Mistakes Made When Planting in Desert Soils

The major mistakes made when planting are not making the planting hole wide enough, digging the hole extra deep when it’s not needed, planting too deeply, and watering the plants too often after planting.

The amount of "organics" in a soil can be "eyeballed" in many of our soils by its color. When a soil is darker in color, it means it has more "organics" in it. The Mojave Desert soils in Las Vegas have generally have no organics in them at all. This is why we add organics to the soil, oftentimes in the form of compost, to raise the level or its content. This is Garden Soil Mix from Viragrow and used for planting.

I like deals

Buying a large tree in a box and getting it planted for free is a good deal! Just have it done right. Beware. Numerous people have complained the “planting crews” dug the hole only wide enough to fit the box in the planting hole. After that a little bit of mulch is mixed with the soil, watered in, and called good. That’s no deal. The tree will decline and maybe die in a couple of years because of these poor planting techniques.

Yellowing leaves like in this bottlebrush can be a sign that the organics in the soil is running out due to its mineralization in a few years by rock mulch. Some plants dont like rock mulch but want a soil that has at least 2% organics in the soil. This soil under the rock probably has less than 1%.

Planting Right

If these deals are too good to pass up, then make sure the planting hole is at least three times the width of the box. Pay planting crews extra to do it the right way if you must. The hole doesn’t have to be dug extra deep, but it should be dug wide. It’s okay to use the soil taken from the hole for planting, but first mix it with about one third by volume of compost. If a normal compost is used, make sure to mix in some fertilizer with the soil used for the planting hole. “Rich” composts don’t need extra fertilizer in the soil mix.

Use this soil mixture for filling the planting hole around the rootball and then water it in with lots of water. Water it like this for two days in a row. Make sure the tree is watered thoroughly at planting time., To force the water deep in the planting hole, construct a “well” or “moat” 4 inches tall just above the planting hole and fill it with water.

Deep Holes - No, No, No

The planting holes shouldn’t be super deep. (unless there is a problem with drainage which is more rare than you might think). If a hole dug in the soil drains water overnight, there is no drainage problem. However, if the water is still in this hole by morning, then there is a drainage problem and other planting methods are needed. But poor drainage is not frequent in most of our landscapes.

The soil around the tree in the box or container should be “milk chocolate” in color when wet and the same level as the rest of the landscape soil when everything is finished. The tree should not be below or above the surrounding soil when finished. Make sure the soil is wet when planting.

Why Stake

Staking trees and shrubs can be very important in getting the roots established during the first year. The stakes that come with 5 and 15-gallon plants are usually good enough to reuse if cut free from the plant and pounded into the solid soil at the bottom of the planting hole so the plant roots can’t move. The purpose of staking is to keep the plant roots from moving, not necessarily the top of the plant. The top of the plant should be free to move in the wind.