North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Alan Haigh <alandhaigh@gmail.com>]

On digging trenches for individual roots for bare root transplant:

I have a nursery that produces bearing age, 2.5" diam. well branched 12'
tall fruit trees that I grow and transplant with over half of my inventory
being bare root.  The diameter of the root systems can sometimes be as much
as 8'- with peaches that means a very rigid 8'.  Some roots may extend 6'
from the trunk.

Digging trenches for such roots is standard procedure for us and has been
for years.  Often we simply lift the sod with a little soil and pull the
roots underneath creating a nice shallow root system that over the years
has served trees very well.  Sometimes peach trees act as though they
weren't even transplanted and can hold good crops the first season after
transplant.  Same with J. plums, but other species will tend to need a
season to recover.

After planting shallow we dress trees with a 6 cu' ft wheelbarrow of
compost covered with same of shredded wood mulch.   Forest soil tends to be
a parfait and not homogenous like prairie soil and I find trees tend to
thrive in an approximation of that.

On Mon, Nov 23, 2020 at 8:21 AM <nafex-request@lists.ibiblio.org> wrote:

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>    2. Re:  Leaves in hole before fruit tree (Ginda Fisher)
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> Date: Mon, 23 Nov 2020 07:33:31 -0500
> From: Rosholdt <rosholdt@erols.com>
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> Subject: [nafex] This list still works, as before.
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> Megan Lynch <spidra@gmail.com>
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> Megan
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> On 11/21/2020 12:52 AM, nafex-request@lists.ibiblio.org wrote:
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> ------------------------------
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> Message: 2
> Date: Mon, 23 Nov 2020 08:19:00 -0500
> From: Ginda Fisher <list@ginda.us>
> To: NAFEX Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Subject: Re: [nafex] Leaves in hole before fruit tree
> Message-ID: <3E439655-C2D2-4AB0-837A-3A70BC48912E@ginda.us>
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> I?m curious what others think of what I?ve been doing recently. I have
> reasonably nice soil, but it?s full of rock of all different sizes, some
> large. So digging holes is very hard work. And I understand that it?s
> important not to bend the roots of a young plant back on itself. So I?ve
> been digging a small hole for the ?core" of the plant, and spreading out
> the roots on the top of the soil, and then digging a small trench for each
> root, often with a trowel. For instance, I planted some apple rootstock
> that was basically a stick with half a dozen long thread-like roots. So I
> dug a star, and spread out each root thread in a different direction.
>
> It?s a lot less digging. If I hit a large rock, I can guide the root
> around it. I?ve planted tree peonies, apples, and hazelnuts this way.
>
> Nothing that I?ve planted that way has seemed to die of it, yet. (Plants
> that died mostly did so because a deer ate the whole plant. A tree peonies
> developed some fungal disease.)  But I feel a little guilty when I do this.
>
> Wishing you all a safe Thanksgiving,
> Ginda Fisher
> eastern MA, zone 6
>
> > On Nov 23, 2020, at 7:32 AM, Elizabeth Hilborn <ehilborn@mebtel.net>
> wrote:
> >
> > I echo Lee's advice. I never amend holes now, I plant in soil as it lays
> and top dress.
> >
> > My first experience growing fruit trees I amended all (very big) holes.
> They lasted about 12 years, got quite large, but when they started dying, a
> post mortem revealed roots did not penetrate beyond the original hole
> diameter.
> >
> > On 11/23/2020 6:13 AM, Lee Reich wrote:
> >>  And any material that dramatically changes the soil porosity creates a
> ?pot in the ground? effect wherein roots stay inn the amended soil
> >
>
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