Tree Planting Services
Plant trees that thrive — expert selection, placement, and planting by certified arborists.
$150 – $1,500
per tree, including selection, delivery, and planting
2–6 hours
average for residential properties
Post once. Local tree pros are notified the moment your job goes live and bid directly — no per-lead fees.
What Tree Planting includes
- Species selection for your zone and goals
- Site assessment (soil, drainage, sunlight)
- Tree sourcing and delivery
- Professional planting with proper depth and mulching
- First-season care instructions
When you need it
- Replacing a removed tree
- Adding shade, privacy, or curb appeal
- Property restoration after tree loss
- Fruit tree or specialty species installation
- HOA landscape requirements
What to expect
- Certified arborists match species to your site conditions
- Larger caliper trees cost more but establish faster
- Spring and fall are optimal planting seasons in most climates
- Proper watering the first 2 years is critical for survival
How GivingStump works
- 1
Post your job
Describe what you need — free, takes 2 minutes
- 2
Get competing bids
Local certified arborists send proposals with pricing
- 3
Hire the best fit
Compare bids, reviews, and credentials — then choose
Why GivingStump
- Verified before you can hire
- Real reviews from real homeowners
- $0 homeowner fees — contractors pay only on wins
What tree planting actually involves
Almost every failure of a newly planted tree is decided in the first hour it is in the ground, and the two most common causes are planting it too deep and picking a species that was never going to work on that spot. The digging is the easy part.
1.Right tree, right place — most of the job
Before anything is bought, the site sets the constraints: how much room the tree has at maturity both above and below ground, what is overhead, how far it is from the foundation, the septic field and the boundary, how much sun it gets, how the ground drains, and what the soil actually is. A species that fits the space in twenty years is worth more than one that looks right in the pot.
2.Inspecting the root ball before it goes anywhere near the hole
Container-grown stock frequently has roots circling the inside of the pot; left as they are, those roots keep circling and eventually girdle the trunk. They need to be teased out or cut. Nursery stock is also very often potted or balled with soil above the root flare, so the first job is to find the flare — the point where the trunk widens into the first roots — because that, not the top of the root ball, is what has to sit at ground level.
3.Digging wide and shallow
The hole should be several times the width of the root ball and no deeper than the root ball is tall, so the tree sits on undisturbed ground and cannot settle. Roots spread outward far more than they go down, so width is what helps. In clay, the sides of a machine-dug hole can glaze over into a slick wall that roots struggle to cross; roughening them up solves it.
4.Backfilling with the soil that came out
Filling the hole with rich imported compost creates a pot in the ground: roots stay in the good stuff and circle rather than pushing out into the surrounding soil, and the tree never establishes. Backfill with the native soil, firm it enough to remove air pockets without compacting it, and water it in.
5.Mulch as a ring, never a volcano
A layer of mulch spread outward across the root zone conserves moisture, moderates temperature and keeps mowers away from the trunk. Piled against the bark it does the opposite: it keeps the bark permanently wet, invites decay and rodents, and encourages roots to grow up into the mulch and around the trunk. Keep it clear of the trunk itself.
6.Staking only if it is needed, and only for a while
A tree that can stand up on its own should be left to. Movement is how a trunk develops taper and strength. Stake only where the root ball genuinely cannot hold the tree, use a wide flexible tie, and put a note in your calendar to remove the hardware — forgotten ties girdle trunks, and it is one of the most common ways a well-planted tree is killed years later.
7.Water is the entire first two years
Establishment is a watering problem, not a fertiliser problem. Water slowly and deeply at the root ball itself, where the roots currently are, rather than sprinkling the surrounding lawn. Frequency depends on your soil, weather and species — the reliable method is to check the soil at root-ball depth and water when it is drying, not on a fixed schedule.
What drives the price of tree planting
A planting quote is mostly the tree, the handling and the site preparation. The labour of digging a hole is a small part of it, which is why "I could dig that myself" rarely changes the number much.
- The size of the stock
- Trunk caliper drives the price of the tree and everything about handling it. A large balled-and-burlapped root ball is extremely heavy and may need machinery just to get it to the hole.
- Species and availability
- Common nursery species cost less than something that has to be sourced specially or brought in from a distance. Ask for two or three suitable options rather than fixing on one name.
- How the tree gets from the truck to the hole
- A path a wheelbarrow or a machine can use is one price. Carrying a heavy root ball through a house, up steps or across a lawn that must not be marked is another.
- What the ground is like
- Compacted builder's subsoil, heavy clay, buried rubble or rock all turn a straightforward hole into site preparation, and sometimes into drainage work before anything is planted.
- What is included beyond the planting
- Mulch, staking, a watering bag, soil amendment, removal of an old stump or root plate, and irrigation are all separate line items. So is a survival warranty, where offered — read what it requires of you before relying on it.
- How many trees
- A single tree carries the whole trip. A row of them shares it, which is why planting several at once is usually far better value per tree.
Before you book
- Have buried utilities located before any digging is scheduled — in the US, 811 is the free call-before-you-dig service.
- Work out the mature-size constraints: overhead wires, distance to the foundation and driveway, the septic field, and the property line.
- Test the drainage yourself: dig a hole roughly a spade deep, fill it with water, and see whether it drains away or sits. A spot that holds water needs a species chosen for it, or drainage work.
- Know your hardiness zone and be honest about how much sun the spot really gets across the day.
- Decide who is going to water it, and how, for the first couple of years. This is the question that decides whether the tree lives.
- If you are replacing a removed tree, ask whether the old stump and root plate are still in the ground and plan to offset the new tree.
- Ask what a warranty covers, what it requires of you, and how long it lasts.
On the day
- Expect the crew to spend a surprising amount of time on the root ball and the flare before the tree goes in. That is the part that matters.
- Check with your own eyes that the root flare is visible at or slightly above ground level when they are finished.
- Check that the mulch is a flat ring with the trunk clear, not a cone piled against the bark.
- If it is staked, ask when the stakes and ties come off, and write the date down.
- Get the watering instructions in a form you will actually follow, and start the same day.
Is tree planting the right call?
Planting is worth paying for when
The tree is large enough to be awkward to handle, the site has real constraints, or you want species selection you can rely on. Most of the value is in the choosing and the placement, not the digging.
Get a consultation instead when
The real question is what will grow here, or why the last three trees died on that spot. Compaction, drainage and buried rubble are diagnosable, and planting a fourth tree into an undiagnosed problem is expensive.
Smaller stock is often the better buy
A smaller tree suffers less transplant shock, establishes faster and frequently overtakes a much larger tree planted at the same time. Paying for size buys you an instant effect, not a better tree.
After a removal
If a stump was ground, the hole is usually full of grindings, which make a poor rooting medium. Have the grindings taken out and the hole backfilled with topsoil, or plant offset from the old trunk position where the old root plate is not in the way.
Compare with consulting and tree trimming.
Tree Planting FAQ
What tree species should I plant?
Species selection depends on your USDA hardiness zone, soil type, available space, and goals (shade, privacy, fruit, wildlife). Your GivingStump arborist will recommend 2–3 options suited to your site. The constraint people forget is mature size — both the crown against overhead wires and the roots against a foundation or a drive.
When is the best time to plant trees?
Fall (after leaf drop) and early spring (before bud break) are ideal. Dormant trees experience less transplant shock. Container-grown trees can be planted most of the year with proper irrigation, but summer planting puts the whole burden on your watering discipline.
How do I keep a newly planted tree alive?
Water deeply 2–3 times per week for the first growing season. Apply 3–4 inches of mulch around the base (away from the trunk). Avoid fertilizing the first year — focus on root establishment. Water at the root ball itself rather than the surrounding lawn: for the first year or two that is where all the roots still are.
How deep should a tree be planted?
The root flare — where the trunk widens into the first main roots — should be visible at or just above ground level when the job is done. Nursery stock is very often potted or balled too deep, so the flare has to be found rather than assumed from the top of the root ball. Planting too deep is the most common way a new tree dies slowly, and it can take years to show.
Should I buy the biggest tree I can afford?
Usually not. A large transplant loses more of its root system relative to its crown and spends longer recovering, while a smaller tree establishes quickly and often catches up. Buying size buys an immediate effect. If the effect matters to you, that is a legitimate reason — just do not assume the bigger tree will be the better tree in a decade.
Should I amend the soil or fertilise at planting?
Backfilling with the native soil is the standard advice, precisely because a hole full of rich imported compost encourages roots to circle in it instead of growing out into the surrounding ground. Fertiliser at planting does not help a tree that has no roots to take it up — water and mulch do far more in the first year.
Does a new tree need staking?
Only if it cannot stand on its own — in an exposed site, with a small root ball relative to the crown, or in loose soil. Trees left to move develop stronger, more tapered trunks. If it is staked, use a wide flexible tie and take the hardware off once the tree is anchored; ties left on will eventually cut into the trunk.
How far from the house should I plant a tree?
Far enough that the mature crown clears the roof and any overhead wires, and far enough that the roots are not driven into a foundation, a drive or a drain run. The right distance is a function of the species' mature size, not a single number, and some local authorities and HOAs set their own rules on street trees and setbacks. Choose the species and the spot together, and check locally if you are planting near a boundary or a street.
Related services
Ready to get tree planting quotes?
Post your job free and get competing bids from local arborists. No per-lead fees.
Get Free Tree Planting BidsFree to post · No commitment · $0 homeowner fees