New Material - potting

I made up a batch of soil for the new trees. Its a 4 equal part by volume mix of sharp sand / John Innes No.4 / vermiculite / fine horticultural grit. Why that mix  - because it looks a lot like the loamy soil I see them growing in naturally and its also the soil that my oak did so well in last year. The field maples were planted in straight John Innes which is nearly waterproof and sets like concrete, so the sharp sand and grit loosen it up a bit and the vermiculite holds some extra water. So far it drains well.

I bought a bunch of cheap plastic pots for these young trees to live in outside for the next few years. They have such whopping holes in the bottom of them that i feared all the soil would just fall out. I got some if the lining for hanging baskets and cut it to fit the bottom of the pot.

The roots of the bare root plants on average were quite good - but needed a bit of trimming to fit into the pots.

Beech roots.











Hawthorn roots.










In the pot. 

Can't wait for the first buds to get out and get the growing and training under way.