Planting bareroot trees

pbergin

Hi
I am going to plant some heavy standard trees next week, the will be abour 4m in height.
What length stakes will I need? I was thinking of getting 2inch 5foot posts, and pushing the posts about 2 foot down, leaving 3 foot over ground.
Some of them will be exposed and open to strong winds.
Also, should i get some manure to cover the roots when planting or is soil enough?
Thanks
P.

looksee

The main purpose of stakes is to stop the roots rocking while letting the stem flex. 3ft stakes (above ground) is fine, though 2 inch is a bit narrow, 3inch would be better. I would suggest you put in 2 stakes away from the roots and fasten with cushioned, flexible fasteners.

Initially it might be a good idea to put guy ropes a bit higher up the trunk on the exposed trees, to get them started. Remove the guy ropes in a few months. You must water the trees through the summer, think gallons rather than hosepipe sprinkles.

I don't think manure on the roots is a good idea, it would burn rather than help. You can get some sort of spores that you put round tree roots that are supposed to be good for getting growth going, but I have no personal experience of it and it is expensive. You could put some compost with john innes in the hole to help get the roots started, mix the soil with it in the hole, or the roots might not want to leave the compost ball.

henryporter

If the manure s well rotted (say a year old for cow manure or 6 months for horse manure) then it should be alright. Ideally you need to dig a hole about 3w x 3l x 2-3 deep and put in a good 4 inches of manure at the bottom, backfilling with soil to the point where the original ground line of the tree coincides with the ground line when you place the roots in the hole - that way you separate the roots from direct contact with the manure.

The right advice on the staking from the previous post, but I'd avoid restraining higher up as trees tend to root better as a reaction to wind strike.

What sort of trees you planting?

magicbastarder

unless you need the height straight away, you could do away with the staking altogether - and save money - by going for two year old whips, which won't need staking. obviously, the main drawback is lack of instant effect.

i was once told - but am not sure how good the advice is - that a tree planted younger establishes better; i.e. if you have two seven year old trees, one planted in the ground age two, and one planted age 5, the one planted at two will be a lot bigger.

pbergin

thanks for the advice, i wast sure if i needed muh longer stakes.
Im planting a mix of lime, golden ash and 2 types of maple. Cant wait to get a few trees down, its a new site and very bare.

Qwerty?

pbergin wrote: »

Im planting a mix of lime, golden ash and 2 types of maple. Cant wait to get a few trees down, its a new site and very bare.

Mind me asking where did you buy, and how much were they? I planted 400-450 bare-root whips last year, but need to replace a few:mad: Think I might try a few bigger ones this time.

40701085

Qwerty? wrote: »

Mind me asking where did you buy, and how much were they? I planted 400-450 bare-root whips last year, but need to replace a few:mad: Think I might try a few bigger ones this time.

Thinking of putting a couple hundred whips down this year myself - if the weather ever gives me the chance!:(
Just wondering, what type of problems did you encounter that meant you need replacements?

Qwerty?

40701085 wrote: »

Thinking of putting a couple hundred whips down this year myself - if the weather ever gives me the chance!:(
Just wondering, what type of problems did you encounter that meant you need replacements?

You'll always get a few dying on you. I think about 10 didn't take at all.

Of the others that failed I blame the heavy rains of March and April, which left them swimming in the holes I had dug, and then the dry weather in June/July. (its not easy watering 450 trees:o)

Did a count today and need to replace approx 50, which in the scheme of things isn't to bad.

BTW they need to be going down very soon. Mid March at the latest if I remember correctly.

Have fun

40701085

Qwerty? wrote: »

You'll always get a few dying on you. I think about 10 didn't take at all.

Of the others that failed I blame the heavy rains of March and April, which left them swimming in the holes I had dug, and then the dry weather in June/July. (its not easy watering 450 trees:o)

Did a count today and need to replace approx 50, which in the scheme of things isn't to bad.

BTW they need to be going down very soon. Mid March at the latest if I remember correctly.

Have fun

Thanks Qwerty?,
Yeah this w/e is D-day, going to get the ash in, but was wondering if its any benefit to intersperse them with another species, e.g. hazel, so that they are not competing too closely (root depth, budding time, branch patterns etc) with each other while close together. Any thoughts? I'm planting about 1m apart - for coppicing purposes only.