tree in high winds while at the same time allowing the roots to strengthen themselves to hold the tree up on its own. Remove the tree stakes no later than two growing seasons after planting. - Protect from sunscald.
In the panhandle of North Texas and areas north of Oklahoma, cold weather is a frequent returning enemy of the gardener. A little further South, heat is our frequent foe. Whether in the North or the South, both areas run into the same issues with new trees, but for different reasons: sunscald. And the remedy is also the same: tree wrap.
In the North, the symptoms of sunscald are also called “radial shake.” As daytime temperatures rapidly heat up the south facing bark on a tree, the underlying tissue quickly warms and expands. Then, as clouds or sunset arrives, the tissues rapidly contract to begin freezing once again. This back-n-forth swelling causes the bark to crack and eventually peel away from a young tree. Think back to February 2021 when “Snowmageddon” covered Rockwall County for days on end. This rare cold spell destroyed many newly planted trees; and unfortunately, a few majestic native giants that are not used to the extreme lows also fell victim to the storm. Worse still, if the trees did not die that year, then the hot summer of 2023 added the one-two punch from radial shake which the trees could not recover. It’s a story that has been repeating itself since 2021.
Luckily, here in Rockwall County, we don’t experience the deep lows of
Snowmageddon on a frequent basis. What we do experience is a relentless heat each year that can fry an egg on the hood of a car. It is this same heat that can also boil the tissues of a young tree whose bark has yet to “toughen up” from age. The bark then proceeds to split, leaving what appears to be an open gash running down the trunk of the tree.
Trees with a thin bark, such as red oak, maples, and Chinese pistachios, are most susceptible. To prevent sunscald, wrap the trunk in a paper or burlap tree wrap at the time of planting. Start at the base of the tree and overlap the wrap until it reaches the lower branches of the tree. Keep the wrap on for at least two seasons until the canopy of the tree or surrounding trees is able to protect the trunk from the afternoon sun. Adjust the wrap after a year so that the wrap remains snug but not too tight around the trunk. - Water well. Water often.
Of course we should water our new tree. When we ask “How often?” and “How much?,” the responses we usually hear are “not often enough” and “too little.” And the question that few people ask is, “How to water???”
How often? For the first week, water the tree daily. Every other day in week two. Every third day in week three. Then, twice a week for the remainder of the growing season. If the winter has had a long period without rain, a good slow drenching to the mulch donut will keep the tree healthy and insulated from the cold. Next spring, continue the twice a week waterings throughout the first summer.
How much? In the first two weeks, add 1 gallon of water per inch of trunk diameter. After this break in period, a simple rule of thumb is to use 2–4 gallons of water for each inch of trunk diameter at each watering, while occasionally testing the soil to ensure that you are not overwatering the area. To test soil moisture, poke a long 8″ screwdriver into the soil. If you can’t poke it in at least 6″ because of dry soil, then it’s time to water. Most roots responsible for water and nutrient intake are within 8” to 12” of the soil surface. Roots require that oxygen be present in the soil to take in the water. If the root area is saturated, then no oxygen is present, and the roots can suffocate. So, water often; but test often to determine the amount needed to keep the tree healthy.
And finally, how to water? Simply dumping a bucket of water on the tree isn’t doing the tree any favors. Likewise, leaving the hose running at the base of the tree might also harm the tree, especially if you forget that the hose was left running in the first place. If you do choose the use a sprinkler bubbler or soaker, set the timer on your phone as a reminder. Your tree and your water bill will thank you.
The best practice to ensure that the tree gets its required amount of water, is to use a bucket or watering can and have some patience. Using a bucket, pour the water over the root ball and at the base of the tree. Apply slowly to allow the water to be absorbed into the soil. If the water begins to run off, stop watering for a few minutes and then return until the bucket or watering can is finally empty. Although this method may require a few trips back-n-forth to the faucet, you’ll ensure the tree gets the water it needs without requiring a life preserver. - BONUS TIP: To prevent damage to the tree from weed trimmers, protect the base of the trunk with wire netting or a tree guard. Better yet, if the tree was grown in a container, use the same container and make your own tree guard!
- Select your site.
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- Remove the base of the container with a knife or a pair of heavy-duty scissors.
- Make a vertical cut down the length of the container.
- Fashion the plastic sleeve loosely around the base of the tree. Cut away any excess plastic beyond where the sleeve begins to overlap
- Punch two holes in the top and bottom of the plastic sleeve, piercing both the outer and inner layer of the sleeve.
- Run zip ties through the holes so that the sleeve is held together.
- If you create a sleeve that has “plenty of room to grow,” this homemade tree guard will last for a couple of growing seasons before the tree outgrows its protection.
- Remove the base of the container with a knife or a pair of heavy-duty scissors.
