Topic 5 Study Guide
1. What are the steps in planting a tree or shrub?
a. Select the very best quality nursery stock
b. Dig your planting hole wider rather than deeper (height of container)
c. Give landscape trees/shrubs the right amount of water and fertilizers
2. What are some important criteria for purchasing the best landscape tree or shrub for
your landscape garden?
a. Avoid impulsive purchases (not all plants sold will grow well in our climate)
b. Smaller nursery plant sizes are almost always better (unless maybe they’re slow
growers)
i. Easier time establishing
c. Avoid purchase of nursery plants that have been growing in a container for too
long
d. Discount plant price might reflect a plant of lower quality
e. Select and purchase only healthy plants
i. Yellowing leaves, overly moist or funny odor, insects, diseases, weeds
f. Purchase locally-grown trees and shrubs
3. What size and shape should a planting hole be? What is the most common mistake
made when planting woody plants?
a. Only dig the hole as deep as the height of the container and at least 2-3 times
wider than the container
i. Dig the hole with irregular rough sides
b. Deeper than it should be and not as wide
4. When is it most appropriate to purchase larger or smaller plant sizes?
a. Smaller: they have an easier time establishing themselves in your garden
b. Larger: they are slow growers
5. What is back filling the soil?
a. Filling the excavated hole (usually with soil that has been dug out to make that
hole) - don’t allow air spaces (settling will occur)
6. When amendments should be mixed with soil back fill?
a. ,
b. Note: desert-adapted trees and shrubs grow best without organic amendments
added to their backfill soil
7. Where should fertilizers be placed with regard to the planting hole?
a. Generally not recommended except for newly installed turf grass, fruit trees,
citrus, some deciduous shade trees (ash elm, flowering pear), and most
temperate zone exotic shrubs that are not native
8. How should a young transplanted tree be cared for?
a. Can be planted at any time though fall is best because it results in the shortest
time for the trees roots to grow out into the soil (because the weather is cooling)
b. Watering amount and frequency depends on:
i. Plant size (heavily & more frequently for larger size)
ii. Type of soil (heavily & more frequently for sandier soil)
iii. Time of year (heavily & more frequently during warmer times)
c. Keep it evenly moist to help avoid transplant shock or failure
9. What signs should you look for when buying a woody plant grown in a container?
a.
10. How should a woody plant be removed from a container?
a.
11. What should you do if a plant is root-bound in its container prior to planting?
a. Take a box cutter or sharp knife and make a series of vertical cuts around the
root ball so that you’re cutting through the encircled roots. Then do that to the
bottom ball, called “scarifying the root ball”.
12. How long does it normally take for landscape trees or shrubs to become established in a
landscape?
a. Depends but:
i. Shrubs: 12-24 months
ii. Trees: 3-4 years
b. To become fully established
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