The past three weeks on our homestead have been all about fruit trees. When I placed my orders in February, perhaps I was a wee bit overzealous, and I ordered a lot of trees (18 to be exact), fruiting bushes (a modest 6), and raspberries (only 12!) Planting fruit trees is like a celebration of finally owning our little piece of land and an investment in the future, so the more the merrier, right?
Well, sort of right. The thing about fruit trees is that you really need to take care siting and planting them.
All winter long I’ve been placing markers at potential sites, reading books about orchard management (The Holistic Orchard is my favorite), and drooling over fruit tree catalogs (I ordered from One Green World and St. Lawrence Nurseries).
Yet somehow, with all that dreaming and planning, I kind of neglected to think about how much time it takes to properly prepare a hole to plant a fruit tree. There is a popular saying in the orchard world, “Buy a $5 tree, but dig a $50 hole,” so here are our best tips on how to create a $50 hole for the best planting success.
How to Plant Fruit Trees
1) Prep Time!
First, prepare the fruit tree planting site by first scraping and removing the sod in a 2-3 foot diameter circle.
2) Dig deep!
As you excavate your hole, move soil to piles; topsoil is moved to one pile, and subsoil to another. In our holes, the topsoil was rich and brown, while the subsoil was heavy reddish clay.
We found it easiest to lay cardboard down next to the hole and place the soil upon the cardboard, making it really easy to lift and shake the last bits of dirt into the hole.
Three piles: sod, subsoil, and topsoil.
3) Rough up the hole.
After digging to a depth of 1 1/2 – 2ft, rough up the bottoms and sides of the hole, which makes it easier for roots to penetrate the heavy clay.
Trees and bushes were kept heeled into our big compost pile until we were ready to plant.
4) Determine the proper depth for planting the fruit tree.
We used a long stick across the hole so it was easy to determine the proper level at which to plant the fruit tree.
5) Refill.
Now it’s time to place the contents of the hole back in the opposite order: sod first, topsoil around the roots of the tree, and subsoil last. While it’s important to treat the roots with care, you can gently tamp the soil into place.
6) Water and mulch.
After planting fruit trees, I like to heap a large wheelbarrow load of composted horse manure in a bowl shape around the tree. Then the tree gets a nice big drink of water now, and once a week during the first year (unless the tree receives an inch of rain).
7) Protect your newly planted fruit trees!
If your orchard is not fenced in, you may want to take the time right now to consider fencing. We experience rabbit damage if we leave our fruit tree trunks un-fenced, so now, as we plant, we wrap a 12-18″ wire fence in a circle at a 6″ distance from the trunk.
leslie says
One of the things we did with our trees was to create hugel mounds below the trees. These catch the rain water and can shade the root system. Another great investment is elderberry bushes. You can make a medicinal tea out of the flowers and an amazing syrup or jelly from the berries.
Teri Page says
Thanks for the tips, Leslie! We also planted many elderberry bushes, and they are thriving!
Mai says
Well done! Good luck on your endeavors!
I did get some info on fertilizer from a large, reputable nursery that i thought to share….
From AC Nursery in Aspers, PA:
“We do not encourage putting fertilizer in the hole at planting. More young trees die from over-fertilizing than anything else. We recommend fertilizer application 4-5 weeks after planting. No more than 4 ounces of 10-10-10 fertilizer should be applied around the drip line of each tree. Do not apply directly against the base of the tree. Allow the roots to grow to the fertilizer.” M Britt
Teri Page says
Thank you for sharing!!
Ian says
Nice article, short, sharp and to the point. One word of advice I would like to give. When planting anything, especially trees and bushes, make the hole square not round. This makes it easier for the roots to break out and the plant will become established more quickly. Happy homesteading.
Teri Page says
Thanks for the tip!
Anna@Green Talk says
Like the stick idea. Be sure not to overwater the fruit trees as they grow. I lost one because I worried it wasn’t getting enough water.
Teri Page says
Yes, I have read that too. Thanks for the reminder!
alexjuvion says
Nice blog..Thanks for sharing great info of tree.
Kep it up…
homesteadhoney says
Thanks so much for stopping by!
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homesteadhoney says
Thanks for the kind words!
Tatiana says
St Lawrence Nursery is only about 45 minutes away from where I live! The folks who teach sustainable ag and permaculture here love taking our students to the nursery for field trips and we have a bunch of their fruit trees and berry bushes in our college garden 🙂
homesteadhoney says
That’s so cool! I’d love to see their set up. They have great plants and fantastic resources. And I love that I had to fill out the order form in pen and send it in with a check. When you’re ready to plant your own fruit trees, they have a great selection of cold-hardy fruits!
oldschoolonestop says
love the cardboard idea
looks like you have a wonderful garden starting already
homesteadhoney says
The cardboard made things so much easier!
Yes, we really do have a great beginning! Now I just have to finish my sheet mulching project so I can start planting!
Kathleen says
I’ll love to later hear later about the fruits of your labor!
Auntie
Sent from my iPad
homesteadhoney says
The fruits will be a long time coming! I wish it was as simple as just putting them in the ground and then eating lots of fruit! I did plant some fall-bearing raspberries that should fruit this year, and I’m going to grab some strawberry plants from our neighbor, so hopefully we’ll get to enjoy those too. Oh, and I almost forgot the gooseberries that I dug up from my garden in Oregon and transplanted here. They look great and are of bearing age. Luckily there are wild gooseberries, black raspberries, and autumn olives on the property, so I should be able to forage a bit in the wild!
Glenn Stoops says
I can see topsoil for the roots to work with, but why sod at the bottom? Love, GA
homesteadhoney says
The sod goes in grass side down. So the idea is that it will decompose and make some nice rich compost below the roots, and as they grow, they can access the nutrients. Then you gently tuck the topsoil around the roots.