Planting Stressed Apple trees

[Wood Scrounge]

My good friend bought a defunct nursery upstate and found several 6'+ apple trees. he states the trees were under a pavilion and hadn't seen water for maybe as long as a month. I haven't yet seen them but he said they are in sad shape, he's since water them. I have several fruit trees and he said I could have these ones.
I have a pretty good idea on how to plant trees (thanks AS) and have planted quite a few successfully. I typically amend the soil with peat moss and composted manure, should I do something diff rent since these trees have been so stressed?

 

[Ed Roland]

http://grounds-mag.com/mag/grounds_maintenance_one_lump_two/

 

[S Mc]

Wood scrounge, I typically do not amend planting holes with anything. I simply use the native soil available and then add a mulch layer on top.

With your stressed apple trees, I would wait until they have stabilized after receiving regular watering. Compounding the stress by transplanting, with the inevitable root pruning that will take place, could be a death knoll. If your friend can let them stay where they are, put them on a regular watering regimen, then you should be able to tell by early fall whether or not they have a good chance of surviving the transplant. Fall would be a better time to transplant field trees any way.

Sylvia

 

[Wood Scrounge]

He has to move them but I can keep them at my house until the fall, thank you for the info.

 

[S Mc]

So these trees are already in pots or balled and burlapped? Then yes, just keep them in their containers until stabilized. And plant in the early fall. Be sure to protect the containers from excessive heat and sun exposure.

Good luck.

Sylvia

 

[Wood Scrounge]

I got the trees the other day, they have very few leaves, they are burlapped and I have them sitting in the location where they will eventually be planted. I wrapped the balls with soaker hoses with a very low flow. Anything else I should do?

 

[S Mc]

Perhaps you could heal them in to prevent excessive air flow around the roots. It will help stabilize their environment. You do not want the ball to dry out so the soaker hoses are really good. It is hard to keep a ball n burlapped tree sufficiently watered so the slow, constant moisture is best at this point.
Sylvia

 

[Upidstay]

When you plant them, add a mycorhizal product to your backfill mix. Makes a HUGE difference in the plants. It acts like a secondary root system, will effectively double the plants root tip area very quickly. Helps bust up any compacted soil, break down the soil nutrients quickly for the plant to take in. PHC Tree Saver is very good, M-Roots is another.