Planting Trees

For the best success in planting young lucerne trees, we encourage farmers to approach their planting and management as if they were planting out a fruit orchard.  Your trees require a 2-year investment to offer you a tree-lifetime yield. Management is key!   Clients should properly plan and prepare their lands for planting, correctly calculate tree spacing and chose the most suitable irrigation methods.  Regularly irrigate, prune & check your trees to maintain their robust growth. Do NOT graze your trees in the first 18-months to 2 years! This Planting Guide covers ~

1. CALCULATE how many trees per hectare
2. SPACE your trees
3. PREPARE your lands
4. COURIER your trees
5. PLANT your trees
6. PROTECT your trees
7. IRRIGATION methods
8. MANAGEMENT

1. CALCULATE HOW MANY TREES 

• 1 hectare = 100 meters x 100 meters
• 100 meters divided by 4 meters (how far apart the rows are to allow a  tractor to drive between) = 25 rows per hectare
• 100 meters divided by 2.5 meters (how far apart each tree is in the row) = 40 trees in each row
• 25 rows x 40 trees in each row = 1000 trees per hectare
• Therefore purchase and germinate a pack of 1000 seeds (comes with +10% extra) for planting.
• You may plant your trees closer together to create hedges or without wide rows, so use the formula above to calculate your numbers accordingly.

2. SPACING

• Rows are at least 4 meters apart to allow a  tractor with plough/ bossiekapper/ cutter/ baler for tilling, planting, cutting & baling grasses in between the tree rows, and space for collecting branches when pruning the trees.
• The trees in the rows should be 2.5 meters apart from each other in the row.
• If you wish to form hedges or windbreaks, space the trees closer by planting them about 1.5 meters apart in the row.  Planting closer will allow each tree to develop touching and growing into the next tree.

3. PREPARE YOUR LANDS

Secure the perimeter with 20% shade cloth attached to your fences.  This will keep rabbits, buck, and other animals from entering your new lands.

1. Rip or double-plough the tree rows about 5 meters apart.  Create a mound for each row OR  simply dig a 1m-deep hole for each tree at the required spacing.
2. Lay your irrigation pipes in each ripped row. Dripper pipes are very water-economical.
3. Attach your filter systems to the irrigation.
4. Wet your soil.
5. Now you are ready to plant your trees.

4. COURIER TREES

We courier small lucerne tree seedlings in to clients in South Africa* either in special little tube-packs or several in a potting bag to your door. This is to keep delivery costs low by reducing the volumetric weight of the trees and therefore keeping courier costs low. This packaging is only  for courier purposes, and because there is very little space for root growth, it is temporary.  Clients should transplant their trees into individual 1-litre potting bags as soon as they receive their orders, and then keep them sheltered and protected in a nursery until they reach 40cm tall before planting them out in the land.    *Please note ~ Due to strict importation and bio-security regulations, we do NOT ship trees internationally. Here are our step-by-step instructions on how to transplant your lucerne trees when you receive them: Several little trees in a bag You can view our YouTube video ~ https://youtu.be/Z5Op2DIZK6M

• Have your new potting bags filled with a sandy soil mix.  Do NOT use potting soil, compost, peat or any other medium that will remain wet and soggy.  Lucerne trees hate sitting with wet roots for prolonged periods of time.
• Water your new bags of soil so that when you transplant your trees, their roots will go into wet soil.
• Make holes in the soil of each newly filled potting bag with a dibber or stick – nice and deep and fairly wide.
• Fill a small bucket or bowl with water which you will use when you take out the trees from our potting bag.  You do NOT want the roots to dry out.
• Take our bag with trees and gently press around the base to loosen the soil from the bag.
• Take hold of the bottom of the potting bag and tilt the trees over on the other hand.
• Gently slide the potting bag off the soil or take a Stanley knife and slice the bag open down the side.
• Gently loosen the soil off the tree’s roots.

• Place the trees’ roots into the bucket of water.
• Now separate each little tree carefully, not pulling or damaging the roots.
• Take each tree and ease its roots into the hole in the new potting bag soil and then press the soil around the roots so that there is no air space around the roots.
• Give your newly transplanted trees a light watering.
• Your newly transplanted trees may go into “transplant shock” and may look sad and wilted for a day or two, but should recover within a week.
• Keep them protected and lightly watered when needed.
• Once they reach 40cm tall, they are ready to be planted out into the land.
• You can test if they need watering by checking the soil at the bottom of the potting bags or sticking your finger into the soil to see if it is dry.  Remember not to over-water your trees.

NB: Do not throw away the soil in which your seedlings have been growing!  There are many seeds in each bag that may still germinate.  Place this soil in an old ice cream box with a few drainage holes poked into the bottom and water this along with your trees. Transplant any new seedlings that may emerge into their own potting bags as soon as they develop their true leaves. We have supplied you with at least 10% extra trees with each consignment. Tube-packs

The goal of transplanting successfully is not to disturb the roots or expose them to air or drying out. Read about this here.

How to transplant your trees into their potting bags ~ Updated ~ Note that we recommend you rather put your seedling into an empty potting bag and then fill it with soil around the plant because some clients have found that squeezing the tube-pack soil into the hole disturbed the soil around the roots of the seedling.

1. First, ensure that all the soil in the tube packaging is wet and well-watered before you start.  This keeps the soil intact around the roots when cutting the pack open.
2. Now lay your seedlings in tubes flat and slice each tube package along the length of the plastic .
3. Carefully lift the tree with all the soil still clumped around the roots out of the packaging.  When the soil is moist it will stay well-combined.  Do not shake or break the soil off the roots.
4. Place the seedling with all its soil into the empty potting bag and gently add potting soil around the roots and up to the tree’s stem.
5. Firm the soil around the transplanted tree making sure that there are no air gaps in the soil.
6. Water the soil in the potting bags very well. Check regularly by sticking your finger into the potting bag to feel if the soil is damp and water lightly when needed.  Do not over-water your seedlings.

These little lucerne trees are still too small to go directly into your lands.  They should be potted into their 1-litre bags to grow out to at least 30-40cm tall saplings before being planted into your lands.  Keep your young trees sheltered throughout winter, protected from any frosts and icy winds in an protected area covered with some shade cloth.  Only plant young trees into your lands once there is no danger of frosts.

5. PLANT 30-40cm TREES

1. Dig a 1-metre deep hole for each tree in the row and refill it with the same soil, almost to the top OR rip or double-plough the row creating a mound of loose soil about 30cm to 40cm deep. Plant in the hole or in this mound of loose soil.  This is very, very important because you want the roots to easily develop without any obstruction.
2. Add some compost and about 50g of superphosphate in each hole and mix with the soil.  DO NOT ADD MANURE OR NITROGEN.  This will negatively affect the nitrogen-fixing abilities of the roots.
3. Squeeze the bottom of the potting bag with moist soil and to loosen the plastic bag from the soil and roots.
4. Holding the top of the bag with the stem between your fingers, tip the bag over and wriggle the bag from the roots and soil gently, lifting the corners of the bag up and off, aiming to keep all the soil on the roots.
5. Place the root ball into your prepared hole so that the stem is level with your hole surface and gently but firmly press the soil around the tree.  You want to make the area around the roots snug and tight.
6. Create a circle in the soil around the hole with your hands to create a good basin to keep the irrigation water in.
7. Cover this basin with a thick mulch such as straw, but do not cover up the stem.
8. Water very well immediately.
9. Keep irrigating regularly now that your trees are planted. (see below)

6. PROTECT THE TREES

• Young trees are very vulnerable – everything loves to eat them!
• Fence the entire camp and secure the perimeter with 20% shade cloth attached to the fences.  This will keep rabbits, buck, and other animals from entering your new lands.  This method is cheaper than wire mesh fencing and the shade cloth is UV-protected.
• OR Place mesh cages around individual trees.
• We place old irrigation pipes around the stems of each tree to keep mice from ring-barking the trees.

Do NOT graze your trees in the first 2 years!  Grazing tears the young branches and stunts the growth of the trees.  However, you should prune them regularly to 1m to 1.5m tall which promotes side branches and dense foliage.   The tree also develops a thick woody stem and sturdy main branches. You will collect copious amounts of fodder from your prunings, as much as 10 kilograms per tree off 2-year-old trees, which amounts up to 20 tons of delicious wet matter. In those first few years, they need to be protected and require regular watering.

7. IRRIGATION

Irrigation is essential in establishing trees, especially where rainfall is sporadic in the summer months.

• Drip irrigation uses water very economically.
• Drippers we use deliver 2 litres per hour.  We run our drippers for 1 hour every 2 days during our dry season.
• Drippers are not very effective after about 1 year as the trees’ side roots have travelled quite some distance away from the drippers, which is why, once our trees are established at about 18 months, we convert our irrigation to micro sprayers to also water the grazing that grows between the tree rows.
• Micro sprayers are very effective, but irrigation requires longer spraying times than drippers.
• The benefit of micros is that your grasses develop between the tree rows and the roots are always getting water, no matter how far they have travelled.
• We have used aerial micro sprayers but these are not as effective in windy conditions, so we prefer to use micro sprayers between each tree.

• Oscillating sprayers use more water than the other methods mentioned, but the ground is quickly well soaked.

8. MANAGEMENT

• Water regularly for the first 18 months.
• Check regularly for snails, insects and other critters who may eat your young trees and take action!
• Prune regularly to encourage side branches and denser foliage as well as keeping the trees 1 to 1.5 meters high.
• Chip your cuttings for maximum food!

Here are all our posts on planting ~

• Transplant little lucerne trees into potting bags

• Trees in Tubes – Transplant Successfully

• Video – Planting bare-rooted lucerne trees
• Ready-to-plant trees
• Planting out Lucerne Trees
• Four month old Trees
• New Lucerne Field 8 Months Later
• Planting Bare-rooted Trees
• Trees ready for delivery
• Only courier trees in South Africa
• Video ~ How to pot bare-rooted trees into bags
• What can go wrong when transplanting seedlings?
• Tube-packs are for courier purposes only

Happy Farming! Copyright © 2012 by Myles & Nadene Esterhuizen All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher permitted by copyright law.