Five Must Read Guidelines You Need To Consider Prior to Planting Your Tree.
This may make your favorite newly transplanted specimen tree pretty much certain to survive and it will certainly look great year after year and flourish within your landscape. These guidelines are something you need to read before you let any landscaper, garden center, or tree nursery sell you anything.
1) Do not plant the tree to deep. Trees need oxygen just as you or I do, after you pile extra dirt on top of the roots you are lowering the amount of oxygen which will go to the roots. Some trees tend to be sensitive to this than others; Maple trees are very sensitive to being planted to deep. It is always better to plant several inches above ground level and mulch around it.
2) Never pile mulch or dirt on the trunk. Some parts of the tree are intended to stay beneath the ground and certain parts are supposed to be above ground. When you heap a bundle of mulch or dirt around the trunk you are putting a section of the tree that was designed to be above ground, below ground. This will trigger the trunk to decay and your newly transplanted tree to die. Mulch surrounding the tree but leave about one inch separation between the trunk and the beginning of the mulch
3) You should not let the rabbits kill your tree. Rabbits are my arch enemy when it comes to trees. In the winter, when they get hungry and there is very little to feed on they will resort to ingesting the bark off your tree. They will feed on a nice ring all the way around your tree, killing your specimen tree every time. Nurseries, Garden Centers, Tree Farms and Landscapers, will not warranty a tree that has animal destruction. Put a piece of corrugated pipe around the bottom of the tree for the winter to keep the critters away.
4) Buy some root stimulator with Mycorrhizal Fungus inside it. This fungus thrives in nature where there is a botanical underground ecosystem. The fungus attaches to the roots and produces nutrients and moisture to the tree. There is a symbiotic association between the roots and the fungus. When you plant a new tree there is not any of this fungus in the ground due to the fact that the fungus would need to be affixed to the roots of a tree for it to exist. The bottom line without getting in too much detail is, get it, it works! Use it in the spring for best benefits. You can incorporate this on your plants as well; give your whole landscape a little help for the season.
5) Excessive water will kill your tree just as easily as too little water. There is no hard and fast rule on how much to water, non the less, you cannot afford not to water your tree wrongly. This is the number one reason new trees die.
Learn more on the subject of transplanting trees at the Milwaukee Landscapers website.