Whileplantingdifferenttypesoftreesdiffersinthedetails,alltreeseventuallyendupinahole.Butnotanyoldholewilldo.

　　Themostcommonmistakewhenplantingatreeisadigginghole,whichisbothtoodeepandtoonarrow.Toodeepandtherootsdon’thaveaccesstosufficientoxygentoensurepropergrowth.Toonarrowandtherootstructurecan’texpandsufficientlytonourishandproperlyanchorthetree.

　　Asageneralrule,treesshouldbetransplantednodeeperthanthesoilinwhichtheywereoriginallygrown.Thewidthoftheholeshouldbeatleast3timesthediameteroftherootballorcontainerorthespreadoftherootsinthecaseofbareroottrees.Thiswillprovidethetreewithenoughworkedearthforitsrootstructuretoestablishitself.

　　Whendigginginpoorlydrainedclaysoil,itisimportanttoavoid‘glazing’.Glazingoccurswhenthesidesandbottomofaholebecomesmoothedformingabarrier,throughwhichwaterhasdifficultypassing.Tobreakuptheglaze,useaforktoworkthebottomanddragthepointsalongthesidesofthecompletedhole.Also,raisingthebottomoftheholeslightlyhigherthanthesurroundingarea.Thisallowswatertodisperse,reducingthepossibilityofwaterpoolingintheplantingzone.