DIY Network

Winter Care for Trees Paul James, host of HGTV's Gardening by the Yard, answers common questions about caring for trees in winter. From "DIY Gardening & Landscaping" episode DIG-140

Q: I ordered several large trees for my yard, but they won't be delivered for three weeks. Can I dig the holes now, and if so, how do I go about it? If the trees arrive before I'm ready for them, what should I do? (Answer below)

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	Figure A
	Figure B
	Small strings of lights can protect a young tree from a late frost.

A: It's fine to prepare the planting holes now if you have a pretty good idea how big the root balls of the new trees will be. Then when the trees arrive, half the work will be done already. Of course, you don't want to have big holes in the ground where rainwater could collect. So as you dig each hole, place the excavated soil in a wheelbarrow or on a tarp, and cover it. Fill the holes with leaves, grass clippings, hay or straw, and cover each one with a piece of plywood or heavy cardboard (figure A). When the trees arrive, remove the protective cover and fill material. Loosen the sides of the planting holes with a spading fork, then plant the trees.

If you're unable to get bare-root or balled-and-burlapped trees or shrubs in the ground right away, heel them in (figure B). To do so, dig a shallow trench in the ground deep and wide enough to hold roughly half the root ball, place the plants in the trench at an angle, then cover them with leaves or straw. You can keep a tree heeled in for a few weeks, but you'll soon need to give it a permanent home. If you don't, the top will begin to grow up, and you'll have a crooked tree.

Q: How big a tree should a person try to transplant?

A: When you're transplanting a dormant tree, you must dig out as much of the root ball as possible with the soil intact--and a root ball that's 2' in diameter may weigh more than 200 pounds. For example, I'd be willing to transplant a small oak or an ash, although I might need a little help lifting the root ball of an ash out of the ground. But I wouldn't even consider transplanting a more mature lacebark elm.

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