Gravel Bed Tree Planting Series - Construction

This document provides instructions for designing, constructing, and maintaining a gravel bed for growing bare-root trees in the South.

Tree planting budgets for smaller municipalities can be small or non-existent. Larger ball and burlap (B&B) trees can be expensive, and the equipment and personnel needed to plant these trees can add to those expenses, quickly consuming a small budget. Planting smaller bare-root trees is an inexpensive alternative. In the southern United States there is typically a small window of opportunity during the winter months to plant bare-root trees from the nursery, but using gravel beds provides a solution to this deterrent.

Growing small, bare-root trees in gravel beds for less than one year allows them to form the abundant root systems they need to survive and grow quickly after being out-planted. Constructing a gravel bed is not complicated and can be relatively inexpensive.

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