Hedges: Planting THUJA Plicata 'Excelsa' (western Red Cedar)

Hi Everyone,

The forums here have been an awesome help ... so I thought I would pose my tree planting question to get some additional information. We are located in Langley - in the lower mainland.

We have purchased 60 THUJA Plicata 'Excelsa' (western Red Cedar) plants. Our goal to is to have a tall, lush, privacy hedge. The trees were taken out of the ground by the grower 2 days ago and are 5-6' tall. Each one is wrapped in burlap and and is string tied.

I have dug a trench that leaves approx. 1-2 inches on each side of the root ball and is deep enough that the top of the root ball is either level or about 1/2 inch above grade. We will be planting these on a gently sloped hill so one side will be higher then the other. There is good drainage.

We have put the trees in place about 36" apart on center.

Now our plan is to untie the burlap from the root ball but to only expose the top part of the root ball (per recommedation of grower) in other words leaving the burlap in place except for the top. Then we will be adding about 1 cup of bonemeal to each trees root ball, top and sides. Finally, we got a truck load of garden mix soil from West Creek Farm here in Langley. Our plan was to use the garden mix plus a mixture of the current soil (which is quite good) to fill in the trench.

Does anyone have any feedback on our plan? Things we should consider, things we might want to change or NOT do? Anything that we might be missing.

It has been a fun family adventure so far ... we just want to give our trees the best opportunity to be successfull. We really appreciate all the feedback.

Curt

 

Dig trench wider, lay burlap flat and refill with same soil that came out of trench. Definitely do not add bone meal or top soil. Do mulch with coarse material such as wood chips after planting. If any specimens wobbly staking may be necessary for one year after planting.

 

Thanks for the advice Ron. When you say lay burlap flat .. do you mean bottom of trench?

 

Yes. Ideally you would leave nothing in the hole except the tree.

 

Cut a piece of wood into a 36" length, and use it as a spacer (trunk to trunk) as you go...you'd be surprised how a few inches difference from plant to plant affects the finished look--at least until it grows together.