The Best Time to Plant a Tree in Kansas

Time Frame

• Kansas celebrates its official Arbor Day alongside the U.S. National Arbor Day -- the last Friday in April. Kansas State University and the Kansas Forest Service suggest that mid-March to early May makes the best time to plant trees, both bare-root and container-grown specimens.

Considerations

• Bare-rooted trees need immediate planting and extra monitoring of the soil to ensure the roots do not dry out. Evergreen trees are best planted in spring, even if growing in a container with soil and intact root ball. Spring planting allows the tree many months to grow roots and establish before the onset of subfreezing temperatures in fall and winter.

Misconception

• As long as the soil is not frozen, any container-grown tree can be planted effectively and successfully. The root ball of the newly planted tree must not dry out, regardless of the season, but at the same time cannot be saturated so the roots sit in standing water. Fall planting is challenging in Kansas since the cold, drying winter winds and weather don't favor root growth until the following spring.