Baring It All ..... by Wes Fleming

Our special guest blogger is Wes Fleming who will be speaking live down at Gardenworld on Sunday July 12th 2009 from 1.00 pm. More info

Bare root trees are simply that. Trees that are not placed in a pot and spoiled with lovely rich potting mix, but shaken from their growing paddocks and sent off to store with roots exposed.

Many people are concerned about the process of buying and planting these skeletal looking plants - so foreign without their little pots hugging their base, but they needn't be, bare root trees are in their prime with weather conditions ideal to plant and grow now.

Bare root season is also the ideal time to get the widest Fleming's selection of trees - making this another great reason to look for our bare root trees down at Gardenworld or in your local garden centre.

Here are a few simple steps to getting bare root trees planted and established in your garden.

Step 1: Pruning

At Fleming's we often hear of people that are fearful of pruning in case they get it wrong. The best thing to remember is that it's almost impossible to get it wrong. Pruning a bare root tree is easy and all you need is a good sharp pair secateurs.

We estimate that about 50% of the roots from bare root trees remain in the soil after they are removed from their original growing ground. So that means about 50% of the top part of the tree will need to be pruned to return balance to the tree.

Look for the central leader - that is the most dominant branch of the tree and usually follows the line of the trunk. Cut about half that branch off and follow suit with the rest of the branches of the tree.

Look for outward facing buds on the tree and cut the branch just above this bud - this will allow the bud to shoot from there and offer a lovely outward growing branch and good shape to your tree.

Step 2: Planting.

Firstly wet the root system before planting. Now take your tree and look close to the base just above the root system. You should be able to see where the tree turns from green to pale/white - the point where it changes colour, is your soil level.

Take a good look at the root system or 'root ball' of your plant and plan to dig a hole that is one and a half the size of that root ball. Then take a couple of light shovel loads of the soil and scatter loosely back into the hole as a 'cushion' for the tree to sit on.

Place your tree in the middle of the hole on top of the cushion and gently refill the hole with the original soil to the point where you found the soil level on the trunk of the tree.

Now gently step around the base of the hole to firm the earth around the tree and remove air pockets.

Step 3: Watering

Once planted and straight, it's time to water in the tree.

Around the base of where you estimate the root ball to be, build a small soil wall to create a well around the trunk of the tree - this will capture the water and direct it into the root ball where it needs to be.

Take a standard 10 litre bucket and place one bucket full of water into the well and voila - you're done!

Step 4: Establishing your tree

In order to get your tree nicely established simply give your tree one bucket load of water each week until Christmas (unless you receive constant or heavy rains in the meantime).

Do not over water your tree or the root ball may drown and rot.

Comments

[Silvia]

o6v0ex I am always excited to visit this blog in the evenings.Please churning hold the contents. It is very entertaining.