Square holes???

[j-bird]

Anybody buy into this??? I just found it and found it "interesting".... Claims square holes are better for trees....ummmm...Ok?!?

https://www.intelligentliving.co/planting-trees-in-square-holes/

 

[roymunson]

I guess in theory it's good, but what's to keep the root from making a 90 degree turn and just running a square rather than the circle? Also, do any of you guys fill with fertilizer? I thought that was pretty basic to refill with the soil you just dug out

 

[Bill]

I ain’t digging no square holes man...

 

[chickenlittle]

Triangles, man. Triangles. Way better than squares.

 

[Catscratch]

I don't know if square holes work or not.

Two things Ive always done to avoid circling due to a line or barrier between hole wall and fluffy soil. I've always backfilled with the soil that came from the hole, and I've always made grooves into the walls of the holes to encourage roots to poke through into the undisturbed soil. Don't know if any of it works but I do it anyway.

 

[sandbur]

Square holes grow square apples that are easier to pack in a box!

;)


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[roymunson]

any of these "life hack" "green living" sites, i dunno man... I don't think you wanna be caught trolling thru them

 

[TreeDaddy]

I don't know if square holes work or not.

Two things Ive always done to avoid circling due to a line or barrier between hole wall and fluffy soil. I've always backfilled with the soil that came from the hole, and I've always made grooves into the walls of the holes to encourage roots to poke through into the undisturbed soil. Don't know if any of it works but I do it anyway.

^^^^^^^
this ......no fertilizer at planting for fear of burning the baby tree

bill

 

[Catscratch]

^^^^^^^
this ......no fertilizer at planting for fear of burning the baby tree

bill

^^^^^
this also.... I don't mix fertilizer either.

 

[sandbur]

^^^^^^^
this ......no fertilizer at planting for fear of burning the baby tree

bill

^^^^^
this also.... I don't mix fertilizer either.

I do mix a bit of pel lime in the hole as I know pH tends to run lower. This product is added on drier soils.

No fertilizer is used.


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[The Fishman]

This is a great example of what is wrong with “journalism” nowadays. The linked article above is basically a regurgitation of an article that is linked in the first sentence. If you go to the original article there are a lot of opinionated statements that are not supported with any facts. If trees grow better in square holes, prove it. Link to studies showing that trees grow better in square holes. Show me something to prove your point. This is from the original article. “When they hit the tight, 90-degree angle of your square hole, instead of sneaking around to create a spiral, they flare out of the planting hole to colonise the native soil.” So roots will not go into native soil from a round hole but will in a square hole? If the hole is twice as large as the container, as is always suggested, the tree will do fine. Horticulturists have been planting trees for years and I have never heard them recommend square holes. All these articles are doing is trying to come up with something new to get people to click on the article and generate page views and increase ad revenue.

 

[DJN]

Speaking as someone in the landscape industry (degree and everything. I’m an educated hole digger. Lol), I’ve never heard a mention (from of hort guys/nurseries/seminars/industry publications) of better results with a square hole. As y’all have said, usually a hole twice the width, making sure tree is planted same depth as it had been grown. As Fishman said, that article is just someone trying to get clicks and traffic.

 

[yoderjac]

The read was a good chuckle. Take a problematic case and generalize it. I've got heavy clay soils. Truly, if I dig a large hole (regardless of shape) and amend the soil, I have issues. I did this when young and dumb(er) when I planted Jujube's. They grew great in the amended soils. Years later a wind storm came in and blew several over. When I looked at what happened, I found that all the roots wanted to stay in that nice amended soil. I ended up having to upright the trees and then mound bucket loads of native clay soil.

Amending soil in heavy clay can be problematic from several aspects including ponding and dryout of the amended soil and you can have issues with roots penetrating the clay. It can, in effect, become like planting in a smooth sided container where rooks will circle and j-hook.

I don't think square holes are the answer. Studies show that roots begin to turn before they actually encounter an object. They have some kind of sensing capability. I now auger my holes so the diameter is a tight fit for my Rootbuilder II 3 gal containers. Second, I use a hand rake to roughen the sides of the holes and remove any glazing that might occur with the auger. I select sites where no ground water can run-in and I mound native clay over the medium to cause water to run off and protect the medium from drying out. For trees, like chestnuts that are sensitive to wet feet, I auger the hole much deeper than I need and back fill with stone (#56) to a few inches below the medium. This provides a place for the water from heavy spring rain to pond below the root system. Inundating a root system with water will kill the tree, but roots growing into a water source is not a problem. The tree will grow the right percentage of roots into the water source. Augering holes that are a tight diameter fit means that roots are forced to penetrate my native clay which retains moisture better quickly.

The problem the article tries to solve only exists in some soil types when high infiltration medium is used when growing the tree or it is used to amend the hole and there are ways to solve it that actually work.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[jsasker007]

Why not sprinkle some radish seeds around newly planted trees to help the roots or would it be counter productive?

 

[IkemanTx]

I don't know if square holes work or not.

Two things Ive always done to avoid circling due to a line or barrier between hole wall and fluffy soil. I've always backfilled with the soil that came from the hole, and I've always made grooves into the walls of the holes to encourage roots to poke through into the undisturbed soil. Don't know if any of it works but I do it anyway.

^^^^^^^
this ......no fertilizer at planting for fear of burning the baby tree

bill

I use milorganite to avoid that problem. You can load the CRAP out of the fill dirt without burning anything.


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[scott44]

Saw this and thought of this thread.

 

[yoderjac]

Funny...That hole looked like one scoup from a backhoe using only the bucket.

 

[yoderjac]

Why not sprinkle some radish seeds around newly planted trees to help the roots or would it be counter productive?

I would guess that to be counter productive. They would be competition for nutrients.

 

[Someday isle]

Well their logic seems sound. I have all of about 17 trees worth of planting experience. each of my holes had its own unique geometric shape depending on how many rocks and tree roots were involved in the actual digging. Time will tell.