How to Plant Tree Seedlings

The sleet and snow have melted, and the soil is soft and ready for tree and shrub plantings. Wolf River Conservancy wants to take this time to remind all of our readers of the basics of tree planting in the Mid-South. The season for tree planting runs from Halloween through early May – with November to late March being the best period. Many of you have planted potted trees at some point. Potted trees are the primary way that most people plant trees, but it takes time to dig a good hole, so we want to discuss a very fast tree planting method that gets more trees in the ground in less time. Planting with a dibble bar is one of the most effective ways to reforest an area. This is how our National Forests are replanted after timber harvest or wildfire.  

Planting seedlings with a dibble bar is a common way that foresters (and many of our volunteers) plant trees in large quantities. We will plant over 1,000 trees with a dibble bar at our Annual Tree Planting, so please take a few minutes to study the graphic below.  Or check out this video with a pretty good demonstration of the proper way to plant a tree with a dibble bar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efrh1EGQJ0k. We have only one comment to this video: you should try to close the hole created behind the tree seedling once it’s in the ground, as this will help prevent the roots from drying out.  

Please join our Annual Tree Planting on March 7 at Rodney Baber Park to diversify and beautify the park with new trees. (If you prefer to plant larger trees, we will also have those available)!