written and edited by Tammy 5th June 2023
You've weighed up the pros and cons and decided bare root trees are the right choice for you. Welcome to bare root season!
If you're super organised and know what you're planting where, you may have already pre-ordered your trees to avoid the disappointment of missing out, or you may be simply planning on wandering around and choosing based on what's available and jumps out at you at the time. There are so many varieties to choose from that it can be quite overwhelming.
Pollination🌸🐝
When it comes to fruit trees do a bit of preliminary research first. Be armed with the knowledge of which ones are self-pollinating such as peaches, nectarines and apricots, verses apples, pears, plums and most cherries with the exception of Stella, which will all require a pollinator to successfully produce fruit.
**Little Tip** It will generally tell you on the back of the product tag on the tree if it is self-pollinating or not and, if not, what a suitable pollinator would be, taking the guess work out of it for you.
Choosing something that requires a pollinator means you're going to need to have enough room for two trees, or perhaps consider a multi-grafted tree.
Space requirements
If you are faced with the constraints of being limited for room, perhaps consider planting dwarf trees, these days there are almost as many dwarfs to choose from as regular size fruit trees. Dwarf trees take up half the amount of room, can be grown in large pots or half wine barrels, and still grow regular full-sized fruit like their big sisters. Keep in mind though, you won't get quite the volume of fruit from a smaller tree and, the life expectancy of dwarf trees is roughly half that of a regular sized tree.
Now that we've established what you're looking for, it's time to choose your trees.
What to avoid
Look for trees that have multiple good strong laterals (leaders). The wood should look hydrated and a healthy colour with plenty of plump fuzzy little buds along the stems.
Avoid anything where the wood looks dry and shrivelled, diseased, has damage or open wounds, or is very dark in colour indicating that it's quite likely very dehydrated or worse-case scenario not viable.
Most trees come from the growers with their roots packed in damp wood shavings or sawdust and wrapped in plastic to preserve them.
Sometimes the trees will be freighted to your retailer unwrapped where the retailer will make them available to you in raised beds or containers full of compost, and just remove them from the damp soil and wrap them as they are selected.
Pruning
The canopy of your new trees will need pruning back by 1/3 to 1/2 before planting them. This is done to proportionate the tree and lessen the workload for the diminished root system. If the tree is disproportionate and the workload is too great quite often, they will fail to successfully establish.
If you're not confident or unsure how to do this yourself, ask the qualified horticulturist when you purchase your trees to do this for you.
If you do feel confident and comfortable to have a go at pruning them back yourself, ideally you want to keep three to four good strong laterals, take them back to an outward facing bud by 1/3 to 1/2. Remove anything damaged, dead or irregular looking, or anything crossing over one another inwards towards the centre of the tree.
Planting preparation
While preparing the hole give your tree a soak in a solution of Seasol in water.
Seasol Health Treatment is a seaweed enriched health tonic that helps to boost a plants immune system, stimulate root growth and help overcome transplant shock.
You'll need to dig the hole twice as wide as the root ball but only as deep as the tree was originally growing. There should be a colour change evident on the lower part of the trunk somewhere half-way between the graft and the commencement of the roots, that will be your guide as to what depth the tree was originally in the ground at. The graft should always be above the soil, never below. Mound up the soil a little at the bottom of the hole and spread the roots out over and around the mound in the hole and then back fill the hole packing it in as you go.
Leave a recess or well around the base of the tree so when you water it the water soaks down into the root zone as opposed to running off away from the tree. Use the seasol solution you soaked the tree in earlier to water it in with. Look for air bubbles rising up out of the soil within the water to indicate the roots are thoroughly watered and there are no air pockets remaining in the soil. Add some organic fertiliser such as Rapid Raiser or Dynamic Lifter as per the application rates on the bag, so there are some nutrients in the ground to nourish the tree as it comes out of dormancy and begins growing in spring.
Support
If you live in a wind prone area, while your tree is still young and establishing, it might be a good idea to support it with a hardwood stake or a trio of stakes.
Water
Water your trees regularly and thoroughly throughout the first season as they 're establishing particularly if the seasonal rains are few and far between.
By following these measures you'll be giving your trees every opportunity to take and grow successfully.
As always if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to message me or get in-touch.
I'm looking forward to unpacking a fresh delivery of new seasons bare root trees next week myself!🙊🤭
Rug up, keep warm and enjoy your gardens.😘🪴
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