Tree and shrub planting

Author: Alyssa Zearley

Tree planting starts with choosing the right tree for your site. Refer to our tree selection page for guidance. This guide covers tree and shrub watering, planting, and protection from deer.

Watering your tree or shrub

While in its pot, water your tree or shrub deeply every single day. Skipping a day will damage your tree!

Once planted, give your tree or shrub 1 gallon of water every day for the first 2 weeks, every other day for 2 months, and once a week for the first 6 months. Add just 1 gallon of water, and pour it directly over the root ball. A milk jug for watering can be useful if there's no access to a hose. (You don't need to water in the winter, when the leaves have fallen off.)

The normal advice to water deeply once a week will keep a new tree or shrub alive, but your plant will grow much faster if watered frequently. When first planted, a tree or shrub cannot access any water in the surrounding soil. It can only use water that you add to the root ball, which it will use up within a single hot day. This is why we recommend more frequent watering.

Tree and shrub planting

Remove plant from the container. Our air pruning pots have separate sides and bottoms. Unscrew the round green or blue screws if present. Otherwise, find the two zip ties on the side and cut them. Use a serrated knife or pruners to cut the bottom inch of roots off bottom of the zip tie-style pots. This will improve the plant's health, even if you remove many roots.
Remove the rice hull mulch. The roots+potting mix is called the root ball. Keep the root ball in the shade or under a towel so it does not dry out.
Dig a hole shaped like a wide, shallow bowl. Make this hole 3x wider than the root ball. Make the hole as deep as the root ball in the middle with gradually sloping sides.
Place the plant in the hole. The root ball should be level with the ground surface. Lie a stake across the hole to help you see where the ground surface level is. If the hole is too deep, remove the tree and add soil to raise the root ball. Stomp on this soil to make sure it won't settle later and make the tree too deep.
Fill in with the native soil, placing chunks grass-side down and gently packing the soil to remove air gaps. Use your shovel to chop up big soil chunks. The goal is to remove air pockets.
Don’t mix in compost or organic amendments into the soil! This does not typically increase tree growth, and sometimes reduces it. Incorporating organic matter (like through Virginia Tech’s Soil Profile Rebuilding technique) may help very damaged soils that struggle to support plant growth, but in most cases native soil is the best backfill.
Mulch the dug area EXCEPT the root ball top with 3-4” of wood chips or mulch. Leaving the root ball top exposed will help water get into the root ball. It will also prevent roots from growing around the trunk, which can prematurely kill the plant. Mulching the root ball does not help the root ball stay moist as almost all of the water is taken up by the roots, not lost to the atmosphere. Your final mulch ring should resemble a donut.
Staking small container trees is not usually necessary. If tree tips over, stake following the diagram below.
Caging your shrub or tree is necessary if you have deer. Even resistant plants need protection the first year. A 4-foot fence prevents most browse, and a 5-foot fence prevents almost all browse. Make the cage at least 3 feet wide, as deer will eat anything that pokes through.

Protecting young trees and shrubs: cages

Young trees must be protected while they get established. Tree tubes are appropriate for natural settings, but for yards a cage will result in a stronger tree. A 4’ tall cage will prevent most browse, and a 5’ cage will prevent all browse (but this fence height can be harder to find). Cages should be at least 3-4’ wide (deer will nibble at all foliage outside of the cage- a 1’ wide cage means a 1’ wide tree). Trees should be caged until they are 12’ tall and all limbs 4’ or lower have been removed. When the tree is this size, protect the trunk from deer rub with hardware cloth or a plastic mesh tree guard fitted loosely around the trunk until it grows to be 4 inches across. If the tree is in a natural/unmown area or has known rabbit and vole pressure, consider adding hardware cloth for extra protection.

Supplies needed:

4’ tall, 16 gauge welded wire fencing. A 50’ long roll will make four 4’ wide cages. 14 gauge works too but is harder to bend around stakes. Green or black fence blends in better. Found at home improvement stores.
3’ tall ¼ inch hardware cloth. A 50’ long roll will make four 4’ wide cages. Found online. Black vinyl hardware cloth blends in better and is less scratchy.
Zip ties. 4” works well
Scissors that you don’t mind getting dull
Small pack of garden staples. 6” staples are better than 4”
Safety glasses
Thick work gloves
Needle nose pliers with wire snips
Two 4’ stakes. Metal stakes are the sturdiest. Wooden ones need to be replaced after a year.
Measuring tape
Mallet or hammer

Instructions:

Wearing thick work gloves and safety glasses, cut a 12’5” length of welded wire fence with snips.
If adding hardware cloth, cut a 12’6” length of hardware cloth with scissors. Hardware cloth has jagged edges that scratch and catch on clothing, so be careful.
Place the hardware cloth on top of the welded wire and shift it down so that half is hanging off the long edge (see diagram). Zip tie the two pieces together every 18 inches on the top and bottom of where the two pieces meet.
Cut vertical slits in the hardware cloth every 2 feet until it reaches the welded wire (see diagram). Bend the hardware cloth pieces up.
Pick up the fencing and fold it into the cage around the tree. If using hardware cloth, make sure the bent hardware cloth is on the inside and pin it down with garden staples. Seal the cage by hooking the wires on the edge of the welded wire around the edge.
Snake two stakes through the welded wire on opposite sides and pound at least 1’ into the ground. Use a few garden staples to secure the cage.