Transplanting potted trees in to soil

[cazp]

Our minarette trees bought bare rooted were put in to pots, after realising the space we had reserved for them had poor soil. The trees are all starting to come in to leaf now and are looking healthy.

Today with the good weather we improved the soil in the area we had reserved for the trees (digging down approx 2.5 ft over the whole area, removing the rubble etc, and returning the good soil along with some new topsoil). We are now considering trying to plant the trees in the soil at some point once the soil has settled - should we wait until the autumn for this?

[Peas'n'Kews]

I'm not an expert, but I'd say the main reason you plant during the autumn is to do with watering - e.g. you don't need to as the trees are essentially dormant.

However, this isn't going to apply to you, as you'll need to water the pots the trees are in, so I'd say, go ahead and plant, - you will need to water regularly with lots of water - more water and less fequent intervals is better than little and often.

Hope this helps!

[FB.]

I don't see a problem with planting now, other than the ground sinking a bit.

Make sure that the grafts are adequately above ground, so that a few inches of sinking won't cause a problem later.

You could also tread down the compost and pile it an inch or two higher than ground level to allow for some further settling.

[cazp]

Hi thanks for the advice.
The soil is still very soft and that is a consideration - I guess I could also sink the pots in to the soil for the time being as a temporary measure (as long as I keep the drainage holes free)?

[snohare]

Granted, I know little about fruit trees in particular, but as an ex-treenurseryman and long-time treeplanter, I would have no hesitation in planting now. Make sure you don't plant them too deep in the soil - you will see where the bark on the stem changes colour where it becomes root, that is the level the surface should be at adjacent to the trunk - but I wouldn't bother with leaving the pot on, it will just impede the roots from searching out moisture and nutrition.
As for the soil settling, although you do want air spaces, it is customary to heel down the soil around the trunk with your foot, to make sure it is firmly packed to the level you want. (But not in waterlogged soil, especially clay - that will trash the soil structure and interfere with drainage.) If you want, do as I did with my apple tree the other day, and leave a mound of soil around it (which will settle in time) and scoop off the excess at a later date.
The main reason trees traditionally have been planted in months with an "r" is that the temperatures were low enough for them to be dormant, which meant that the roots being bare didn't matter. As soon as you expose any roots on a tree in leaf, you have to worry about all the moisture that the leaves are losing through transpiration - normally it is replaced by the roots sucking up moisture from the soil, but of course tree roots exposed to air will actually lose water. The key sign there is the edges of the leaves curling - the beginning of wilting.
So when planting, particularly in warmer weather, just make sure the tree is well watered the day before, and then water it in the new spot afterwards.