Is fall a good time to plant perennials and trees? Most people plant in spring, but many have suggested that fall might be an even better time to plant. It is cool, the above ground part of the plant is going dormant and so root growth does not have to compete with top growth. A lot of plants are on sale in fall so that is certainly a plus, but is fall planting better than spring planting?
In a previous post I described the right way to plant a tree or shrub. If you follow that process you will have success most of the time. Today, I’d like to look at a new method for treating trees before planting; washing and pruning roots.
Science does not stand still. Tree researchers are continually looking at ways to improve the planting process and in recent years a new way of handling the tree roots has come to light. It goes against everything that makes common sense, but it could have some benefits.
There have been several articles in the past few years that recommend planting trees in square holes rather than round holes. It is claimed that the square holes will result in more root growth into your native soil outside of the planting hole, which is good for proper tree development.
Does this work? Should we all start making square holes to plant trees?
Society has been planting trees for hundreds of years and yet we still don’t know how to do it properly. The average landscape tree is not planted correctly – but that long discussion is for another post. Today I would like to show you what happens when you do not remove string, burlap and wire baskets.
Planting trees seems like such a simple thing to do, but most of the trees I see have not been planted correctly. A couple of years ago I was teaching a course on trees and wanted a picture showing the right way to plant a tree. I could not find one with Google, which illustrates the lack of understanding among gardeners and professionals.
Most advice on planting trees is wrong.
Everything in the post applies to both trees and shrubs – shrubs are just short trees.
