Ideal soil for new trees

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Kristin
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Joined: Mon 27-Dec-2021, 19:32
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Hi there,
We’re excited to be adding 3 sweet cherry trees to our home garden. We’ve got a spot with well draining soil and full sun. The trees we’ve purchased are bare root, and arriving next week. I’ve been told the root is about 12” cube. We’ve dug holes probably 2’x2’x3’ deep, and might do a bit deeper since the existing soil isn’t great - its newly cleared and was previously salmon berries. Since fall it’s had a layer of leaves, and the last month a layer of mulch, but I know that’s not long enough to make a difference.

The plan is to use compost around the tree in the hole, then a thick layer of mulch (the mulch gods have provided probably 10 truck loads of free great mulch this spring, which means we have lots!). Any other recommendations for amending the soil for best chance of success?

Thanks!
PeasIntheRain
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Joined: Thu 30-Dec-2021, 12:57
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Hi Kristin,
Exciting! Cherries are great. I'm curious about why you think the soil that was under salmonberries isn't good for a tree: salmonberries and other brushy species are the stage preceding trees at a forest edge. Here, we have wild cherries popping up in old pasture and edge areas, so the ancestors of the sweet cherry seem to like those conditions. You might have less to worry about than you fear...

Dan's comment yesterday about waiting to plant perennials in a new market garden system has me wondering about this, too. The succession from grassland to forest edge is accompanied by changes in soil and the whole system, but when introducing a new (non-native) perennial fruit tree to a no-till system, I'm not sure if the bigger concern is to have the surrounding weed-free (so your area right by the tree isn't causing issues for the neighbouring beds) or if the issue was about waiting for the soil to transition to a more fungi-dominant system that such trees like.

My experience in this part of the world is mostly with planting native species, where it's best to avoid amending the soil at all: native species like native soil, which has varying levels and types of material depending on the area's history. And there is a risk that roots will circle around and around into the amended soil in the planting hole if a rich compost is used, rather than reaching out strong and wide.
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