Seth Westberg
3-6-2011
Plant it Right the First Time
As most of us all know, there are many great things that come from having trees around. We get clean air, rain water interception, increased wild life, and having just the looks of the trees are very beneficial. Most people want to have trees on their property and like the fact that they planted their own tree in their yard. There is just one thing about tree planting, it needs to be done right. Most people think they can dig a hole and place the tree in it and everything will be all good, when in fact there is a science behind planting that tree.
Most people think that planting a tree lower in the ground is the best thing so the tree can’t blow over. This is actually about the worst thing you can ever do to a tree. Trees need to be planted at a certain depth when you dig your hole. Trees should be placed so that where the root flair and stem junction is right at ground level. If the tree is planted too high the roots can’t get nutrients and water out of the soil as they normally can. If a plant is planted too low, this is asking for early tree death. When trees are planted too low the roots try to get back up to where they normally would be in the soil, normally within the first six inches of the surface. When the roots come up they can create a serious problem called “girdling roots”. This is when the roots encircle the stem of the tree and cut off the growth and flow of nutrients. If this happens it is not normally caught in time to save the tree. The tree ends up dying sooner and can’t reach its full growth and ends up needing to be removed costing lots of money.
Once you have the tree placed at the right level in the soil there is still ongoing maintenance needed to keep the tree healthy. Trees need to be watered a lot to encourage vigorous growth and have a good start. Young trees should be watered at least three times a month during the growing season. Hand watering from a garden hose is normally the easiest way to get the trees the water that is needed. For each inch of tree stem there is requires five minutes of watering. This means for example, if a tree is two inches in diameter that requires 10 minutes of watering for the tree three times a month.
There is also another thing that should be looked at when planning a tree. You should look at the branches and make sure they are not broken. If branches are broken they should be pruned off properly to prevent diseases and insects can’t infect the tree. This can make sure the tree is in proper health to get off to a good start to its young life.
Trees are great to have and many benefits can come of having them around. There is small little things you can do to make sure they stay around for a long time and acquire the full benefits that a tree may offer.
http://www.coopext.colostate.edu/4dmg/Trees/caring.htm
2 comments:
WOW! Here I thought trees grew like weeds this whole time! Burry a pine cone and you get a pine tree, burry an acorn and an Oak will appear. This information will definately come in handy this summer when I am planting my back 40. We are converting an old farm field to trees, christmas trees to be exact! What depth and tlc do these kind of trees need?
So enlightening! Great job covering every aspect of tree planting and giving and a ton of detailed information. When it comes to watering, you said that every inch of tree stem requires 5 minutes of water... do you know how much water that amounts to? It would completely change depending on how high your hose's water pressure is.
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