Exploring Landscape Setups

Tips To Help You Successfully Plant And Start A New Bare-Root Fruit Tree

23 March 2022 by Tanya Green

Trees create a beautiful environment that is beneficial to wildlife and your own outdoor view. And when you plant a fruit tree, you have the opportunity to grow fresh fruit in your yard that tastes much better than most store-grown varieties. However, before you can enjoy your tree and its fruit after a few seasons, you need to take steps to plant it with a successful outcome. The following provides you with some tips to help you plant a new bare-root fruit tree in your yard.

Select Your Tree Placement

When you are looking for the right place to plant your new tree, you want to consider some variables in your choice. Look at the soil and its slope in the area and avoid a spot that is in a sunken spot that can collect excess runoff and become swampy. Consider where other surrounding trees are placed so you don't plant your tree in the shade of a larger tree. 

It is helpful to plant your tree in an area where there is a nearby fence or a wall to help shelter the tree from winter wind and also absorb the heat from the sun to help the tree thrive in its location. Early spring is a good time to plant your tree and ensure it establishes a good root system before the heat of summer. But before you can plant your tree, make sure the soil is thawed enough to dig the appropriate size of hole.

Prepare the Area

Check the soil to make sure it is not too loamy or rocky, but instead, look for soil that contains nutrients that will help it be a well-draining soil. You can and should add some compost to the soil when you dig the hole. Use a hand spade or a garden fork to add compost onto the hole and mix it in to combine it well. 

Bagged compost from a landscape supply store is a good option for your new tree, and you can work it into the soil set in the base of your dug hole. As you do so it will also loosen up the soil and help the tree's roots grow deep into the soil. Then, add more compost to the soil you fill back around your new tree.

Protect Your New Tree

Once you have your new tree planted in its site, you will also need to consider adding in a tree stake to help the tree grow upright and to support it while it establishes a strong trunk. Select a tree stake kit, including a stake and a tree-safe tie that you can find at your local landscape supply store. Use a tree stake if the new tree's trunk is loose and wobbly and needs help in remaining upright after you have planted it. Also, keep the soil surrounding your new tree free of weeds, grass, and other growth as it can take nutrients from the tree. 

For more information, contact a company like AP Topsoil LLC.

Share