The tree and shrub planting season is open!

Winter is gradually setting in. The trees, now quite bare, mark this period of vegetative rest. It’s time to take care of your plantations!

In fact, the favorable period for planting your young tree and shrub seedlings begins now and lasts until the beginning of March.

If possible, plant preferably at the beginning of winter, to give the plants more time to settle in and develop their root system before the vegetation resumes. Their resistance to the first spring and summer droughts will be better.

Schedule your work day outside of freezing periods.

Also avoid planting when the soil is waterlogged and in strong, dry winds.

Follow the different stages of planting step by step:

Before you arm yourself with your picks and shovels, here are a few quick reminders of the different steps to follow to successfully complete your agroforestry plantations.

Reception of plants ordered in nurseries:

When receiving the plants, several precautions must be taken:

• Check the origin, quantity and quality of the plants received carefully. A viable young plant must be healthy with abundant and fresh roots.
• Bare-root plants must be placed in a „gauge” upon receipt in order to keep their roots fresh until planting: roots exposed to air and sun dry out and die. Ideally, to create a „gauge”, place the plants in a trench filled with sand or soil. Cover all the roots well.
• Potted plants should be stored in a lighted shelter protected from frost. Also make sure to moisten them regularly.

The progress of the planting site:

The planting site includes several operations:

• Marking the hole locations: using a rod of the length planned between 2 plants (1m or 1.5m) and markers (e.g.: stakes, marks on a rope stretched along the planting line)
• Root dressing: this operation concerns bare-root plants. It consists of neatly cutting the ends of the roots with secateurs, to ensure the rebalancing between the volume of the root system and the aerial part, to facilitate planting and to eliminate damaged parts.
• Possible pruning of injured or broken branches.
• Pralining bare-root plants: Pralin is a mixture of 1/3 manure, 1/3 soil and 1/3 water. Immersed in the pralin before planting, the roots are better protected from air bubbles (which cause fungal diseases) that can remain in contact with them once buried. Pralin is also a nutrient that will promote root development.
• Planting: several planting techniques are possible using hand tools (spades, hoes, transplanters). The important thing is:
  • To form holes wide and deep enough to accommodate all of the plant’s roots without deforming them.
  • Avoid smoothing the walls of the holes when digging them, so as not to prevent the root development of the plants.
  • To install the plant straight and place the collar of the stem at the level of the soil surface. The collar must not be buried. For clod plants, the surface of the soil in the pot must be level with the ground.
  • Lightly compact the soil around the plant to ensure good contact between soil and roots.
  • Crumble the covering soil as much as possible to avoid air pockets.
  • It is best to plant the plants in small clods. Above all, avoid forming basins: water must not accumulate and stagnate at the foot of the plants.

Mulching the plants:

During their young stages, trees and shrubs can be heavily competed with by weeds at their base. Water competition is what can cause the most harm to young plants.

Mulching is therefore an essential step in your agroforestry projects:

• By covering the soil around the plants, mulching limits the development of weeds and maintains freshness and humidity in the soil.
• Protect the plants with mulch spread over a 1 m radius around them.
• Organic materials are recommended (e.g. wood chips, BRF, straw, hemp shreds, miscanthus, etc.). Their decomposition helps provide mineral elements that are beneficial for plant growth.
• Mulching should be maintained during the first years of plant growth, the time for trees and shrubs to become more competitive with weeds. So monitor the evolution of your mulch and anticipate its renewal when it is no longer effective enough to maintain weeds.

Protecting plants from browsing:

From the moment they are planted, young plants are exposed to browsing and physical damage by livestock or wild herbivores. Regular removal of buds and young shoots will exhaust the young plants. Damage to their bark, caused by rubbing or eating, can be fatal.

Depending on the pressure of game in the surrounding area and the presence of grazing herds, the installation of individual protections or the protection of plantation lines by fences is a mandatory investment.

There are several types of protection. They have been designed to specifically act as a barrier to deer, rodents or livestock:

• Individual protection: Climatic ducts (reinforced plastic mesh) or metal mesh ducts.
• Protection of shrubs against rodents: 60 cm high sheaths, installed using 2 bamboo stakes.
• Protection of trees against deer: 120 cm high sheaths, stapled to two robinia or chestnut stakes.
• Overall protection of a linear:
  • Wire mesh: The wire mesh model should be chosen according to the type of animals to be kept away. For poultry runs, for example, choose models with fine mesh.
  • Fences and electric wires: Stakes carrying 1 to 2 electrified wires. The height of the wire and the distance from the wire to the planting line must be adapted according to the grazing animals.

Note: The use of repellent products is also being tested to replace and/or supplement the physical means of protection described above. Products based on sheep fat or wool are notably proposed to protect plants against deer.