Planning to plant a tree in your garden?
Here are a few steps that will guide you on how to plant a tree and look after it.
From protecting their roots to watering effectively, learn how to provide proper maintenance to your valuable specimens.
Consider Your Land
Firstly, you need to consider your land before you plant a tree. Factors such as slope, drainage, and erosion can have an impact on what trees will prosper on your terrain.
For instance, it is not good to plant trees on hilly or steep land, because their roots may not be able to take proper hold.
Place the Tree
After you have carefully examined your land, you need to prepare a hole three times as wide as rootball of your tree. Handle the root ball of your tree very carefully. Then carefully place the plant in the hole. Once the tree has been placed inside the hole, with the bur lapped root balls, carefully cut the twine and remove the burlap.
Backfill the hole
Carefully Backfill the hole around the rootball, lightly stuffing the soil. Keep a check on the trunk to ensure that it’s straight. Use leftover soil as a boundary to create a watering well.
Stake and Water the Tree
Carefully drive the stake through the rootball into the ground underneath. Do not tie the stake tightly to the trunk. As soon as the tree has been planted water it for several weeks. By that time the roots will have begun to grow out and gradually reduce the frequency of water.
Use Mulch
Consider adding a layer of mulch to keep the moisture in and weeds out. Mulching around the tree will protect the tree from treading and lawn mowers.
Keep the mulch at least 10 inches away from the trunk or it may cause a tree to crumble.
Prune: the Tree
In case there are any broken or dead limbs on the tree, carefully remove them with a knife or gardening shears. Prune only if necessary. In case there are no limbs, do not prune it and wait till the first growing season.
” I believe that smart landscaping can go a long way to increase the comfort of a home. Planting deciduous trees in the right directions can help in providing shade from hot summer sun and will allow sunlight to penetrate in the winter season. Planting trees to shade the air conditioner will help in lowering the air conditioning costs by 15 to 35 percent.
A tip for vastu followers- it is best to plant tall trees in the south-west direction as this direction is ruled by the ‘earth’ element and hence brings stability and progress.”
– Architect Harleen Virk,
Principal Architect, DIMENSIONS