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Published on 02/26/03

Just any old planting hole won't do

By Mike Isbell
University of Georgia

By now you should see trees for sale in nurseries and garden centers. If you ordered any by mail, you should be getting them soon.

So when you get your trees, what do you do with them?

Yeah, I know -- you plant them. But how? There's more to planting a tree than digging a pit and flinging in a tree. The hole you dig can be the difference between the life and death of the tree.

So what's a perfect hole?

Kim Coder, an urban forester with the University of Georgia Extension Service, says it has three important features: a compacted mound of soil in the bottom, steeply slanted sides, and a wide area.

The bottom mound

The mound of soil in the bottom is so the tree's root ball can rest on it. You can compact it with your foot since the roots are going to grow outward, not downward. This encourages the roots to spread and keeps the tree from settling too deep in the hole.

Position a tree to rest at the same or a slightly higher level in the soil than it did in the nursery. You can tell where the old soil level was by looking at the stem base.

If you want to kill the tree, plant it too deep or let it settle into a deep hole.

The steeply slanted sides are important, too. The sides should never be straight up and down. Always slant them at least 45 degrees from the soil surface.

Slanted sides

Slanted hole sides allow and encourage roots to spread out and grow into the native soil. This helps keep the tree from becoming pot-bound in the hole.

And finally, the width of the hole is a big key. Tree-planting holes should be three times wider than the root ball of the tree you're planting. This allows the tree to get off to a fast start.

There's a good way to describe proper tree planting: dig a saucer, not a hole.

Proper tree-planting holes are easier to dig, too. So, if you want to work harder so you can kill your tree faster, plant them in a deep, narrow, straight-sided hole.

If you'd rather make it easier on yourself and your tree, plant your trees correctly.

Mike Isbell is the Heard County extension coordinator with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Experts/Sources:
Mike Isbell
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