Tree Planting Guide

How To Plant A Tree: A Step-By-Step Guide for Healthy Growth

Hortlands are tree planting specialists. We offer our planting services throughout the UK, where our highly trained tree and hedge installers ensure successful establishment of all our trees and hedges.

Take a look at the below points on how we go about planting a tree for the best possible outcome.

• Excavate a planting pit, one and half times larger than the root system of the tree.
• Ensure the base of the planting pit is free draining and lightly de-compacted with a fork.
• Place the tree in the pit, ensuring the ground level does not exceed the nursery line/top of the root system and the tree is vertically level.
• Using the sub soil dug from the planting pit, mix 80% sub soil to 20% soil conditioner/organic matter and backfill this mixture around the root system. Making sure to compact the soil in stages and to take care not to damage any roots.
• Install tree stakes, pushed into the ground outside the root zone. Then using a suitable tie, secure the tree stem to the stakes.
• Water the tree ensuring all the soil around the root system is wet.
• Finally add mulch in the form of a ring over the soil surrounding the root system.
• Regularly monitor the tree, ensuring the soil around the root system doesn’t dry out. Watering often during the summer months will give your new tree the best chance of establishing into a healthy mature tree.
• Monitor the tie securing the tree – making sure to loosen the tie as the stem grows, this will avoid scaring the stem.
• Enjoy your established tree for generations to come.