It’s Easy to Plant your American Holly Tree
Select a site with full to partial sun and moist or well drained soil for your American Holly tree. If you’re planting a hedge, mark out a visual guide by placing stakes five to six feet apart and looping string around them. Plant the trees where the stakes are and they’ll grow together to make a dense privacy screen. First, dig each hole so that it is just shallower than the root ball and at least twice the width. Then loosen the soil in the planting hole so the roots can easily break through. Use your shovel or try dragging the points of a pitch fork along the sides and bottom of the hole.
Next, separate the roots of your American Holly gently with your fingers and position them downward in the hole. The top of the root flare, where the roots end and the trunk begins, should be about an inch above the surrounding soil. Then make sure the tree is exactly vertical in the hole. To make it just right, use a level.
As you backfill the hole, apply water to remove air pockets. Remove debris like stones and grass and completely break up any dirt clumps. Water your American Holly tree again after the transplant is complete. To help retain some of that moisture, it’s recommended that you place mulch around each tree to a depth of 2"-3" up to but not touching the trunk. Organic mulches such as wood chips or pine needles also help to better soil structure as they decompose.