Fall Tree Planting

Trees add beauty and so much more. Trees can be planted almost any time of the year as long as the ground is not frozen. Late summer or early fall is the optimum time to plant trees in many areas. Fall planting can be successful as long as the planting season is not extended too late into the fall. As the air temperatures cool, the soil continues to be warm for a while so much of the activity of the tree moves underground and new roots are produced.

A properly planted and maintained tree will grow faster and live longer than one that is incorrectly planted. Be sure to water the tree once every three or four weeks through the winter unless we have sufficient moisture to keep the soil moist to at least the entire depth of the root ball.

Some popular tress that can be successfully planted in fall include maple, buckeye or horsechestnut, alder, catalpa, hackberry, hawthorn, ash, honey locust, Kentucky coffeetree, crabapple, Amur corktree, spruce, pine, sycamore, linden and elm.

Fall planting (mid-August to mid-October) takes advantage of favorable soil temperatures and moisture conditions that promote the root growth needed to sustain plants through their critical first year in the landscape.