Best time to plant trees
What is the best time of year to plant a tree?
It would be nice if the correct answer were anytime. Perhaps the best investment or addition you can make to your property is planting a tree.
Whenever you plant new trees, you’ll be greatly rewarded with a living organism that purifies your air, creates bird habitat, beautifies your grounds and adds monetary value to your home. For those reasons alone, any time is the best time to plant a tree.
The right answer
Unfortunately, “any time” isn’t the right answer. Investing in tree planting can be an expensive proposition, and you want to make sure you have the optimum return on your tree investment.
You want your trees to quickly establish in their new environment and have the best chance for a long, healthy life. The time of year that you plant your new trees makes an enormous difference in whether they'll prosper or perish.
Different experts have differing opinions on the best time to plant trees. Their opinions differ because of the location you’re at and the type of tree species you intend to plant. Different American locations have vastly different growing conditions.
Those locations dictate what tree species will flourish or fade away. Selecting the right tree species is equally as important as picking the proper planting time if you want survival success.
The best time to plant trees in San Diego is different from the best time to plant fruit trees in the deep north and from the best time to plant evergreen trees in the far east.
Use the United States Department of Agriculture Climatic Zone Guide
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the go-to source for your guide on local climatic zone conditions. You can easily access the USDA PLANT HARDINESS ZONE CHART by entering your zip code on their web page. The guide will list your region’s frost dates, which you can transfer to your calendar for planting parameters. This will give you the latest fall date and the earliest springtime that is most ideal for planting trees.