A few simple steps can be taken to ensure that your newly planted tree will thrive and give you years of pleasure.
In general there are two ways of buying trees bare root and container, since all of the trees for sale on Garden Plants Online are of the container type we can leave bare root alone for now.
The first thing you are going to need to do is not dig the hole but to give your new tree a really good drink. Fill the container to the top allow the water to soak through and repeat.
Now you can start doing the fun bit, digging the hole! You should aim to have your hole one and half times bigger than the tree container, The first layer of soil that you are digging through is top soil and this is the good stuff. Place the top soil on one side. Then you will hit a tougher rougher looking soil this is called sub soil, place this on another side of your hole.
Now that your hole is dug you need to break up the bottom of the hole to form a loose crumbly type soil.If you have some general purpose compost mix in a couple of spade loads.
Place tree and position it to show of the best features from the main viewing point.
You will now need a sturdy tree stake, take the tree stake and angle it down into the base of the hole at a 45 degree angle and drive it into the ground when finished the higher part of the stake should be quite close to the tree trunk so you may affix the tree tie.
Fill the hole with water allow to drain, then add the top soil firming around the tree as you go and finally add the top soil making sure you are firming down with your foot. The last thing to do is sprinkle half a handful of a balanced feed like grow more around the tree.
Try to keep the soil moist as the tree gets established.