How to Plant Trees in Your Backyard

• Shovel
• Trowel
• Pruning shears
• Mulch
• Tree stakes (optional)

1. Place the root ball into the hole.
2. Make sure the trunk flare – where your tree begins to widen at the base – is above ground.
3. If your hole is too deep, partially fill it in until your tree sits at the right height.
4. Firmly but gently fill in the soil around the root ball.

1. Using soil from the hole, build a mound in the center for your bare-root tree to sit on.
2. Position the roots on top of the mound.
3. Dump soil on top of the roots, leaving no air pockets.
4. Firmly but gently fill in the remaining soil, keeping the graft union uncovered.

Planting a tree is a fairly inexpensive backyard project. Most of the costs are in buying the tree itself, which can range from as low as $20 to $100 or more, depending on the tree and the nursery you purchase from.

Tree maintenance and pruning can be expensive if your tree ends up becoming too large for its location or is not suited for your local climate. To keep maintenance costs low, purchase a tree that will do well without much extra help. “The best advice for beginners is to choose trees that are native to the area in which they live,” says Vaughan.

“Check with your local Department of Natural Resources, as they typically have tree lists available that can help folks pick the best tree for their area.”

Container trees should be planted in the spring or fall, well before summer or winter temperatures set in. This allows your tree’s roots to take hold without the stress of seasonal highs and lows taking their toll.

Early spring or late fall. Bare-root trees must be planted while dormant after their leaves drop and before their buds sprout. Because bare-root trees have no soil to protect their roots, it’s important to plant them soon after receiving them. It’s a good idea to have your location picked and the hole dug before your tree arrives.

Newly planted trees should be watered once a day for the first two to three weeks, and then once a week for the next year. Usually, trees need about 10 gallons of water per inch of trunk diameter. So, if your tree’s trunk is 2 inches around, it will need about 20 gallons of water per day.

Since a standard garden hose pushes about 17 gallons of water per minute, you will need to water your tree, using no attachments, for just over a minute to hit its daily 20-gallon minimum.

Growing a tree from a seed is doable, but it’s a little more complicated than you might think. Most seeds are dormant and need to be stratified before being planted. This means that they must spend time in cold, but not freezing, temperatures in order to reach their growth stage.

There are two ways to plant a tree from a seed: the natural method or assisted germination.

The Natural Method: Sow seeds in late autumn, typically about one inch deep in the soil. This allows the seeds to undergo the stratification process naturally during the cold winter months.

Assisted Germination: Seeds must be refrigerated to mimic the effect of a cold winter. Place your seeds in a sealed plastic bag with a moist paper towel and place it in the refrigerator at around 33 to 38 degrees Fahrenheit for a period of one to three months – the length of time will depend on your tree species.

Once stratification is complete, your seeds can be planted and grown wherever you’d like in your backyard. For a more in-depth tree planting guide for this method, check out these tips from the experts at Tree Help for how to plant a tree from a seed.