Here's how deep to plant or transplant a tree

[sixdogs]

Here are some photos of how deep to plant or transplant a tree. It can be in a pot from a nursery or a transplant or whatever but here is what looks best. Most people plant trees too deep when a few inches above grade looks the best. This spruce I transplanted last fall just happened to come out perfect and is maybe 4" above grade.



See how it's a few inches above grade is and how easy it looks in a landscape? The tree is maybe 4' to 5' off the grade tall.



Here's some more.




So, don't plant even with the grade and don't plant in a shallow below grade. It's OK but the tree looks better sticking a little bit out of the ground. You have to water for the first couple years and you do that by drilling a quarter inch hole in the bottom of a bucket near the edge. Set by the tree and fill with water when it's dry. Do that and I never have a failure.

 

[RalphVa]

Our extension agent here nearly 20 years ago said it you don't get muddy when planting a tree, you didn't do it right.

No to any mulch volcanoes, too.

Ralph

 

[buickanddeere]

Dig the hole wider and deeper than the root ball . Backfill with premium quality top soil.

 

[sixdogs]

Our extension agent here nearly 20 years ago said it you don't get muddy when planting a tree, you didn't do it right.

No to any mulch volcanoes, too.

Ralph

The tree got moved in the fall with a "tree shovel"



One sweeping scoop to dig the new hole and one sweeping scoop to dig out the tree and the ground was dry enough to stay fairly clean. A move now, in this gumbo clay soil, and you would have 25 lbs of mud on each foot. Around here, people bury trees too deep and they never look right. Then they heap up the mulch, as you mention, and make it look worse.

 

[KYErik]

To make the point that you need to leave the top of the tree's root ball a little above grade, I recall an extension agent saying "Plant them low and they won't grow, plant them high and they won't die."