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Re: Size of hole for a fruit tree? Small or large?





dhs wrote,
 (snip) . . . what size hole do I need to dig for a fruit tree?
>
>The two schools are: First: very small, just the size of the root ball, and
>"make them work for it".  School number two says: very large with lots of
>amendments. The  proponents of school number two say that those in favor of
>small holes use lots of agressive fertilizers and that is why the holes may
>be made small.

There have been some studies showing better results with  the "tough it out"
method but that was in commercial orchards  where the quality of the soil
between the trees was probably poorer than you would find in home gardens.
It has been a number of years but as I recall they were looking at the way
the
roots dealt with going from the rich soil around the root ball to the poor
soil in the general orchard. It would seem to me that in a home garden
situation
in which you could have good soil throughout, the issue of the hole size may
be
less important.

We garden in an area in which the native soil is decomposed granite with
almost
no organic content. It has very sharp drainage plus the problem of
significantly
alkaline tap water plus we are at about 225 days without measurable rain.
(We
have great gardening in Southern California but we _do_ have problems) I
cope with these conditions mostly by adding about 4" of composted garden
material as a mulch each year - a 2" layer after we have cleaned up the
garden
in January and another 2" layer as we start to move into the summer's heat.
This
works out to about a 20-25% organic content in the top 12" inches which is
about right for our ornamental beds which also hosts some smallish
ornamental
trees.

I think we could plant a tree with almost any sized hole and the roots would
have
no problem making the transition to the outside world but I wounder if there
isn't
some point in which the soil might be too soft to give good physical
support. In
our conditions I would favor a small hole, and probably supplemented by a
deep
stake for better physical support and count on the natural richness of our
garden
soil to carry the ball in terms of both nutrition and drainage.

The use of "lots of aggressive fertilizer" , in my view, is inappropriate
regardless
of the hole size. I have the idea that "lots of aggressive fertilizer" is
used as a
substitute for patience and is the cause of a host of garden problems. It
can "burn"
roots and soil organisms, it can produce excessive new and tender growth
that
attracts problems with pests and disease, it is also a problem to the water
table
below.

Bill


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