Where to plant trees in the fall

Fall is an excellent time of year to plant trees, but figuring out where to plant them is tricky. There’s a lot to consider such as the view you’d like from your home’s windows, the colors during various times of the year, height and width of the tree, and so on. Here are some general tips about where to plant your new trees this fall.

• If you know a tree will exceed 20 feet at maturity plant it at least 15 feet away from your house.
• Consider tree shedding – do you want petals or leaves all over the lawn or not – and at what time of year will you have issues?
• Consider rain and snow. My friend used to have this beautiful line of trees along the walk to his house. They looked great – in the spring and summer. Come fall and winter, water and snow would fall on said trees, collect, and as you walked up the path to the house, huge streams of water or mounds of snow would fall on you if the wind even barely blew. It was very annoying. Especially when large clumps of snow fell on you. Consider weather for sure because not only is this annoying, say, near a walk or driveway, but it can also pose a hazard (snow can be heavy in clumps).
• Dwarf fruit and smaller flowering trees should be planted ten feet apart – or (depending on size) so that their branches just touch.
• Never plant a tree under the roof overhang.
• Never plant a tree near utility lines.
• It’s better to space trees too far apart than too close. If you’re new to tree planting speak with an expert before planting.

Later on we’ll look at some of the different shapes of trees and where to plant them plus various trees in the shape categories.

[image via stock.xchng]