Excellent question and here’s my definitive answer; “It depends.” There are a lot of different kinds of so-called burlap being used to ball trees today and there’s no way for me to know what kind of burlap your tree has on it.
I often like to leave the burlap intact when planting trees because it is important to me that the root ball stays intact.
That helps keep the tree stable. If the tree rocks back and forth every time the wind blows it will have a very difficult time establishing new roots. Which brings us to this point?
Should I Stake My Tree?
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Yes. Absolutely you should keep it from rocking back and forth. Most tree stakes should stay in place for about one year.
For a stake, you can use a 2 by 2 driven into the ground at an angle. Drive the stake into the ground into the direction of the prevailing wind.
You can also use 1/2″ Electrical Conduit also known as EMT (electromagnetic tubing). To fasten the tree to the stake you can use a tree tying material like this, duct tape, or a piece of cloth.
Now, about those different kinds of Burlap.
Regular, Natural Burlap.
I guess there really are only two kinds of burlap. The rest are imposters designed to look and act like burlap but made of synthetic materials.
Natural burlap is probably the best for the tree because it is biodegradable so it does not have to be removed at all.
Treated Burlap.
Next, on the list is treated burlap. Treated burlap is just as it sounds. It’s natural burlap that has been treated with a fungicide to keep it from rotting as quickly.
Natural burlap is great for plants, but it does rot quickly and when plants sit in the nursery or on a sale lot for more than just a few weeks the bottom will come out of the ball as soon as the plant is moved and of course, that is not a good thing.
So growers use treated burlap. It will still decompose, but it does buy us a couple of months before that happens.
Plastic Burlap.
So I guess there really is no such thing as plastic burlap because it’s either burlap or plastic. However, in the industry, we call it plastic burlap so that’s what it’s going to be here.
Plastic burlap looks a little like burlap but is made of a plastic material that will never rot. It’s made of tiny plastic strips that are weaved together.
It will breathe, and the roots of plants will actually grow through it, so even if it’s not removed the plants seem to do just fine. Just make sure to loosen it around the top of the ball so it can’t girdle the tree as it grows larger.
Do I remove plastic burlap? Usually not, but I will take a knife and make a number of vertical slices in the plastic burlap to make sure the roots can find their way out of the ball.
I can hear you now, “Mike! You leave it on!” Yes, sometimes I do. Because . . . I know it’s not going to affect the tree. Here’s the deal. I’ve been at this a long time.
Not only have I landscaped over 500 homes I’ve been in about every landscaping situation you can imagine over the years and I’ve seen plants ripped out with a backhoe that was planted with plastic burlap left intact.
The plants were huge, and it was quite obvious that the roots found their way through the plastic burlap with ease.
Should you remove it? Yes. Wanna know why? Because you’ll sleep better.
But I need to clarify why I will sometimes leave plastic burlap on a tree. If I’m planting 50 trees in the parking lot of a shopping mall and I know that by not disturbing the root ball any more than I have to the tree has a better chance of survival, I’ll leave it on.
It’s a shopping mall parking lot. A concrete jungle! The plastic burlap will reside under the tree until the tree is removed if it ever is. Chances are it will be sooner or later. That’s what happens in parking lots.
Secondly, the tree is probably in a wire basket, which makes it almost impossible to remove the plastic burlap without removing the tree basket, and removing the wire basket is just not practical for a lot of different reasons.
Doing so is definitely not good for the tree and trying to remove a basket made of rusty wire isn’t very good for the person doing it.
In every business there’s a place between the ideal situation and the most practical situation. In your backyard you can be ideal. At work you have to be practical or they’ll replace you.
Poly Beige Burlap.
Now, this poly beige burlap is probably a trade name and it is an artificial burlap that looks like natural burlap.
It has a loose weave, absorbs water more easily than a plastic burlap but it is not biodegradable. Now many years ago I did a little experiment.
I was planting a Burning Bush hedge with probably 100 plants but we did 50 plants one week, then the customer wanted us to do another 50 plants.
The first 50 plants were balled with natural burlap and the second 50 were in poly beige, non biodegradable burlap.
We planted all of the shrubs the same way, with the burlap left on the balls. That was about 20 years ago and I drive by that hedge almost daily.
Both sides of the hedge look exactly the same and the plants grew wonderfully. It made no difference that 50 of the plants were in natural burlap and the other 50 were in a poly type of burlap.
How Do I know What Kind of Burlap My Tree Has?
Set it afire! Well not really, but if you take a corner of the burlap and apply a small flame to it with a match or lighter you’ll see that the natural burlap will burn, but the poly or plastic burlap will melt.
Cut the Strings and Let em Fly!
Often times balled trees are laced up with nursery twine to help hold the ball together and to keep the tree stable in the ball.
I do recommend that you at least cut the strings, especially those that are wrapped around the base of the tree.
Cut the strings, pull them away from the trunk of the tree, and just remove them or tuck them into the hole as you plant the tree.
Strings also come in a natural, biodegradable sisal twine and nylon, non-biodegradable. Both are used for tying up balled trees.
Watch Out for Hidden Strings!
Often times, when trees sit around the nursery or the sales lot too long the burlap rots and the trees, are actually re-burlapped.
Sometimes when this is done there are nylon strings around the original ball and they might be covered up with the second layer of burlap. This should never be done, but you know how it goes.
The boss tells the help what to do, but they missed the part where he said cut or remove the strings. Check around the base of the trees searching for hidden strings and make sure to cut them and pull them away from the stem of the tree.
No! Don’t! Please don’t Plant Me in the Swamp!
Listen up! Here’s the deal. Plants need water to live just like me and you. But that doesn’t mean that they love water or wet ground. The opposite is true.
They hate wet ground, they hate wet feet and they hate being planted too deep. If you do any one of those things to a tree it will get even with you by just up and dying.
The roots of your plants need to breath. They actually depend on oxygen being transferred through the soil to the root system. If you plant them too deep or in wet ground that can’t happen and they will die.
I found it! I found it!
A while back I told you that I Duston and did a video showing you how to dig and plant a tree and how to carry a tree using a piece of burlap as a sling. But I couldn’t find it on my own website.
I just found it and it contains great information about planting a tree and I remember being reprimanded because I don’t have one of those fussy sock things on the microphone of my camera and the road noise was bothersome.
And if I remember correctly we messed up the order of the video segments and because I am me, I left it that way purely for my own entertainment value. Watch the Movie. It’s Good Stuff, Road Noise and All.
Perfect! Do You Want Perfect Stuff from Me?
Listen. If you want perfect I’m not your guy. But I am prolific. You’ll get a lot of good information from me, just not always perfect. Speaking of perfect, I’ve got this friend who has a blog called Playing with Perfect.
Amy is not perfect, doesn’t try to be perfect, and I tell her that in many ways she is the modern day Lucille Ball. Stop by and tell her that Mike said she’s pretty cool and read her blog. It’s very entertaining.
Listen up, here’s the deal. I’ve got a nursery full of plants. We’ve been digging and potting like crazy. Do you know what I wish I had right now? More Plants! I need more plants and I will be buying thousands of them in the next few months.
You Should Be Growing Small Plants at Home.
People like Me Buy a Lot of Plants at One Time.
You Can Earn as much as $93.60 in a Single Square Foot! Check this Out!
Questions, comments, wanna tell me that I’m good lookin? Just kiddin.
ANSI standards REQUIRE that all packing material, including burlap and rope, be removed frmn the top third of the root ball at planting time. As an ISA Board Certified Master Arborist and diagnostician, I cannot tell you how many times I have looked at dead or dying trees due to dehydration after burlap was left on and water infiltration was inhibited. It is also common to see rope girdle trunks before it rots or decays. As for staking, that to is not recommended unless the tree is not stable. Studies clearly show the swaying in the wind increases the trunk caliper and strength of the root system. Let’s give correct advice.
Ronald,
Having landscape around 1,000 homes not to mention a ton of commercial plants I do speak from experience.
Help save my plants! I have been renting in Northern Virginia for 5 years, and planted quite a lot in the yard – e.g., camellias, roses, hinoki cypress, dwarf blue cedars, oak leaf hydrangeas, Japanese maples. I am now moving to Portland, Maine, and I want to take the reasonably sized plants with me, as the house will be demolished I think I need to ball and burlap the plants, but do I plant them outdoors in mid-November in zone 5a, or store them in the garage until spring? Also, where can I find the right kind of burlap for this? I don’t think a 3′ wide roll from the local home-improvement store will cut it. I would love any advice you can offer for digging up, planting/storing, and winter care this first year. Thanks!
Lisa,
Dig them, burlap them and as soon as you get to the new house get them planted. Do Not store them in the garage for the winter. Of course burlap is going to be hard to find unless you can find a local nursery supply. Try searching on amazon. 36″ width should be fine for most plants and you can use more than one piece.
Thank you Mike! Amazon did have the burlap. I’ll be planting next week. Would you recommend a thick layer of mulch?
Lisa,
2 two 3 inches of mulch should be plenty.
Mike, I just re-landscaped and have trees planted surrounded by new sod. Both are on the same watering system, designed for the grass. I have been told that I need to water the grass daily to establish root growth in the grass, but am concerned about over watering the trees and have noticed tree problems already. Any ideas? Does the new sod need daily water?
Taft,
Yes, for the most part the sod needs daily water until the temps drop in the fall. The trees should have been planted high enough and in such a way that they a great deal of water cannot seep into the ground. But I’m concerned that did not happen. Poke around the trees. See how wet the soil is. If they trees are recently planted they might need to be raised.
Hi Mike –
I just had a landscaper plant 12 Green Giant Arborvitae’s. They left the burlap tied around the ball I thought you were supposed to open up the burlap – does it matter than they left if tied shut around the trunk? There is also metal wire around the burlap – looks like they may have loosened that at least, (hard to tell as I only see some wire sticking out of the ground, but away from the ball). Does that wire pose a problem?
Mchelle,
The wire is not really a problem but the strings tied to the wired that go around the trunk of the trees should be cut and removed or at least cut. The burlap is probably fine as long as it is biodegradable and not nylon.
A BB Forysthia flowering scrub about 6′ high should I stake it and how high should I stake it?
Michael,
It would be difficult to stake a forsythia and it shouldn’t need staking. You can always cut it back if it’s growing wildly.
How long will apple, peach, pear and apricot trees live in the burlap sacks? I have to buy them today but it will be almost 4 weeks before I can plant them. I have no idea how long they’ve already been in their burlap, but it’s going to be 4 weeks before we can plant them. Am I asking to much of these trees? The burlap is dry and strong still. The trees are about 5-7 feet tall.
Thanks
Mark,
They’ll keep in the burlap a long time, but you really have to drive the water hard into a ball to keep the tree hydrated. You can heel them in by burying the ball about half way and covering the top with leaves, soil or straw, but you have to be careful, they’ll root in quickly that way. I’d place them on plastic to keep them from rooting into the soil.
Thanks so much Mike! That’s a huge help. Makes us feel much better about leaving them in their sacks.
Are ball and burlap trees available in San Diego, CA? Please contact me regarding B&B standards/availability in Southern California. I am a Certified arborist and a Landscape architect.
Thanks
I accidentally scored the trunk of a limber pine with a rope while moving tree to planting hole. The bark is damaged all the way around the trunk. Now what? Will it die? Can I put a “bandaid” around it? Help please.
Cynthia,
Not a good situation. If you only damaged bark you might be okay but if the cambium layer is seriously damaged all the way around that could be a big problem. I think my advice would be to trim up the edges of wound, removing jagged, loosing hanging pieces of bark. If it were mine I would not cover the wound, that could cause more problems with moisture insects etc.
Mike
I totally agree on not removing the burlap. I cant believe how many people recommend doing it. All I do is remove the twine tied around the root flare. Air pockets, broken rootball, and too much water probably kill a tree more than anything.
I have experience planting about 5000 trees in the commercial landscape business.
Tim,
I cannot begin to tell you how much I appreciate you chiming in here. Most people think I’m crazy, but like you, I’ve planted a lot of trees, and I’ve guaranteed them to live and backed that guarantee with my grocery money. To me, that is the measure of an expert in this business. Somebody who everyday puts the grocery money on the line and does the right thing knowing full and well the family will eat this week because that person knows what they are doing.
Mike the wife bought a wiegilia bush in a 3 gallon pot,She set the pot in the corner of her flower bed intending to plant it,But she never did,Finally it rooted it’s self thru the bottom of the pot,and pot kinda exploded.That was 3 years ago.it is healthy as ever. Go figure,lol
Ok,My take on staking trees,Since you are going to do it anyways ,I put 4 stakes in to make a square,I use old tee shirts I rip into strips to tie the tree so no matter which way the wind blows I got it covered.Then I put some 2 ft high chicken wire around the stakes.We got a lot of rabbits and ground hogs that like to chew all the bark off my young trees.I guess you could use the plastic tree wraps ,but I use what I got.
Do you recommend staking little bitty trees too? You know, those bareroot, look like a dead stick ones. Just to keep them from waving in the wind at all. Would their
root development be slowed by not staking?
Lori,
Yes, it is beneficial to stake trees to make sure they grow nice and straight, and to keep them from rocking back and forth which is going to slow down root development, establishment.
Wish this site had spell check.
Really? I’ve been scribbling and babbling online for 14 years now and should hold some kind of a record for mis-spellings, typos, gramatical errors etc. I mis-spelled gramatical and mis-spelled and the spell check caught it, but I’ll just leave it as I wrote it. To me I feel that I’m in the information business. The business of giving people good information. If they have to read between the lines a little to know what I mean it’s okay. It’s the information that counts.
Thanks for Karen’s comment. The mulch “islands” around the base of a tree will actually cut down the longevity of the tree. Also it looks really stupid. On planting. Here in the south we have a wonderful litte gift lef from the formation of the earth…clay soil. So if you are working in sandy loamy soil count yourself extremely lucky. We were planting treesand a friend shold me a new technique, well new to me. As you dig your plasnting hole don’t strive to get it smooth and pretty. Make sure that the sides and bottom have an irregular, rough contour. It will help in the growth rate of the roots and help to idsure a sronger tree. This also applies fo shrubs.
Thought I’d step up and throw this in. After you plant your tree, do NOT make a mulch hill around it. As a master gardener I’ve learned that the top roots need to breathe, and making a mulch hill suffocates the plant. Every time I see this I want to jump out of my car and pull the mulch away!
Mike,
Just a minor correction that absolutely has no bearing on the outcome of your suggestion on staking with E.M.T.
E.M.T. stands for Electrical Metallic Tubing. Not critical in this application however.
I always look forward to all the tricks up your sleeve.
Thanks for all you do.
Brian,
Thanks for the correction, now I’m wonder what the chances are that I’ll remember that. But thanks, I needed to know that.
EMT is “electrical metallic tubing”. It is just zinc-plated mild steel.
Mike,
You are certainly in sparkling form today.
Apart the good advice, your one-liners have left me shaking in my chair. I’ve read your article three times already. Pure Donegal!
Keep it up.
Cheers mate
Mike,
This is one of your best articles. As a Master Gardener I advice people on this all the time, but your article has provided the most complete and understandable writing on this very important subject, particularly important advice at this time, as all sorts of entities, besides nursery professionals, are selling fruit and shade trees.
Miguel
Mike, Great info as usual. One comment about burlapped trees. In order for the growers to be able to dig them up successfully, they have to be grown in heavy soils so they don’t fall apart. Evergreen trees cannot tolerate being bare-rooted, which could happen if you were to remove the burlap and then tried putting it in the hole. When the feeder roots get torn off it will severely stress , if not kill the tree. Also, after cutting the twine with the tree already in the hole, it is a good idea to roll the top part of the burlap down into the hole just enough to be covered with the backfill soil so that the burlap daesn’t wick the moisture away from the roots. More critical here in the hot, dry west than where there is more summer rain and humidity. Thanks Mike for staying inspiring, Richard
I have recently moved to southern Florida from Pennsylvania. Any tips on gardening here?
Suzanne, That’s easy, just do as Floridians do. Most everything I share applies except plant selection. I have backyard growers in Florida and they do really well, so I’d say a lot of gardening goes on in Florida.
Thanks for all the e-mails that you have sent me on
gardening. Very helpful.
Thanks Mike. I look forward to all the informative emails.
Just a quick note, Mike. As an electrician for eighteen years, I should correct one statement above. Using 1/2″ EMT is a good item to have around for many reasons, but EMT actually stands for “Electrical Metallic Tubing”. Otherwise an excellent article!
Denny aka “SparkChaser4”
Listen here SparkChaser! Somebody else just told me that and know I know. Obviously I did not know before today. Thanks, it is appreciated.
Mike I have done a restoration project by a river in CA and a lot of the bigger trees went into the ground without removing the plastic pots, just cut the bottom and sliced the sides just how you explain with burlap.
I always appreciate your advice and your look on the business of landscaping.
I want to get a bumper sticker for my work truck that says” best job ever”
thanks Again.
Genaro
Genaro,
You’re right, I spent a lot of time in the landscaping business, re-landscaping a lot of older homes. And I loved what I do and am always tempted to start back up. As if I need something else to do.
@Norma….most fruit trees need a pollinator to produce the best quantity of fruit….even those that are self-pollinating will bear heavier with a pollinator nearby. Nut trees are the same!! Find out what kind of pollinator would work best with your tree and then plant one, or give it to your neighbor to plant. That way you both benefit!!
Art,
I was giving a small Moringa sapling but I do not know much about how to care for it. I live in South Florida and I planted it where it gets full sun most of the day. Does it need to be watered often and also what fertilizer do you recommend?
Thank you
thanks mike for all your info i really enjoy it an always learn something i did not know keep it coming an may god bless you mike.
Hi, Mike, I’m not sure if this is the right spot to ask, but here it goes: I have a mango tree only 5′, quite young. For the 4th year is full of flowers but in the past years it only produced a couple of tiny, 1″ mangoes.
Is there anything that I can do to encourage it to produce? It grew from seed and we live in Southern California.
By the way, all your information is great and entertaining! I have many friends that are following you after I sent them the link, even one in Argentina.
Now that I am about to retire, I am considering starting the business the way you suggest, I need to find how to sell the plants because my city won’t allow me to do it from home.
Thank you, Mike. You are the BEST!!!
Norma,
About selling the plants. In my book I give you all kinds of ideas on how to go about selling the plants you grow. The mango tree? Since it was grown from seed that could be a big part of the problem. That’s why almost all fruit trees are budded or grafted because the seedlings just don’t perform as well as the known varieties. When you grow a plant from seed you are never getting an exact clone of the parent plant.
Thank you, Mike. My husband, who planted the seed (He actually planted a LOT of them, just as he finished eating the mango, as it comes out of the fruit) will be disappointed. I better get him one from the nursery.
Keep up the good job! I’ll get the book as soon as I have a little time to start working on it. Again, Thank you.
Mike thanks for all the info you put out
Mike, When you said to “Drive the stake into the ground into the direction of the prevailing wind.” To clarify… the point of the stake should be going down into the ground at about 45 degrees with the tip pointing in the same direction that the prevailing wind is blowing towards… (not pointing at the direction the wind is coming from) you would want the cord pulling against the stake at 90 degrees… not so that its pulling the stake straight out of the ground. And maybe it would also be good to mention that the stake should be on the upwind side of the tree, so the tree is held back as the wind blows against it. As we all know, you don’t push on a rope… its for pulling and holding things back.
And please, everyone, take it off!!! Take it all off! Take off the plastic and dispose of it properly. Otherwise a lot of it ends up polluting the oceans and doing other nasty things… best is to avoid buying it at all. Go natural. Take it off!
Rick,
You’re right about the stake, thanks for clearing that up.
Mike, i have been very interested in your newsletters for they have helped me a lot. i DO PLAN ON BUYING YOUR PROGRAM when my tax money comes in!!
i already have a small greenhouse in which i grow my families veggie plants for our gardens, sooo i’m hopeing this will also help me to grow the plants you talk about. maybe even make enough money to buy my seed and soil for next years planting.
thanks again Mike-wish i had half the knowledge you have on plants.
Cliff
Cliff,
about the greenhouse, it will help you, but you certainly don’t need a greenhouse to use my system. I tell people constantly that not only do they not need a greenhouse, for growing ornamental plants you just don’t need it. I don’t have a greenhouse and probably never will have. Everything I want to grow I can do without a greenhouse. -Mike McGroarty http://freeplants.com/wanted.htm
I have used old water hose thru which I put nylon rope for tying trees/bushes, etc. You take a piece of old hose that will wrap around the tree/bush and have perhaps 3″ to 6″ of hose extending past the trunk of the tree when looped around it. The rope thru that hose will not mar the tree and affect its growth. I have a Moringa tree which is battered by the strong winds we have. I have it anchored via rope/hose now for over two years with out that tie down affecting the tree other than holding it up right against the wind.
Art,
Thanks for mentioning this. I’ve also done the same thing for years and should have mentioned it in the article.
What if it is a eucalyptis tree, which I’ve read has been used for helping drain swamps according to wikipedia?
April,
I really don’t know about Eucalyptis, but my take is drain the area first, then plant. Seldom can you use plants to dry up and area. And if you can, is that really the plant that you want in your yard? http://freeplants.com/wanted.htm
My Grandfather had an apricot orchard. Every so often he would have to replace a tree. Even though his soil was loose and gravelly, he would gather all the rocks and chunks of concrete he could find in a wheelbarrow and put them at the bottom of a very deep hole. Was he improving drainage or just getting rid of pesky rocks? Too late to ask him.
Charline,
He was probably doing both and thought he was doing a good thing. If he was in good soil, then it probably was a good thing. But in heavy clay soil that technique would do more harm than good. In heavy clay the rocks would give the water a place to gravitate to, but then it would be trapped there. Not so good.
-Mike McGroarty
What’s the best way to water a fruit tree (Apricot)?
Just let the water run on the ground around it or
sink a length of pvc in the ground and water thru it?
Should you flood it or drip it?
Thanks Mike for all your great info.and hard work.
Mike (Bakersfield, CA.)
Mike,
What’s really important is to know how much water you are apply to your plants. In most cases, if they are properly planted, they should only need water about once a week for the first few weeks. At that time you can apply more water, but before you water stick your hand down into the soil to see how wet it is. Worse thing you can do to a new plant is to over water it.
Plants that are planted in the ground, especially a tree that is plant 12″ deep or more, really don’t lose that much water to evaporation.
Plants need water, but it’s not the magic potion that some people think it is.
I’m wondering if you started removing the plastic when you realized it’s impact. You state it won’t hurt the plant but that you sleep better when you remove it. Why would you ever leave it?
Stephanie,
If I leave plastic burlap on a tree it’s because keeping the ball in tact is much more important than removing the plastic. Sometimes it’s just not practical, and as I’ve already explained, the plants never know it’s there. -Mike McGroarty
Plants never know?? Maybe…but i swear when I practice too much on the piano–I swear some of my house plants try to move away from the piano and me!