How To Plant A Fruit Tree

This article would be better named how to plant a tree because the planting process is the same for all trees, whether it be flower trees, fruits trees or evergreen trees.

Most often than not your fruit tree plant would come in a container. Your task would be to transplant it from the container onto your garden soil.

Most people make the mistake of digging up a wide hole and filling it up with the best soil and organic matter available, then plant the fruit tree there. It is not advisable to do this with trees, here's why.

Most trees need to grow their roots wide in order to grow tall and have a thick trunk. If you pamper the roots of the young tree plant initially, they will never grow beyond the boundaries of the hole. The tree would then have a stunted growth.

Let your tree grow in the native soil of your garden, all trees have a sturdy grow and the type of soil has little impact on them.

If you are planning to plant a fruit tree at a site which was built upon previously, then it is a different scenario altogether. The top soil would be dry, full of stones and debris. In this case you should follow the initial soil preparation steps given below

Dig up a wide hole which is at least 20 inches deep, you can take a judgment call on the width of the hole. It should be wide enough to allow for future growth of the roots.
Removes stones and gravel from the soil you dig up, and mix it with organic compost, loam, dehydrated manure and top soil from your garden or from somewhere nearby.
Backfill this mixed soil in the hole.

Now that you have the soil prepared, it is time to move on to the actual step of planting

Planting A Fruit Tree

Fruit tree plants can be purchased in three different forms

As a container tree
As a bareroot tree
As a burlapped tree (root ball in soil burlapped in a sack)

The way you plant all these plants would be the same. One tip to be followed with all these plants is to trim them out. Cut off most of the new shoots and branches, leaving just three or four main branches.

Triming the new plant before planting it would ensure that more nutrition is used up in building up the roots instead of feeding the existing branches. Once the roots become sturdy new branches would grow at a better pace.

Steps to plant a fruit tree are given below

Dig up a hole thrice as wide as the size of the root ball. The depth of the hole can be slightly more than the height of the root ball.
Create a small mound like structure at the bottom of the pit by backfilling the soil.
Rest the plant on top of this mound and spread the roots on the mound.
Set the tree at the ground level at which it was growing previously in the container. You can find this level quite easily by seeing the soil mark on the stem.
Hold the tree straight and steady while you backfill the soil into the hole. You might need assistance from a second person to accomplish this task.
After layering some soil, water it to remove any air bracket and then add the next layer of soil till you fill the hole.
Create a small basin on the soil around the hole, this basin is helpful for watering the trees.
Mulch around the trees using dried algae, peat moss, dry bark or pine seeds to help retain water. This would also prevent weeds and pest from invading the new plant.
Add some support for the new plant to grow strong. Usually two or three stake around the plant would do the job.

It is important to take care of the watering needs of the tree during its growth phase. Fertilizing the soil once in two weeks during the growth phase is found to be helpful. Once the roots take hold the fruit tree would take care of itself.