Daily Dose Blogger Bios
Planting Trees - Do You Dig?
Cindy Weaver from Cleveland, Ohio writes:
I just bought (OK, my husband bought) 9 trees; 2 Autumn sunset maples, 6 King Crimson and one Japanese maple. We have to plant them ourselves. Do you have any suggestion? Thanks for your help.
I hope Cindy has lots of room, because her husband purchased some serious trees! All except for the japanese maple are going to be over 50ft high. And they have 9 of them! This is a good number of trees to start out with... if you're planting trees in a park. In a home, you want trees that will stay in scale with the size of your house - you can check out a list of residential tree suggestions... just follow the link at the end of the post.
As for planting trees - it's all about the big hole. Dig a big, deep hole, and make a mound in the center of that hole to place the plant on. Place the tree on the mound, fill the hole up with soil, and tamp it down firmly. Now here is the key to planting a successful tree, and it's counterintuitive - the tree should sit very high in the hole. About 2 inches above the soil grade. Yes, I know, you've just dug your butt off, and now I'm asking you to put all the dirt back in the hole and leave the top two inches of tree root sticking out of the soil? Exactly. Lightly cover those 2 inches with mulch - the tree should look like it's coming out of the top of a tiny volcano. This allows for some natural settling of the freshly planted tree. Now gently give your new friend a nice, long drink... and whatever you do - don't make a little moat around the baby tree and fill it with water. Whoever started that bit of nonsense was just starting trouble. All that gets you is a sunken tree.
Let's all wish Cindy and her husband luck with their maple orchard - because no matter what, they are planting trees, and that benefits all of us. So thanks, Cindy!
Okay, it's not that I hate big trees - it's just that they will grow too big for most of our houses, casting too much shade and making things dark and moody. Smaller trees, properly spaced, will give our homes a good amount of shade without making it seem like there are vampires in residence. A mature 30ft is good for most of us looking to plant trees on our smallish urban/suburban lots. If you have a mansion in Greenwich, Connecticut, by all means - plant the big boys.
My choices:
Cercis canadensis 'Forest Pansy' - a real looker, this one. Glossy red heart-shaped leaves unfurl in early spring, right after a show of delicate flowers. Stays beautiful until leaf drop in the autumn... and even then, it has nice branches.
Koelreuteria paniculata (Goldenrain tree) - everybody loves this tree. It's truly a great tree -a show stopper. Plant this tree, and your forsythia will seem prosaic in comparison.
Japanese Stewartia (Stewartia pseudocamellia) - I wish I could use this tree! It is really lovely. The bark alone is worth planting the tree for - it's camouflage ... one of my favorite colors.
Mimosa (Albizia julibrissin) - A tree that literally drips with beauty. It has a vase-like shape, ferny leaves, and pink powder-puff flowers. This tree is a Tennessee Williams heroine.
Japanese Black Pine (Pinus thunbergii) - This is a sculptural wonder. It looks windswept, like a pine tree clinging to the side of a cliff - but it's right in your back yard, being picturesque.
Geijera parviflora (Australian willow) - this is my hands down, all-time favorite tree. It looks weepy, but not wimpy. When the sun hits it, it shimmers. It is the perfect size for home gardens - but I really don't want it to become over used, so don't plant it... well, if you must.
Thank you for sharing this basic, yet often overlooked, piece of wisdom...plants in scale with your garden. We live in an old house, and the trees planted way back when tower over us...dropping pine needles, leaves, and other assorted tree accessories into the gutters and on the driveway and all over the cars. Pruning is really difficult too. I'm hoping my next house will have trees more in scale and manageable with the rest of the garden.
By the way, thank you for posting those photos of the Santa Ana skies a few weeks ago. I've never seen anything like that before, and it was fascinating! :)
Your comments are greatly appreciated, simone - thank you for taking the time to post! It's funny, but to most people a tree is a tree and they are good things - until you move into a house with 75ft trees towering over your roofline - sycamores, in my case. The pruning costs START at $100 a foot!
When I first came to Southern California, I landed in the middle of fire season, and the hills right across the freeway from my school were fiercely ablaze. The fires at night were so dramatic, scary, and beautiful at the same time - it was a very appropriate welcome to Los Angeles.
Hi Ivy-
So, you're from Texas. Do you miss the vegetation? Is it that different in California?
Hi Cathy-Doll!
San Antonio, my hometown, is in the south Texas hillcountry ... gentle, green rolling hills full of creeks and rivers. The humidity is a killer...this summer when I was in Austin, it hit 102F, but I swear if felt like120F! And it freezes in the winter. L.A. is hot, yes, but usually dry, and it almost never freezes in the LA basin, which makes it a great place to plant a huge variety of natives, exotics, whatever you want...
and I want!