Do’s
- Planting a tree
- Do dig the hole the same depth as the rootball
- Do dig the hole at least twice as wide as the root ball
- Do use your native soil when backfilling but you can allow as much as 25% be a soil amendment
- Do loosen the roots from the sides and bottom (if container grown)
- Do remove as much of the wire basket and burlap as possible (if balled and burlapped)
- Do position the tree so it best side faces where its viewed from most
- Do make sure the tree is straight as you backfill
- Do mix your soil well, breaking up any large clumps of soil as you backfill
- Do tamp the soil firmly around the rootball as you plant
- Do make sure the top of the rootball is level or slightly above the surrounding soil
- Do water the tree in well once planted. Allow the surrounding soil to become well saturated so water is not wicked away
- Do mulch around the tree with pine straw or mulch
- Do prune out any rubbing branches and any branches that are crisscrossing through the tree
Don’ts
- Man-handle the tree. Avoid scratching the bark, sapping limbs, and breaking the root ball apart
- Don’t use gravel or sand beneath the root ball to improve drainage
- Don’t leave any burlap, strings, or trunk wraps on the tree
- Don’t stake the tree unless deemed necessary
- Don’t leave stakes on a tree for longer than 6 months
- Don’t mound mulch up high around the trunk
- Don’t damage the trunk with mower or weedeater
- Don’t spray the trunk with herbicides
- Don’t forget about your tree, it needs care
- Don’t paint over tree wounds or pruning cuts
- Don’t use any chemical such as insecticides or fungicides without reading and following the directions
- Don’t clump fertilizer against the base of the tree
