Tree planting mistakes have consequences

Young trees that failed to thrive

A lady from my hometown in Nebraska writes a daily newsletter. Today she mentioned some trees that were planted 15 years ago in a small town about 60 miles from where she lives. It's interesting to learn that the trees failed to thrive because traditional cautions -- don't plant the tree deeper in the soil than it was in the pot; beware of trees with roots that circle the inside of the pot -- were ignored.

Back in 1994 they planted trees in the park that later became the swimming pool park. Only a few of those trees have really grown right. So two of the state foresters took an air spade and blew the dirt away from the roots of a Norway maple and an ash tree. Both were planted at least 6" too deep plus they were potted trees and had roots that were circling. One root was so large that it had girdled one side of the Norway maple. The ash tree roots had grown up and to within an inch of the surface of the soil and then went out from there. This is a very poor scaffolding for the tree when it is windy. Neither tree was over 12" tall. The maple had stunted leaves and poor top growth. The ash had limbs only on three sides and had set a huge amount of seeds indicating it was stressed and dying. They are going to try leaving only an inch of soil over the roots and then add 2" of mulch and see if the trees are happier. (Source: Email from Carolyn J. Hall, dated 11/6/09.)

Bur oak: America's largest acorn

Mossy cup oak acorns

It's tree trivia time! Did you know that the acorn of the bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) is North America's largest native oak acorn? A very large bur oak acorn might measure up to 2 inches in length.  Most bur oak acorns are in the range of 1 inch to 1-1/2 inches in length.

The bur oak is sometimes called  mossy cup oak, a name that refers to the fringe around the edge of the acorn cup. Usually, the cup covers about half of the nut, but occasionally, the cup will be so large that only the tip of the nut sticks out of the fringe. Another common name for the bur oak is overcup oak.

The twigs of bur oaks have corky ridges. If you click the photo above and enlarge it, you can see ridges on both sides of the twig, giving it an irregular, thickened outline.

The acorn in the photo is growing on a bur oak that my husband planted. In the fall, he gathered fallen acorns from the big bur oaks at his childhood home in Independence, Missouri. When he got back to Kentucky, he planted the acorns in clumps of half a dozen, a few inches deep. He wasn't particularly fussy or scientific about it. A number of little oak trees came up the next spring, and he thinned them down to this one.

This tree, and several other bur oaks he planted at the same time are now about 15 years old. At 25-30 feet, they are big enough that they are becoming significant trees in our landscape. They grew slowly at first because they were establishing their roots, but now they seem to be growing two  feet or more annually. They have been bearing acorns for several years.

The bur oak, a member of the white oak family, is native to much of the eastern United States and part of eastern Canada.  It commonly lives for several centuries and individuals trees in favorable conditions may live much longer. In maturity, it may reach 100 feet in height and in spread. Many creatures of the wild enjoy its acorns and some nibble the twigs as well.

Three important things to consider when choosing a tree

Questions to ask before selecting a tree

This spring, you want to plant a tree. What things should you consider when choosing the species that you plant? Here are three important considerations.

1. How much space do you have for the tree?

The very first thing you should do is go out in your yard and determine the space you want the tree to occupy. Pound a stake into the ground at the proposed planting site to represent the tree's trunk. Tie a long string to it to represent the longest branches on the tree.

Walk the string all the way around the stake. Can you make a 20-foot circle (using a 10-foot string) without obstructions? Then you have enough room for a tree with a 20-foot crown. Can you make a 100-foot circle (using a 50-foot string)? Then you have enough room for a tree with a 100-foot crown.

Trees can be planted so that their branches intermingle, but for a tree to fully develop the distinctive shape that is typical of its species, it needs at least the space described above.

When you know how much room you have for the tree's crown, a little research will reveal trees that are the right size for the space.

2. What do you want the tree to do?

Do you want the tree to screen a view? How much shade do you want the tree to provide? Do you want the tree to provide wind protection or function as a sound barrier? Do you want it to provide bright color or interesting leaves? Are you interested in attracting wildlife?

Questions like these coupled with a little research will help you identify the best tree for you while eliminating others from the list of trees that you could plant.

3. How much care are you willing to give the tree?

Are you willing to spray your tree faithfully? If not, you should avoid species that are prone to diseases and pests. Will you have the devotion and the water to care for a moisture-loving tree in times of drought?

How do you feel about cleaning up broken branches after storms? Some of the fastest-growing trees have brittle branches that break easily. Do you mind raking leaves? Many trees that provide dense shade have lots of leaves that fall every year.

Is the tree going to send up suckers in your flower beds and the neighbor's yard? Will it seed itself profusely? Will you have the time and energy to keep suckers and seedlings under control?

If you're purchasing your tree from a nursery, the nursery staff should be able to describe any special care requirements or problems that a tree might have. Your local extension office probably has a horticulturist or arborist who can advise you. Your city may have an urban forester who can describe care requirements of the trees you are considering.

In addition, make use of the free resources your public library and the internet offer. Many excellent reference books are available. Many excellent extension service documents about trees are available online.

A single word sums up this entire post: research. Don't buy the first tree you see. Don't base your decision on the little bit of information that is provided on the tree's price tag. Do some research and make an informed choice based on your unique situation.

Grafted black walnuts vs. seedlings

Is the high price of a grafted black walnut tree worth it?

The two main reasons that people buy grafted black walnut trees are 1) bigger nuts, and 2) easier-to-crack nuts.

About 14 or 15 years ago, we decided to plant some black walnut trees. We bought a couple of grafted trees from a nursery catalog, and they arrived in good shape and we planted them.

That same spring, someone advertised in the newspaper that they had black walnut seedlings to give away to anyone who wanted to transplant them. Supposedly, the mother tree had thin-shelled nuts, so the seedlings were expected to continue this trait.

My husband went dug up several of those seedlings and planted them in the part of our yard that we call "the meadow" because it has to be mowed all the time. His idea is that if we get enough trees there, the grass will quit growing.

From all that planting, we have four black walnut trees today. Two of them are the grafted trees, and two are the seedlings from the newspaper. All of the trees are well over 20 feet tall, and a couple of them are probably close to 30 feet tall.

One of the grafted trees died back so far early in its life that we were afraid it had completely lost its graft and had nothing left but rootstock. It produced the large walnut in the photo below, so apparently it didn't die back as far as we thought. This is the first year it has had walnuts. The other grafted tree has not yet borne nuts, though it is getting fairly big.



The seedlings have borne walnuts for several years now, and each year, they bear a few more nuts. Their nuts are, true to promise, fairly easy to crack (for black walnuts.) They're as easy to crack as the nuts from the grafted tree, but they're much smaller. One of their nuts is pictured at right in the photo above.

I don't know the answer to my question: "Is the high price of a grafted tree worth it?" It probably depends on the tree that you're getting seed from. I have one observation on the topic. If you're going to harvest and use the walnuts, you can crack out a cup of nut meats faster from big walnuts than from small ones.

How to grow a black walnut tree from seed

Black Walnut leaves and nuts
Wikimedia Commons image

Black walnut trees are easy to start from seed. In a favorable site, they often reach 80 to 100 feet in height and their crowns may spread an equal distance.

Choose the planting site carefully

Black walnuts secrete juglone, a chemical that is toxic to many plants. Locate your planting at least 60 feet from any sensitive plants or garden areas.

Black walnut trees will do very well in a moist bottom area that is well drained, or on a moist hillside or upland site. They will tolerate occasional dry spells, and they accept any soil pH from moderately acidic to moderately alkaline.

If you are planting walnuts as garden trees, space the plantings about 60-70 feet apart so their crowns can develop a majestic spread as they mature. However, if you're planting black walnuts for their valuable wood, plant them about 30 feet apart so their trunks will grow long and straight.

Planting the seeds

Gather the nuts as they fall from a tree in your area, and remove the husks. Place half a dozen nuts several inches apart in a cluster, four or five inches deep. If you have squirrels, lay a piece of hardware cloth over the planting spot and pin it to the ground with v-shaped wires. Lay a mulch of straw or leaves over the hardware cloth to reduce the freeze/thaw cycles. Mark the site so you can find it again.

After fall planting and a session of damp, cold weather, the walnut seeds will germinate in the spring. Remove the mulch and hardware cloth from the planting spot in late winter, and mark the spot clearly so you don't accidentally mow over it! After the baby trees have grown for a few months, choose the best one and eliminate the others.

How to collect and plant acorns

Starting oak trees from seed

If you want to collect some acorns this fall to plant oak trees, here are some suggestions I've compiled from my own experience and from the sources listed at the bottom of this post:

1. Collect acorns soon after they fall, or (better) pluck mature acorns from the tree when you observe that the acorns are falling. Don't choose green acorns whose caps are difficult to remove -- their seeds are probably not mature. Don't bother with acorns that have lain on the ground for several days, baking in hot, dry conditions.

2. Collect the acorns in a ventilated bag that will preserve their moisture, such as a perforated plastic bag or a burlap or heavy cloth bag. Use separate bags for different species of acorns.

3. Make a note of the species and the location of the parent tree and put it in the bag with the acorns. When you get home, make a permanent record. You'll be glad you did

4. Avoid exposing the acorns to heat or to unusually moist or dry conditions that might kill the seeds. Keep them in the shade after you collect them, and put them in your refrigerator as soon as possible. Don't allow the acorns to bake in the sun, and don't store the acorns in your freezer.

5. If you're collecting the acorns for yourself, plan to plant them right away. Acorns of the white oak family will germinate soon after planting. Acorns of the red oak family will germinate in the spring. (You can store the red oak acorns over the winter, but why bother when you can plant them in the fall?)

6. Remove the caps of the acorns you're planting. Discard any acorns that are malformed, damaged, or light in weight.

7. In the place where you want your oak tree to grow, plant a group of acorns (10 or so) at a depth of about 1.5 to 2 times the size of the acorn. Keep the acorns several inches apart. Choose an open area that is free of ground squirrel activity. After the seeds sprout, you can choose the best of the seedlings.

8. Mark the spot where you planted the acorns so you won't accidentally mow over it next spring. It's a good idea to protect from wildlife damage by surrounding the area with a circle of hardware cloth (wire mesh), embedded several inches into the ground.

9. Be sure to water the spot where you've planted the acorns every few weeks through the winter, if natural precipitation is lacking.

We've had very good luck with planting acorns in the fall, soon after collecting them. It's not difficult to do. Mother Nature does it all the time. And it's a good thing to do -- by propagating the native species in your area, you help to preserve their genes.

More information on acorn collection, storage, and planting:
How to Collect, Store, and Plant Acorns
Acorn Collection and Handling Procedures
How to Grow Your Own Oak Trees
Grow Your Very Own Oak Tree From an Acorn
Planting Oaks - Restoration (includes good diagrams of wildlife barriers around seedlings)

Technorati tags: , planting oak trees, collecting acorns, planting acorns

Free Trees for Fall Planting

Ten free oak trees from the National Arbor Day Foundation

The Arbor Day Foundation will soon be shipping trees for fall planting. If you join now, you will receive ten free trees, and you should be able to plant them this fall. The membership fee is $10, and you have a choice of ten ornamentals, ten blue spruces, or ten oaks. Even if just a few of the little trees make it, the price is right.

Technorati tags: free trees, Arbor Day Foundation

Native trees for poorly-drained areas

Native trees that tolerate a high water table and periods of saturated soil

This post is written with my sister and brother-in-law in mind. They've recently moved to their new house, and they will soon be doing landscaping and planting trees.

Their house is located on a very flat acreage in southwest Missouri. The building site is part of a large flat prairie that extends for several miles (or more) in all directions. I don't know the exact soil type, but it is a clay-like soil, rather than a sandy soil. All in all, it would be considered a poorly-drained, slow-to-dry site.

Here are some native trees of Missouri that might do well for them.

Larger trees to plant farther from the house
The following trees are resistant to wind and ice and will tolerate poor drainage:

• Kentucky coffeetree (Gymnocladus dioicus)
• American elm (Ulmus americana)
• Common Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis)
• Bitternut hickory (Carya cordiformis)
• Shagbark hickory (Carya ovata)
• Common honeylocust (Gleditsia triacanthos)
• American hornbeam (Carpinus caroliniana)
• Black maple (Acer negundo)
• Sugar maple (Acer saccharum)
• Swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor)
• Bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa)
• Pin oak (Quercus palustris)
• Post oak (Quercus stellata)
• Eastern red cedar (Juniperus virginiana)
• Black tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica)

Smaller trees to plant closer to the house
The following trees are resistant to wind and ice and will tolerate poor drainage:

• Pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia)
  
• Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida)
  
• Downy hawthorn (Crataegus mollis)
  
• Glossy hawthorn (Crataegus nitida)
  
• Washington hawthorn (Crataegus phaenopyrum)
  
• Dotted hawthorn (Crataegus punctata)
  
• Common hoptree (Ptelea trifoliata)
  
• Blackhaw (Viburnum prunifolium)
  
• Rusty blackhaw (Viburnum prunifolium)
  
• Eastern wahoo (Euonymus atropurpureus)

Trees that will make a mess
The following trees are resistant to wind and ice and will tolerate poor drainage:

• Black cherry, wild cherry (Prunus serotina)
• Prairie crabapple (Malus ioensis)
• Osage orange, hedgeapple (Maclura pomifera)
• American Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua)
• Sycamore, American planetree (Platanus occidentalis)

Trees that will tolerate poor drainage but are often damaged by weather.

• Northern catalpa (Catalpa speciosa)
• Tulip tree, tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera)
• Red maple (Acer rubrum)
• Silver maple (Acer saccharinum)
• River birch (Betula nigra)
• Cottonwood, eastern poplar (Populus deltoides)
• Red mulberry (Morus rubra)
  
• Willows (Salix)
  

Notes:
I have eliminated ashes from my list even though they don't mind poorly-drained sites. The emerald ash borer is moving across the U.S., killing ash trees, and it will reach Missouri all too soon.

Remember, there is always the opportunity to create better drainage if you want to plant a tree that needs it (such as redbuds which my sister likes.) One of the easiest ways is simply to bring in a pile of dirt (from a nearby area so the soil is similar.) Let it settle for a while, and then plant the tree on the mound.

Technorati tags: native trees, poor drainage, high water table

Staking newly-planted trees

Should I support a new tree with stakes?

Staking is unnecessary for most newly planted trees.

An excellent publication (pdf), "Staking and Guying Newly Planted Trees"," by the Cooperative Extension Service of the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources gives a few reasons why a tree may need stakes temporarily:

1. Planted in loose, sandy soil
2. Planted in an excessively windy location
3. Has a weak trunk because it's been grown inside a group of trees until now.
4. Tall and/or top-heavy
5. Overgrown in a container when purchased
6. In danger of being knocked over by pedestrian or mechanical traffic
7. In danger of vandalism

In these cases it may be necessary to stake a tree just until it grows enough roots to steady itself. The stakes should never be kept in place for more than a year, and usually they should be removed much earlier.

The ties that attach the tree to a stake can cause long-term damage or even kill the tree if they are too tight and are left in place too long. A tree that is kept staked for a long time will have a smaller trunk and a less extensive root system. In other words, it will be a weaker tree.

The tie fabric should be soft and broad, and ties should be loosely attached to minimize damage to the trunk and to allow room for growth. Avoid wire in any form, even wire that is threaded through a garden hose. The top of the tree should be able to flex with the wind, and the trunk should be able to move.

If a tree does need support, the need is greatest immediately after planting. Dig the planting hole and then drive the stakes into the ground before you put the tree in place. That way, you can avoid inadvertently damaging the tree's roots.

The image at right shows a method of protecting a young tree which will be much better for its health than long-term staking.

More suggested reading:
Staking and Guying Landscape Trees (pdf)
Staking Young Trees

Ten Reasons to Plant a Native Tree

Why native trees are a great choice

1. Native trees are naturally adapted to the climate of their area.

2. The native trees of an area are part of its history and heritage and should be preserved and honored for that reason.

3. Native trees provide food and shelter needed by native wildlife.

4. Native trees often have a greater measure of natural tolerance to local insect pests, diseases, and weather conditions thus requiring less maintenance to maintain their health.

5. Native trees have a natural beauty suited to their natural habitat.

6. Native trees help to preserve the authenticity of the landscape.

7. Native trees promote a healthy ecosystem and balance of nature.

8. Native trees are often available free of charge--yours for the planting or transplanting.

9. The planter of a long-lived native tree leaves a lasting legacy and a valuable gift to those who will follow him on this earth.

10. Planting native trees helps to preserve both local and global biodiversity.

Bare Root Tree Seedlings Often Do Well

Bare-root and twice-transplanted

Bare-root trees were planted by the thousands during the
Great Depression. (FSA/OWI photo)

When we were doing a lot of planting on our little place, we ordered dozens and dozens of bare-root shrubs from Mellinger's (an Ohio catalog that has now gone out of business, I regret to say.) We also ordered some bare-root trees from Mellingers and several other Midwest-based tree catalogs.

Also we planted a couple dozen bare-root trees that came home from school from our children's biology teacher. He got them in bulk from the state forestry department every spring and passed them out to his students.

The survival rate was not good on the free bare-root trees from the forestry department. They were just tiny seedlings -- a twig with a few strings of root. The poor little trees underwent a lot of rough treatment -- they were bundled and shipped in groups of 100, distributed at school, and carried home on the school bus before they were finally planted. However, we do have some pin oaks and tulip poplars that survived all that abuse and are fine established trees today.

We had mostly good luck with ordering trees and shrubs from catalogs. Most of those mail-order trees were shipped to us as bare-root plants. Many of the bare-root trees we received from catalogs were sturdy little fellows, nicely rooted and branched. The ones that we didn't kill by overwatering did very well and are big trees now.

The best trees were "twice transplanted", which is a good thing to look for in a bare-root plant's description. It encourages the tree seedlings to develop a dense mass of roots rather than just a few, long, stringy ones.

Twice-transplanting has been good nursery practice for a long time. For example, it's mentioned in advertisements by Herbert A. Jackson of Forest City Nurseries, in Garden and Forest magazine in 1896, "Try our Northern-grown Stock. Nursery-grown from seed and twice transplanted." An Irish newspaper, The Armagh Guardian, carried an advertisement from Coolkill Nursery in 1844: "The Proprietor Respectfully Solicits orders for the above Nursery, which contains a very extensive and general Stock of Forest Trees, all twice transplanted..."

Now is the time to order bare-root trees for early spring planting, so don't dawdle.