Every tree in our orchard goes in the same way. Here’s how we do it, step by step. Keep in mind this is what works for us. Depending on your soil and climate, some of these steps may not be necessary for your planting.

1. Tilling

We start by tilling the ground where the new trees will go. It breaks up the sod and loosens the soil so young roots can spread easily. If you’re planting into an existing hay field, you may not need to till the whole thing. We till everything because we want a smooth ride between the rows for the mower and other equipment. Loosening the soil around the roots is important, though, especially if your soil tends to compact over time.

2. Smoothing and Filling Low Spots

After tilling, we smooth the ground and fill any low spots where water could sit. We’re not trying to make it flat. A gentle slope is actually ideal, because it lets water run off instead of pooling. Chestnuts hate wet feet, and standing water around the roots is one of the fastest ways to lose a young tree. If your land has a slope, that’s a good thing for chestnuts.

3. Rough Row Marking

We rough out where the rows will go, so we know exactly where to rip. Stakes pounded in at each end of a row give us a sighting target to drive toward, which helps us rip in the right spot.

4. Soil Ripping

We rip the soil along each row to break up the hard, compacted layer below the surface. Much of the land we’re planting grew corn for 50 years or more, and decades of heavy equipment and trucks packed the soil harder than young roots should have to deal with. Ripping (subsoiling) lets roots grow deeper and lets water drain down instead of pooling around the tree. Chestnut roots are said to be fairly shallow, averaging about 16" deep, so we built a 24" ripper to get below that, for better drainage and stronger roots.

5. Measuring and Staking

After ripping, we use two 300' tape measures to grid off where each tree will go, and mark every 20 feet with marking paint. Then a stake goes in at each mark. This can be a tedious part of the job, and a helper makes it much easier. Don’t stretch the tape; just pull it snug. A stretched tape will throw your rows way off over 300 feet. And if it’s windy, leave the tape in the barn. Even a gentle breeze can make your rows crooked.

6. Planting and Tree Tube

  There are many ways to dig holes for seedlings, and we’ve tried them all: bulb augers, post hole diggers, even an excavator. We always go back to a simple narrow irrigation shovel, which works best in freshly tilled soil. Post hole diggers are hard to center on the mark and make it easy to dig too deep, so the soil settles too much under the seedling. Depending on your soil, they can also glaze the sides of the hole, leaving a hard wall that roots struggle to grow through. Make sure each hole is deep enough for the full root system. Roots that get curled up in the hole will hold the tree back for the rest of its life.

Each tree is planted at its stake and protected with a tree tube. The tube guards against deer and rodents and gives the young tree a sheltered spot to grow.

7. Water, Water, Water

Right after planting, each tree gets 5 gallons of water. This settles the soil around the roots and gets rid of air pockets. Air pockets around the roots will kill a young tree.

For fall planting, those 5 gallons are usually all a tree needs. For spring planting, if there’s no rain, we water daily or every other day, depending on how dry it is and how fast the soil drains.

A few days after planting, we check every tree. Wherever the soil has settled or pulled away from the trunk, we backfill so there are no gaps or air pockets around the roots. Sometimes a tree sinks as the soil settles, and we raise it back up so the root crown sits level with the soil.

8. Drip Irrigation

Once everything is planted, we put a drip head at each tree and hook up the system. From then on, every tree gets steady water right at the roots without wasting any.

9. Mulch

We mulch around each tree to hold in moisture and keep weeds down.

10. Seeding Clover and Grass

We seed the ground between the trees with clover and grass. The clover adds nitrogen to the soil, and the cover keeps the ground from washing away.

11. Cultipacking

Last, we roll the seeded ground with a cultipacker. It presses the seed into the soil so it sprouts evenly.

A Note on Fertilizer

We don’t use regular fertilizer on young trees. They don’t need it, and it can burn tender new roots or push the tree into leafy growth at the expense of roots. In the first years, we give them fish hydrolysate instead. It’s more of a nutrient boost than a fertilizer, and it helps build up the beneficial microbes in the soil that young roots depend on.