Steps in How to Plant a Balled-and-Burlapped Tree

Size And Placement

• Burlap-wrapped trees lose most of their original root systems when they are harvested and wrapped. The first step in planting a B&B tree is preparing a planting hole that allows your tree to rapidly regrow some of the roots that it has lost. The best planting holes are deep enough that the upper 1 to 2 inches of the root ball wrapped in burlap are above the surrounding soil. The shape of your planting hole should resemble a saucer that is about three times the diameter of your tree's root ball. Measuring the root ball before you begin digging makes it easier to determine the exact placement and size of your planting hole.

Digging

• The best soil to use for filling your planting hole is the native soil you took from the planting hole. Keep the soil you remove from the hole nearby so that you can use it to fill the space around the root ball of your tree. Leaving the soil at the center of the hole undisturbed helps prevent the tree from shifting after it is planted. Using your shovel to loosen the soil around the sides of the hole helps improve water penetration and encourages future root development. Avoid filling the bottom of the hole with gravel or other soil amendments, because these can trap water in the root zone of the tree.

Tree Preparation

• Synthetic burlap and twine that is left on the root ball after it is planted can girdle the roots of the tree. After your hole is prepared, you are ready to remove the burlap and plant the tree. The best way to remove the burlap is to set the tree in place in your hole, and then remove the burlap from around the top and sides of the root ball. You can leave the burlap underneath the tree in place, since this generally does not interfere with the growth of the root system. Some balled and burlapped trees can develop a sharp bend in the trunk near the base of the tree. If your new tree has this problem, rotate it so that the bark on the curved section of trunk that is angled towards the ground faces south to reduce winter bark injury.

Backfill Techniques

• Adding a shallow ring of soil around the base of the tree's root ball and firming it gently with your hands helps improve the stability of the tree. Make sure that you remove any trash or large rocks from the soil and break up dirt clods as you add dirt around the tree's root ball. Shovel the dirt you saved back into the space around the root ball until the dirt fills the space around the sides of the root ball completely. Your fill dirt should be slightly higher than the undisturbed soil around the hole without covering the top of the root ball. Do not pack down the fill dirt with your shovel or walk on it. Allow the dirt to settle naturally when you water the tree.