This will make any freshly transplanted specimen tree practically assured to survive and it will look great year after year and flourish in your landscape. These instructions are something it is advisable to read before you let any landscaper, garden center, or tree nursery sell you something.
1) You should never plant the tree to deep. Trees need oxygen just like you or I do, once you pile extra dirt over the roots you will be lowering the quantity of oxygen that may get to the roots. Some trees tend to be sensitive to this than others; Maple trees are incredibly sensitive to being planted to deep. It is better to plant several inches above ground level and mulch around it.
2) You shouldn’t pile mulch or dirt on the trunk. Certain parts of the tree are designed to remain below the ground and certain areas are intended to be above ground. When you heap a lot of mulch or dirt surrounding the trunk you are putting a section of the tree that was intended to be above ground, below ground. This will induce the trunk to decay and your freshly transplanted tree to perish. Mulch around the tree but leave about one inch separation between the trunk and the beginning of the mulch
3) You should not let the rabbits kill your tree. Rabbits have always been my arch enemy when it comes to trees. In the winter, when they get hungry and there is little to eat they will resort to ingesting the bark off your tree. They will eat a nice ring all the way around your tree, killing your specimen tree every time. Nurseries, Garden Centers, Tree Farms and Landscapers, will not warranty a tree that has animal damage. Put a piece of corrugated pipe surrounding the base of the tree for the winter to keep the critters away.
4) Get some root stimulator with Mycorrhizal Fungus in it. This fungus thrives in nature where there is a normal underground ecosystem. The fungus attaches to the roots and generates nutrients and moisture to the tree. There is a symbiotic association between the roots and the fungus. When you plant a new tree there is not any of this fungus in the ground given that the fungus has to be joined to the roots of a tree for it to survive. The bottom line without getting in too much detail is, get it, it works! Use it in the spring for better results. You can implement this on your plants as well; give your complete landscape a little boost for the season.
5) An excessive amount of water will kill your tree just as easily as too little water. There is no hard and fast rule on how much to water, non the less, you cannot afford not to water your tree incorrectly. This is the number one reason new trees die.
See more concerning transplanting trees at the Milwaukee garden center website.