New balled and burlapped trees

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pazzer Matthews, NC Apr 22, 2015

Hi all, we recently had 4 balled and burlapped trees planted in our backyard (1 dogwood, 1 yoshino cherry, and 2 weeping cherry). These trees are approximately 10'-12' tall. They were planted the last weekend of March when most of the trees in our area (Charlotte, NC) still hadn't leafed out yet. I have been watering daily, via irrigation twice a week and by hand on days it doesn't rain. I have noticed that the trees still have not fully leafed out yet. The yoshino has dense leafs about 2/3 of the way up the canopy. The dogwood has leafs throughout, but they are very small and not very dense. The weeping cherries are very sparsely leafed. Since I am a newbie to landscaping in general, is this normal for a newly planted tree? What kind of watering schedule should I be following? I've researched online and found varied guidelines. Thanks in advance for your help!

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dragonfly53 Bedford, VA(Zone 7a) Apr 22, 2015

The first year the trees will be concentrating on establishing good root systems, so you won't see much activity above. The old saying, first year they sleep, second year they creep and third year they leap, is a good rule of thumb.

Since you are seeing leaves, I wouldn't worry, however, make sure the ground is draining well and that the root balls are not in standing water for any length of time, you don't want to drown the trees. If you dig a small hole about an inch down, the soil should be damp, not extremely wet.

Terri

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Sequoiadendron4 Lititz, PA(Zone 6b) Apr 23, 2015

In reading through your post, the first thing that hit me is that these trees are being overwatered. Trees need only to be deep watered about once a week during average weather conditions and only while they are young. I would back down on the watering. The definition of deep watering may differ some between gardeners but my definition is letting the hose trickle at the base of the tree for at least an hour, more during drought. This will ensure that water is getting down to the base of that giant rootball that was just planted. My definition of 'trickle' is to have the stream of water coming out of the hose about the width of your pinkie finger.

To address your leaf concerns, as long as all trees have leaves throughout the canopy, I wouldn't worry. If there are no leaves in parts of the canopy, that may mean that area is dead. If your Yoshino has no leaves at the top, that's not good. But if they are just less dense, no worries. Dragonfly53 is right in saying that your trees are concentrating on growth below the surface. Trees typically take at least 3 years to establish themselves before really starting to grow.

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