Planting a Tree in late fall

The Good and the Bad of planting trees in the fall

Fall is cooler which means less stress on trees, however this doesn't mean it's the best time to plant any kind of tree.

Keep in mind that Evergreens, like pine trees, are actually going to work hard all winter long, so they will still have growth stress. With that in mind, they still would rather work hard in cooler weather than 100 degree heat.

Decidua, or leaf trees, drop their leaves and shut down into dormancy in the winter which means they are doing little to no work so little to no stress. So decidua trees do well planted in the fall.

Now the bad; no mater the type of tree, water is still an issue. Far less for the leaf tree but you don't want the tree to wake up in a completely dry base around the new feeder roots pushing out. You can't see these roots so you will not know when they need water. Often it is far before the lawn irrigation is started up and we forget to help these newly planted trees in early spring.

For the Evergreen tree, they will need slow watering all winter which is near impossible if we are having freezing nights which will break the hose.

The answer I have used is to encourage fall planting but insist that hose is kept in the garage ready to go out and water the trees. This is done at the time of planting for the decidua then put on the calendar to do once in late February and once a week in March and April until the water is turned on. For the Evergreen I want to water it once a week all through winter if at all possible. This doesn't have to be a flood of water, a soaker hose for four or five hours is usually enough. But do not guess, get the water meter we talk about at www.diylawntime.blogspot.com and check to be sure.