Pre Digging Tree holes

[White Oak]

Say you have a order placed for spring of 2021 delivery of some fruit trees to be shipped in March. Do any of you pre dig the holes if the weather permits a few weeks or days ahead of time ?. I've never tried it , but it was thinking about doing it this year to save some time. Just wondering if that's a good idea or not.

 

[scott44]

I never have but I can see where it might be a time saver if you had some extra time to dig them. I could also see it helping if you had some rain in between digging and planting so you didn't have to go back and water or water at the time of planting.

 

[Catscratch]

I do every yr! Anytime the skidsteer has the posthole auger on it I'm poking holes. I've also been known to use a front end loader to dig a scoop and dump it back in just to loosen things up. And I I'll dig a hole by hand a yr in advance if I have time just so that it's easy the day of. No rocks or surprises when trees are sitting there.

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[Barndog56]

There is other prep work I would worry about now. I would put down a big sheet of cardboard, say 4' x 4', to kill what's growing there. I'd cover that cardboard with a couple inches of compost or old manure, or even mulch. The soil below should be noticeably better by next spring.

 

[Tree Spud]

I would think it would like to drying out of the soil around the hole and the soil you pulled out.

 

[Catscratch]

I would think it would like to drying out of the soil around the hole and the soil you pulled out.

I put the soil back in the hole. It just loosens it so it's easy to dig with a shovel once the trees arrive. No drying out.

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[Tree Spud]

I put the soil back in the hole. It just loosens it so it's easy to dig with a shovel once the trees arrive. No drying out.

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Ok, that makes more sense.

 

[Chainsaw]

Great question White Oak. The tree planting window is very short here. Wait too long to dig the holes and the tractor won’t make it thru the wet spots to get to all the planting spots. Last year all holes were dug ahead of time mostly on days when the mornings were below freezing. Often by 9 am digging had to stop in order to get the tractor out before the daily thaws. Would never have gotten all trees planted without predigging. Drying out was not an issue here; our water table is very close to the surface in the spring. Many trees were planted in the water and none of them seemed to mind.

My big mistake was making the holes too big; smaller holes will be dug for next years trees. And actually digging holes for spring planting in 2021 is planned to start this fall after we each get our buck. No doubt the benefits/negatives to pre-digging are location specific. For here pre-digging is the only way to get 150 or more trees planted where we want them and planted in a timely fashion.

Note;If we were planting a dozen trees or so pre-digging wouldn’t be necessary.

 

[White Oak]

Great question White Oak. The tree planting window is very short here. Wait too long to dig the holes and the tractor won’t make it thru the wet spots to get to all the planting spots. Last year all holes were dug ahead of time mostly on days when the mornings were below freezing. Often by 9 am digging had to stop in order to get the tractor out before the daily thaws. Would never have gotten all trees planted without predigging. Drying out was not an issue here; our water table is very close to the surface in the spring. Many trees were planted in the water and none of them seemed to mind.

My big mistake was making the holes too big; smaller holes will be dug for next years trees. And actually digging holes for spring planting in 2021 is planned to start this fall after we each get our buck. No doubt the benefits/negatives to pre-digging are location specific. For here pre-digging is the only way to get 150 or more trees planted where we want them and planted in a timely fashion.

Note;If we were planting a dozen trees or so pre-digging wouldn’t be necessary.

I have to dig by hand with a shovel , I only planted 5 trees from NWC this spring....caged them and put mulch around them and it was a project doing it myself all in one day, I'm not as young or fit as I use to be. I may pre dig and fill the holes back in like mentioned above or get a cheap earth auger from Harbor Freight or Earthquake brand I think Home Depot carries.

 

[Chainsaw]

White Oak, hand digging is a tough job and would be difficult for me as well. If I was hand digging it would definitely be done one or two at a time and well before planting time. As Barndog described, preparing the ground a season ahead is important. His cardboard and mulch recommendation is excellent. At minimum spot spraying Glysophate mixed with 2-4d now where the trees are to be planted next spring will help ease the digging operation.

 

[Rit]

I may pre dig this year. I have to plant about 40 new trees in the Spring of 2021. I dig 2’x3’ holes for each tree. Plus this year I am adding PVC deep watering to each tree so any head start should help out a bit.

 

[Buckly]

I rented one of these tow behind units from the local true value hardware. Dug 45 holes in about half day 2 weeks before trees arrived. You can tow it with a truck or 4 wheeler and then move around by hand. very easy and very cheap I think 1 day was well under 100 bucks

 

[Turkey Creek]

I rented one of these tow behind units from the local true value hardware. Dug 45 holes in about half day 2 weeks before trees arrived. You can tow it with a truck or 4 wheeler and then move around by hand. very easy and very cheap I think 1 day was well under 100 bucks
View attachment 31963

Unless you are planting 1,100 Christmas trees in heavy, wet clay soil ..... then not so much!! Story to come one of these days!

 

[Tree Spud]

We put in 625 trees last year. There were 40 apple trees, ~400 were 3 yr transplant (not seedlings) conifers that were 2'-3' with large roots mass and the rest shrubs & hardwoods. Pre-digging would not be particle. I added a post hole auger to my tractor several years ago with a 9" auger and it has really made the process a whole lot faster and much easier on my body as the wife and I are not youngsters anymore. I can put 15 holes in even with our rocky soil in about 10 minutes then go back and we start putting the trees in.

 

[Tree Spud]

I have to dig by hand with a shovel , I only planted 5 trees from NWC this spring....caged them and put mulch around them and it was a project doing it myself all in one day, I'm not as young or fit as I use to be. I may pre dig and fill the holes back in like mentioned above or get a cheap earth auger from Harbor Freight or Earthquake brand I think Home Depot carries.

I have the earthquake auger. I also went to that a number of years ago and it sure made the job easier. Just remember if you have rocky soil, let the auger do the work and hold on tight. The have a lot of torque and if you hit a rock, you can get a good jolt if you are trying to force it. They have different size augers so the larger you go the more weight to handle.

 

[Buckly]

We put in 625 trees last year. There were 40 apple trees, ~400 were 3 yr transplant (not seedlings) conifers that were 2'-3' with large roots mass and the rest shrubs & hardwoods. Pre-digging would not be particle. I added a post hole auger to my tractor several years ago with a 9" auger and it has really made the process a whole lot faster and much easier on my body as the wife and I are not youngsters anymore. I can put 15 holes in even with our rocky soil in about 10 minutes then go back and we start putting the trees in.

View attachment 31967

View attachment 31968

‘That is quite the root system for a conifer of that size

 

[TreeDaddy]

Great question White Oak. The tree planting window is very short here. Wait too long to dig the holes and the tractor won’t make it thru the wet spots to get to all the planting spots. Last year all holes were dug ahead of time mostly on days when the mornings were below freezing. Often by 9 am digging had to stop in order to get the tractor out before the daily thaws. Would never have gotten all trees planted without predigging. Drying out was not an issue here; our water table is very close to the surface in the spring. Many trees were planted in the water and none of them seemed to mind.

My big mistake was making the holes too big; smaller holes will be dug for next years trees. And actually digging holes for spring planting in 2021 is planned to start this fall after we each get our buck. No doubt the benefits/negatives to pre-digging are location specific. For here pre-digging is the only way to get 150 or more trees planted where we want them and planted in a timely fashion.

Note;If we were planting a dozen trees or so pre-digging wouldn’t be necessary.

What diameter auger are you using?

thanks,

bill

 

[Headdigger]

I have a one tine subsoiler that I pull down the row, I make a couple of passes so that when I get ready to plant, I can dig the hole with a shovel.

 

[roymunson]

funny you say this. Tomorrow morning my buddy and I have 300 holes to put in the ground, and stick 1 gallon pot red cedars in the ground.

 

[willy]

I pre dug the holes a couple weeks earlier than receiving the trees last spring for my fruit trees and it worked out great. That will be my plan going forward. I did put a couple gallons of water in the hole before I planted each tree.