Oak tree.

[Darwin.]

Having only joined yesterday I'm still learning to navigate around the forum so sorry if this is in the wrong place.

I planted out an Oak tree on the back lawn today, it's supposed to be about 14 years old. It's not a bad size, 18ft tall and about 11 inches around at it's thickest point. I just filled the hole in again with the soil I had taken from it and a little compost mixed through, is there anything else I should be doing?

I'll try getting a photo or two tomorrow if the weather is good.

[rustylady]

How big was the root ball?

[Darwin.]

Pretty small, about 2.5 ft or so.

[Aberdeenplotter]

how big is your garden and how big do you expect the tree to grow?

[Darwin.]

The garden is an acre and I expect it to get pretty big, they're a very slow growing tree but it should reach 25 meters or so before I kick the bucket.

[rustylady]

That's a very small rootball for a tree that tall and wide. Hope you've provided it with a good stake otherwise it will blow over in the first decent bit of wind.

[Darwin.]

I have 3 posts around it, driven almost 3 ft into the ground and it's strapped to all three with rubber straps. It's very exposed where we are so it will have to face some pretty strong winds.

The root ball was 3ft at most, I had expected it to be a lot bigger but that seemed to be the norm for the lad I bought it off.

It's 11 inches around now so only about 4 inches thick.

[chris]

Wow an acre garden! *jealous*

[VirginVegGrower]

Should be OK. You need it to anchor roots pretty quickly. Have you firmed it in as tight as you can. The one here is about two to three feet in trunk size, forty foot across and taller than the house. Your biggest threat will be wind rock. Rootgrow in the planting hole might have been beneficial. Did they not give you advice at time of purchase?

[Darwin.]

I made sure to pack the soil back around it really well so it should be fine. The only advice I was really given was . . . . . it'll be grand.

A lad in another garden centre that I bought the straps off said to feed it in about 4 weeks, to just scatter some stuff he sells on the ground at it's base and it should be fine. I'll check back with him in a few weeks and see what's best. They aren't always the most honest though and try selling you expensive stuff you don't need so I figured I'd check here first.

[VirginVegGrower]

The time to put Rootgrow in was when planting. What feed did he want you to put down? Seems odd.

[Darwin.]

I'm not sure what it was. Hopefully it'll do well enough without rootgrow, I don't fancy digging it up again and at €400 I really don't want it to die on me.

[vicky]

Water it in well, water as needed through the year but proper drenching not just sprinkling. But you know that I would imagine. Keep grass and weeds clear from competing with it around the base. Have you any deer around?
I want one that big, I planted a 2ft baby 2 years ago and its still 2ft.

[Verinda]

I don't think our oak trees have ever had any feed and they seem fine. I think lots of water is the most important thing...no problem there as it never stops raining!

I look forward to seeing a picture of your oak tree.

[Darwin.]

I catch all the rain water off the house in barrels, I'll give it a good watering with that, I'll be sure to keep the grass and weeds well away too.

No deer around at all, would that matter?