University of Florida

Home > Planting trees > Planting hole size and configuration > Do not dig too deeply

Do not dig the hole deeper than the root ball

Planting holes often are dug too deep because backhoes make it easy to excavate soil quickly. There would be few if any instances where a hole as deep as the one being dug in this photo would be needed. A tree was planted in this hole and it died three years later.

digging hole