When I was a kid I used to wonder if you were to dig a hole all the way through the middle of the earth to the other side, when you got to the middle, would you be digging up or would you be digging down? Forget about the molten rock in the middle of the earth and the effects of gravity, too. Just ponder the hole.

" /> When I was a kid I used to wonder if you were to dig a hole all the way through the middle of the earth to the other side, when you got to the middle, would you be digging up or would you be digging down? Forget about the molten rock in the middle of the earth and the effects of gravity, too. Just ponder the hole.

" />

CAES Newswire

 College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences UGA Cooperative Extension
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Published on 02/21/02

Dig a Perfect Hole for Your New Tree

By Mike Isbell
Georgia Extension Service

Volume XXVII
Number 1
Page 14

When I was a kid I used to wonder if you were to dig a hole all the way through the middle of the earth to the other side, when you got to the middle, would you be digging up or would you be digging down?

Forget about the molten rock in the middle of the earth and the effects of gravity, too. Just ponder the hole.

By now you should see trees for sale in nurseries and garden centers. If you buy a tree, how do you go about planting them?

Well, there's more to planting a tree than digging a pit and flinging in a tree, as in a TV commercial I just saw. The hole you dig can be the difference between life and death for the tree you plant.

Three features of the perfect hole

So what's the perfect hole?

Well, think of a saucer-shaped hole instead of a pit-shaped one.

The perfect hole has three features.

    1. The first is a compacted mound of soil in the bottom of the hole. This is where the tree's root ball rests. Position the tree to rest at the same or a slightly higher level than it's growing in the container or in the burlap ball.

      If you plant it too deep, you're going kill it.

    2. The second feature is a hole with steeply slanted sides. Don't make the sides vertical. Slant them at least at a 45- degree angle from the soil surface. This will encourage the roots to spread out into the native soil.

    3. And finally, tree-planting holes should be three times wider than the root ball, to allow the tree to get off to a fast start.

But if you're digging through the center of the earth -- well, there I go thinking again.

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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