Good enough is better than not planting a tree at all

After a marathon Sunday planting session in which nine trees and shrubs found new homes in the garden and three other shrubs were moved, Mr. Much More Patient and I slapped some pain patches on our lower backs and pondered how many trees we’ve planted in the two decades we’ve been on our property. The answer, we figured, was more than 50 and less than 75, but more than we’ve had cut down, which feels like a win.

It was definitely a win that we were having a pleasant conversation at the end of the day because tree planting en masse can be a test of any relationship. 

Planting a tree offers multiple opportunities for healthy discussion. It starts, of course, with digging the hole. Good tree planting practice is to dig a hole that is twice as wide as the tree’s root ball but the same depth, a goal that is easy to achieve on the first tree but becomes a moving target as a day of planting continues. Hole width throughout a day of planting changes from carefully measured to “think we can jam it in there?”

Such optimism is what led us to plunk the heaviest and most awkward tree of the day in a hole prematurely only to find half the rootball still sticking out of the hole. There was no option but to drag it out and keep on digging.

If you’re planting a tree on any property where trees already exist, there is an almost 100% certainty that you will encounter a root while digging a hole, at which point you have three options: adjust the placement of the new tree to avoid the roots and hope you don’t run into more despite a high likelihood that it took hours, if not days, to select that precise location; slice through a few small roots; or throw sense and caution to the wind and head to the hardware store for a reciprocating saw blade. Experts advise not to cut live roots that are larger than an inch in diameter, a fact that seems easier to forget the longer a tree-planting project goes on.

Then there’s the issue of which way a tree should face when you get it in a hole. This typically involves two people walking around in a circle squinting at tree, agreeing on a front, then one person twisting a tree in the hole too far one way, back just a little the other way, a little more, nope back a little and just a little more until it’s perfect. “Good enough” is also acceptable several hours in.

In fact, good enough is not a bad approach to tree planting, particularly when it stands next to not planting a tree if you can’t plant it perfectly. Choose the right tree, don’t plant it too deeply and water it well and keep watering it regularly for at least it’s first year in the ground. 

At the end of the day regardless of any “discussions” that may take place in the throes of planting, the tree gets planted and rewards you for years to come. But you might want to consider starting with a bare root tree next time.