yoderjac
5 year old buck +
It depends on the trees I'm planting. I've got heavy clay soil with slow infiltration where promix is very fast infiltration. During wet period I can get ponding and during dry periods, the promix can dry out. Infiltration works both ways. First, I'm careful about the location I plant so ground water won't naturally drain into the hole. If I'm planting chestnuts that don't like wet feet, I will auger about 3'. I then back fill with quarry stone at the bottom. So, if a pond does form, it forms well below the root ball. I then put in a little native clay and any fertilizer on top of that. I then add a couple inches more clay. I fill the hole such that when I put in the root ball, the promix will stick out the top about 1". I then take the native clay and create a mound up over the promix. This also helps surface water from draining into the promix and helps reduce how quickly the promix dries out.
Keep in mind we typically have wet springs and then dry periods in the summer. I auger the hole very slightly bigger than the root ball and use a hand rake to make sure I don't have glazing on the sides. Sometimes I have to stand on the root ball for force it into the hole. Since the promix and stone won't retain water during dry periods of summer, I don't want the lateral roots to have far to grow to get into my native clay tha will retain moisture well. I prefer planting when the trees are dormant in the winter, but with rootmakers, I can plant after spring greenup if I want.
For other trees that seem to tolerate wet feet better, like apples, I skip the quarry stone and thus don't auger as deep. I just go a bit deeper than the root ball so I can add fertilizer and then some native clay on top of it such that the promix sticks up about an inch. The rest is the same.
This works for my soil and climate, but may not be the best practice depending on the climate and soil in other locations.
Thanks,
Jack
