Choosing the Perfect Spot for Your Cherry Tree

So, this is the spot we were thinking for the tree. Okay, be a nice screen to the power lines and a good pop of color in the yard absolutely and then you gotta think of focal points what are your views going to be? So, if you're sitting on the deck and looking this way, you're going to have this beautiful view of the tree or if you're inside the kitchen looking out, it's going to help you screen like you talked about. I think it's really going to fill out this area just perfectly. It will because it'll be 20 feet wide, about 25 feet high, and as we saw the tidal basin this time of year, it's going to be this giant cloud of pink, and when the summer comes, it'll be a nice canopy to provide shade.

This cherry tree is just what we needed. It's a yoshino cherry, just like the majority of the ones around the tidal basin. This plant exists in zone five to zone eight, so in Boston, it's a zone five. I actually have one of these in my own yard, so you could plant them from there all the way down to Georgia, which is a zone eight. Yes, and here in Washington D.C., they do wonderfully and love a spot with full sun, but we've got that here.

Well, let's get started! Let's all grab some shovels and get this in the ground. We're going to want it to be about twice as wide as the pot and about the same depth because we want this to be right at soil level when we get it planted. Okay, let's go ahead and move that out of the way. All right, and as we dig up the grass, let's throw that aside so that doesn't go back into the backfill. Great looking good! I'll get the wheelbarrow.

All right, it's gonna go like this, I think we're looking pretty good. Just going to break this up so there's not clumps of heavy clay and then that's going to help the roots begin their new home. Okay, so before we put the tree in, let's get a little compost in the bottom there that will help encourage the roots. All right, all right, so I'm going to pull the tree out of the pot if you could pull the pot down. Good great!

All right, so I'll loosen up those roots. Oh yeah, this is great! That's awesome. I'm gonna put it in the hole, Derek, I want you to stand back and see if it looks good from both viewpoints. Yeah, it looks good there. All right, over a little bit here towards the fence. Alright, all right that's perfect.

Now, let's hold it right here and you guys could backfill. So, what we'll do Derek is I'll throw compost on top of the existing soil mix together and throw it in the hole. Okay, okay, and we're being mindful of keeping the soil at this level, don't want to bury the flare of the tree. Definitely want to keep that exposed. Alright, so you're just going to keep watering and let it pull up and then soak back into the ground a couple times just so the water gets deep into the roots.

And the finishing touch is some cedar mulch to keep in the moisture and to match the cedar mulch you already have down. Perfect! And this is going to help retain the moisture of the soil below, all right? Just like this, yep, exactly, and follow it all the way around. Okay, so your tree is in and watered, looks great, remember you need to keep it watered so it will get established, so the roots will grow out, and that means watering it every day, soak it so it goes all the way down to the bottom of the root ball.

After that, check it every few days, and you can put your finger into the soil to check for moisture. That's a great test, and then next spring, it will bloom prolifically, and start to create that nice canopy that's going to help with that screening. Can't wait! Perfect tree, perfect place. I really appreciate you guys coming out, thank you, Jen, thanks for having me, and thank you Kevin for hooking it all up. Great to be a part of it.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enso this is the spot we were thinking for the tree okay be a nice screen to the power lines and a good pop of color in the yard absolutely and then you gotta think of focal points what are your views going to be so if you're sitting on the deck and looking this way you're going to have this beautiful view of the tree or if you're inside the kitchen looking out it's going to help you screen like you talked about and i think it's really going to fill out this area just perfectly it will because it'll be 20 feet wide about 25 feet high and as we saw the tidal basin this time of year it's going to be this giant cloud of pink and when the summer comes it'll be a nice canopy to provide shade back here in the fall you'll get some nice fall color and in the winter the bark is interesting oh that sounds great yeah should we go check it out let's do yeah so here is your new cherry tree this looks great yes it's a yoshino cherry just like the majority of the ones around the tidal basin and this is a plant that exists in zone five to zone eight and so in boston it's a zone five i actually have one of these in my own yard so you could plant them from there all the way down to georgia which is a zone eight yes and here in zone seven in washington dc they do wonderfully and they love a spot with full sun but you've got here and we just picked this up at the local garden center oh great i can't wait it's gonna look great here all right well let's all grab some shovels and get this in the ground yes all right so what we need to do is go ahead and trace the shape of the pot so we can locate the hole properly we're gonna want it to be about twice as wide as the pod and about the same depth because we want this to be right at soil level when we get it planted all right let's go ahead and move that out of the way all right and as we dig up the grass let's throw that aside so that doesn't go back into the backfill all right great looking good i'll get the wheelbarrow all right it's gonna go like this i think we're looking pretty good just going to break this up so there's not clumps of heavy clay and then that's going to help the roots begin their new home all right so before we put the tree in let's get a little compost in the bottom there that will help encourage the roots all right all right so i'm going to pull the tree out of the pot if you could pull the pot down all right good great all right let's loosen up those roots all right so they'll know to grow into their new home oh yeah this is great that's awesome i'm gonna put it in the hole so derek i want you to stand back to see if it looks good from both viewpoints yeah it looks good there all right over a little bit here towards the fence yeah all right all right that's perfect all right i'll hold it right here and you guys could backfill all right so what we'll do derek is i'll throw compost on top of the existing soil mix that together and throw it in the hole all right okay and we're being mindful of keeping the soil at this level we don't want to bury the flare of the tree um definitely want to keep that exposed all right so you're just going to keep watering and let it pull up and then soak back into the ground a couple times just so the water gets deep into the roots and the finishing touch some cedar mulch to keep in the moisture and to match the cedar mulch you already have down perfect and this is going to help retain the moisture of the soil below all right just like this yep exactly and follow it all the way around okay so your tree is in and watered looks great and remember you need to keep it watered so it will get established so the roots will grow out and that means watering it every day soak it so it goes all the way down to the bottom of the root ball after that check it every few days and you can put your finger into the soil to check for moisture that is a great test and then next spring it will bloom prolifically and start to create that nice canopy that's going to help with that screening i can't wait perfect tree perfect place i really appreciate you know you guys coming out thank you jen thanks for having me and thank you kevin for hooking it all up great to be a part of it thanks for watching this whole house has got a video for just about every home improvement project so be sure to check out the others and if you like what you see click on the subscribe button make sure that you get our newest videos right in your feed\n"