Abstract: An apparatus and method for preparing sites for planting tree seedlings, and more particularly establishing mounds on the ground surface formed of soil scooped from the ground. The apparatus may be of the pull type having a pair of scoops and scoop operators for moving the scoop through a ground penetrating and mound depositing cycle. A control times the cycling of the operations so that the mounds formed during a constant movement in the forward direction are arranged in two lines and wherein the mounds in the two lines may be in a staggered relationship. The apparatus has rear wheels and a front towbar. Actuators are provided for moving the wheels up or down relating to the frame and also moving the towbar so that the height, as well as the fore and aft tilt, of the frame relative to the ground can be varied to control the depth of penetration of the scoops. The wheels also have actuators which allows adjustment of the tread of the wheels.