Please do your research regarding specific cultural requirements of particular plants, and don’t hesitate to reach out with questions! I will do my best to answer them. These are some general guidelines regarding planting bareroot trees and other perennials.

When you receive your plants:

• Plant them ASAP. We pack them so they can stay in the package for a few days with moist sawdust and plastic, but they will perform best if you get them in the ground. Any time is good to plant as long as the ground is not frozen. I’ve put trees in the ground in the snow, just scrape it aside and plant. If you can dig a hole, you can plant a tree.

• If you are unable to plant, or are unsure of a final location, you can “heel in” your plants, basically dig a trench or deep hole, put your plants in, and mound soil or mulch up around the base. This will preserve them until you are ready. No need to prepare the roots in any sort of way. You basically want to stop the roots from freezing and thawing too much, and the soil has the best insulative quality to do this. I’ve also stored them for a brief time in an unheated room or garage in moist sawdust or soil, but I not recommend this for long storage. In ground is ideal.

Planting:

• Make sure the roots are well hydrated and not dried out. If you are planting on a sunny or windy day especially, you can keep all your plants in a bucket with some water while you are planting them out.

• Dig a hole larger than what would accommodate the roots. Spread the roots and backfill with loose soil as you are holding the crown of the tree level with the soil line. The crown is the transition between the roots and the stem. The more attention you give at this stage, the better success you will have. I’ve planted trees in pretty small holes, and not given them very good attention, and they’ve done just fine, so if you are in a rush or can’t be bothered, your plants do okay. Certain species can handle set it and forget it treatment more than others.

• Mulch the trees well 2-4 inches of woodchips or compost or leaves, keeping the mulch an inch or two away from the base of the tree. This will allow the tree bark to breathe, your plants will thank you for it!

• If planted in the fall, trees will not need water, but can benefit from a soaking at planting time, to help settle any air pockets around the roots. Plants don’t need to be watered when they are dormant without leaves, but once they start growing a good rule of thumb is to water every couple of weeks if there hasn’t been any rain.

• Protect from deer if they are present in your area. Some plants we sell are relatively deer browse resistant, but deer still will occasionally nibble something they ‘aren’t supposed’ to like. A fence made of welded or woven wire and a couple stakes, large enough diameter to accommodate the tree in a couple years of growth is usually enough.

Heeled in bareroot trees