One hour after watering, the soil around the rootball should feel moist, but should not be wringing with water if squeezed gently in the hand. The amount of water you need to apply to achieve this level of moisture will depend on the size of your tree and your soil type. Rich organic soils act like sponges, light sandy soils like sieves, sticky clay soils like modelling clay, holding water in the planting hole like a jar, yet incredibly difficult to rewet if allowed to dry out.

Our planting teams wrap a perforated pipe around the rootball of each tree they plant as a standard practice. These perforated, corrugated pipes you see protruding from the soil at the base of most trees are designed to allow air circulation and for you to water directly down to the deeper soil layers. This is particularly effective during times of drought when surface soil can be very hard.

If your soil is clay or prone to water-logging, we will install an inspection pipe as well for you to monitor the water table. Made from the same material, this pipe is installed vertically alongside the rootball so you can check for standing water at the bottom using a stick - a bit like checking the oil in your car (except in this case you never want the stick to come out wet!).