Preparing the soil and pit for planting an apple tree

In order for the planted apple tree to grow well and give an excellent harvest, it is necessary to choose a place and properly prepare the soil and hole for planting the tree. Of course, you can always just bury the seedling in the ground, but in this case you risk that the tree may not take root or that fruiting will leave much to be desired.

Soil preparation

Before you start digging a hole for an apple tree seedling, you need to properly prepare the soil.

Usually, planting apple seedlings, like other fertile trees, are carried out in autumn or spring.

In autumn, the land must be cleared of other crops and agricultural plants (if necessary) and dug up. Digging is best done in late summer / early autumn. In this case, the dug earth will be able to accumulate enough nutrients and moisture. Weeds that have emerged after digging must be removed. It should be dug up to the depth of the fertile layer in order not to reduce the fertility of the soil, mixing it with infertile.

Some gardeners argue that digging up the soil is not necessary, but this carries a number of advantages that will positively affect the yield.

Benefits of pre-digging the soil:

• promotes the accumulation of essential nutrients and moisture in the soil;
• the larvae of various parasitic insects move from the lower soil level to the upper one and die with the first cold weather;
• helps to level the fertile soil layer over the entire surface.

Also, do not forget that the land needs to be covered with mineral and organic fertilizers.

Spring tillage consists in loosening the surface layer that has undergone wintering. Loosening will disturb the soil crust that has formed during the winter. Also, loosening will help to avoid the evaporation of excess moisture and the rapid drying of the soil.

Further soil preparation depends on its type.

Clayey

If you decide to plant an apple tree on clay soil, then it should be properly prepared.

First, you need to dig up the clay soil to a depth of about 50 cm (the optimal depth for planting an apple tree). Before planting an apple tree seedling, such soil must first be fertilized. To do this, 1 sq. m of soil, the following substrates are applied: humus, sawdust, coarse river sand, rotted manure, peat and / or compost, lime, and fertilizers. All this will help create the most favorable conditions for the growth of the apple tree, since this will allow air to easily penetrate into the soil, because it is its lack that harms the apple tree. In order for the planted apple tree to better take root in the ground, at your choice, you should apply either mineral complex fertilizers (100-150 g), or superphosphate (70 g) and potash fertilizers with a chlorine-free formula (50 g). Since clay soils are not very fertile, it is imperative to apply fertilizers.

The soil is mixed with river coarse sand, compost or peat in a 1: 1 ratio.

If you plan to plant not one or a couple of apple trees, but a large number at once, it will be a very useful step to sow the selected area with lupine, mustard, phacelia or other green manure plant a year before planting. It is necessary to allow the sown culture to grow, but, in no case, not allowing flowering. Then everything is mowed, and the cut grass should be left on the surface of the site until the next digging.

Sandy

If you decide to plant an apple tree on sandy soil, then it also needs to be prepared.

A year before planting an apple tree, uncultivated sandy soils need to be dug up. The digging depth should not exceed 50 cm. Then, the following substrates can be applied to 1 square meter of soil: clay, compost, organic fertilizers or manure, humus, peat, lime, superphosphate, and potassium.

In the same way, if it is planned to plant a large number of seedlings, it will be a plus to sow green manure before that (similar to that when preparing clay lands). Mow the grown grass and leave it on the ground until digging.

The actions for preparing sandy soils are in many ways similar to working with clay soil. The only difference is the addition of pure potassium and that sandy soils require more compost and peat. You should also add clay soil.

Landing pit

Pits for planting an apple tree must be prepared in advance (about three months before planting). It should also be remembered that apple planting pits are not just holes in which the roots and earthy clod of the seedling are placed. The planting hole is a container for fertile soil and at the same time is a breeding ground for the apple tree for the next five or seven years. In order for the tree to take root, every centimeter of the pit must contain substances that would contribute to the rapid development and growth of the seedling, and also make it stronger. In this regard, it is necessary to prepare a large enough planting pit. For the vast majority of apple varieties, the diameter of the planting pit should be at least 80 cm, and the depth should be about 80 cm. Columnar apple trees are an exception. For this type, pits 50x50x50 cm in size are suitable.

It should be remembered that the choice of a future planting site is very important, since low-lying areas are not suitable for an apple tree, since rain and melt waters stagnate in them.

The pit preparation is as follows:

• the bottom of the planting pit is loosened with a shovel or pitchfork;
• the bottom and walls are filled with fertile soil. It consists of the top layer of the original soil, compost, rotted manure, peat, humus, and a mixture of clay and sand in a 1: 1 ratio;
• if the soil is acidic, then lime is also added to the pit;
• add 6-8 handfuls of mineral complex fertilizer;
• all components are poured into the pit in layers (layer thickness up to 20 cm);
• two handfuls of fertilizers must be added to each layer;
• fill the hole with all the components before the formation of the slide;
• the slide should rise above the edges of the planting pit at a height of about 20 cm.Otherwise, when the soil compresses and shrinks in a couple of years, the seedling will be in the funnel. This will lead to a decrease in its winter hardiness, and will also affect the volume of the future harvest;
• to prevent a burn of an apple tree seedling in contact with fertilizers, its roots and the upper part of the pit are covered with ordinary earth without any fertilizers, or a mixture of peat and earth is used in a 1: 1 ratio.

Scheme of preparing a planting pit for an apple tree

If the earth is clay, then when preparing the pit, it should be added to it: two buckets of humus or compost, 1: 4 granular superphosphate, a mixture of phosphate rock and superphosphate (1600-2000 g), potassium sulfate (120-150 g), wood ash (800-1000 g). In this case, it is necessary to increase the size of the pit itself up to 1.5 meters in diameter and up to one meter deep.

If the soil is sandy, then the same components must be added to the planting hole as with clay soil, plus silt and clay or peat must also be added.

After the preparation of the planting pit has been completed, a hole is formed in it in accordance with the size of the earthen coma or the roots of the seedling and is planted.

Video "Preparing a pit for planting an apple tree"

In the video you can see how to properly form a landing pit.

As you can see, in order for the apple tree to take root and annually please with its fruits, and the apples themselves were tasty, before planting, you need to prepare not only the planting hole, but also the soil itself.By doing the above steps, you are most likely to get a healthy and strong tree that will bear fruit for ten years.