Today I'll share how I planted this dwarf Redhaven Peach tree.
This variety is easy to grow, heavy bearing, and disease resistant.
It ripens late to avoid spring frosts
and produces medium to large yellow flesh fruit that ripen in July.
The tree is self-pollinating, hardy in zones 5 through 8,
and should start bearing fruit in 2 to 4 years.
It can grow to be about 8 to 10 feet tall and wide, so we have it about 4 feet from the fence
and 8 feet from our Asian Pear tree.
In the future, we'll keep the tree pruned to no wider than 8 feet.
We picked this location for the tree
because they grow best in full sun, and this is one of the more sunny locations in our garden.
This spot gets about 6 hours of direct sun,
which is on the low end of what the tree needs,
but it’s about as good as it gets in our shaded garden.
I originally intended to purchase a bare root tree,
but the supplier was out of stock,
so I ordered a tree that came in a small pot.
This option is supposed to provide a more developed root system.
I kept the soil in the pot moist until I could
plant the tree a couple days after it arrived.
I dug a hole to the depth of the root mass
and about twice its width,
with the sides of the hole sloping slightly toward the center.
I placed the removed soil in a 5 gallon bucket.
The pot was long and narrow, which resulted in the roots growing straight down.
Before planting I loosened the roots and
spread them out as they would naturally grow in the soil.
I placed the tree in the planting hole so that the highest root on the trunk was right at soil level
and the grafted section was 2 to 4 inches above soil level.
I backfilled the hole 2/3rds of the way
using the soil I had removed and stored in the 5 gallon bucket.
I then thoroughly watered the hole and finished returning the native soil,
just barely covering the highest root on the tree trunk
and making sure the graft union was 2 to 4 inches above the soil.
It’s important not to bury the graft union of a dwarf tree
because it can result in the tree growing into a standard sized tree.
You may have noticed that I didn't add compost or any other organic matter to the potting hole.
When compost is added,
The tree roots tend to stay in the moist,
loose, nutrient-rich soil of the potting hole
rather than branching out into the native soil in search of nutrients and water.
This results in something similar to what you see in root bound potted plants.
The tree roots will circle around the interface between the potting hole and the native soil,
and they'll have difficulty breaking out of that.
As a result, you'll have a less healthy tree.
The best place to add organic matter is to the soil surface.
Our soil is already rich in organic matter and nutrients,
so I didn’t add compost.
However, to suppress weeds and hold moisture in the soil,
I mulched the area with a couple inches of free wood chips,
keeping the chips about 6 inches from the trunk of the tree.
Finally, I created a basin to retain water
by building a small berm around the outside of the planting hole.
Water will flow away from the trunk but will be trapped by the berm
to deliver more water to the root system.
Now that the tree is planted, let's talk about how I plan to take care of it going forward.
First, I'll continue to keep this area mulched with wood chips
to suppress weeds and retain moisture in the soil.
Second, I don't plan to fertilize the tree because the soil is already nutrient rich
and the wood chips will provide a slow release of nutrients over the years.
I also encourage you not to use phosphours fertilizers unless a soil test shows a deficiency,
which is pretty rare in non-agricultural soils.
Too much phosphorus inhibits mycorrhizal associations.
Trees depend on these associations to uptake nutrients and water,
and without them they have to put more energy into developing a root system
rather than into growing and bearing fruit.
Nitrogen is more likely to be the limiting factor,
and it wouldn't hurt to add a slow-release nitrogen fertilizer to the soil surface after planting.
Other nutrients shouldn't be added unless a soil test shows a deficiency.
Once the tree is established it will need less fertilizer,
especially in a garden where compost and mulch are used.
Third, over the next few years, I’ll keep the soil in the root zone
and surrounding area moist to encourage growth of roots out of the planting hole and into the surrounding soil.
We usually get enough rain here that I’ll probably only have to manually water occasionally.
However, if you live in an area that gets less rain,
it’s a good idea to use drip irrigation and water deeply.
A few years from now, when the tree has a more established root system,
it will require less watering.
Finally, I won't be staking the tree.
Research has proven that unstaked trees become established more quickly,
develop more extensive root systems,
and have stronger thicker trunks.
Staking may be helpful in some extremely windy areas
where wind breaks like buildings and fences aren’t nearby.
In that case, it’s best to loosely secure the tree
to 2 stakes using a flexible rubberized chain or something similar.
Stakes should be removed as soon as possible,
usually after about a year.
Now it's time to wait.
If all goes well, my wife and I will be enjoying fresh
homegrown Redhaven peaches in just 2 to 4 years.
If you’d like to learn more about best practices for planting trees,
please see my sources in the description below.
Well that's all for now. Thank you very much for watching,
and until next time remember you can change the world one yard at a time.