Gardenbite: Fall Tree Planting | #GoodGrowing

Ken Johnson: 00:04

Welcome to the Get Growing podcast. I am Ken Johnson, horticulture educator with University of Illinois Extension, coming to you today from Jacksonville, Illinois with a garden bite. So this spring in 02/2024, many of us skipped planting trees and shrubs because of periodical cicada emergence to avoid them being damaged by the scada egg laying. However, now that we're approaching fall, we have enough opportunity to plant some trees. So in this week's GardenByte, we're gonna take a trip back to 2022 when we had Emily Swihart on to talk about fall tree planting.

Ken Johnson: 00:38

We're we discussed what trees can be planted in the fall, some things we want to consider when selecting trees and where and when we're gonna plant them, how to go about planting those trees, and how to care for them after planting. So enjoy this trip down memory lane. So we're we're coming up on fall, and one common thing we hear about in the fall is just a good time to plant trees and and shrubs too if we wanna throw those in there. Is this actually the case? Fall is a good time, and and why would that be or not be?

Emily Swihart: 01:07

Well, it depends. It's the answer.

Chris Enroth: 01:12

Next question. Yeah.

Emily Swihart: 01:15

So fall is an excellent time to plant deciduous trees and shrubs. So those are the ones that would drop their leaves coming up into and going into a dormant season in the winter. And it would be recommended to wait to plant those conifers that retain their leaves or their needles throughout the winter. And the reason for that is is a little it is related to them holding their leaves during the winter. So during our Midwestern, you know, winters, we have a lot of solar radiation, solar power that is still going to be hitting our our plant materials.

Emily Swihart: 01:52

Without the leaves, dormant trees are not going to have the water demand. The trees that are going to have their needles or leave leaves on their on the trunks or on the trees. That persistent leaf is gonna continue to do some transpiration, especially on those days where the temperature warms up a little bit. This can stress the the trees out because the ground has been frozen for a while, and so water is not available for those roots to deliver up through the tree into those leaves and replenish the supply. So that can be stressful, especially for newly planted conifers.

Emily Swihart: 02:27

Those trees that lose their leaves, deciduous trees don't have that stress, and so they actually get a bonus season of root growth if you plant them here in the fall. So the above ground plant material is going dormant much sooner than our below ground plant material is going to be going dormant. The soils by nature of having moisture in them, and then the the material they're made of freezes a lot later in the season than what our ambient air temperature does. And so those roots are actually gonna continue to grow for us and get established in the soil after being planted in the fall than they would be if we planted them in, say, April, which is probably the earliest many of us will be planting trees in the spring. And so the answer to is it a good time to plant?

Emily Swihart: 03:12

Because it depends. Conifers, maybe wait or take extra precautions to protect them in the throughout the winter months, but deciduous trees is a really good time to plant right now up through actually, the ground freezes, put them in the ground.

Chris Enroth: 03:27

So, Emily, I have diagnosed a lot of trees with, like, the chainsaw. You know? It's like they call me up. They say, can you look at my autumn blaze maple I mean, tree. And I'm like I go, I look at them, ugh.

Chris Enroth: 03:43

It's just gotta zig. Now when we're planting trees, what what are some of the things that we need to consider in terms of, like, just our yard? Like, where what type of conditions do we need to think about before we even put that shovel in the ground so we don't have to pay $500 for some company to come cut it down for us?

Emily Swihart: 04:03

Yeah. This is an excellent question. So thanks for asking it. In the horiculture world, you'll often hear folks say, right tree, right place. It's a real catchy phrase that basically means that you need to do an appropriate and a proper site assessment to match the site conditions with the tree species that you are desiring to plant.

Emily Swihart: 04:24

You'd mentioned at the top of the show, these are plant materials that are extremely long lived, and they're extremely valuable in our landscape, especially those really large species that take decades to reach maturity. You cannot replace that as quickly over, you know, growing season or a couple of growing seasons, like, say, perennials annuals, perennials, or shrubs. So the thoughtfulness that you're gonna put into tree selection when you're planting it is worth the investment. It is worth the research. It's worth the study of your site.

Emily Swihart: 04:55

And so, you know, at at minimum, right tree rights right place would be considering the available size of your landscape that the tree is going to be planted in, considering what adjacent site amenities are there. So is it being planted next to a house, next to a roadway, next to utilities, you know, overhead utilities? Are those present? Other things would be, what is the soil like? So is it a native soil that is, you know, loamy and rich in nutrients, or is it on a site that has been influenced by construction and have compacted soils or modified soils?

Emily Swihart: 05:32

There are tree species that are better able to tolerate some of those site conditions, and so knowing that about the soil can help influence your decision. Solar exposure would be another consideration. So is your site shaded, heavily shaded, moderately shaded, or is it exposed to full sun? Again, there are different species that have different tolerances for these site conditions. And so matching the species to the site is going to minimize your maintenance, but also give you a healthier, longer lived tree specimen over over time.

Emily Swihart: 06:06

And then finally, to me, when you're planting a tree, you certainly wanna match all of the site, prioritize matching the site conditions to the tree species, but then aesthetics. You know, you you'd mentioned, like, we are, you know, students of landscape architecture. Like, that matters to people, like, how the tree is gonna look. What are some of the characteristics that you desire in your tree? What are some of the functions that you want your tree to to perform for you?

Emily Swihart: 06:31

So one of the main ones that I think we talk about, but doesn't always get maybe equated to trees so much is habitat for pollinators, for wildlife. Trees are essential. First foods for some of those early emerging pollinators without, you know, tree cover and tree you know, canopies available for, you know, larvae. You can't have birds, the migratory birds, the songbirds that we all enjoy. So if that's a priority for you, then picking species that are gonna serve that purpose.

Emily Swihart: 07:05

Flowers, you know, blooming trees are another aesthetic that people like, fall color. There's a whole whole variety of different things you consider, but that's one that you would want to add to your list of of criteria as you're looking at planting a tree.

Chris Enroth: 07:19

So, Emily, I often see a tree planted way too deep. So explain what what are we talking about when we mean trees planted too deep, and, yeah, why why does this keep happening?

Emily Swihart: 07:33

Yeah. It is a frustrating problem once you know what you're looking for. So from my observations and from my experience, the challenge originates in what we're getting from the nursery industry. A lot of the trees that we get are coming to us too deep, and I think that's just because of how our trees are produced. You know, they're they're potted up year after year, and so soil is added to the root ball year after year.

Emily Swihart: 08:01

I'm not, you know, blaming anybody. It just is a reality of how we we have our trees grown. And so I think it's important for the public to be aware that when you purchase a tree from the, you know, the nursery or the landscape industry, what you wanna do is you wanna look for what is called the first lateral root. And so you might have to actually dig out some of that soil material around the root ball to find what is a significant sized root on on the root ball, and that is the level you wanna plant the tree at or higher. So planting trees too deep can lead to all sorts of health problems that, essentially, the trunk material that is typically above ground becomes below ground, and it's not meant to have the soil touching it, the constant moisture being on that bark material.

Emily Swihart: 08:51

It stresses the tree out. It can have it can be a point of entry for pathogens into the tree, and can be a real just it can be an easily corrected, but often not corrected way to have a more healthy, viable tree in the long term. And so just digging down, taking off some of that root material or some of that soil material and planting at the right at the right depth can be critical.

Chris Enroth: 09:20

So speaking of planting Mhmm. I think we had mentioned this post construction soil earlier when we're talking about site conditions. Let's say I got some lousy soil. Should I be making my planting hole and mending it, throwing a bunch of compost in there to give this tree a nice home?

Emily Swihart: 09:39

So kind of, or it depends. Okay.

Chris Enroth: 09:45

So That that answer.

Emily Swihart: 09:46

Uh-huh. That one. Ideally, in those conditions, we would go back to that right tree right place. And so we would want to make sure that tree species that we're trying to plant into those soil conditions can tolerate a harsher environment. And so a lot of times compacted soils, clay soils will either retain moisture.

Emily Swihart: 10:08

You know what? They don't drain as well, so it can be kinda soggy, can be a bit on the anaerobic side of things. And so some tree species will tolerate that well, some will not. And so that's the first place you would wanna start. But then no matter what species you select, digging a big enough planting hole is gonna be your first defense against how that tree gets established.

Emily Swihart: 10:32

Basically, what you wanna do is or dig the hole about three times as wide as the root ball. And I know I have seen it. I have been that person that says, like, oh, this is hard. I need to get all these trees planted. It's hot or I'm tired or, you know, like, let's just hurry up and do this.

Emily Swihart: 10:52

It is worth the investment of time and energy to to dig that hole bigger. Again, these are very long lived species, and so you want to you kinda get one shot at planting them. Ideally, you plant it right the first time, and then you set the tree off on the right path. And so digging a hole that is three times as wide as the root ball itself is gonna be the the best way to help that tree get established in the site. You can do some soil modifications.

Emily Swihart: 11:18

A fertilizer is not recommended, so compost in there would not be, you know, overly recommended. Because what you wanna do is you wanna encourage those roots to grow out into that native soil. Trees are are massive, and that tree root system hopefully will be quite large to get established in that that native soil or that the surrounding soil. And sometimes if we make it too comfortable in our planting hole, the roots can we tend to just concentrate there and have a harder time getting established outside of it. And so you could incorporate a little bit of sand if you wanted to help a little bit of drainage, but it's generally not recommended to do too much to the soil besides dig a bigger hole.

Chris Enroth: 12:01

Yep. And then I I come I'm complaining the whole time while I watch my gardener plant those trees. So yeah. Just kidding. I don't have a gardener.

Chris Enroth: 12:12

So okay. So amend the soil. It depends. Likely not. We want that native soil to kinda be consistent across the board there.

Chris Enroth: 12:21

What about removing the ball the the burlap from or the wire cage Right. From from the root ball? Should there's there's conflicting advice on this one. I mean, there's families that have been torn apart from this argument. It's just like the civil war all over again.

Chris Enroth: 12:37

So should we leave the wire cage and burlap on?

Emily Swihart: 12:43

Oh, I it breaks my heart to hear that one. I've been torn apart over this. Let's try to set the record straight. It should be taken off. So a ball and burlap tree is one that is often field grown.

Emily Swihart: 12:55

And so you would use a spade, dig it out of a soil material. It's not in a container in the nursery. It would be grown into, like, actual ground. You know, burlap in the the wire cages and put on it to maintain the integrity of that root ball and then as it's transported to the site. Now some of the challenges with that type of a a root ball versus a container root ball is that you have a lot more loose soil around it.

Emily Swihart: 13:23

And so you don't want to take the root ball apart or take the the burlap off or the cage off before you get it into the the planting hole because often it can just fall apart, and then you have a massive bare root tree, which can be hard to to deal with, you know, in terms of just the size of the tree that you're planting because it was a bone burlap. It also requires a different kind of planting strategy, and those bare roots can dry out quickly. And so it can actually be detrimental to the tree. So you wanna maintain the integrity of the root ball while you're planting it. So, generally, you would dig your hole three times as large as you need to.

Emily Swihart: 14:01

Place the entire ball and burlap page on. Use that to lift the tree into the hole, and then get down on your your hands and knees and reach down into that hole as far as you possibly can with your wire cutters and your your knife to remove that cage as low as you possibly can, and then cut off that burlap and remove it from the hole. I know the argument that burlap will, you know, deteriorate and that the wire cage does not impede root growth. Studies have shown that it it can actually impede root growth. It can you know, if the tree gets so large and the the wire cage is not deteriorated, it can girdle the tree or the trunk depending on, you know, the size and placement.

Emily Swihart: 14:46

And then that burlap could deteriorate over time. It's just not a risk that we would wanna take because oftentimes there's a treatment on there that slows down the deterioration of it. And so you're investing a lot of time, energy, and often financial resource into planting long burlap trees. Taking the additional step just to remove that page in that burlap is going to be your best bet to ensure your your tree is established as well.

Chris Enroth: 15:13

Exactly. I'd say why someone said, well, that burlap will be gone in five years. Like, well, I don't wanna wait five years for my roots to get in the ground. So get it off right now. That's right.

Chris Enroth: 15:23

Yeah. So alright. Last planting question for you, Emily. Let's say we plant our tree, and we see the neighbors, everybody else, they stake their trees. So we gonna put some stakes in the ground for our tree.

Chris Enroth: 15:37

Should we? Should we not? What's the what's the right answer here?

Emily Swihart: 15:40

It depends.

Chris Enroth: 15:41

Oh, it's another one of those. It depends.

Emily Swihart: 15:45

So in a perfect world, you would not need to stake a tree. And and the conditions that would help you make that decision would be the size of the root ball and the stability of the tree. And so, like I had mentioned earlier, hopefully, you're just planting this tree once and getting it in the ground one time, and then, you know, the tree is gonna be able to establish itself. Now trees that don't have an adequate sized root ball on them, if the canopy is bigger than what the the root ball is gonna be able to accommodate in terms of stability, then you would wanna provide some supplemental support for that tree while it's getting established and while the root system is getting, you know, redeveloped or developing for the first time perhaps. With staking, you wanna stick it loose so that the tree can do some some movement.

Emily Swihart: 16:35

You don't want it to go for a course, and you want it to stay upright while it's getting established. But trees naturally need to re need to develop some wind resistance. And so having a loose stake on the tree if it is deemed necessary so that the tree can can sway in the wind, you know, a couple inches to, you know, either side is recommended. And then put on your calendar for a year later to come back and check it. You wanna make sure and check it, you know, more frequently than that.

Emily Swihart: 17:04

But, hopefully, within a year, you can actually remove the state that the tree has become established enough to support itself with its root system. I say check it often throughout the year to make sure that stake or that that tie is not causing any damage to the the trunk of the tree because that movement and then the material that is chosen for those stakes can be can actually wear on the trunk, and that can be a point of source of, you know, fungal infection, or you can actually just plant the tree, and we don't want that because we're trying to help establish our trees.

Chris Enroth: 17:37

Yeah. So so don't tie them up too long. Yeah. They're they're

Emily Swihart: 17:42

Well, they're not gonna go anywhere. They're not gonna run away. Like, I've never seen a tree run away, so you don't need to tie down forever. Exactly. Yeah.

Emily Swihart: 17:50

One of the one value that I'd I'd see stakes, not necessarily ties, but stakes playing in, like, a commercial landscape or in a landscape that is managed, not by the person who planted the tree or or a heavily turf grass area, mowed area, is that it can deter mowers from getting near the trunk of a tree. Mulches up really well too, but an iron post, you know, a couple iron posts around the tree can really stop a mower from damaging the trunk of the tree. And so I will sometimes encourage folks to take the tie off and leave the stakes in the ground if they don't mind the visual of stakes in the ground to just keep mowers away.

Chris Enroth: 18:30

Yeah. Mowers, they're about as bad as deer. You know? Just they're terrible animals.

Emily Swihart: 18:36

Yep. Yep. And spring trimmers.

Chris Enroth: 18:38

If I can remember to I think Ken's editing this week. I'll send Ken a picture of a white oak tree that I visited, and the homeowners had no idea what to do because they had it staked for years. And when they took the stakes off, the tree literally just flopped over in the alleyway.

Emily Swihart: 18:53

I'll try to send you a picture of a a tie that was left on too too long, and then the tree actually grew, you know, in diameter and started to to, you know, encompass that. It was a it's a rope material Mhmm. Which is also a weak point. We think there's weak point on the tree, and I'd simply just snap. Just snap off at that point over time.

Chris Enroth: 19:14

Yep. Because not all of the rope or the burlap, not all that stuff is natural. Some of it's even synthetic, and it doesn't decompose no matter what we do or throw at it.

Emily Swihart: 19:23

Yeah. Yep. One one material that is pretty easy. I used to so in my previous work that we talked about, I worked with volunteers in communities, and we would grant money to plant trees, but then, like, all the support mistakes and whatnot would not be included in that grant. So we would seek donations.

Emily Swihart: 19:41

And one of the the least expensive fun, I guess, if you will, ways to tie a tree would be with two legs of old pantyhose. That material, it works pretty well in giving the tree some flexibility to move around. You can it will hold it upright, but it also deteriorates over time. And it will just break down in the elements. And so you still need to go out and check it, but if you forget the tree, and I'd assume people do it, forget, you know, to go check on the tree for a year or two, that will oftentimes kinda just erode itself off of the tree.

Chris Enroth: 20:16

So Mhmm. Keep that in mind.

Emily Swihart: 20:20

All your old pantyhose.

Chris Enroth: 20:23

I know what to use, my pants.

Ken Johnson: 20:29

Alright. So once we've got our trees in the ground, they're planted, we've taken that burlap and that wire off if we're doing bald and burlap. What should we do after that to help get them established and and survive?

Emily Swihart: 20:41

Yeah. So regardless of the season you're planting, spring or fall, mulch is recommended. And you wanna put this on. I'm sure you guys have covered this before, but you wanna put the doughnut shape of three to four inches of mulch around the tree and put it at volcano. Keep that mulch material off of the trunk of the tree, but, you know, mulch around the around the root ball.

Emily Swihart: 21:02

Bigger is better when it comes to the mulch rings. You You know, in the woodlands where many of these trees develop, the whole entire, you know, root zone is covered in mulch, leaf material, you know, that fell into the the forest floor. And so if folks are willing and able of mulching all the way up to the drip line of a tree would be most recommended. But as much as you can can afford or can tolerate, the bigger the bigger the mulching, the better. And that just helps maintain moisture into the soil.

Emily Swihart: 21:34

During the winter months here, as we're coming into, you know, the cold season, it's gonna help moderate some of the temperature fluctuations as well, keeping that moisture in the soil. You're not gonna have these massive temperature swings, which is gonna help eliminate, you know, the chance of having frost feed. So your tree's getting shoved out of the soil because the ground is, you know, freezing and dying. It's a mulch is highly recommended and and doing it seasonally. You know, checking it now, making sure that your trees still have mulch on them even as when if we did it in the spring, they might be okay.

Emily Swihart: 22:07

They might not. So check them again. And then water. You know, we've had some good rainfalls up here of late and so in Northern Illinois. And so much of the soil has adequate moisture in it.

Emily Swihart: 22:20

That's not a guarantee throughout the rest of the the autumn. And so making sure that we're providing something in the water when the the ground is starting to dry out for newly planted trees as well as established trees.

Ken Johnson: 22:33

Well, that was a lot of great information on planting trees in the fall. So, again, make sure you're taking some time to consider how big that tree is going to get, and where you're to be placing that in your landscape. Make sure you're planting that and make sure you're not planting that tree too deep. Make sure you've got that planting hole wide enough. If you're planting a ball and burlap tree, make sure you're removing as much of that burlap and that wire cage as you can.

Ken Johnson: 22:59

And then make sure you're taking care of those trees after you're done planting them. The good growing podcast is a production of University of Illinois Extension, edited this week by me, Ken Johnson. Thank you to all of our listeners listening to us on the podcast or if you're watching us on YouTube watching. And as always, keep on growing.