Planting Trees Properly this Fall: How to Dig a Good Hole

Fall is the time for planting trees and shrubs. This is the peak season for plant nursery sales with many retailers boosting their inventories after the slow sales months of summer. Also, the ground tends to be a little softer…no wait, maybe it only seems that way since it isn’t so danged hot.

The main reason for planting in the fall is that nearly dormant trees do not use much water. Woody plants are shutting down their leaves for the winter in October and November. However, their roots and stems continue to grow until the soil gets cold.

There is an old saying; “A tree grows as it is planted.” Translation; the most important thing you can do to ensure the longevity of your tree or shrub is to plant it correctly. The most important part of planting is the planting hole.

I have spent time planting trees with friends and family and I often get asked how I dig such a good planting hole so quickly. Well, I haven’t always been really good at it. In fact, I learned how dig a planting hole quickly and properly when I was a manager at a balled and burlapped tree producer right after I finished my horticulture degree at UGA.

The workers at this farm taught me how to dig a hole in the ground. Once, I had a leaking irrigation pipe underground and asked a couple of these fellows to find it for me. Within 15 minutes they had dug a hole big enough to drive a full sized truck into.

When it was tree planting time, these guys could get nearly one hundred plants in the ground in an hour. Each tree was planted perfectly and the cheerful workers never seemed to fatigue. These men were amazing. I had to know their secret.

Now, I was no stranger to the business end of a shovel having planted my fair share of trees and shrubs in my life. However, after seeing these guys work, I felt like a rookie. So, one day while we were planting trees I asked the crew leader how he and his fellow workers dug such a fine hole so quickly.

“First of all you need a good shovel,” he said. “Most people are using shovels that they have had for years. The blades get dull after a while and the tip flattens out making it harder to dig. So start out with a good shovel.”

He went on, “Next, draw a circle 2 to 3 times the size of the root ball on the ground where you want the plant to go. Lift the shovel and let it fall into the ground over and over within this circle. Let the weight of the shovel do the work.

“After you have broken up about an inch of soil to a fine texture, scoop it out. Place the soil in a circle around the lip of the hole and not in a single pile. Continue chipping away at the soil.

“When the hole is deep enough, shape the hole. Flatten out the bottom and slope the sides slightly. Pull the root ball out of the pot, loosen the outer inch of roots and settle it into place making sure the top of the root ball is even or slightly above the level of the existing soil. Finally, kick the soil into the hole around the root ball and every few inches pause to pack the soil.” 

Since that day, I have prided myself in my ability to dig a planting hole quickly and properly. I have planted many thousands of trees since then. Every time I stick a shovel in the ground, I think of my hard-working friends back on the tree farm.