TREE PLANTING STEPS •
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Mark out a circle or square with paint that is twice the size of the root ball. o Mark out a square if you’re planting on the curb strip and the width of the hole is less than 5 feet. o Mark out a circle of the width of the hole is greater than 5 feet. Place tarp on side of pit. Turf out grass with a flat spade and place on a pile at the edge of the tarp so that it won’t get mixed in with the soil. o If the hole is circular save grass on site to be placed upside down around edge of pit. o If the hole is square, either find nearby locations that need extra grass. Start digging from the center of the hole and work your way out. Place dirt in a pile on the tarp. o Hole must be twice as wide as the root ball so that new roots have aerated soil to grow into. o Hole should be as deep as the distance between the bottom of the root ball to the root flare. It is VERY important that the root flare be situated at the level of the soil and NOT buried underground. Find the root flare. o If the root flare is buried or not easily felt through the burlap, you will need to do some excavation to find the root flare. DO NOT untie any rope around the root ball, but instead cut into the burlap so that you can reach in with a hand tool to excavate the soil until you find the root flare. Once you have found the flare, do a careful measurement of the distance between the bottom of the root ball and the root flare. Adjust the depth of your hole accordingly. When filling in a hole to make it shallower, make sure you are filling it in with soil removed from the bottom of the pit. Keep the soil profile intact. Prune the tree. o Before placing the tree in the hole, prune any dead, injured, or crossing branches. If there are competing leaders, one should be selected as the central leader. Carefully move tree into hole. o Make sure this is a controlled movement and that the tree slides in gently. o Do not allow anyone to stand in the hold as the tree is lowered. Position the tree in the hole. o Center the root ball in the hole so that roots on all sides will be able to push through good quality soil as the tree becomes established. o Decide which side of the tree should face the street. Ideally, the side with fewer branches should face the street so that cars do not damage them. o To rotate the tree, have people sit on different edges of the hole and grab rope in such a way that they can pull the root ball towards them. With different people pulling from different sides, the tree will rotate. o Make sure the tree is standing straight in the hold from 2 directions. Have people stand back and see the big picture. Look carefully at the section of trunk from 2’ off the ground until 6’ high; if this 4’ portion of the tree is straight, the tree will look straight over all. •
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Stabilize the tree. o Fill in the bottom third of the root ball with soil. Make sure you use soil removed from the bottom of the hole. Keep the soil profile intact. Mix in compost. o The ratio of compost to soil should be 1:3 Fill in the hole with the soil/compost mixture and make a doughnut or moat around the edge of the root ball. o Do not cover the root flare with soil. o The doughnut should be wide and about 6” high. Do a preliminary cleaning of the site. o Sweep up the sidewalk. o Rake up soil that might have mixed in with grass around pit. o Clean up tools that are no longer needed. Cover the soil with a 2-­‐3” layer of mulch. o Make sure you leave a 2” area around the root flare bare. Water the tree o Fill up one 5-­‐gallon bucket with BIOPAK powder. For a 5-­‐gallon bucket, you should put in 5 scoops. o Pour an additional 4 buckets of water on the tree. The tree should receive a total of 25 gallons of water. Install the tree stakes. o Stakes should be installed halfway between the curb and the tree. Do a final clean-­‐up of the area. Stand back and admire the newly planted tree.