1. The old saying is to dig a ten dollar hole to plant a one dollar tree. Not sure how to translate that into sterling, but definitely dig the biggest hole you can – deepest (that way you get to take out anything that’s going to impede the taproot, such as, in our case, some stonking great flints) and widest. Even if you end up filling half your hole back up with soil to get the tree to the right level to plant, you’ll have broken the pan, aerated and – hopefully – added some goodness to the soil mix with mature manure or compost or, as a last resort, granular fertiliser.
2. Make your hole square. Trees, unless bare-rooted, generally arrive in a round container – and if they have strong roots, you can bet those roots have started to spiral. If they continue that pattern and hit a circle shaped wall, they may not break through the dug soil to the undug, but just continue to circle, effectively root-pruning themselves, and then root-binding the whole tree. Square holes don’t encourage that process to continue.
3. Place your stake before you plant your tree. It should be located on the side of the prevailing wind, because you want the tree to move away from the stake, not bang into it.
4. Plant your bare rooted tree on a mound of soil, so the roots immediately have an inclination (pun intended) to head deeper, and spread those roots out really well with your hands.
5. Infill with good enriched around the roots, don’t firm down too much but ensure the tree is pretty stable. When you’ve half-infilled, place any watering systems you may wish to use, and finish infilling with soil. Stamping down the soil works for brassicas but not for fruit trees. You can always go back in a week and firm again, that’s what we do.
6. Fasten tree to stake. We use a rubber tie and an old pair of tights.
7. Mulch with at least two inches of something: we use bark, others use straw or compost. We also put in an edging for the first year, which demarcates the planting area and stops us trundling barrows or walking over the tree root area – when you’re planting one year maidens it can be difficult to remember where they are and you only need to whack one tree with a shovel at dusk because you forgot it was there to learn a lesson about clearly marking new trees!
8. Water.
9. Stand back. Stretch your aching spine. Wonder why planting a tree is just as stressful and exhausting as giving birth. Plant your next tree ….
Allotment Growing 