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planting an Italian semi dwarf fruit tree in Denver #868396
Asked May 14, 2024, 1:12 PM EDT
Denver County Colorado
Expert Response
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YOUR QUESTION #0138317:
planting an Italian semi dwarf fruit tree in Denver
I have a 5" italian semi dwart fruit tree and need to plant it. a. How wide and deep should we dig. b. What type of soil should we use. ( we have very clay soil in Denver as you know.) From you web site it says , plant it with full sun exposure : all day long? or partial maybe 6 hrs. ...Ask Extension offers one-to-one expert answers from Cooperative Extension/University staff and volunteers within participating Land-Grant institutions across the United States.
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Full sun in Colorado is at least 7 hours of full direct sunlight (you might be able to get away with 6 hours in summer) Plant in spring when possible. Plant the tree in a saucer-shaped hole with root-ball on untouched soil and top of root ball no deeper than surface of the ground (see attached link for how to determine how wide the hole should be, depending on width of caliper of the tree, and how deep to plant tree).
To promote root growth, the planting hole is wide,
shallow, and saucer-shaped!
Do not need to amend the soil (or not more than 25% of total soil) since too much amending of soil will tend to constrain roots and then they won't spread out to the other native soil areas and thus limits growth long-term.
Here is a link to how to plant trees in Colorado
https://cmg.extension.colostate.edu/Gardennotes/636.pdf
hope this helps
