Help with soil prep for tree planting.

[mysteryman896]

I have a little over 100 trees to plant this April. I have everything from evergreens, to apple trees, to hardwoods. My question is what is the best way to prepare for this? I do not have a post hole digger but i plan on looking into rental costs. The equipment i currently have is; JD6200, Kubota L48 TLB, 2 row plow, and a rear tine walk behind rototiller. I have other attachments but i think that's all that could possibly be used to help plant trees.

Is a post hole digger quickest and best or is something i have sufficient? could i take a scoop out with the backhoe and put it right back in the hole, the run the rototiller through? the trees will be in the 3' overall length upon arrival so im guessing 1.5-2' tree and 1-1.5' of root system.

Thanks

 

[forgeblast]

This is the way I did my crep planting.
I sprayed roundup in a 15x15 grid. Then where the grids intersected I dug a hole. I pulled out all the rocks and left the pile of dirt next to the hole. I would normally dig 25-30 holes in a couple of hourse(I planted over 200 trees). Then when I had all the holes dug I could go and plant all my trees in one day. I also tubed (tubex)and staked my trees to keep the voles and deer off of them. I am going into my second full year of the planting I am allowed to spray for the last year around the tubes(about a 4' diam circle around the tubes) and spray any invasives that are in the planting area. I spray at night to avoid hitting the bees.
I did buy some of those 2yo tablets that you throw in the hole and they fertalize a tree for two years. I also kept peat moss on hand incase I ran out of dirt to backfill.
Also keep the trees in a bucket of water when planting.
there is a saying buy a $10 dollar tree dig a $100.00 hole. Make sure its deep enough and no rocks you will be good.

 

[mysteryman896]

Thanks!! I guess i need to get out there with some round up this weekend as well as start digging holes. I was also curious how important the tubes were, i guess i need to get those ordered or find a local place to buy.

can you describe the roundup spry grid a little better for me? i plan on a grid for the trees themselves but the spray grid im not following. did you sray a full 15x15 patch with roundup and have the tree planted in the center of that patch?

 

[mjw357]

A friend of mine who has a landscape business prefers backhoe or hand digging for trees. he says the augered holes get 'polished' sides that are hard for the roots to break through. had lots of trees die that way, tree would look healthy then after about a year or two the tree would just die.

 

[mysteryman896]

Thanks mjw, that advise plays perfect to the equipment i already have.

 

[Michelle K linnane]

I am curious what is your soil type sandy, heavy claw, or deep loam?

 

[mysteryman896]

The soil tends to be a loamy surface and then a clay subsoil.

found this online:
Conestoga Valley
Limestone-derived soils predominate in the Conestoga Valley section. These soils are comparable to those in the valleys of the Ridge and Valley province. They have a silt loam surface texture and a clayey subsurface horizon. They are well drained. The landscape is level to undulating, and erosion potential is low. Rock fragments are scarce, and the root zone available waterholding capacity is high. The growing season is long. These are productive soils that are used intensively for agriculture.

 

[forgeblast]

Sorry should have been more clear about the grid. My crep guys also said other people did it wrong but thankfully I did it right.
I would mark 15' and spray to my next mark, but only spraying about 1-2' wide. this way you have "stripes" so you know where to dig. If you nuke it all you cant tell where your dig points are.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/rural-living/167255-crp-planting.html
shows my planting.
I will have to get an updated picture, I have some of my oaks about 7' tall now.

 

[BeezFun]

A friend of mine who has a landscape business prefers backhoe or hand digging for trees. he says the augered holes get 'polished' sides that are hard for the roots to break through. had lots of trees die that way, tree would look healthy then after about a year or two the tree would just die.

Ditto on that. I use my PHD to drill three holes right together to loosen soil, then use a shovel to finish perimeter of hole and toss the dirt out. If I had a backhoe I'd use that, much better way to do it than PHD.

 

[Ranger Rick]

Are these trees one year old seedlings? If they are you can plant them by making a hole with a digging bar or mattock if your ground is soft enough. Jab the digging bar into the ground and pry a wedge shape opening in the ground. Stick the roots into the ground and push the tree in deeper then the it would need to be and then pull up the where the soil level is. The ends of the roots want to drag behind going down and going deeper and pulling back up straightens them out.
After you get the tree at the proper level take your digging bar and at an angle thrust it into the ground a couple of inches away from the tree and pry toward the tree to squeeze the soil around the tree closed. Keep the trees soaking in a bucket of water as you go around planting them. This link shows it better then I described it. http://www.uaex.edu/Other_Areas/publications/PDF/FSA-5007.pdf
Rick

 

[forgeblast]

Rick is that called a dibble bar? I have used those on pines that were a year old.

 

[mysteryman896]

thanks for the tip and info Rick. I will have to see if i can get away with this method. I think the soil in most of the areas are going to be too dark for that but I could be wrong.

 

[Fossil Farm]

Is a post hole digger quickest and best or is something i have sufficient? could i take a scoop out with the backhoe and put it right back in the hole, the run the rototiller through? the trees will be in the 3' overall length upon arrival so im guessing 1.5-2' tree and 1-1.5' of root system.

Are you getting these from a nursery close by? If they are bare root, a dibble bar will work. Typically the height listed is the height of the tree, and does not include the root system. You may have to prune a few roots. Typically with bare root, you do not want to fertilize for a few months until the roots get reestablished somewhat.

If they are balled and burlapped, you may want to rent a tree spade or see if the nursery has one you can borrow. 100 trees even with a post hole or backhoe will take a long time. A tree spade is much easier on the back.

If you do use a post hole digger or backhoe, be sure to rough up the sides of the hole if it is wet and smears the sides. Roots will have a tough time growing through a smear - it can act like concrete, not allowing the roots to grow horizontally out of the hole you just dug. Even with a tree spade, you sometimes need to use a shovel to loosen up the sides just a bit. good luck.

 

[Ranger Rick]

Rick is that called a dibble bar? I have used those on pines that were a year old.

Yes dibble bars are made for tree planting but I was guessing most of us did not have one and did have a digging bar which works as well or it did for me.
Rick

 

[mysteryman896]

The trees are from a local nursery, but on their info they have shipping dimensions and thats where I got the 3' from so I assume that does include the root system. with the warm weather we have been having I expect to hear from them that the trees are ready sometime in early April. I might have to do some practicing with both a digging bar and backhoe to see which will work best for the type of soil I have. I will be sure to make sure the sides are rough if i end up using the backhoe. Thanks guys

 

[Michelle K linnane]

I have planted many a tree for my mom when she was alive and depending on the soil and it was seedlings trees or not. We also dug the hole a little deeper and places some fertilizer in the hole then a scope or two a dirt and also peat moss a shove in the bottom of the hole will also help. IF you are planting everything in a row It would good to rototill the soil then dig the holes will be much better for root system.

 

[ahlkey]

I have been planting various tree sizes for many years. Do not use round-up in the spring as it will have an adverse effect on the young tress and killl a large number of them. Roundup is best sprayed in the fall to prepare your site for spring planting but not now when planting. With low number of trees and given the size the planting bar should do fine

 

[qstott]

We planted about 15 acres in the crep program a few years back. I ran over the land with a disc, and then smoothed it. We ran "rows" with a single subsoiler the length of the fields 12 feet apart. The we used the tree spade to set the trees in the subsoiled rows. When the grass and weeds started to grow, I mowed between the rows. After three years the trees were tall enough not be be shaded out by the grasses and weeds.

 

[flusher]

You can rent tree auger rigs from places like Home Depot and dig those 100 holes in a day.

I'd dig a small trench with your TLB and locate the depth of any hardpan layer. This will give you an idea of the depth you need to go with the auger.

Around here we have thousands of acres of orchard. Generally the ground has to be ripped using Cat bulldozers with 4-ft long shanks to break up the hardpan. My neighbor recently planted 8 acres of English walnut after running a big D8 Cat over the field to rip the hardpan.



Don't say you have to go to this extreme, but checking the hardpan depth is a good thing to do before planting that number of trees.

Good luck.