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Suffolk, United Kingdom

Just a simple question ,I shall be planting a (bare root conference pear in november) what is the best way to go about it please , would a load of john innis 3 in the hole be ok




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Here's a simple answer:- no! Now the more complicated explanation as to what to do instead and why:

Dig over the area you want to plant to at least 3 feet wide and long, preferably 4 feet square, incorporating plenty of composted animal manure. Allow to settle for at least a week, then its ready to plant when your tree arrives.

If you just dig a hole in the ground and shove some John Innes in and then the tree, the tree's got a problem; when the roots extend beyond the (very encouraging) John Innes and meet ordinary, possibly compacted, undug soil (very discouraging); that can check their growth. The other possible problem if you don't prepare the ground properly but just dig a hole is drainage - because that hole's been dug and filled with something sandy/loamy, water from the surrounding area will drain into it because its quicker and easier than percolating through the surrounding, undug soil, and there's a risk of waterlogging to the roots of your tree.

16 Aug, 2015

 

Here's another simple answer. Dig hole a bit wider and deeper than the roots and plant the tree.

Planted 13 ornamental trees at work last winter including Malus, Liquidamber, Toona, Robinia, Acers, Prunus and cercis and they've all been superb

The key to survival is watering. Water water water, every day. I give all my newly planted trees at least 2 x 2 gallon cans every day for the first 2 years.

We also plant around 500 trees a year in our parks and streets in Brighton and we use the same method.

16 Aug, 2015

 

In the days when all trees were planted as bare root specimens, our old gardener (one of the first to study Horticulture at University and an ex Royal gardener) planted trees as suggested by Bamboo, then they were watered in thoroughly and never watered again. He reckoned that watering them just encouraged surface rooting rather than forcing the trees to send deep roots out looking for water. He planted a few thousand trees like that in his 70 year career!
Different regime for container grown plants though, where the tap roots have been prevented from forming. Those definitely need regular post planting water.

16 Aug, 2015

 

We add plastic irrigation tubes to our trees....one can goes down the tube, one on top.....EVERY day

16 Aug, 2015

 

We water new bareroot trees every day for the first week or two here, but that is mainly a concession to our relatively warm days and low humidity in January. We taper off as quickly as we can, once new roots are growing, so the new trees will grow deep roots quickly.
If the trees are of a species that dislikes our native soil, we dig as large a hole as possible, and mix minimal amounts of organic and mineral amendments thoroughly into the backfill. After planting, we plan on gradually amending the soil out to the future dripline with regular surface applications of compost and organic fertilizers.

17 Aug, 2015

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