Jenna, I was a professional gardener, and my focus was fruit trees. You did an excellent job in this presentation. I was listening and waiting for old information or folk traditions that have been proven wrong, but you nailed it 100%. Well done. I'd say I don't even know why I clicked on this video, but that wouldn't be true. But I'm glad I did. You deserve my subscription if just to help you out.
One of the BEST tree planting videos I have EVER seen! The details you included are some of that basic info most videos lack. Like what a root ball actually is.
Great video. I've planted a few fruit trees in clay. It's hard alright. I've thrown biochar, woodchips, sticks and branches in the whole to add organic matter. Mixed the native clay soil with mushroom compost. Planted the tree. Then I figured the roots will spread as far as the canopy so I made a 3mx3m top layer around the tree with a thick layer of woodchips to help the clay breakdown and be less compacted overtime so the tips of the roots feel comfy. I also plant marigolds and other beneficial plants in the mulched area to bring in beneficial insects helping with pests. (Subtropical Sunshine coast in Queensland Australia) My advice from what I learnt: Mix the native soil with woodchips, compost, egg/oyster shells and plant in that. Keep some native soil aside to create a well around the plant to help water stay in root zone until established. All the best to all.
Hi Jenna, Great video with tons of information about clay soil and in general good planting techniques. I am in central Ohio and clay soil has been the bane of my tree growing experience as well. I have about 25 that I planted and survived in the last 23 years. Many years ago I watched a master gardener who had very similar advise for planting trees and he had one additional tip and I thought I might share it here in this thread. He used a PVC pipe with holes and I improvised by cutting one side of the pipe about half an inch and placed it in the planting hole. This serves two purposes. One I can use a bucket of water the tree and the water will reach the bottom of the hole and have the roots naturally reach the water source at the bottom while not disturbing the top of the planting hole. Secondly after a year its easier to provide fertilizers through the same mechanism while helping the roots establishing themselves better. Thanks for the great video which served as a refresher for me. 👍
I appreciate the way you explain things, and the overlayed pictures you added. I am starting to grow fruit trees in heavy clay, and this was really helpful. Thanks a lot!
One technique that I’ve found extremely helpful when planting my trees and bushes in my heavy clay soil, is to use a broadfork (with a minimum 12” tines) at the bottom and along the sides of my planting hole, which helps create some looser pathways to help with drainage and to provide some less compacted areas where the roots can more easily grow into. I also will lightly broadfork a 3-4’ diameter circle around the tree after backfilling, just to help aid a little bit more with the drainage of the area around the tree.
I used to work on apple orchard farms in the UK and NZ. I've planted and pruned tens of thousands of trees, and it is still all a mystery to me! My gut feeling is give them lots of space, choose the right kind of soil ph, and water in well, and water well again when the fruits are emerging during the 'June drop'. Clay soil can be a good thing, as it retains moisture and nutrients. I love your vids, Jenna, your passion is amazing! Thank you.
What a fun job! Honestly, there is still so much that is a mystery to me about nature. I feel I could live a thousand lifetimes and not even scratch the surface of what there is to learn. You are spot on- in the middle of summer I'm happy to have clay soil as it retains moisture much better than other types. I'm watering once or twice a month instead of every other day! Take care!
Good video Jenna, but it is a very wide subject, at least an hour. There is lot of different clay type, and usualy it is good to lift up the plant, to be cca 2 inches higher then clay soil, and deeply aerate the soi aroun tree, and repeat again when it became compacted again. In wet clay there is no decomposition, dry clay is very hard, clay mixed with gravel is another problem. Your father is absolutely right. Root quality of the planted tree is story for itself, another hour, very often bare root are ugly cutted, potted tree roots messed up in a too small container, etc... Trees grafted on cuttings are another story. And as you said, planting older trees in clay can be a big problem, adaptation time can be very long, and they usually die after 2-3 year if you are not realy very carefull. Loooong story. Regards from Croatia :)
You are absolutely correct- - nearly every gardening topic deserves an hour or more. But I try to get the most information across in the least time possible, because most folks don't have the time (or the desire) to watch for that amount of time. You do bring up some very important points and I appreciate the feedback- take care!
Excellent advice for planting fruit trees. My father-in-law always mentioned "dig a $50 hole for a $5 tree" whenever I mentioned planting trees on our property. I learned the hard way to place tree guards around newly planted trees. I lost a Honeycrisp apple to sun scald and another tree to deer that rubbed it's antlers on the unprotected trunk and killed it.
A lot of gardeners in AZ are switching to shallow holes instead. Easier to dig for 1 but it apparently helps the tree establish faster than those planted in large holes.
About every time I think about growing something or how to store potatoes, you come out with a great video on the topic. Thank you so much from OH Zone 6a
Very helpful Jenna! Planting 2 different apple trees! I’m on clay and rocks- so the advice of the rotting wood and leaves at the bottom of the hole first is excellent advice!!
She is totally amazing.. I’m mesmerized.. I’m in Missouri.. so we plant our tress spring time.. peach apple.. dang your pretty…and yes I got ever thing you put forth..
I totally planted my fruit tree without putting the native soil back. I was actually going to ask what you do with the soil you dug out initially. Well i learned something new....
I was looking for info on how to prep my heavy clay soil to take on a pear tree. You have gotten me all the info I needed to supply myself with all the necessary materials to do that. Thank you for such detailed presentation and explanation.
I dig a big hole and then mix leaf compost with the clay and it really improves soil structure. Then every spring I make a new ring of mixed clay and compost around the tree, thus increasing the diameter to be just a bit bigger than the tree's drip line. Seems to be working and less daunting then making a huge 10' diameter hole all at once. I mulch with wood chips as well.
@@jennhoff03 YEP DIG A TRENCH AND MIX IN COMPOST, so as roots grow they keep on growing into good soil. otherwise clay will slow down root growth and thus tree growth at least in theory.
This is the second of your videos, I have watched today, and I just happen to have a Peartree that needs planting out. My soil is also clay. Thank you so much for all your tips and advice. Very much appreciated.
Raise the bed (the higher the better) and mulch it deep, like 1ft of mulch. The mulch keeps the clay from drying out and cracking, and the worms go gangbusters in there and vastly improve the drainage.
Thank you for this episode! I live in the aptly named "Town of Clay, NY" near Syracuse. Being part of an old original settlement era 'cider orchard', my backyard is full of 100 year+ old spiny apple trees and their descendants. Unfortunately. some of my old trees have gotten very gnarly, with many dead branches, and it's time to clear up parts of the yard. I'd like to replace some cleared areas with newly planted, modern fruit trees, but I face the prospect of planting in clay soil that matches what you show in your yard exactly. You've inspired me to know that this can be done. Thank you.
Town of Clay... 😆. What a cool little piece of history you have there! It will be neat to revamp the planting and add in some new trees ( a lot of work I'm sure, but well worth it). Best of luck!
Dear Jenna, I am planting some new apple, pear, and berry in a small yard in mostly red soil/clay covered with gravel in Arizona. I feel like I just found a free new gold mine in your video. You are a most generous and watchable expert. I will not directly mention that you also radiate the 3 Eternal Verities, especially # 2! Planting is a lot of fun, and so is listening to your presentation. Thank you, thank you! "Hugelkultur" looks like German for "hill culture," and will be something else novel and fun to explore. Another field that is being introduced to me is toxicity of certain plants to dogs. The intersection of plant culture and veterinary science is something new and challenging. I will be watching all your videos, and blessing your presence on my screen. Au revoir.
That is the 3 Eternal Verities in the order presented by Howard Gardner in "Truth, Beauty, and Goodness Reframed." which I have not actually read yet, but probably will soon.
Hi Jenna, I live in an area that has a high annual rainfall of 3300mm-4600mm. During years of extremely wet season, we have 24 hours non stop rain of 3~5 days. This method of planting in clay soil do cause issues in fruit plants that are sensitive to water pooling in clay soil planting holes. What we do to circumvent this issue is to have a planting mound of 450mm to 900mm, allowing it to settle and weeds to grow before planting the fruit plant. We find this useful for plants with tap roots or fibrous roots.
I'm glad to have found your channel, many of the other gardener help channels don't cover the type of surface and weather we have in Southern Ohio. The difficulties you have are the same ones I have, Thank you
For my clay soil problem, I bought a small excavator, used, for ~15k on ebay, then sold it six months later for 15k. In the end, essentially a free six month rental. With the excavator, I carved out a series of small hills about two feet tall or so, with ditches in between them that all drain out toward the main ditch at the edge of my property. Even now, I still have to plant my fruit trees in a special way that allows for drainage to the ditch, but now, no matter where I plant them, there is always a ditch just a couple feet away.
I did the same thing and used concrete blocks to hold the sides of the 3 foot deep ditch. Filled the bottom with gravel and it makes a nice walking path.
Always the best information Mrs. Jenna. So happy to hear you busy that myth. So wild how some people always want to start some kind of myth. We have heavy clay here also so you hit things dead on the head. Stay safe my friend!
hi Jenna. my clay rocky soil killed all trees i tried to grow them in and was very hard to dig in.. i now just lay down cardboard. push a stake down thru the cardboard to tie the tree to. place your tree roots on top of the card board next to stake. bury the roots/ cardboard with good draining soil. tamp well. mulch with 4in of woodchips and water well. ive planted many dozens of trees/ plants over the last 7 years and never lost 1. over time the soil settles and gets used up and in 3-4 yrs its flat again. growth rate is phenomenal with just occasional compost and fresh mulch placed on every spring. try it! it saves you alot of work and is super easy to do.
Nicely done. Great info, especially for clay soil. Very thorough. I'm experienced with fruit trees, and you helped me learn some new tips for clay soil.
Nice video. I had seen that rumor about trees becoming root bound in round holes and it struck me as nonsense even just hearing it, without gardening experience. Good to have that confirmed.
Watching this video makes me realize the obvious. Different between clay soil and well just pure clay. My yard is pure clay. Guess I quit trying to plant things and open a pottery business instead.
Thank you so much for this video. I have been planting in clay soil and really just could not get my trees to survive. Your video has changed the way I am planting and hopefully I will be apple to get my trees to thrive.
The problem with putting wood under your tree is that the tree will sink down as the wood rottens. If you put back all the soil you dug out and form a pile where you put the tree, it should be fine.
@@lauranilsen8988 No, I meant the wood is still under the tree but you don't aim for flat soil when planting. Instead the tree should be on a pile of soil so it eventually becomes flat when the wood is rotting. Otherwise you get a hole where the tree is.
As a retired stone fruit grower, Okanagan Valley British Columbia. We had soils, some pure sand, right to very high PH 8+, most of the trees in the heavy clay soils we're on a slight mound. Now to the rest of the story, my winter getaway in in the desert of AZ zone 9 , very little frost, chill hours here are the issue. On a 7.5K sq ft lot next to home site I have 25 trees, I dug the holes with a backhoe, added manure, and stirred I let it sit for a year, watering it, Then planted. The trees thrived, BUT the dirt, as I call it, 0.5 % organic, 8+ pH, weren't inviting for the tree, and I've had wind breakage, uprooting issues. Now I've got tons, literally gravel trucks worth of manure, chips, alfalfa pellets plant waste, spread under the trees, and am finding the tree roots are in the loam that is forming. My tip is plant the trees higher than level, the organics will decompose, settle, causing a water pond, trp, and here we get monsoons, as other areas get heavy rains, causing rot rot issues. We have terrible drainage issues here, a layer on caliche, solid calcium carbonate, and my soil takes about 12 hrs to drain the holes, now I put a gallon of pool acid into each hole after the 1st initially filling with water, it's something I learned from the farmers here that grow cotton, alfalfa, roses, veggies as field crops, it wakes the soil up. I tried the rows between the trees 1st, saw a great improvement in cover crops. So now all my present planting get that acid boost, let the hole drain, leach the acid away , and refill before planting, let drain away, then I plant into that hole with amended soil mix, watering as I fill, no air holes, less risk of settling. Planting 2 sweet cherries soon, bareroot, finally a 200-300 chill hr cherry. Holes are getting prepped, trees come in Jan, fill soil is getting mixed, turned, prepped ahead, trees love it. If you have winds, plant the graft union accordingly, the new wood into the wind, stronger tree. Happy growing.
When planting trees that are already well established in a pot where they've lived their whole life in great potting soil, I've had great luck mixing the dirt I've dug up with a little bit of potting soil. Going heavier closer to the plant and then in layers around it going lighter and lighter. I do try to put a bit of compost in there to encourage the worms to come over and do their work. Bare root trees get the neglect version of planting, dig a hole and drop it. I love that you emphasized watering them in, it's so important!
@@GrowfullywithJenna , I thought of another idea for a fun interactive video! Dadisms! Funny things your dad used to say about gardening. Like the $50 hole for a $5 plant. I loved that, he sounds very wise, and reminded me of my dad. My dad used to say "if I ever get pushed out of an airplane I want 50 feet of garden hose wrapped around me, because I know it will get caught on something before I hit the ground" 🤣🤣🤣
I grew up in Northern British Colombia, 1bout 150 km from the coast and we had wonderful fruit trees. I now live in Alberta and planted fruit trees but they all died as the soil is very heavy clay soil and I did make the mistake of planting them in an area that had poor drainage. There is a mound in my back yard that I think is decades old, probably created when someone was clearing land with a bull dozer. I am going to plant at least a couple of fruit trees on that mound next spring. However, I love fruit trees. It's free food with no weeding, tilling, planting every year, etc. I'd like to plant more in my yard. I am wondering if planting fruit trees in a raised bed in option. I am wondering if a 5' by 5' 4' deep bed is enough for one fruit tree. To pick the fruit, I'd use a ladder. The dirt in the bed could grow grass or flowers, or something else. What are your thoughts on this? Anyone ?
I'm curious about this too, but have never tried it. Eventually your roots are going to outgrow that bed, but I wonder if by giving the tree time to get established, by the time it hits the soil outside of the raised bed it might be strong enough to power through? But you could also have the effect of where the roots hit the native soil and just stop... I'd love to hear from anyone who has tried this!
Try making drainage channels which are broad and shallow- like by mowing tight, tilling and grading up to planting ridges with a blade machine or broad hoe on smaller scale. The channel bottom can slope very little- create ridges, but not gullys! Mulch planting sites heavily and water for a season ahead of time with taproot cover crops like mustard and lupin before planting.
Thank you‼️❤️ I live in Paradise CA. 4 yrs ago The Whole town burned down. So I have the opportunity to start right. Our clay is the red clay. I had been told “sand” well after your experiment I can see I better find a farmer with cows🤣 I’m going to try the rye cover crop too. Thx 😻
I had planted a meyer lemon tree several years ago, and my dog, who was a hyper little puppy at the time - chewed the trunk of the newly planted tree. About 50% of it was chewed through before I saw her and stopped it. But - the tree survived, and became a very prolific, and large, lemon tree.
Thank you so much for the advice. I have several fruit trees I am planting in a Canadian northern region of zone 2 -3 (very cold winters) under cover of a large greenhouse. Our soil is incredibly clay bound and I was going to put compost inside the hole. I will follow your advise, it makes a lot of sense.
Excellent! Exactly the questions I had! And you gave me more information than I had considered even asking! Cuz what do I know? (Not much here) I have a Mulberry, Orange, and Lemon to get in the ground! Bravo Video!
I keep a circle of wire around my tree's, to the 4 year have alot of deer.and also stake it we have crazy wind also, I also have all stone fruit at the top of hill wholes them back from blooming one week later, it's also fun to learn grafting. Last year I had some peach whips my neighbor has nice red plums, so I grafted the plum to the peach 2 of had 1ft. Growth needed this for pollination of a big plum I have. Some of my apple trees are 50 years old ,so I'm putting whole new tops ,have 5 different apples on one tree, so exciting well have my first apples on this tree this year.
The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The next best time is today. One other tip: Give space between the trunk of the tree and the mulch. Mulch holds water and you don't want the trunk above ground to sit in water. Awesome video. I wish this had been up a couple of weeks aog. I planted my Liberty Apple tree last Friday. :)
Yes, yes, yes! For anyone who's on the fence about planting a tree-- do it now! And thanks for mentioning the mulch- that was one point I missed. You definitely don't want it up around the trunk of the tree. Enjoy that 'Liberty' apple!
Thank you for the instructional video Ma’am. Now time to plant pear trees in memories of our son that passed away in a motorcycle accident at 21 years old so we are planting 21 pear trees. Y’all have a blessed day hold your family tight. Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas. -Sig
I use gypsum, sand, perlite, and rough up the sides by gouging with a pick axe and my apple trees do really good in clay so long as I amend the clay soil.
Your channel has grown a lot! Great tips. I've learned that planting native flowers around my establishing trees frees up the clay, pulls water down, builds topsoil, and also keeps the deer off the trees! So now I always try for wildflowers on the north side and fruit/nut/veggies on the south.
@@GrowfullywithJenna smelly flowers, they don't want to rub in smelly stuff. Bee balm, blazing star, coreopsis, yarrow (especially yarrow), and black eyed Susan all keep seed heads and are tall enough. . I use last years stalks to stake around new fruit and veggie growth this spring and they kept off everything so far!
@@GrowfullywithJenna of course deer will sometimes go hog wild on the spring shoots, I just found a pretty big section of black eyed Susan munched down. But they were literally 6 feet from 2 apple trees and didn't strip the leaves, which was a problem the 2 previous years before I put natives into the same bed. The more variety for deer, the better it seems.
Jenna, I would water the new plant exactly as you did. Later on I would move my drip irrigation away from the planting hole just to encourage the roots to grow further away. Close to the trunk I would drill a deep hole, drop a cloth wick and connect with a lightly planted inverted 5 gallon water bottle for encouraging a tap root. Of course my zone is Eastern Medditerranean where the climate is dryer than yours.
Thank you so much for the detailed episode. I have learned so much. So basically if I digg out 6x6ft, roots of tree have more time to establish and grow and by the time they reach the unprepared section of clay, they will be stronger and it will be easier for them to penetrate clay soil and move through with ease. Blessing to you Lady
Ohio girl! I must Subscribe. S.E. Ohio here. You do it exactly the way I do it. $50 hole & I use my grandfather's miner's pick/hammer to hack at to smooth edges. A coal miner's pick is perfect for this. I'll usually add a few dead sticks & leaves from inside the forest floor.
I really like the hugelkultur idea. It mimics what a young tree would naturally encounter on the forest floor. I'll try it. The pruning advice however, goes against my 50 years of practice. I lop a third off the tree as a stardard planting practice, and really establish the foundational shape in those first years.
It's tough to argue with 50 years of practice! I'm curious though, if you are starting with trees as small as the ones I am planting here. When they are this small I leave them alone for a couple years (unless they are just really wonky) and that has worked well for me. I can definitely see where pruning a larger tree back would make sense. Thanks!
If your digging in clay soil I find that using a pitchfork is much easier for loosening up the soil for the diameter of the hole your digging. I use it to be able to dig down further and to make sure all the soil that I backfill is loose. Much easier than just a shovel!
I use a digging fork for almost all my digging/planting. In London, UK on very heavy clay formerly used for brickmaking. The fork also helps avoid killing all the hardworking worms. I only use a shovel when removing loose soil from the already dug planting hole and backfilling.
I've been watching Gary Matsuoka's videos on perfect soil. He says we shouldn't put any compost or organic matter in the hole. The organic matter will decompose and use up the oxygen which will kill the root. This is even worse in clay because it holds onto water and doesn't dry out. The drying process will allow more air to go down. Since the compost is using all the oxygen, rot will happen faster. The tree will won't get a good footing in soft soils. Or will also sink after the organic matter decomposes. For clay soils, plants should do ok in it as long as it's not in a low spot and there's no organic matter. If you want to amend the soil, only use mineral products (sand, pumice, perlite, lava rock, etc). This will increase drainage and allow better aeration. It's also best to elevate the plant a bit if you are worried about root rot.
I use a lot of sand to create a loam mixture. Plus peat moss which doesn't decompose. The peat moss also adds acid to counteract the alkali clay soil. Any regular organics will quickly decompose and be gone anyway. But I do put some in the mix to encourage root growth for the first couple of years. Then I lay a layer of mulch on top to discourage weeds, insulate the soil, and as it decomposes, the organic juice dribbles into the soil.
Glad I ran across this video. I was about to dig a whole to plant my cherry tree yesterday but I thought it couldn't be done bc the spot has clay soil. I ended up putting it in a grow bag with compost and the native dirt. Maybe I'll dig the hole for it this weekend.
Thank you for this. I have planted many small fruit trees on my property which is clay soil and had a lot of trials & trouble with my trees. So now I have been keeping my trees in large pots instead and until I figured out where to put them. Or how to plant them in better.
I'm in Medina County in ohio and am planting a ton of trees this spring! Thank you so much for that tip about loose soil because i was gonna do that lol
Jenna, I was a professional gardener, and my focus was fruit trees. You did an excellent job in this presentation. I was listening and waiting for old information or folk traditions that have been proven wrong, but you nailed it 100%. Well done. I'd say I don't even know why I clicked on this video, but that wouldn't be true. But I'm glad I did. You deserve my subscription if just to help you out.
Thank you so much. I appreciate the kind feedback and support. Take care!
Ở
I am a master gardener for 30 years. We run ten acres of organic gardens and 200 fruit trees.
0⁰0l00l
She also deserves your click of the like button.
One of the BEST tree planting videos I have EVER seen!
The details you included are some of that basic info most videos lack. Like what a root ball actually is.
Glad it was helpful!
Great video. I've planted a few fruit trees in clay. It's hard alright. I've thrown biochar, woodchips, sticks and branches in the whole to add organic matter. Mixed the native clay soil with mushroom compost. Planted the tree. Then I figured the roots will spread as far as the canopy so I made a 3mx3m top layer around the tree with a thick layer of woodchips to help the clay breakdown and be less compacted overtime so the tips of the roots feel comfy. I also plant marigolds and other beneficial plants in the mulched area to bring in beneficial insects helping with pests. (Subtropical Sunshine coast in Queensland Australia)
My advice from what I learnt: Mix the native soil with woodchips, compost, egg/oyster shells and plant in that. Keep some native soil aside to create a well around the plant to help water stay in root zone until established. All the best to all.
Thank you for sharing
You are so good, detailed, and methodical. I wished I had watched this 1 year ago.
Hi Jenna, Great video with tons of information about clay soil and in general good planting techniques. I am in central Ohio and clay soil has been the bane of my tree growing experience as well. I have about 25 that I planted and survived in the last 23 years. Many years ago I watched a master gardener who had very similar advise for planting trees and he had one additional tip and I thought I might share it here in this thread. He used a PVC pipe with holes and I improvised by cutting one side of the pipe about half an inch and placed it in the planting hole. This serves two purposes. One I can use a bucket of water the tree and the water will reach the bottom of the hole and have the roots naturally reach the water source at the bottom while not disturbing the top of the planting hole. Secondly after a year its easier to provide fertilizers through the same mechanism while helping the roots establishing themselves better. Thanks for the great video which served as a refresher for me. 👍
This video is like beef stew. Thick & Hearty, chock full of the good stuff with no fillers . Deeeeeeelicious information ma'am
😄 I got such a kick out of this! Thank you
I’m going to keep this in my pocket.. can’t wait to use it
I appreciate the way you explain things, and the overlayed pictures you added. I am starting to grow fruit trees in heavy clay, and this was really helpful. Thanks a lot!
You are most welcome, Lee! Best of luck with your fruit trees & take care!
One technique that I’ve found extremely helpful when planting my trees and bushes in my heavy clay soil, is to use a broadfork (with a minimum 12” tines) at the bottom and along the sides of my planting hole, which helps create some looser pathways to help with drainage and to provide some less compacted areas where the roots can more easily grow into. I also will lightly broadfork a 3-4’ diameter circle around the tree after backfilling, just to help aid a little bit more with the drainage of the area around the tree.
Thanks for sharing!
The broad fork is a mighty tool!
I used to work on apple orchard farms in the UK and NZ. I've planted and pruned tens of thousands of trees, and it is still all a mystery to me! My gut feeling is give them lots of space, choose the right kind of soil ph, and water in well, and water well again when the fruits are emerging during the 'June drop'. Clay soil can be a good thing, as it retains moisture and nutrients. I love your vids, Jenna, your passion is amazing! Thank you.
What a fun job! Honestly, there is still so much that is a mystery to me about nature. I feel I could live a thousand lifetimes and not even scratch the surface of what there is to learn.
You are spot on- in the middle of summer I'm happy to have clay soil as it retains moisture much better than other types. I'm watering once or twice a month instead of every other day!
Take care!
Good video Jenna, but it is a very wide subject, at least an hour. There is lot of different clay type, and usualy it is good to lift up the plant, to be cca 2 inches higher then clay soil, and deeply aerate the soi aroun tree, and repeat again when it became compacted again. In wet clay there is no decomposition, dry clay is very hard, clay mixed with gravel is another problem. Your father is absolutely right. Root quality of the planted tree is story for itself, another hour, very often bare root are ugly cutted, potted tree roots messed up in a too small container, etc... Trees grafted on cuttings are another story. And as you said, planting older trees in clay can be a big problem, adaptation time can be very long, and they usually die after 2-3 year if you are not realy very carefull. Loooong story. Regards from Croatia :)
You are absolutely correct- - nearly every gardening topic deserves an hour or more. But I try to get the most information across in the least time possible, because most folks don't have the time (or the desire) to watch for that amount of time. You do bring up some very important points and I appreciate the feedback- take care!
Excellent advice for planting fruit trees. My father-in-law always mentioned "dig a $50 hole for a $5 tree" whenever I mentioned planting trees on our property. I learned the hard way to place tree guards around newly planted trees. I lost a Honeycrisp apple to sun scald and another tree to deer that rubbed it's antlers on the unprotected trunk and killed it.
It's sound advice! Sorry to hear you had to learn the hard way about tree guards... I did too!
A lot of gardeners in AZ are switching to shallow holes instead. Easier to dig for 1 but it apparently helps the tree establish faster than those planted in large holes.
Thanks for sharing!
About every time I think about growing something or how to store potatoes, you come out with a great video on the topic. Thank you so much from OH Zone 6a
I'm glad to hear it! Great minds think alike 😄. You are most welcome and I hope you have a great weekend!
Very helpful Jenna! Planting 2 different apple trees! I’m on clay and rocks- so the advice of the rotting wood and leaves at the bottom of the hole first is excellent advice!!
Glad it was helpful!
She is totally amazing.. I’m mesmerized.. I’m in Missouri.. so we plant our tress spring time.. peach apple.. dang your pretty…and yes I got ever thing you put forth..
As a fruit-bearing tree enthusiast, I learned a lot in your technique of putting some cut branches beneath.
❤ Thanks for the info.
You're welcome!
I totally planted my fruit tree without putting the native soil back. I was actually going to ask what you do with the soil you dug out initially. Well i learned something new....
We're always learning something new as gardeners it seems!
I was looking for info on how to prep my heavy clay soil to take on a pear tree. You have gotten me all the info I needed to supply myself with all the necessary materials to do that. Thank you for such detailed presentation and explanation.
Glad it was helpful!
I dig a big hole and then mix leaf compost with the clay and it really improves soil structure. Then every spring I make a new ring of mixed clay and compost around the tree, thus increasing the diameter to be just a bit bigger than the tree's drip line. Seems to be working and less daunting then making a huge 10' diameter hole all at once. I mulch with wood chips as well.
Thanks for sharing your method!
Like you dig a trench around it every year to fill in?
@@jennhoff03 YEP DIG A TRENCH AND MIX IN COMPOST, so as roots grow they keep on growing into good soil. otherwise clay will slow down root growth and thus tree growth at least in theory.
Thanks for sharing..this is what I’m thinking of doing too.
About how deep do u dig the trench?
This is the second of your videos, I have watched today, and I just happen to have a Peartree that needs planting out. My soil is also clay. Thank you so much for all your tips and advice. Very much appreciated.
I'm so glad it was helpful!
Raise the bed (the higher the better) and mulch it deep, like 1ft of mulch. The mulch keeps the clay from drying out and cracking, and the worms go gangbusters in there and vastly improve the drainage.
Thanks
I am a beginner and am gathering knowledge, incorporating all that makes sense to me for a healthy and successful harvest in my backyard ! thank you
Excellent approach, Priscilla! I hope you can find some useful tidbits here!
Thank you for this episode!
I live in the aptly named "Town of Clay, NY" near Syracuse.
Being part of an old original settlement era 'cider orchard', my backyard is full of 100 year+ old spiny apple trees and their descendants. Unfortunately. some of my old trees have gotten very gnarly, with many dead branches, and it's time to clear up parts of the yard. I'd like to replace some cleared areas with newly planted, modern fruit trees, but I face the prospect of planting in clay soil that matches what you show in your yard exactly.
You've inspired me to know that this can be done. Thank you.
Town of Clay... 😆. What a cool little piece of history you have there! It will be neat to revamp the planting and add in some new trees ( a lot of work I'm sure, but well worth it). Best of luck!
Dear Jenna, I am planting some new apple, pear, and berry in a small yard in mostly red soil/clay covered with gravel in Arizona. I feel like I just found a free new gold mine in your video. You are a most generous and watchable expert. I will not directly mention that you also radiate the 3 Eternal Verities, especially # 2! Planting is a lot of fun, and so is listening to your presentation. Thank you, thank you! "Hugelkultur" looks like German for "hill culture," and will be something else novel and fun to explore. Another field that is being introduced to me is toxicity of certain plants to dogs. The intersection of plant culture and veterinary science is something new and challenging. I will be watching all your videos, and blessing your presence on my screen. Au revoir.
That is the 3 Eternal Verities in the order presented by Howard Gardner in "Truth, Beauty, and Goodness Reframed." which I have not actually read yet, but probably will soon.
Very kind of you- thank you!
Barely four minutes in, and I'm already glad I decided to look up tips and tricks for clay soil before planting my new peach trees. Thank you! 💖
Hi Jenna, I live in an area that has a high annual rainfall of 3300mm-4600mm. During years of extremely wet season, we have 24 hours non stop rain of 3~5 days.
This method of planting in clay soil do cause issues in fruit plants that are sensitive to water pooling in clay soil planting holes.
What we do to circumvent this issue is to have a planting mound of 450mm to 900mm, allowing it to settle and weeds to grow before planting the fruit plant.
We find this useful for plants with tap roots or fibrous roots.
Thanks for sharing, James!
Awesome info! Placing the wood in the bottom is a great idea for future decay feeding nutrients.
Thanks!
I'm glad to have found your channel, many of the other gardener help channels don't cover the type of surface and weather we have in Southern Ohio. The difficulties you have are the same ones I have, Thank you
I'm glad you found my channel too, John! Always great to hear from fellow Ohio gardeners!
For my clay soil problem, I bought a small excavator, used, for ~15k on ebay, then sold it six months later for 15k. In the end, essentially a free six month rental.
With the excavator, I carved out a series of small hills about two feet tall or so, with ditches in between them that all drain out toward the main ditch at the edge of my property.
Even now, I still have to plant my fruit trees in a special way that allows for drainage to the ditch, but now, no matter where I plant them, there is always a ditch just a couple feet away.
Genius- love the idea of buying, using and reselling the excavator!
I did the same thing and used concrete blocks to hold the sides of the 3 foot deep ditch. Filled the bottom with gravel and it makes a nice walking path.
AWESOME!! Thank you so very much!❤️🇨🇦
Always the best information Mrs. Jenna. So happy to hear you busy that myth. So wild how some people always want to start some kind of myth. We have heavy clay here also so you hit things dead on the head. Stay safe my friend!
Thanks CB! There are so many wild myths running around on the internet these days 😆. Take care & have a great weekend!
hi Jenna. my clay rocky soil killed all trees i tried to grow them in and was very hard to dig in.. i now just lay down cardboard. push a stake down thru the cardboard to tie the tree to. place your tree roots on top of the card board next to stake. bury the roots/ cardboard with good draining soil. tamp well. mulch with 4in of woodchips and water well. ive planted many dozens of trees/ plants over the last 7 years and never lost 1. over time the soil settles and gets used up and in 3-4 yrs its flat again. growth rate is phenomenal with just occasional compost and fresh mulch placed on every spring. try it! it saves you alot of work and is super easy to do.
That's very interesting- thank you for sharing your technique!
Nicely done. Great info, especially for clay soil. Very thorough. I'm experienced with fruit trees, and you helped me learn some new tips for clay soil.
I'm glad to hear that- thank you!
This is great work. Thank you very much. The 50 dollar hole is a great hook. thanks to you and your Dad.
You are welcome!
I love the presentation. Up to point and very helpful information.
Thanks so much!
I'll soon be planting a cherry tree and glad that I stumbled onto this video.
Happy planting!
Nice video. I had seen that rumor about trees becoming root bound in round holes and it struck me as nonsense even just hearing it, without gardening experience. Good to have that confirmed.
Watching this video makes me realize the obvious. Different between clay soil and well just pure clay. My yard is pure clay. Guess I quit trying to plant things and open a pottery business instead.
Thank you, Ohio Zone 6 friend! So glad I found your channel.
You are welcome! I'm glad you found my channel too!
Thank you so much for this video. I have been planting in clay soil and really just could not get my trees to survive. Your video has changed the way I am planting and hopefully I will be apple to get my trees to thrive.
I hope your trees do well!
The problem with putting wood under your tree is that the tree will sink down as the wood rottens. If you put back all the soil you dug out and form a pile where you put the tree, it should be fine.
Do you mean to put the sticks and things on top of the soil where you planted the tree?
@@lauranilsen8988 No, I meant the wood is still under the tree but you don't aim for flat soil when planting. Instead the tree should be on a pile of soil so it eventually becomes flat when the wood is rotting. Otherwise you get a hole where the tree is.
@@meinkleinerobstgarten oh ok! That makes more sense.
As a retired stone fruit grower, Okanagan Valley British Columbia.
We had soils, some pure sand, right to very high PH 8+, most of the trees in the heavy clay soils we're on a slight mound.
Now to the rest of the story, my winter getaway in in the desert of AZ zone 9 , very little frost, chill hours here are the issue.
On a 7.5K sq ft lot next to home site I have 25 trees, I dug the holes with a backhoe, added manure, and stirred I let it sit for a year, watering it, Then planted.
The trees thrived, BUT the dirt, as I call it, 0.5 % organic, 8+ pH, weren't inviting for the tree, and I've had wind breakage, uprooting issues.
Now I've got tons, literally gravel trucks worth of manure, chips, alfalfa pellets plant waste, spread under the trees, and am finding the tree roots are in the loam that is forming.
My tip is plant the trees higher than level, the organics will decompose, settle, causing a water pond, trp, and here we get monsoons, as other areas get heavy rains, causing rot rot issues.
We have terrible drainage issues here, a layer on caliche, solid calcium carbonate, and my soil takes about 12 hrs to drain the holes, now I put a gallon of pool acid into each hole after the 1st initially filling with water, it's something I learned from the farmers here that grow cotton, alfalfa, roses, veggies as field crops, it wakes the soil up.
I tried the rows between the trees 1st, saw a great improvement in cover crops.
So now all my present planting get that acid boost, let the hole drain, leach the acid away , and refill before planting, let drain away, then I plant into that hole with amended soil mix, watering as I fill, no air holes, less risk of settling.
Planting 2 sweet cherries soon, bareroot, finally a 200-300 chill hr cherry. Holes are getting prepped, trees come in Jan, fill soil is getting mixed, turned, prepped ahead, trees love it.
If you have winds, plant the graft union accordingly, the new wood into the wind, stronger tree. Happy growing.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge & experience!
Got tough clay myself you made some great points especially the scoring of the sides...never tried the huglecultyre thing but I will on my next one
Best of luck on that next planting!
When planting trees that are already well established in a pot where they've lived their whole life in great potting soil, I've had great luck mixing the dirt I've dug up with a little bit of potting soil. Going heavier closer to the plant and then in layers around it going lighter and lighter. I do try to put a bit of compost in there to encourage the worms to come over and do their work. Bare root trees get the neglect version of planting, dig a hole and drop it. I love that you emphasized watering them in, it's so important!
Thanks for sharing!
@@GrowfullywithJenna , I thought of another idea for a fun interactive video! Dadisms! Funny things your dad used to say about gardening. Like the $50 hole for a $5 plant. I loved that, he sounds very wise, and reminded me of my dad. My dad used to say "if I ever get pushed out of an airplane I want 50 feet of garden hose wrapped around me, because I know it will get caught on something before I hit the ground" 🤣🤣🤣
@@addysbeeandgarden320 I love this idea so much! And your dad's comment is priceless! This would a great video idea for Father's Day- thank you!
Thanks! Very informative! One thing you've got to try though is gypsum. It is quite magical in its ability to break clay into actual soil!
I tried gypsum (check out this video: ruclips.net/video/67XfjoIwIsc/видео.html) not a winner for my particular soil.
I grew up in Northern British Colombia, 1bout 150 km from the coast and we had wonderful fruit trees. I now live in Alberta and planted fruit trees but they all died as the soil is very heavy clay soil and I did make the mistake of planting them in an area that had poor drainage.
There is a mound in my back yard that I think is decades old, probably created when someone was clearing land with a bull dozer. I am going to plant at least a couple of fruit trees on that mound next spring. However, I love fruit trees. It's free food with no weeding, tilling, planting every year, etc. I'd like to plant more in my yard. I am wondering if planting fruit trees in a raised bed in option. I am wondering if a 5' by 5' 4' deep bed is enough for one fruit tree. To pick the fruit, I'd use a ladder. The dirt in the bed could grow grass or flowers, or something else.
What are your thoughts on this? Anyone ?
I'm curious about this too, but have never tried it. Eventually your roots are going to outgrow that bed, but I wonder if by giving the tree time to get established, by the time it hits the soil outside of the raised bed it might be strong enough to power through? But you could also have the effect of where the roots hit the native soil and just stop... I'd love to hear from anyone who has tried this!
Try making drainage channels which are broad and shallow- like by mowing tight, tilling and grading up to planting ridges with a blade machine or broad hoe on smaller scale. The channel bottom can slope very little- create ridges, but not gullys! Mulch planting sites heavily and water for a season ahead of time with taproot cover crops like mustard and lupin before planting.
Watch the angel method of planting trees. Ellen White method of plantig trees. On you tube. Also loma linda blue zone. Good luck keep trying
Jenna, After seeing your soil, I appreciate my topsoil, even with rock and gravel subsoil.
Thank you‼️❤️ I live in Paradise CA. 4 yrs ago The Whole town burned down. So I have the opportunity to start right. Our clay is the red clay. I had been told “sand” well after your experiment I can see I better find a farmer with cows🤣 I’m going to try the rye cover crop too. Thx 😻
Yes!! Rye is AMAZING for clay. Just one season and you'll see a difference.
I had planted a meyer lemon tree several years ago, and my dog, who was a hyper little puppy at the time - chewed the trunk of the newly planted tree. About 50% of it was chewed through before I saw her and stopped it. But - the tree survived, and became a very prolific, and large, lemon tree.
Very good (Everybody can understand) explanation (making sense)
Thanks!
Thank you so much for the advice. I have several fruit trees I am planting in a Canadian northern region of zone 2 -3 (very cold winters) under cover of a large greenhouse. Our soil is incredibly clay bound and I was going to put compost inside the hole. I will follow your advise, it makes a lot of sense.
Excellent! Exactly the questions I had!
And you gave me more information than I had considered even asking! Cuz what do I know? (Not much here) I have a Mulberry, Orange, and Lemon to get in the ground! Bravo Video!
Glad it was helpful!
I keep a circle of wire around my tree's, to the 4 year have alot of deer.and also stake it we have crazy wind also, I also have all stone fruit at the top of hill wholes them back from blooming one week later, it's also fun to learn grafting. Last year I had some peach whips my neighbor has nice red plums, so I grafted the plum to the peach 2 of had 1ft. Growth needed this for pollination of a big plum I have. Some of my apple trees are 50 years old ,so I'm putting whole new tops ,have 5 different apples on one tree, so exciting well have my first apples on this tree this year.
Lots of fun projects you have going on!
Jenna: Thanks to you. I am going to get another big hug from my Gkids.
❤♥
Thanks Jenna the most thorough and sensible video on this subject so fat
The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The next best time is today. One other tip: Give space between the trunk of the tree and the mulch. Mulch holds water and you don't want the trunk above ground to sit in water. Awesome video. I wish this had been up a couple of weeks aog. I planted my Liberty Apple tree last Friday. :)
Yes, yes, yes! For anyone who's on the fence about planting a tree-- do it now! And thanks for mentioning the mulch- that was one point I missed. You definitely don't want it up around the trunk of the tree. Enjoy that 'Liberty' apple!
I'm new here and new to planting! You will be a mentor as soon as I get deeper in😂❤
Hello & Welcome!
this was the best planting video I have found. thank you!
I'm glad to hear it- you're welcome!
Thank you for the instructional video Ma’am.
Now time to plant pear trees in memories of our son that passed away in a motorcycle accident at 21 years old so we are planting 21 pear trees.
Y’all have a blessed day hold your family tight.
Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas.
-Sig
I'm so, so sorry for the loss of your son.
What a beautiful memorial. ❤
This is the best video on a subject i ever saw! Amazing.
Thanks!
Awesome video!!! Good valuable info, no filler words.
I use gypsum, sand, perlite, and rough up the sides by gouging with a pick axe and my apple trees do really good in clay so long as I amend the clay soil.
Your channel has grown a lot! Great tips. I've learned that planting native flowers around my establishing trees frees up the clay, pulls water down, builds topsoil, and also keeps the deer off the trees! So now I always try for wildflowers on the north side and fruit/nut/veggies on the south.
Interesting about the deer! Have you noticed that any particular kind of native flower works the best for deterring the deer?
@@GrowfullywithJenna smelly flowers, they don't want to rub in smelly stuff. Bee balm, blazing star, coreopsis, yarrow (especially yarrow), and black eyed Susan all keep seed heads and are tall enough. . I use last years stalks to stake around new fruit and veggie growth this spring and they kept off everything so far!
@@johnrobholmes Oh good! I've got plenty of yarrow and bee balm growing on the property. Thank you!!
@@GrowfullywithJenna of course deer will sometimes go hog wild on the spring shoots, I just found a pretty big section of black eyed Susan munched down. But they were literally 6 feet from 2 apple trees and didn't strip the leaves, which was a problem the 2 previous years before I put natives into the same bed. The more variety for deer, the better it seems.
ممنون از ویدئوی خوب شما. سبز و پایدار باشید 🌲
This was very informative. Good Video. And I learned about not burying the Graphed section.
Glad it was helpful!
Jenna is a great teacher and coach, thank you !
Thanks so much, Edward!
Thank you for sharing! We too are in Central Ohio with heavy clay. We will try this approach.
Happy to share!
Your language is good and we are watching this video from India
Thank you!
Get yourself a bcs tiller and you will love planting fruit trees
I'd love to have a BCS!
Thanks for your great how-to video
Glad it was helpful!
Jenna Thanks for the informative process of planning in clay soil,
You're welcome
I live in Kenya, africa
Dealing with heavy clay soil
Dry season turns into stone
Thanks for the brilliant tips
Glad it was helpful!
Why i saw very important video late!
I plant 20 fruit trees 1 year ago. I will use this method when replacement necessarily. Thanks a lot
I hope they all do well for you- that’s a lot of fruit trees!
@@GrowfullywithJenna Thanks
Jenna, I would water the new plant exactly as you did. Later on I would move my drip irrigation away from the planting hole just to encourage the roots to grow further away. Close to the trunk I would drill a deep hole, drop a cloth wick and connect with a lightly planted inverted 5 gallon water bottle for encouraging a tap root. Of course my zone is Eastern Medditerranean where the climate is dryer than yours.
Good idea to encourage root growth outward!
Thank you so much for the detailed episode. I have learned so much. So basically if I digg out 6x6ft, roots of tree have more time to establish and grow and by the time they reach the unprepared section of clay, they will be stronger and it will be easier for them to penetrate clay soil and move through with ease. Blessing to you Lady
Thanks for clean easily understandable English.
You're welcome
Ohio girl! I must Subscribe. S.E. Ohio here. You do it exactly the way I do it. $50 hole & I use my grandfather's miner's pick/hammer to hack at to smooth edges. A coal miner's pick is perfect for this. I'll usually add a few dead sticks & leaves from inside the forest floor.
Woohoo! Great to hear from a fellow Ohioan!
Very nice, thank you!❤️🙌🏻
I really like the hugelkultur idea. It mimics what a young tree would naturally encounter on the forest floor. I'll try it. The pruning advice however, goes against my 50 years of practice. I lop a third off the tree as a stardard planting practice, and really establish the foundational shape in those first years.
It's tough to argue with 50 years of practice! I'm curious though, if you are starting with trees as small as the ones I am planting here. When they are this small I leave them alone for a couple years (unless they are just really wonky) and that has worked well for me. I can definitely see where pruning a larger tree back would make sense. Thanks!
@Bruce Butcher Good to know- thank you so much for sharing!
If your digging in clay soil I find that using a pitchfork is much easier for loosening up the soil for the diameter of the hole your digging. I use it to be able to dig down further and to make sure all the soil that I backfill is loose.
Much easier than just a shovel!
Thanks for the tip!
I use a digging fork for almost all my digging/planting. In London, UK on very heavy clay formerly used for brickmaking. The fork also helps avoid killing all the hardworking worms. I only use a shovel when removing loose soil from the already dug planting hole and backfilling.
Great tip! This never ever would have crossed my mind!
I've personally only had issues with bare root direct to wet clay..
Perfectly fine with root balls
You are a night in shining clay armour ma'am 🙏 Much ❤️ from India 👍
😀
I really enjoy your gardening channel.
Thank you, Lanette!
I've been watching Gary Matsuoka's videos on perfect soil. He says we shouldn't put any compost or organic matter in the hole. The organic matter will decompose and use up the oxygen which will kill the root. This is even worse in clay because it holds onto water and doesn't dry out. The drying process will allow more air to go down. Since the compost is using all the oxygen, rot will happen faster. The tree will won't get a good footing in soft soils. Or will also sink after the organic matter decomposes.
For clay soils, plants should do ok in it as long as it's not in a low spot and there's no organic matter. If you want to amend the soil, only use mineral products (sand, pumice, perlite, lava rock, etc). This will increase drainage and allow better aeration. It's also best to elevate the plant a bit if you are worried about root rot.
I use a lot of sand to create a loam mixture. Plus peat moss which doesn't decompose. The peat moss also adds acid to counteract the alkali clay soil. Any regular organics will quickly decompose and be gone anyway. But I do put some in the mix to encourage root growth for the first couple of years. Then I lay a layer of mulch on top to discourage weeds, insulate the soil, and as it decomposes, the organic juice dribbles into the soil.
Clear and concise, informative. I also am from Ohio 😃. Thumbs up.
Great to hear from a fellow Ohioan!
Jenna well done looking forward for more of your videos
Thank you!
You got a good climate in USA for planting fruit trees and vegetables.
Why yes, Joe Biden, some areas of the US (but not all) are great for growing fruit & vegetables.
Very nice and professional. Enjoyed watching your video and learnt a lot. Thank you
Thank you!
So well done! I was about to do a lot of things wrong so thanks Jenna.
Glad I ran across this video. I was about to dig a whole to plant my cherry tree yesterday but I thought it couldn't be done bc the spot has clay soil. I ended up putting it in a grow bag with compost and the native dirt. Maybe I'll dig the hole for it this weekend.
I've actually been suprised how well most cherries do in our clay soil- even when it's not been amended!
Thank you for this. I have planted many small fruit trees on my property which is clay soil and had a lot of trials & trouble with my trees. So now I have been keeping my trees in large pots instead and until I figured out where to put them. Or how to plant them in better.
You are welcome- best of luck with your trees!
Good info, accurate, knowledgeable.
Glad I found you, thanks for the info in a precise manner.
Thanks for watching!
This was so informative! I have fruit trees in clay. I wish i found this video sooner.
I like your idea ❤❤❤❤
Thank you 😊 💓
I learned from you! Thank you for sharing those tips.
Loved this video... thanks for the great tips, Jenna.
I'm glad you loved it- thank you!
Fantastic video
Thank you!
I'm in Medina County in ohio and am planting a ton of trees this spring! Thank you so much for that tip about loose soil because i was gonna do that lol
Very informative video. You have provided information I can apply in my clay-rich orchard.
Glad it was helpful!