Tree planting question

May 05, 2004 1 Replies

Hi,



I planted a few trees recently where the rootball mostly made up of dirt seemed to break away by the time I got it into the hole. I felt I was almost planting the trees bare root. One was an atlas cedar and the other a pine, both about 6 feet tall.



A year and a half ago I planted a series of pines. One plant also lost a significant amount of it's root ball. That one happens to be growing the fastest.



I'm wondering if it's a benefit to break apart the rootball which will already put the roots into the native soil or are these latest planting essentially doomed.



Thanks


They aren't necessarily doomed. You can buy deciduous trees and shrubs in bare root form via mail order. It's actually a very good way to go because the plant will aclimate to it's new soil very rapidly. As far as evergreens go, it's probably not a good idea to severely break apart the root ball when planting. If your trees have made it a year and a half with no ill effects, they probably will be alright.

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