When you buy trees from a nursery, days or weeks before you buy them they will have been lifted from the soil in which they grew, and then ‘heeled in’, which means they’ve been stored in sawdust, loose soil or some other medium to stop their roots drying out.

This is common practice, and it’s not bad for the trees, as long as the roots haven’t been allowed to dry out at any stage, which can kill the tree. It’s worth checking the trees thoroughly before you buy.

Read the article in Winter – Week 2