Planting Is it too late to plant bare root fruit trees?

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bluelady

Veteran Member
Embarassing confession time. Last spring we bought two bare-root fruit trees, semi -dwarf IIRC, one pear and one apple, both with multiple varieties. We stuck them (still wrapped) in a large pot. And ignored them. Amazingly, they survived a hot summer & cold winter. Now dh figures it's time to plant them (ya think? :) ), but I'm reading that they MUST be planted when dormant. They have lots of leaves, and it's been 80's/90's. Should we try planting them anyway, or hope they survive until they go dormant again (fall?)
 
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Martinhouse

Deceased
I did the same thing with a big pile of raspberries and grapevines I'd dug up to transfer. I'd tossed some old rugs over the pile. I finally planted them in the middle of the following July and it gets HOT by then in Arkansas, but I shaded them with old sheets and watered them every day and about 90 percent of them made it.

I've often found that if a plant is in horrible enough conditions, it will be so grateful for the change for better that it will really thrive once it's planted properly, even if it's the wrong time of year.

Good luck with those trees!
 
Raggedyman

Raggedyman

Res ipsa loquitur
all my fruit trees were planted bare root - we ordered them in the fall and heeled them in then transplanted in the spring. all but 2 of them are still there and doing well. good luck!
 
naturallysweet

naturallysweet

Has No Life - Lives on TB
If they are alive, it's not too late. You'll have to baby them a little more this summer with more frequent watering. But they can make it.
 
Babs

Babs

Veteran Member
Throw a huge shovel full of very well composted manure in the hole before you set the plants. It will lesson the shock and give them a very fine start. Also, very frequent waterings this year.
 
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summerthyme

Administrator
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Babs said:
Throw a huge shovel full of very well composted manure in the hole before you set the plants. It will lesson the shock and give them a very fine start. Also, very frequent waterings this year.
Click to expand...

Babs... I'm going to disagree with this, UNLESS she has excellent quality soil to start with. You want the tree roots to REACH OUT for nutrients... if you plant them in very highly amended soil (good compost), they tend to "look inward"... actually stay within the hole, and when they exhaust the easily available nutrients, they're already on the way to becoming root bound.

When digging a hole to plant a tree, you want it to be larger than the root system (at least double diameter). You also don't want a "round" hole... preferably, you want multiple jagged spots reaching outward to help guide the roots out, away from the trunk. If you have clay soil, this is especially important, as smooth walls to the hole actually creates a "flowerpot" effect.

Replace the soil with what you removed. THEN, mulch with some well rotted compost, from about 8" out from the trunk to the "drip line" (the tips of the branches). This will slowly percolate nutrients into the soil near the roots, which will "grow out" looking for more.

And yes, given your temperatures and season, you'll really need to stay on top of watering... you need to water DEEPLY every few days, not sprinkle the surface daily! And again, mulch will really help hold the moisture.

Summerthyme
 
20Gauge

20Gauge

TB Fanatic
summerthyme said:
Babs... I'm going to disagree with this, UNLESS she has excellent quality soil to start with. You want the tree roots to REACH OUT for nutrients... if you plant them in very highly amended soil (good compost), they tend to "look inward"... actually stay within the hole, and when they exhaust the easily available nutrients, they're already on the way to becoming root bound.

When digging a hole to plant a tree, you want it to be larger than the root system (at least double diameter). You also don't want a "round" hole... preferably, you want multiple jagged spots reaching outward to help guide the roots out, away from the trunk. If you have clay soil, this is especially important, as smooth walls to the hole actually creates a "flowerpot" effect.

Replace the soil with what you removed. THEN, mulch with some well rotted compost, from about 8" out from the trunk to the "drip line" (the tips of the branches). This will slowly percolate nutrients into the soil near the roots, which will "grow out" looking for more.

And yes, given your temperatures and season, you'll really need to stay on top of watering... you need to water DEEPLY every few days, not sprinkle the surface daily! And again, mulch will really help hold the moisture.

Summerthyme
Click to expand...

This works more with plants / trees that have pots. Bare root generally have no good soil. So you do need to help them with new soil
 
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summerthyme

Administrator
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Well, they need *decent * soil. But not significantly better than the common soil in the area where they are being planted.

Plus, these *were* bare root trees... LAST spring! For them to have survived and broken dormancy this year, they are now more the equivalent of a potted tree.. maybe not WELL potted, but the y wouldn't have survived if their roots hadn't worked through their wrappings and started spreading out in the pot where they were temporarily placed.

I've planted dozens of bare root trees, and did a ton of research before spending the money on stock. One of the main reasons for trees to do well for the first 1-2 years, and then "unexpectedly" weaken and die is putting compost or much richer soil into the planting hole. You can ADD a bit of compost (maybe 10%) to the soil you originally removed yo act as a slow release fertilizer, but you want those feeder roots to reach out aggressively and form a strong root system, and not "spoiling" them by providing too much in the way of easily available nutrients directly in the hole is how the experts suggest you encourage that.

Summerthyme
 
M

Martinhouse

Deceased
Summerthyme, what you just described is how I've always planted just about anything I've put into the ground. I'm glad I "guessed" right when trying to use common sense about what a plant will be trying to do once it's set in place. The only time I've stripped off a nursery pot and set something into a hole that "fits", it's been when I know that my soil is loose enough for those roots to spread and I sort of spread the outer roots a little to help point them in their new directions.
 
B

bluelady

Veteran Member
We realized there are a lot of weeds to clear where the trees are going; dh started on it, but it's really hot so we're going to finish this evening when it's cooler. Thanks for the heads up, Summerthyme; our soil is all right I guess, so I'll just plant them, then put compost on top, and aged chips on top of that?
 
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summerthyme

Administrator
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Bluelady... yep, that should work well. It will help hold moisture in the soil and keep weeds down as well.

Martinhouse... it's funny, but if you can "think like a plant" (or animal) you can sometimes save a lot of problems. You've obviously got good instincts... I think it was you who wrote about planting in wide rows as a technique you developed yourself... I started after reading about it in Dick Raymond's classic "Joy of Gardening" book.

I know it's sort of counterintuitive to not want to "spoil" baby plants, especially when they're expensive as fruit trees are these days! But you have to think about your goals (a long lived productive plant) and what that requires. And an extensive, healthy root system is pretty much at the top of the list. And while we can help "domestic" trees along with fertilizer and watering, it's important to not create "welfare trees"! Deep watering once or twice a week encourages the roots to head downward into the soil. This not only helps them in times of drought, but also in hot summers and cold winters.

Techniques that work well (or are even vital ) for container gardening don't always translate into conventional plant needs... And vice versa.

Good luck!

Summerthyme
 
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