I removed a large pin oak tree and would like plant a dogwood in the same location. Can this be done?
Answer
If the pin oak was not deseased and the roots were removed or ground up, you can plant a dogwood in this location. If the roots were ground up, plant the dogwood tree a few feet away from the ground up material or replace the ground up material with top soil. The ground up wood takes some time to break down and until so, it may leach Nitrogin from the soil and thus inhibit growth of the dogwood tree.
Follow normal procedures for planting of the dogwood tree. Dig a hole the size of the root ball. Then turn over the soil over about six inches deep for two feet out around the hole. Remove burlap wrapping from the root ball. If the dog wood tree is comtainer grown, remove it from it from the container. If the tree is root bound, score the bottom of the root ball with a knife about a half inch deep and butterfly the root ball. Plant the tree so that the root collar is about a half inch above surrounding soil and water well. Water weekly until established. It is not necessary to stake the tree unless it is wobbly after planting. It is best to mulch around the tree to a thinckness of two inches, no more. Make sure that the mulch is not piled up around the trunk of the tree like a vulcano.