It’s not easy to plant a tree, a shrub or evergreen in ground where it’s difficult to dig, as in heavy clay, rocky soil or soil filled with tree roots. And it’s doubly difficult when you’ve chosen a large caliber specimen, as that requires an especially big planting hole. Yet there is an easy solution: plant it without digging at all!
Simply unpot the plant, place the root ball on the ground at the desired location … then cover it with a mound of earth the same height as the root ball and at least three times wider. Over time, the roots will not only reach into the soil all around, but descend deeper into the ground all on their own.
Just water a bit more that unusual the 1st and maybe also the 2nd year, as a tree growing in a mound will be a bit more exposed to drought until it is fully rooted. And do stake it, as it won’t root well if its root ball moves in the wind. The stake too can come off the second year.
Plant a tree without digging? Sometimes gardening is sooo simple!
Would this work if your winters are cold zone 4b? Thank you.
I planted 20 arborvitae by simply cutting out the bottom of the pot and setting them on the ground. I kept them watered and after the roots were solid in the ground, I cut away the rest of the pot. They were perfectly aligned and equidistant as I arranged the pots.
Sounds perfectly fine to me. Plants adapt!