Planting trees doesn’t require a long list of well-honed skills. But there are a few things to keep in mind, and chief among them is timing. Trees really benefit from a fall planting, so if you’re thinking about adding some trees to your land, now’s the perfect time.

Hole Lotta Love

To plant a tree, your first consideration is, obviously, digging a right-sized hole. Take a look at the pot your tree is growing in. You’ll need to dig a hole about twice as wide as this pot to provide plenty of room for the roots to spread out.

But how deep does your hole need to be? In this case, more is definitely not better. In fact, you don’t want a hole as deep as your pot is. Dig a hole about 3/4 of the depth of your tree’s pot, leaving about 2 to 3 inches above ground.

You’ll mound dirt up to this level, rather than backfilling it in to a recessed space.

Read more: Should you plant potted or bare-root trees? We consider the pros and cons of each.

Feed the Tree

Before putting the tree into this right-sized hole, I like to drop about 1 cup of all-natural fertilizer into the bottom. I’ll also top-dress the planting after it’s in the ground to provide nutrients as it becomes established and grows.

This may not be necessary, and you can opt against it. But I like to provide these extra nutrients when I plant my trees.

Removing the Tree for Planting

Don’t just pull the tree out of its pot to stick into the ground. Lay the tree down, then mash around the container with your hands. Why is this important? Well, doing this helps any roots stuck to the container come free.

Jerking the plant out of the container without doing this could harm these roots when you take the tree out.

Once you’ve got the tree roots worked free of the pot, you can remove it from the container. Then, massage the root ball with your hands to loosen the roots and ready them for the hole.

Now your tree is ready to go into the hole. To see this process and learn what comes next, check out the video above!