Planting a Tree Best Practices + A GIVEAWAY!

Natalie McNeill from Davey's Fort Collins, Colorado, office helps introduce our month-long celebration of Arbor Day by talking about best practices for planting a tree, as well as kicking off the Davey Planting Project Giveaway! We want to promote tree planting this Arbor Day, so we're giving away tree seeds to anyone and everyone who is interested! All you have to do is email a mailing address to podcasts@davey.com and you'll receive your complimentary seeds in the mail along with planting instructions.  You have until the end of the month to send us an email for your seeds. *Seeds can only be mailed within the U.S.

In this episode we cover:

• Biggest mistakes when planting a tree (1:45)
• Selecting the right tree for your property (2:29)
• How deep should you plant a tree? (4:18)
• Root flare (5:01)
• Balled and burlap (6:28)
• Soil (8:30)
• Water (10:18) (13:04)
• Mulching (11:15)
• Natalie's favorite trees (15:15)
• ISA Board Certified Master Arborist®  (16:34)
• How Natalie found her way to trees (17:36)

To find your local Davey office, check out our find a local office page to search by zip code.

To learn more about planting a tree, read our blogs, Planting a Tree Step by Step (Burlap Wrapped, Potted and Seedlings) and In Too Deep?.
To learn more about mulching your trees, read our blogs, The Proper Way to Mulch Your Trees, Should I Mulch Around Trees or Not? Yes, and Here's Why and Why You Need to Keep Mulch Away from Tree Trunks.

Connect with Davey Tree on social media:
Twitter: @DaveyTree
Facebook: @DaveyTree
Instagram: @daveytree
YouTube: The Davey Tree Expert Company
LinkedIn: The Davey Tree Expert Company

Transcript

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Doug Oster: Welcome to The Davey Tree Expert Company's podcast, Talking Trees. I'm your host, Doug Oster. Each episode showcases one of Davey's certified arborists sharing advice with everyone about caring for your trees and landscapes. We'll talk about everything from introduced pests, seasonal tree care, deer damage, how to make your trees thrive, and much more. Tune in every Thursday to learn more because, here at the talking trees podcast, we know trees are the answer.

Today, before we start our month-long celebration of Arbor Day, I'm going to tell you about the Davey planting project. You can get free seeds for a tree by just sending us an email. The address is podcasts@davey.com. You've got till April 30th, so send that email, and we'll send the seeds right back to you.

Well, to kick off our always month-long celebration of Arbor Day, I'm joined by Natalie McNeill. She's a district manager for The Davey Tree Expert Company out of Fort Collins, Colorado. First off, Natalie, I thought it'd be so cool to live in Colorado. I see all those pictures of mountains and stuff and then I get all these news reports of snow in April [chuckles].

Natalie McNeill: [laughs] Yes. We can definitely get snow in April, even up as late as June sometimes, but it usually doesn't stick around that long.

Doug: In celebration of Arbor Day, let's talk spring tree planting. I love fall tree planting, but I always put lots of stuff in the spring. For regular homeowner, what would you say the biggest mistake that they make when they plant a tree is, or is there just one mistake?

Natalie: Yes. Oftentimes, there's many mistakes, but it really starts with tree selection and the selection of the spot that you want to put the tree, so right tree, right place.

Doug: I'm sure, like me, as you drive around your city, you see wrong tree, wrong place even, and this is what drives me nuts, in new construction.

Natalie: Yes. [laughs] It's a great spot for the first 10 years and then it outgrows it. It's spot or it's just not an appropriate tree for the location.

Doug: Talk about selecting a tree for your landscape. There's a lot of variables. As a homeowner, what you should be thinking about when you want to choose a tree. This is a long-term investment.

Natalie: Yes. Most definitely. You want to make sure that you have the space for the tree to grow. Space is critical. Trees get big. There are trees that stay more narrow, there's trees that get wider, and trees that get taller. You want to know if you want shade for your house and where that placement is going to be to provide you the most benefit from the shade, different things like that.

Doug: Do they trust you when you're talking to somebody, or do you have to convince them sometimes? I find that people don't want to know how big that tree's going to get sometimes. They just want to put it in place where it's going to be. "Wow, it looks great today." As you said, 10 years down the road-- you've wasted 10 years, and you're probably going to have to just remove that tree, which is a heartbreaker.

Natalie: Yes. Or severely pruned, so it's not interfering with your house or your driveway or the street or the sidewalk. It's sometimes difficult to convey what that tree is going to look like 10, 15 years from now because we're just thinking in the moment. I want a nice-looking, healthy three in my front yard, something like that. It can be a challenge sometimes to make the selection. Our job as arborists is to educate the homeowner and make sure that they're making an informed decision of the tree they choose to put on the property.

Doug: Let's go back to somebody who's going to plant it themselves. I know that that there's an issue with how deep that tree goes. I know that's an important issue.

Natalie: Yes. Planting higher is always going to be better than planting lower with new tree establishment. You always want the top of that root ball of the tree to be slightly above the ground. The tree will have a better chance of survival because, oftentimes, the nurseries have soil on top of the actual roots and the root flare of the tree. You want to make sure that you're up high enough that that root flare of the trunk of the tree comes out.

Doug: Give me some more information about the root flare. I think that's critical. Talk root flare like I've never heard the word root flare before.

[laughter]

Natalie: Yes. Root flare is where the base of the tree connects to the root system of the tree. You'll often see a flare out at the bottom, like just a widening at the base of a tree. That's where a lot of really nice fibrous roots for the tree are going to be and a lot of good feeder roots for the tree that aid in root establishment. You want to make sure that that is as high as possible on the ground, not too high, but definitely within an inch above your base level of your soil so that you can get good establishment of those roots.

Doug: The concern is that that a homeowner would bury that thinking that-- What are they thinking actually when they're putting it too deep? I see that all the time, but what are they thinking?

Natalie: Oftentimes, that flare is covered up with soil when you purchase the tree from nurseries, which is okay when it's in the nursery, but you have to expose that root flare oftentimes. It's not noticeable, so you think you just planted at the level of the top of the soil, of the container, or the balled-and-burlapped tree that you purchased.

Doug: I'm glad you brought up balled and burlapped because we've got-- I see bare-root, I see them in plastic pots, and then I see them balled and burlapp. Is there one that's better than the other, or does it depend on the tree? If you had your druthers and I was putting a tree in, does it matter if it's one of those three ways? What's your thinking there?

Natalie: It doesn't really matter. They come in all three of those forms. Bear root is going to be a smaller version of a tree. Usually, a container-grown tree is going to be a medium size. Then the balled and burlapped are going to be your more established young trees that are in there. We always say, anytime you plant a tree, smaller is better because it allows the tree to establish in its environment quicker. When you plant a larger tree, it's already been growing in a certain environment, and then you're moving it to another environment. Sometimes those soil mediums don't match. It takes a little more time to establish.

Doug: Gosh. I'm so glad you said that because I was assuming the opposite. I was assuming putting in a bigger tree would be better. Wow. That's good to know. That's going to save me some money, Natalie.

Natalie: Yes, exactly. Oftentimes, the smaller tree will catch up to the growth rate of your larger tree that you plant in a short period of time. The larger tree has instant gratification.

Doug: You just made 100 nursery growers cry.

Natalie: Yes. There are many cases for balled-and-burlapped trees, and that's the most commonly planted tree in a home landscape, for sure.

Doug: I find that the right size tree. I find one that either has flowers or doesn't or for shade, but when I'm looking for a spot-- now this is something that I struggle with. If I'm looking for a spot for this tree, I've got an area where the size is going to be right, what about the quality of the soil? I know-- well, at least I've heard that I'm not supposed to add anything when I plant a tree into that planting hole. Talk about that a little bit.

Natalie: Yes. You don't really want to do a lot of soil amendments when you're planting. You want to loosen up some compaction so that the-- you always want to plant your plant or dig your planting hole wider than the root ball of your tree, 2 to 3 times wider than the root ball, so that you have a good, loose, uncompacted soil medium for the roots to establish. That tree is going to grow in the soil that you currently have on your property for years to come. Amending the soil may give it a false sense of security when it's trying to establish the roots, and when it gets out into the actual soil medium that's present on your property, it will struggle.

Doug: Well, what do you do when you come up--? You've got the right spot. Say, for instance, you guys, the pros, you go to a place, this is the place for the tree, and you dig and you say, "Oh, that's clay. That's rock. That's shale. That's bad." How do you do that then?

Natalie: You move the tree [laughs].

Doug: That's the plan that I use. I will never plant in one of these areas that that is pure clay. I'm always looking around in that area to find better soil. Is that the idea?

Natalie: Yes. Oftentimes, it's difficult to find that better soil in a urban setting, for sure, sometimes, but you make the best effort you can to plant it in a place that has a decent soil medium for the trees to establish.

Doug: Okay. Well, I found the right place, I've got the right soil, I've got it at the right depth. I've dug my hole two or three times bigger than the root ball. What do I have to do to ensure that tree is going to perpetuate for the next 20 years?

Natalie: Water, water, water.

[laughter]

Natalie: New trees require a decent amount of water to get established. You're going to have to keep up with frequent watering, especially within the first four months. Really depending on the size of the tree, it can take up to three years for a 2-inch diameter tree to establish a root system after planting. Regular monthly watering once the tree's in the ground for a year, even through the wintertime, which a lot of people don't realize that watering their trees in the winter time is important, and mulching. Proper mulching will help the tree retain moisture.

Doug: Well, listeners can't see your smile, but I can see your smile when you say the word mulching, proper mulching. Certainly, on this podcast, we've talked a lot about it, but we must be reminded. I want to tell you a real quick story. I got an email yesterday from a woman who commented on a local landscaper showing pictures of this installation and it had volcano mulch. Since she is familiar with my mantra about volcano mulch, she just ripped them. You know what their answer was? "The customer wanted it that way." Give it to me. Give me the right way to mulch that tree.

Natalie: Do not volcano-mulch your tree. You should have an even layer of mulch around the base of the tree in the root zone of your tree 3 to 4 inches deep, and that malt should be probably about 4 to 6 inches away from the trunk of the tree.

Doug: How did it begin?

Natalie: I don't know.

Doug: No one knows yet. Everywhere I go, just like you, I'm sure, when you see it, you're just, oh, piling that bark. I'm sorry, piling that mulch up onto the trunk and onto the bark is the worst thing you can do.

Natalie: Yes. There's so many problems that can lead to with fungal problems, root rot, and just poor establishment of the tree with the volcano.

Doug: I want to get back to watering because, oftentimes, people don't know how much water to give. Let's just, for instance, a 2-inch caliper tree, if rain is scarce-- or let's just say rain isn't scarce, how do I know when to water earlier?

Natalie: For a new tree on establishment, you want water pretty much every day for the first couple of weeks. The general rule of thumb is a gallon to a gallon and a half of water per inch caliper of tree. If you plant a 2-inch tree, you're going to be somewhere around two gallons per watering. For the first few weeks, two to three weeks, you want it water daily to help establish that. There are lots of rain gauges that you can purchase and put at the base of your tree to see how much natural moisture you get. Here in Colorado, we don't get a lot of natural moisture, so it's important for that initial establishment. Then for the first four months, you're probably going to water two to three times a week at that same level.

Doug: Of course, out there in the winter, you probably have two feet of great snow cover for insulation.

Natalie: Up in the mountains, we certainly do, but on the front range, in the urban corridor, we don't get a lot of snow, although we just came off of a really heavy snow. We don't get a lot of moisture in the wintertime. Winter watering here is pretty critical.

Doug: I'm in the East. I put a tree in the spring, I water it all summer, but then at a certain point, usually my ground freezes solid. Is that when I'm stopping or can I still water?

Natalie: No, you can still water if it-- you're going to have some warmer temperatures, but yes, you have to watch the freezing temperatures in the back East. We don't get a lot of frozen ground here in Colorado very often. Because it's so dry, we get under 16 inches of moisture in a year. For us, we can water all winter long.

Doug: Well, when talking Arbor Day, how about a few favorite trees?

Natalie: Oh, the old standbys, the Maples and the Oaks. I have a Kentucky coffee tree in my front yard, which is a great tree for Colorado.

Doug: Well, we can throw it out East too. Tell me about that tree, why you love that tree? Because I don't think I've talked about that in the podcast.

Natalie: Yes. Here, we love that tree because it leaves out late. It misses the late spring freezes that we get and it loses its leaves early. The early freezes don't impact it as well. It's got a great branching structure, very little maintenance requirements on it. It's really a good tree.

Doug: Of the Maples, I'm going to throw out sugar, maple.

Natalie: I'm from the East Coast of Canada, and so sugar maple is my favorite. We don't have many sugar Maples here in Colorado.

Doug: I think about 90% of the tree experts I ask, I expect to hear some weird tree I've never heard about, but it's sugar maple that always comes back. That's why I threw it out there.

Natalie: Yes. Some nostalgia there. It's an old staple, so to speak.

Doug: There's nothing like them when they change color.

Natalie: Yes. They're gorgeous.

Doug: I noticed at the end of your email a title I hadn't seen before. Tell me, technically, your ISA is not certified, but-- yes certified, but then the next step.

Natalie: Yes. I'm an ISA board-certified master arborist, and so that's the highest level of certification that the International Society of Arboriculture offers. It's a step above the certified arborists, and it's more detailed. Continuing education is more stringent with our categories that we have to maintain that in science categories. It takes a while to be qualified to be able to apply to take that certification. You just have to have a broad understanding from residential tree care to municipal tree care utility. Just the whole broad understanding of the industry in general.

Doug: Tell me how you found your way to trees.

Natalie: Well, I grew up on the East Coast of Canada, surrounded by trees. I went to school for forestry. Thought I was going to be working out in the woods. Did an internship with Davey before I graduated and fell in love with the urban setting and I loved talking to people about the trees. Started my career as an urban forester, an arborist, and still doing it and loving it every day.

Doug: All right, Natalie, I sure appreciate your time and teaching us, finally, the right way to plant a tree and keep it going. Thank you so much.

Natalie: You're very welcome. Thank you.

Doug: Tune in every Thursday to the Talking Trees podcast from The Davey Tree Expert Company. I'm your host, Doug Oster. Next week, we continue our month-long celebration of Arbor Day with some great stories and fun interviews. Don't forget to email podcasts@davey.com for your free tree seeds as part of the Davey Planting Project. You've got till April 30th, so send that email, and we'll send the seeds right back to you.

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