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.
