3rd time to replant red oaks, seeking advice

[txdude09]

I am about to replant 2 red oaks (shumard) in my front yard for the 3rd time!! Through the trial and error, as well as some recent research, I believe I have figurd out atleast some of the reasons I haven't had much luck growing them. So as I explain what I plan on doing this time around, hopefully somebody can tell me what I may be doing wrong and/or offer any suggestions or guidance to have better luck with them this time so there will be no more of this replanting BS.
Ok, I have 2 10 gallon shumard red oaks that I nitpicked from Home Depot. I would rather have got them from a nursery but this is for my mom's house and Home Depot credit is what was in the budget. But anyways, I have de-sodded my yard in approx. an 8' diameter on both sides of our yard. With some organic humas and some top soil, I planned on tilling both 8' circles. I believe soil compression was a contributing factor to the previous trees bad health so this time I want to make sure I improve the soils condition well beyond what should be needed, so that's why the circles are so huge for such a small tree. Anyways, I will then plant the trees in the pre determined spots by digging a hole three times larger than their original containers and make sure the top of the root ball is just above the surrounding soil. Then put my stones back around the trees and add mulch approx 2-3" thick and pulled away from the trunk. Other than making sure the trees are well watered, that's it. I don't want to use any kind of chemicals on these trees for atleast the 1st year or two. I know I chemically burned the previous trees once before.
I was told to lay down some peete moss in the hole and water real good before dropping the tree into place. Should I do that even if I mix in the organic humas? What is the pete moss for? What will it do and/or what fuction does it servre? Also, based on all the things I described on doind, is there anything that should be done differently or better? Any suggestions on making sure this 3rd time planting is the charm?

 

[treeseer]

1. I nitpicked from Home Depot. 2. With some organic humas and some top soil, I planned on tilling both 8' circles. I believe soil compression was a contributing factor to the previous trees bad health 3/.make sure the top of the root ball is just above the surrounding soil.

1.If you didn't find the flare and pull the plant out of the pot, you bought a pig in a poke. If the flare is too deep or the roots are too circling to straighten, go back to Home Depot and pick a better one.

http://www.treesaregood.com/treecare/buying_highquality.aspx

2. Amending "compressed" soil is good if done wide, but you gotta bust it up deep. The best tool for this is a miner's pick. Peat moss is not needed; bagged humus is fine. the key to good planting: Aim roots into amended beds.

http://www.treesaregood.com/treecare/tree_planting.aspx

3. It's not the top of the "root ball" (a biologically meaningless term) that you must align with grade, it's the trunk flare.

Get em growing!

 

[CaseyForrest]

Treeser is correct. If you are determined to use a tiller, you must make sure you dont hard pack the soil just under where you are tilling. It will turn it into a big pot, not allowing water to drain down.

 

[okietreedude1]

Since most rototillers only go 12", dig that much out and then till. If your really ambitious, dig that too out and till again. Not necessarily amending that much, just breaking it up.

And Id keep the peat moss out of the bottom.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Peat moss is used for two things, acidifying high pH soils, and increasing water holding properties of dry soils.
The problem is in predicting how big an area of soil to amend. The original poster wants to amend an area 5 or 6 feet wide, which is great for a tomato plant, but a tree?
Fixing up a small lot of soil will invite the roots to stay there forever. Roots are as lazy as people, they take the path of least resistance. If you fix up a 3 foot hole, the roots will circle around in that 3 foot area until it's so full of roots they have to go elsewhere. By then, the tree will be in decline.
If you are planting a tree, and you want it to last along time, do not amened the soil! The exception is, if you can amened the soil in an area as wide as the tree's root zone at mature age. Otherwise, only add amendments at the surface!

This is all meaningless, because the tree is planted too deep. I don't know how much too deep, but I am confident it is too deep.
Look for a natural widening of the trunk, just as it meets the soil, if you carefully remove the soil, you will see first order roots growing out horizontally. If not, it's too deep.
Google "girdling roots" for more on the subject.
The next big problem is watering. Either you're doing it too much, or too little. Soak your tree well, then water it again when a finger poked into the original soil that came with your tree is just dried out.
Here in WI, it might be a week, down by you, it might be a day.
Even with all the advice, the provenance of a HD tree is unknown to the buyer. Good luck.

 

[Kneejerk Bombas]

Not to make too much fun of you, but isn't Oak Wilt a huge problem in TX? It seems to me planting a Red Oak in TX is like planting an Ash in WI!
STOOPID!:bang:

 

[antigrassguy]

Oaks

My sister lived in that area for a bit and there are some brutal soils around there. Have you checked Ph of area that tree would live in, before amendment? Whats are light levels? If you get a tree from HD then I would also get a lawn chair and a garden hose and a hand pruner and sit down and untwine the roots as they are most certainly in a circle. It will be a bare root tree when your done and plant as such.

PS. Mike your dead on on oak wilt down there....... but it will give someone a injection job hopefully. And ash tree in Wisco? No problem here.....yet!

 

[rebelman]

Don't water it every day. Keeping it wet can be bad. Let it dry good before watering again. Say once a week maybe if no rain. Good advice above, I like your plans for a large root zone.