Start digging the hole where you want the tree

Do a decent job. Use your legs more than your arms, jump on the shovel like it's a pogo stick, using your weight to ram the blade into the soil. Wear boots, not sneakers, dummy!

This is your goal. To attain this goal, measure twice with your shovel, cut once, as they say in the carpentry business

This is the end result. LEAVE ALL ROPE, METAL, BURLAP ATTACHED LIKE YOU SEE IT HERE! Cut rope in two months from around the neck of the tree. Put it on your calendar

Measure with shovel to make sure that the hole depth is right

It's easy, be smart!

Untie tree, water it, then watch it grow. Trees planted too deep almost always die. If you get to a boulder, it's ok to plant part of the ball and raise the grade the rest of the way with new top soil that you bring in.

Plant happiness with depth of planting

Image of cross section of properly planted plant/tree. Note existence of mulch and that it does not cover stem of plant.

IMPORTANT:

Once you have planted the plants/trees it's extremely important that you understand watering so please scroll to our watering section of the planting instructions!