Planting BARE root trees???

good morning to all! i have a question that i would just like to get a few opinions about.

i have planted many bare root trees and shrubs in the pass with basically good results.

however, this time i have a few Cercis candadensis 'Heart of Gold'. they are extremely rare...at least here, and i just have a few concerns.

the first step is usually to clip off any dead or damaged looking roots. we then soak the roots a few hours prior to planting. when digging the hole in this area the hole is referred to a $100.00 hole for a $20.00 tree (usually we need a backhoe to dig our holes)!

i have always ignored the general rule of avoiding amending the soil in the planting hole so the roots would not be encouraged to confine themselves within that area and result in weak plants.
that is because we have clay and shale here when you dig the dirt out and put it on the side you end of with this little pile of yuck and you can no way figure out how it even filled up the hole itself. (kinda like after you deliver a baby! it's like how in the world did that fit in there). ok maybe NOT the best analogy but i'm sure you all get the point. so, bottom line is we must amend the soil to fill the whole. we usually mix what little parent soil is there with a "bumper" crop compose (very aged and ph balanced). we have had very good luck.

we make our donuts around the trees we mulch except for near the bottom of the truck. the first year we water more than usual, fertilize heavily (which many times with cultivars that have yellow leaves turn green for the season as a result ie: acer princton gold), but it helps establish the root systems better in this soil. not that i would recommend that normally...it's just we know our land and that is what has resulted in the best success rate for us.

so i would like to know if anyone has any thoughts about this. i really really do not want to lose these!!! because my chances are not good at all replacing them.

thanks!

Never heard of 'Heart of Gold'. Must be rare around here too! It sounds like you know all the rules and choose to break just a few of them for your own reasons.

Can't argue with success, but if you do amend the hole (ACKKK!) I think you really need to raise a planting mound for drainage. The backhoe idea sounds good, if it will help you dig up the whole planting area instead of just a 2-3 foot hole. If you do that, amending is fine.

And I urge you not to go nuts with the Nitrogen, despite lucking out in the past. Your new trees don't need to have their foliage stimulated, they need root establishment. Test your soil, and if there is a deficiency adjust it gradually after the tree is becoming established. Consider 18-month slow-release ferts like Agriform or Woodace if you need nutrients.

Guy S.

guys...thanks so much for your reply! we test our soil every fall and treat it accordingly to what is needed. we use almost a nil nitrogen
formula during that first year of any of our tree plantings. but maybe we'll just hold back completely as you suggest just to be safe. oh! and yes, our holes are min. 5 times the root balls in the case of the tree having one, soil amended and then tree planted.

problem though when testing the soil one usually doesn't test down that deep! since we live in a "gully" many times are amendments have washed away with the wind by the time the following spring comes around and have not absorbed into the ground since there is shale and rocks! just love a challenge.


thanks again for the advise. the trees are hardening up for a few weeks before planting and lookin good!

I have to agree with Guy tobee. Sometimes there is no arguing with success, but there is such a thing as blind luck! I think by digging with the backhoe and amending the soil in a large area, and then planting the tree slightly higher than ground level, you're success will be more certain. I wouldn't add nitrogen either, that is totally unnecessary. Please post pictures of your rare find! ;-)

I think one of the first gardening mistakes I have made was putting fertilizer on a newly planted bare root tree. Needless to say, it was fried.

prairiegirl...thanks i'm hoping they will make it. i'm always searching the world for rare cultivars this year besides adding the Cercis candadensis 'Heart of Gold' which is the FIRST ever gold leafed redbud we are also adding Cornus alternifolia gold bullion 'Bachone' a horizontal-tiered chartreuse-yellow leafed dogwood. am i excited!! like a kid at toy r us with a million bucks in my pocket!! but i just HATE the bare rooting!!

i do have to tell you a brief tale of planting trees in our area. we have lived here about 30 years or so. coming from the bay area in calif we were just use to getting out the shovel and sticking it in and two years later it was 20 feet high. ( well not really 20 feet but always doing great!) the first 5 years here we lost everything we planted. even though we are both tree huggers, my husband seems to have this love for his trees..i think sometimes more than me, so he systematically attempted different methods throughout the years until he came up with the approach. we had to work our soil a good 20 years even to get a little green grass on the surface! well the guy i work with in the summers for the past 5 years is a horticulturist and he moved up the road from us from a distance away, but the same state. he begins transplanting trees from his old place up here using the method he was use too. he had big beautiful rare and yummy trees that were trucked up. when we told him what and how we did it he totally disagreed and insisted don't use fertilizer, don't mix the parent soil with anything......well.......about 4 months later when he lost half his precious trees he comes over and says ok........what do you do again! that was 3 years ago and now following my husbands method he has been 99 percent successful. (but we are speaking of trees planted with balls around their roots, not bare root. and you'd think i'd ask him about this question well.......he's still learning about this area and the soil problems and the different planting needs even though he has been doing this about 20 years! it's a whole new world up here!!

i'm hoping we'll get some nice leafing this year from the Cercis. and of course i'll be loving to share pictures even at the "baby" stage! because the Cornus is such a new cultivar the trees i have are quite small and in a nursery area. if, in the next few weeks (because they are so fast growing) they don't seem strong enough they will be in the nursery until next year to give them a better chance of success.

escambiaguy...i'm happy to report that we have thus far burned no trees out of the 37 that have gone it in the past few years. although we did lose one of the weeping golden chains this year. (we are in the process of a land renewal project and have 30 more to go in this season).