Soft fruits

Everything was delivered today - got them this evening when I got home, so the tree is still in a wrapper until I can get ready to plant it tomorrow. It's certainly not what I was expecting! This thing is 12-ft if its an inch!




Do I need to soak its feet in a bucket of water overnight before planting, or can I get cracking with getting it planted tomorrow?

 

It's a Victoria plum

 

OK, I have rushed home this afternoon to plant my tree before it got dark, and in my haste I have dropped a bit of a clog.

I dug the hole, and decided not to bother with a load of compost to go in that hole as the soil is now in really lovely condition (three years of hard graft finally paying off ) and has quite a substantial amount of organic material already in there; hole dug, I unwrapped the tree and was not only chuffed to find that I have adopted a couple of nice sturdy 5ft bamboo canes, but also to find that the tree is not a 12-ft fellow, but probably nearer to 6ft (branches had been folded upward in the packaging, and the top of the trunk is between 5 and 6 ft, with some of the branches reaching maybe 8 or 9ft at their very tip.

So, happy with a healthy looking wee thing, I stuck him in the hole and a few turns later was happy with the positioning so filled him in. Done - planted

Errrrrr..... oh, bother (or words with a similar meaning...) - I forgot to put the rootgrow powder in the bottom of the hole.

So, do I dig him up at the weekend and replant, or do I leave him be to find his feet and then just give a good manure feed in the spring?

Also, what is the deal with the mulch mats for around the base of the tree? Man, they stink something rotten!

 

Thanks Jenny - I will leave him be tomorrow, and re-do again on Saturday morning when I have daylight on my side.