text: Calgarytrees Planting
  Planting a Tree in the Calgary Area Overview
  http://www.alberta1call.com/
  You need to protect your plant in transport. Handle it by the container and don't lift it by the trunk. If you're driving down a highway or windy road, protect the leaves and twigs from wind damage. Even evergreens need this protection. The container should be moist when you receive it and you need to keep it damp and shaded until it's planted. Don't remove it from the container until you're ready to plant.
  Assuming the root ball is moist, remove the tree from it's container and check to see if it is root bound – that is, there seems to be a great mass of roots around the outside of the root ball. If so, you should make an effort to liberate some of these by pulling them free of their tangled mass or cutting them with a knife. However some trees resent this treatment (i.e. Pines and Aspens) so be careful and err on the side of caution. Most containers will not be root-bound so try to disturb their soil as little as possible. Place the root ball at a height so that the previous height of the soil (in the container) corresponds to the new height. This is very important! Fill in around the site with your amended soil mixture and water thoroughly. After the water has settled out, add more soil as required. With larger trees you may step on the soil to compact it but this may be too much force for smaller plantings. Anyway you need to be sure that the soil is moderately compressed around the plant. Finally cover the top two inches of soil with a bark mulch. The purpose of this is to prevent grass and other weeds growing right at the base of the tree or shrub – or ornamental grass. For the first two or three years the plant needs to be protected from competition for water and nutrients.
  Ideally new plantings should be moderately watered every second day for the first ten days. Then they should be watered every week. As a rule of thumb, you should provide a volume equal to the previous root ball volume weekly. If you're okay with inorganic fertilizer, sprinkle a half-cup of 20-20-20 slow-release fertilizer (not the water soluble type) on the soil surface around a larger size tree at least 30 cm from the trunk. Use a small proportion for smaller trees and shrubs. It's important not to use too much. Fertilizer should be applied in the spring or summer – not after the first of August. If you prefer organic fertilizers, you still need to apply them on the surface and not too close to the base of the tree or shrub. A pile of the stuff is okay as long as the base of the tree or shrub is not affected. As the season ebbs and your plant prepares for dormancy, consider a moderate application of water or additional mulch so that the soil firms up as a moist lump for winter. Staking If you stake your tree be sure to use a soft tie to the trunk the tree. It should not need to be secured just supported. A loose rag works well. Wire or twine can damage the bark and do more harm than good. Pruning Resist any pruning for the first or second season. After that it is important that the plant is 'adjusted' so that its mature structure will be healthy. If you know what is required then this is the time. Otherwise the Starburn Nursery offers a complete pruning service during the dormancy period. This could include corrective pruning for other trees on your property and instructions of how to do moderate trimming yourself. Some plants should be pruned when they are dormant and others should not. In any case, for the best outcome, it is important that a tree gets some pruning within the first few years. This is less critical for shrubs but still important to achieve a full and healthy structure.