Simply ensure enough water to encourage good root development. In warmer regions with heavy clay the root ball may be planted about an inch above the surrounding soil level to avoid the problems of poor drainage. The heaviest of sticky clay soils will need a large hole well amended with soil conditions to improve the drainage. It is critical that your soil be well drained if you plant a little deep. This will help insulate the roots in winter and help to prevent heaving in freeze thaw periods. In the coldest climates make sure the root ball is planted at or even ever so slightly below the surrounding soil level and mulch heavily. They must be planted in well-drained soil. They can be killed easily by water standing at their roots. Poorly drained soil, planting too deeply and winter drying are the most common causes of damage or death of needled evergreens. The mulch will help the soil hold moisture and help prevent deep freezing of the soil. An evergreen will take up water from the soil all winter if it is available to prevent winter desiccation.
The mulch is very important to help keep the roots moist and becomes even more important heading into winter. The best mulches for evergreens are wood or bark mulch, rough trimmings or rough compost. Do not contact the trunk with the mulch, leave an inch or two gap to the trunk. Mulch in a 2 to 4 inch thick layer of mulch several inches wider than the widest part of the plant. An certainly don’t make the hole so rich with amendments that water will not drain from the hole into surrounding soil. Even evergreens are pretty adaptable, so don’t make them too comfortable in a rich hole, just a little improvement goes a long way to helping the tree adjust to your conditions. A similar quantity of shredded leaves or peat moss will help the soil drain if your soil is heavy clay.
Making an evergreen tree in tree it full#
A bucket full or two of compost mixed well into the soil will help the soil to retain moisture if your soil is sandy. Evergreens should have well drained but moisture holding soil. Your hole should be much much bigger to allow lots of space for the roots to spread and use as little amendments as possible to improve the soil. With that said, if your soil is extremely poor or not appropriate for the tree, you will probably have to do something to amend your soil. When a good storm comes along you may be surprised to see the evergreen on the ground with a perfect clump of rich soil pulled right up with the roots. If you dig a nice hole and fill it up with beautiful rich soil, the roots will often find it difficult to transition from the hole to push through the native soil. If you have selected an evergreen that grows well in your local region and your soil type you should not have to amend or enrich the soil. Evergreens are generally shallow rooted so at minimum dig 2 to 4 times the width of the root ball and at least a foot deep, several inches deeper than the root ball. Dig the hole as deep and wide as possible to loosen the soil adequately for the roots to extend easily. Preparing the planting hole is your first task. Prepare the Planting Hole for Your Evergreen A newly planted evergreen will already be experiencing transplant shock and working very hard to establish roots, so heat and drought will make it more difficult for the plant to remain healthy and strong. During the heat of summer even an established evergreen often become stressed.