The Technique of Planting Trees

Preparing a site and planting a tree is usually a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to cultivate or improve the soil in which it will grow. If the tree stands for 100 years the half an hour or so taken to plant it can surely be regarded as time well spent. The season and the weather must be right. It is not worth being impatient - just keep that 100-year time-scale in your mind.

A dull, damp autumn or spring day is best. The plant should be dormant, that is, if it is deciduous, the leaves should be off. If it is evergreen it should be planted just before the new growth begins. This is so that the evergreen leaves are not left thrashing about in the wind and cold all winter without any support from their unestablished roots.

The planting hole should be larger than the rootball of the tree so that any nasty diseased roots and rubbish in the soil can be taken out and disposed of. This also ensures that the medium around the plant is thoroughly cultivated and well mixed.

If a stake is to be used it must be pressure-treated with a fungicidal preservative and it should be driven into the bottom of the hole now, and not forced through the tree's root system later on.

The tree, with its roots still in their packing or pot and kept in the shade until the very last minute, can now be prepared. Cut off any damaged or diseased shoots cleanly with secateurs. Unpack the rootball, pull any winding roots out straight, and, if they won't have it, cut them back Cut off any diseased, dead or damaged root ends cleanly, but do not let the plant dry out while you search for them.

Fill the hole until the tree, sitting on a small mound of soil in the bottom, has its root collar level with the original ground level. Then fill the hole as quickly as possible, pressing the soil down gently at intervals and occasionally shaking the tree until the job is done.

Finally, firm up the surface to expel any air pockets. Be careful not to skin the stem or roots with your feet in the process. The area immediately round the tree should then be treated or covered so that weeds or grass do not encroach for at least five years. Mulching, using either a manufactured plastic or fibrous sheet or some organic material such as composted bark chips, is good for this. Organic mulching should not be overdone, however, because it can reduce the oxygen supply available to the roots through oxidation as it decomposes, and it also locks up soil nitrogen for a time in the process.

Fertlilsers should be avoided at this stage unless the soil is deficient. They encourage excessive top growth and upset the fine and already stressed balance between root and shoot. This results in unsightly shoot-tip death on young trees until the balance is redressed.

Silva by Archie Miles is a Felix Dennis book published by Ebury Press, price £30.00, and is available in all good book shops..

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