How to Plant/Transplant an Apple Tree

Before You Plant

Spring is the best time to plant apple trees in the Northeast.  In warmer climates, you can also plant in the fall.  If you can, prepare the planting site 6 months before digging your hole.  That will give your tree the boost it needs to begin to grow. 

1.     Take a soil sample and send it to your cooperative extension service. They will send you recommendations for how to improve your soil for growing fruit trees.
2.     Stake out where the tree or trees are going to be planted.
3.    Around each of the stakes, spread the recommended soil amendments in a 4’-6’ diameter circle.
4.     Cover with 4” of compost, grass clippings, leaves, seaweed or wood chips to smother sod and create habitat for decomposers.
5.     Remove nuisance plants like poison ivy, cedars and autumn olive from your yard

 I Just Got My Tree – Now What Do I Do?

If you ordered your tree through the mail, chances are that it will arrive in the middle of the week when you don’t have time to plant or on a day that a freak blizzard has blanketed your town with snow.  Even if you purchased a tree from a nursery when you were buying your pansies, you may not be ready to plant immediately. 

 The best way to store your trees is to keep them in a cool, shady place (such as a garage or basement).  Don’t let the roots freeze or dry out. Give the roots some water if they look dry.

 If your trees are bare-rooted (not in a pot with soil), soak them in a bucket of water for several hours or overnight right before planting.

If you are not going to be able to plant your trees for several weeks or more (even a year), you can plant them temporarily in a row in your garden and move them later to their intended site.  (This is called “heeling in”).  Don’t forget to water them.

 Digging The Hole

 Finally.  It’s time to plant.  Here are the do’s and don’t of digging a hole

Do:   

  • Use a good digging shovel.                             

  • Remove the sod and turn it upside down.  Use it to create a berm around the hole when you are done planting.

  •  Dig a hole about the size of a bushel  basket. (2’-3’ in diameter)      

  • Place the soil that you dig on the edge of the hole.  

  • Loosen the soil on the bottom and sides  of the hole.                   

  • Make a mound at the bottom of the hole to drape the roots over.             

  • Add soil amendments now if you didn’t do it several months ago. Spread some on the soil surrounding the hole to mix in when planting.                     

Don’t:

  • Use a hand trowel.

  • Fling the soil over your shoulder when you are digging.

  • Make a hole shaped like a V.

  • Leave the bottom flat or concave.

  • Pour all the soil amendments at the bottom of the hole.

  • Replace the sod around the tree after planting.


Planting Your Tree

Things to remember:

1.     Keep the roots moist.
Plant on a cloudy day or late in the afternoon.           
Keep bare rooted trees in a bucket of water til you’re ready to plant.

2.     Place the tree on top of the mound at the bottom of the hole.
Drape the roots around the mound.
Don’t let the roots circle the hole – trim them if necessary.

3.    Mix in the soil amendments around the roots as you add soil.

4.     Gently pack the soil around all the roots to eliminate any air pockets.

5.     Plant the tree at the same depth that it was planted in the nursery.
You can tell that by noticing a color change in the bark.
The graft union should be at least two inches above the soil line.

6.    Use any sod that you removed when digging the hole or extra soil to create a berm around the tree about 1’-2’ in diameter. 
This will help keep the water close to the roots when you water the tree

 Finishing Touches

 Watering

Giving your tree enough water when it is young is the most important thing you can do for your tree.

  •    Immediately – water your tree as soon as it is planted.  Give it enough water to allow the soil to settle and the water to seep down all the way to the roots.

  •    During the first growing season, the tree needs 1”- 2” of water/week.

  •    Use a hose or a bucket, not a sprinkler.

Staking

If you planted a tree on dwarfing root stock, you will need to give it support to keep it from blowing over til the roots are well established. 

  •  Drive a metal or wooden stake into the ground 1’-2’ from the tree.

  • Affix a wire or string to the stake and loosely wrap it around the tree.

 Protection

To make sure that your young tree isn’t eaten by deer or mowed over by your teenager, you can create a cage around it to protect it.

  • Drive 3-4 metal or wooden stakes in a 3’-4’cirle around the tree.

  • Secure chicken wire around the outside of the stakes.

  • Ok if it’s off the ground – deer and lawn mowers won’t go under it.

Labeling Your Trees

 Although you are positive you will never forget the name of the tree you have just planted, there is ALSO a chance that you will have forgotten it by the time you go to bed tonight, especially if you have planted several trees.  You can avoid the heartbreak and embarrassment of memory lapse, by making a label for your tree.

  • Durable labels can be created from scraps of vinyl siding.

  • Make a hole in the end and attach it loosely to the tree with a strong wire

  • Write the name of the tree on the label in pencil – not pen or sharpie

  • Check the label every year to make sure it is not girdling the tree and to rewrite the name if it is fading