Interactive lesson

Planting fruit trees, step by step

Interactive lesson: from pegging out and the planting hole to the stake, guard and first year, so every tree takes and gets going.

Free sample Chapters 1 and 2 (8 steps) are free. The full lesson comes with the Planting fruit trees module. Already bought? Unlock

This lesson is general guidance, not professional training. Local regulations and expert advice always take precedence. Read our disclaimer.

The whole lesson as text

1. When to plant

Bare-root trees are planted while the tree is dormant and the ground is neither frozen nor waterlogged.

Early winter is best — From leaf fall until the ground freezes: November and December. Best for apples, pears, plums and sour cherries.
When to wait for spring — On wet ground, in cold uplands and in the northern US and Canada, plant in February–March, before bud break. Late winter is also better for peaches, apricots and figs in colder areas.
Roots always damp — 15 minutes of sun and wind is enough to dry out fine roots. From the nursery to the hole, keep the roots in a damp sack, a tarp or a bucket of water.
Heel in if you must wait — Dig a sloping trench in the shade, lay the trees in it at an angle, tops pointing south, and cover the roots with moist soil. They can wait like this for weeks.

Why: Early-winter planting gives the roots the winter to settle and start growing, so the tree starts earlier and stronger in spring. But all of that is lost if the fine roots dry out before they go into the ground.

Container-grown trees can be planted later, right up to summer, but then water them all summer.
Keep trees in a shed or cellar only briefly, with the roots in damp sand.

2. Pegging out

The paper plan is transferred to the ground with pegs before you dig the first hole.

First corner and a line — Drive a peg into the first corner and stretch a line along the first row.
A right angle without tools — From the corner, measure 3 m along the first row and 4 m along the second. When the distance between those two points is exactly 5 m, the angle is square (6 – 8 – 10 ft works too).
A peg for every tree — Mark the tree spacing on the line with tape or a knot and drive a peg at every position. Write the tree's register number on the peg.
Square or triangle — In a square the trees stand in rows and columns, so you can mow in two directions. In a triangle neighbouring rows are shifted by half a spacing.

Why: With the pegs in place, every hole ends up where it should be and the rows are straight for the mower. Fixing the layout after planting means lifting trees.

On a slope the rows run across it, along the contour. Find a level line with a spirit level on a long batten or a clear hose filled with water.
A triangular layout fits roughly 15 % more trees on the same area, but for a back garden a square is simpler.