The question many people ask is, “When is the right time to plant trees?” In short, according to landscaping.com, if you live in an area with cold winters (like Nebraska), the ideal time to plant trees from a nursery is in late winter or early spring. If that doesn’t work for you, you should aim for fall. Never plant trees during the summer as the heat and lack of precipitation poses a great threat to young trees.
The weather also restricts your options in the winter. Cold temperatures cause the ground to freeze, which makes it difficult to dig the holes for your trees. There’s also the threat of heavy snow and blizzards in the winter, which has been apparent earlier this month. Heavy snow can cause damage to your trees, young and old. Unless you can water your young trees sufficiently, early-to-mid winter is not the best planting time.
Landscaping.com urges you to plant your trees during dormancy, when the tree’s growth has temporarily stopped. This is because, during dormancy, handling them is the least disruptive. Trees in the Northern Hemisphere typically fall dormant at some point in the fall and begin to “wake up” at some point in the spring.
When planting trees, you have to take into consideration if the tree is deciduous or evergreen. Deciduous trees lose their leaves every year, while their evergreen counterparts are, well, ever green. You can easily tell when deciduous trees go dormant, as they lose their leaves every fall, and when they begin to bud out as the weather gets warmer, that’s a sign they are leaving dormancy.
However, there is a little more leeway when planting evergreens. Evergreens may be planted earlier in the fall and later in the spring than deciduous trees. But, you’ll still want to avoid planting in the hot heat of the summer.
Remember the need for water
You know heat is a major enemy to your young trees, but the lack of water to their developing roots is another enemy! You may not think that winter is a “dry” season, but you should remember that the moisture from the snow isn’t able to reach the roots of the saplings until it melts and the ground thaws. This is why watering trees properly in the fall is very important, regardless of if you’ve decided to plant your young trees in the fall/late winter or early spring.
The team at Dudley’s Dew Right is here for you if you need our help! As spring begins to blossom, remember we offer a full service of landscaping needs. Contact us to get your spring landscaping plans into motion!