Page 32 - Simply Vegetables Spring 2025

Planting
fruit in wet
or freezing
conditions
Without a doubt it is always best to plant
bare rooted fruit trees and plants and
in an ideal world when soil and weather
conditions are perfect and it comes to
planting but, of course, in reality, this
is rarely the case and so we have to
manage as best we can particularly as
we need to plant bare rooted stock in
what is often the worst period of the
year for weather - December to March!
So how can we obviate the problems
caused by adverse weather conditions?
Bearing in mind that wet ground followed
by frozen ground are the main problems
that we face I always advocate planting
bare root bushes and trees as early as
possible. Ground in early December is
generally going to be much drier than in
February or March, so it is clearly best to
take advantage of this. Coupled with the
fact that there is still a little warmth in the
ground in early December than there is
likely to be in January onwards bushes
and trees will benefit considerably by early
planting as roots will start growing.
However, life is rarely as simple as this
because we forget to order until too late
to secure an early delivery, we get a late
delivery or quite simply we don’t even
contemplate buying until early in the year.
All these factors have affected me over the
Digging hole
32 Simply Vegetables
Heeled in plants
years but somehow, I have had to work
my way through the resulting issues. Not
sure how at times and particular one year
when I still had 30 trees to plant come the
beginning of April - but that’s another story!
So, before I look at adverse conditions
- what can we consider as favourable
planting conditions in winter? Most
importantly the soil has to be workable not
only to be able to dig a planting hole, but
the hole needs to remain dry at the bottom
and the soil friable enough to be able to
shake around the roots. If a hole is dug in
wet clayey soil, the soil is “sloppy” and the
hole fills up with water you have entered
the realm of unfavourable conditions and
need to take steps to aid you planting.
Assuming that you haven’t been able
to order early and plant early in good
Checking tree depth
conditions you need to consider each
factor as it is presented to you. I will start
with wet conditions. Not all winter rain
is horrible and, in some years, - albeit far
and few between - ground conditions
have remained good throughout the
winter. If you are worried about a period
of rain the first thing you could do is to
make contact with your supplier and ask
them to hold back on delivery for a short
time. Alternatively, and if you want to take
delivery anyway you can keep dormant
trees in a cool place such as a garage or
shed for quite a few days without damage.
Put the bushes and/or trees in plastic bags
with the roots well covered and keep the
roots slightly moist through this storage. If
there is a chance of frost during this period
wrap the roots up well. Alternatively, if you
can find a piece of reasonable dry unused
ground you can heel the bushes and
trees in for a period. By heeling in I mean
digging a small trench and laying your
plants down with the roots in the trench
and the stems either upright or leaning
against some support, then covering up the
roots. Make sure the covering soil is well
firmed down. Trees can be stored this way
for a considerable time and anyway this is
a valuable method to use if you receive a
large consignment which you simply can’t
handle quickly.
You will need to keep an eye on ground
conditions so that you can assess when
planting conditions have improved. The test
I discussed earlier is very effective - you
simply cannot plant in a hole that quickly
fills up with water and where the soil is only
slimy handfuls. Bushes and trees planting
in these conditions will either succumb
to rot during their first few months or
simply become weak specimens. Now
obviously you are not going to get perfect