Tips on tree planting

Please view our guide How to plant a Barcham Tree to see the process that we recommend you follow in order to achieve great results with your tree planting.

The following are further tips to give your trees the best start:

Treat your Trees with care

• Don’t allow the trees to be thrown around on site
• Store trees out of drying winds and under shade to protect against freezing or over heating

Give your trees the best start..

• Plant trees when soils are moist and free from frost, the traditional tree planting period is November through to March, however our containerised trees can be planted at any time of year.
• Cultivated soils will generally provide a better medium for root development and plant growth.
• Dig the planting pit to the correct depth – we recommend a planting pit no deeper than the container, unless you have specific issues with drainage throughout your site.  For those of you with poor drainage, please contact us for further advice on planting.
• The width of the planting pit should be a minimum of one and a half times as large as the root-ball/container and up to a maximum of two times as wide, if the soil is very compacted.  This means that a root-ball of 40cm wide should be planted in a hole at least 60cm wide.

Weeds are your trees worst enemies!

• Weeds compete for water and nutrients in the rooting zone of young plants, restricting their growth.
• Tall weeds, especially bracken, can collapse and smother young trees.
• If using chemicals to weed young trees remember to protect the trees from spray drift
• Maintain a 1 metre diameter weed free spot around the tree, we recommend using bark mulch to help with this in soft landscape situations

Watering is key …..

• The best thing you can do for a tree is give it the best start by planting it correctly, however it is equally essential that once planted you follow up with an aftercare programme.
• The key to any aftercare programme is watering.
• Regular watering should be commenced early in the year when the weather becomes drier and the tree starts to come into leaf and continue until leaf fall in the autumn.
• It is difficult to determine the exact amount to water trees, as this will vary depend upon the site and weather conditions specific to where the tree is planted.
• Thus sadly it is important to use some common sense in this area and monitor the conditions and act accordingly.
• Newly planted trees should be watered at least 2-3 times a week in the summer time, with at least a full watering can of water.
• Applying water from the top of the planting pit, i.e. using a watering can and rose, is advisable as this allows the water to percolate through the soil slowly and enables the tree to make the most of it.

For our full advice and recommendations on watering, please view our guide How much to water newly planted trees.