Last week, during a spell of rainy weather, I drove across the state of Missouri to pick up a load of container-grown trees from my friends at Forrest Keeling Nursery. Once the weather warmed up a bit, I started planting trees.
The trees I purchased were grown in 3 gallon pots and had tops that were three to four feet tall (photo at right). I prefer planting trees at this time of year to take advantage of the natural flush of root growth that occurs as trees prepare for dormancy.
When I plant container trees, the first thing I do is remove the container and inspect the root system (photo at left). The fine white roots you see growing in the potting media are the new roots the tree is creating as the top of the tree starts shutting down for winter.
You should also note the large, circling roots that have developed along the bottom of the pot. Before planting, I like to prune off circling roots to prevent any possible root girdling that may occur as the tree grows larger.
The photo at right presents a bottom-side view of the root system. Note how the roots circle around the bottom edge of the pot. At this point, I unwind the circling roots and prune them off at the point they begin their circular growth pattern. From past experience with container trees, I know that new roots will be stimulated to grow from the pruned roots creating several new tap roots.
After root pruning, the tree has plenty of fibrous roots left to absorb water from the soil to help get this tree established in its new site (photo at left). In the past, I've dug up a fall-planted trees the following spring to find that new roots had grown out into the surrounding soil. Emerging from that large root, just behind the pruning cut will be new tap roots. New lateral roots will develop from the current mass of fibrous roots.
Before planting a container tree, I like to shake off all the loose potting soil from the root ball (photo at right). This helps force the tree to grow into the surrounding soil as soon as possible. Removing the loose potting media will also mean that I can completely cover the root system with soil to help prevent the root ball from drying out too quickly.
When digging a hole for the tree, I use a shovel to dig a hole just large enough to fit the root ball. The tree should sit deep enough so that when you back fill in with soil you will cover the root ball with about two inches of soil (photo at left). It is important to note that depth of the soil I use to cover the root ball is basically just replacing the potting soil I shook off.
I do not recommend using a post hole digger to dig holes for container-grown pecans. Post hole diggers have two major drawbacks. First they tend to dig a hole that is too deep. If a too-deep hole is back filled and a tree is planted on top of the fill, the entire planting hole will settle over the winter and the tree will end up drowning in a puddle of trapped water. The second disadvantage of using a post hole digger is that the spinning action of the auger acts to compact the inside surface of the hole making it difficult for tree roots to grow out into the surrounding soil.
When back filling soil around the tree, I start by carefully packing soil in around the outer edges of the root ball. Then, I place a layer of soil over the top of the root system. I pack the soil in firmly making sure not to leave any air pockets. Finally, I firm the soil down around the tree with a little foot pressure (photo at right).
One thing I've learned about planting container-grown pecan trees is that deer will chomp and pull up any newly planted trees. So, before planting another tree, I always protect the tree with a cage made of welded wire (photo at left). These cages are roughly two feet in diameter and four feet tall. I tie the cage to a single steel fence post to hold it in place.
