The Big Dirty

A Novices Guide to Tree Planting

As a young Scout I had the good fortune to plant trees on the east side of Riding Mountain. Many years later while working in the area I was able to locate the area where we had planted and marvel at the forest that was growing in the rough pasture.

The instruction we received was “ stick in your shovel and before you pull it out, put in your seedling”. It was a good thing we were planting trees by the hundred because our success rate was pretty low. If you are planting trees and want to be successful here are a few tips that will increase your odds.

Keep your tree moist,

Never let your trees roots dry out well planting. Roots take up moisture by osmosis, they have no control over evaporation and when left in the sun they will dry out quickly and die.

Dig a big hole.

Always make sure you loosen a large area of soil to allow your tree room to grow. A good hole is wider than deep. The depth depends on your root ball, or root depth if you are planting bare root trees. Your roots should never bend up out of the hole like a “J”. The roots should spread out on the bottom like an upside down “T”

Use the soil you took out of the hole to back fill the the tree

Mixing a little of the soil from the root ball into the back fill encourages the roots to venture beyond the root ball and into the planting site soil.

Make sure the sides of the hole are not glazed.

If you rough up the edges of the planting hole you will have more success and less circling roots. Digging with spade or a power auger can result in a glazed, root resistant planting site.

Never plant your tree too deep.

Make sure the first branch is well above the original soil surface and the first root is at or just slightly above the original soil level. You can lay your shovel across the top of your planting pit to make sure you are above grade. Tree roots seldom grow upwards and planting too deep is often a slow death sentence.

Cover your roots well.

Place the soil around the tree once you plant it and gently push it into place to reduce the amount of air around the roots.

Water your trees after planting.

Watering trees right after planting sorts out the pore spaces in the soil and ensures that the roots will be in contact with soil moisture. This greatly increases the chances of survival.

Ask your Certified Arborist

Arborists are experts in tree selection and tree planting, a quick consultation will help to ensure your success. If you are ever driving on Mountain Road you may catch a glimpse of my “ Trees for Tomorrow !”

Subtle Art

Pruning trees and shrubs is a subtle and evolving art.

While we could spend many pages debating the intricacy of bonsai or the angles of espalier, we should focus on everyday pruning.

Many times when I have properly pruned a tree a client will comment “it hardly looks pruned”. I always take this as a complement, and will explain the cuts and the rationale behind each one. When I first took my tree pruning license, the rule of thumb was no more than 33% of the crown in any one pruning session. Although it was a while ago that I took my tree pruning exam and I'm sure I wasn't number 007, I did have a license to prune. Fortunately most of the pruning was done by hand and the amount of over pruning was limited by your own strength.
It matters little if you use a bucket truck or climb the tree if you do not have a sound knowledge of the tree and its growth habits and the results of pruning it. Modern equipment increases the potential to do great harm to trees.
The 33% maximum amount pruned has been reduced to 25% and this is stressed as the extreme maximum. On more than one occasion I have suggested that the tree should be removed if you really don't want any of the branches or leaves on it. Truthfully there are some trees that are in the wrong place and may need to be removed. However if you love trees and see the great benefit that they provide, a small amount of pruning will help these giants to live with you.
Returning to the problem of over pruning, if your tree ends up looking like an ancient Greek statue you probably have missed the point when it comes to pruning. The amount to prune is always a concern for the skilled arborist. Many times potential clients will suggest doing radical cuts and extensive pruning that would undoubtedly result in damage or death of the tree. Unfortunately people seem to think that by over pruning they can get better value by avoiding future cuts. I call this the “ pound of flesh “ concept, as in “If I'm gonna spend the money, I want to see a pound of flesh”. This logic would work if you were carving stone or chopping concrete into small rocks. Trees are living dynamic organisms that contribute ascetically to our environments. The living tissue you remove is essential to the tree to create and store energy. Unfortunately the more you prune the more the tree will respond by putting out new and often uncontrolled growth. Any amount of pruning injures the tree and will create a response from the tree, managing these responses is the real art. One should always discuss the reasons for pruning and the expected results at great length with their arborist before you decide to prune. Once you have removed a branch it will never grow back and restoring form may be difficult.
Prune little, prune often is a better strategy in the long run. A few select sell placed and performed cuts will always be better for your pocket book and for your trees.

Sex and the Sycamores

While you may not be able to grow sycamores or ginkos in your garden, some understanding of the complexities of tree gender expression may help to avoid messy problems in your yard.

I used to enjoy visiting a friend's verdant garden in Brentwood. She would walk around pointing out the new trees and shrubs assigning genders more or less randomly. “ That viburnum she's not happy, he's shading her out” and then my hostess would point up to the large box elder that towered over the viburnum. Judging by the seeds on the box elder I knew this wasn't entirely true. When in this situation there is much to be learned by simply listening. After a few visits I discovered that more than assigning genders, my host was personifying the trees as they were literally part of her family.

Trees express gender in a variety of ways. Typically genders are assigned by the presences of male or female flowers. Male flowers produce pollen and female flowers produce seeds. If it were that simple this would be a very short article.

Flowers on trees and shrubs can be male, female or both. In which cases the plant would be better referred to as an “It”. To further complicate matters some species of trees have individuals with only male flowers, clearly “He” trees. The same species will have trees with only female flowers, clearly “ She” trees. This same species will have a small percentage of trees that have male and female flowers on the same individuals, clearly “It” trees. Given that this may account for up to 15% of the individuals of the species it is clearly not a random mutation, rather a part of the overall genetics of the species.

While this may be a surprise, you won't have to go far to find these strange exotic trees.

Ash trees, maples, and yes sycamores all have this type of gender expression. It can be a nuisance and even an major problem if you have a seed bearing tree in an area where the seeds are not welcome. Some trees, like crab apples can be down right dangerous when they are to close to walks or patios. Slipping and falling on decomposing apples can be more painfully than getting stung by a wasp disturbed from its apple sauce dinner. If you have ever had the misfortune of stepping on the ripe fruit of a ginko tree

you will remember the pungent odor. Fortunately plant breeders have used their knowledge of plant anatomy to develop varieties that are based on male cultivars.

This ensures that you have the landscape tree you want without the seeds that may cause trouble. “Baron” maple is a good example of a seedless male cultivar of Box elder.

If you are planning on planting trees this spring, consult your certified arborist they will help insure you get the best tree for your location.

Shrub Pruning 3 Technique

In the first part of this article we discussed the correct timing of pruning on most trees, shrubs and dwarf conifers. The second part of this article was dedicated to choosing the correct tools for pruning small trees and shrubs In this article we will discuss the techniques used in correctly pruning small trees and shrubs.

Terminology for pruning

Before we continue we should have a basic understanding of a few of the terms used to describe the basic anatomy of shrubs. Buds are dormant plant parts. Inside each bud is a complete bud or flower. Buds are described based on their position on the twig. Terminal buds are located at the end of a twig and lateral buds are located below the terminal bud on the sides of the twig. Buds can be arranged opposite each other on the twig or in a zig zag pattern alternating sides along the twig. The location where each bud or group of buds is located is called a node. The piece of twig between the buds is called the internode.

Techniques for pruning

As a general rule pruning cuts should take place just past the node, at a distance equal to the width of the twig. Cutting to close to the node will damage the bud and cause die back. Never cut in the middle of the internode. Cutting in the middle of the internode will result in an unsightly stub that will die back and may be an entry point for disease or insects. Two broad terms for pruning are heading back and thinning out.

Heading back is best described as when you indiscriminately reduce the size of a shrub to conform to a preset size or shape. For instance you may want to prune your carragana hedge into a 4ft by 3ft box. You would accomplish this by using a power shear to cut back the twigs in a uniform fashion. The carragana would quickly sprout a bushy broom on each tip and cover up the unsightly cuts that would result. The problem with heading back shrubs and hedges with this method is that eventually you end up with an umbrella of dense foliage at the tips of each leggy stem and little else below. Formal hedging often requires that you vary your technique by occasionally thinning out the dense canopy by cutting a series of windows in it to allow light and air to penetrate the inside of the plants.

Thinning is a more sustainable method of pruning that involves selectively removing branches back to the appropriate unions with other branches. As you can imagine this isn't done with a power shear. When thinning a hedge you need to determine your over all goal, say thin by 25% or open the hedge up every foot or so. You would then go through the hedge and cut out dead diseased and crossing branches back below the canopy by a foot or so every few feet. You would also remove healty branches back to the appropriate unions in selected locations. You could do this after you sheared it and still keep your formal look with a few small gaps. The hedge will respond by putting out new growth inside and below the existing canopy layer. Over time this method would allow you to reduce the overall size of the hedge without having it end up looking thin or over pruned.

Thinning is the method of choice when you want to maintain a shrub at a certain size and have a more natural form. When pruning shrubs in this style take a tip from your carpenter. Cut once - measure twice. You may notice that a tape measure was not included in my list of tools. You need to step back take a look at the shrub and measure with your eyes. Cut a bit and then step back and view your progress. Before removing larger branches give them a shake and see how they relate to the rest of the plant. Then remove that large branch in stages checking the form of the plant as you go. Once you have made your choice reach into the center of the shrub and cut the branch just slightly above the node of an outward facing bud. This will allow new growth to move away from the center of the shrub and avoid crowding. If you have a hole to fill in the shrub prune back to above a bud that faces the hole. Make a few cuts and then step back and have a look. Eventually you will reach a point that looks good to you then stop. If the shrub is viewed from multiple angles be sure to look at it from all sides. You can make the cuts at an angle if you wish, a clean cut at any angle is best.

Rejuvenation pruning is an extreme form of heading back that can be valuable when dealing with shrubs in mature landscapes. Over time some shrubs will become two leggy and unmanageable. You see this often in older gardens. One radical method of saving old plants is to rejuvenate them. Lilacs are the classic example of this. Lilacs need to have the older branches removed to allow the new growth to flourish. You can do this by removing the older stems back to 6 inch stubs. You leave any new shoots to take over. Typically you would remove 1/3 of the older shoots per year. In three years you will have all new shoots and a much invigorated plant. You will lose some flowers in the first few years and be rewarded with a bounty in the years to come.

A note of caution

Some plants are susceptible to diseases spread by pruning tools. Members of the rose family like cotonea aster and mountain ash should be pruned with sterile techniques to prevent the spread of fire blight. Black knot of cherry is another disease easily spread by unsterilized tools. The solution to this problem is dousing your tools with alcohol between cuts. Cut sterilize, cut sterilize and sterilize between plants.

Pruning Shrubs Part II - Tool Kit

In the first part of this article we discussed the correct timing of pruning on most trees, shrubs and dwarf conifers. To recap that article, generally the best times to prune trees and shrubs are when they are dormant or just after flowering. The best time to prune dwarf pines like mugos, is while they are still candling. In this article we will discuss the

selecting and using the correct tools for pruning.

The old adage “ the right time to prune is when the saw is sharp” probably doesn't tell the whole story but pruning with dull tools is always a disaster.

The bests results come from professional-quality tools that are in good condition.

Most professionals use hand bypass pruners and pole pruners day in and day out. Bypass pruners work like scissors with two sharp blades opposite each other passing each other to making a clean cut. Anvil pruners bring the sharp blade down onto a flat surface, damaging the bark causing die back at the point of pruning.

For cuts up to ½ inch a pair of sharp hand pruners works best. Bypass loppers are over sized hand pruners that will cut branches up to 2 inches in diameter.

Loppers are sized to fit in between hand pruners and pole pruners and often stay on the shelf while the latter two tools do all the work.

A bypass pole pruner will work on overhead branches between ½ an inch and 1 inch. They also can be used for cutting low branches without bending over. For most homeowners 3 small 4 foot poles will be enough for shrub pruning. They are easier to fit in the trunk of your car as well.

Interchangeable saw heads can be attached for tall branches or removed and used as a hand saw to cut branches larger than one inch that won't fit into your pole pruner. Professional pole saw blades are readily available and will fit wooden hand saw handles as well.

Good tools will literally last you a lifetime so take the time to ask questions and get professional grade tools. Contact your certified Arborist for more information on shrub pruning and watch for the third part of this article dealing with pruning techniques.

Shrub Pruing Basics, Part 1, When to Prune

Landscapes make our houses into homes. Trees and shrubs not only contribute pleasant feelings to our surroundings they add up to 15% to the value of your property.

It often takes several years for newly planted shrubs to establish and then before you know it they are on their way to becoming leggy overgrown monsters.

Most shrubs will appreciate even the smallest amount of pruning and reward you with rejuvenated foliage and more abundant buds.

Time to prune

The first key to correctly pruning your shrub is to know what you are growing. Proper identification is essential to correctly prune your shrub. Many shrubs flower on last year's growth and if you are pruning yearly you may never get flowers. The classic example of this is the lilac. Shrubs like these should only be pruned immediately after they bloom to ensure a good set of flower buds for next year.

In contrast to the old wood flowerers some shrubs only bloom on this years new growth. These shrubs should be pruned before the growing season begins.

As with so much of nature there are shrubs that don't fall into either of these categories and flower from both last years growth and this years growth. These typically flower later in the growing season and can be pruned while dormant or right after blooming.

Pruning Chart

Location of Flowers	Best Time to Prune	Typical Plants
Last Years Growth	Right After Flowering	Lilac Forsythia Saskatoon
New Growth	Before Growing Season	Clematis Spirea Hydrangea
New and Old	Right After Flowering or While Dormant	Potentilla Rose Mock Orange

There are some shrubs that we grow primarily for foliage, like red osier dogwood, elderberry, willows, and barberry. This group should generally be pruned in the winter season before growth begins. Moose prune their dogwoods in the winter and so should you.

Most conifers like spruce, juniper and cedars can be pruned at anytime with the exception of pines. Pines are best pruned in early summer when the new growth is emerging. These long shoots known as candles can be cut or pinched off at the half way point and the shrub will set new buds for future growth. If you prune pines after the shoot has fully elongated and you will be left with a half shoot. Without buds on the end it will loose its needles and leave you with a dead stick.

Contact your certified Arborist for more information on shrub pruning and watch for the second part of this article dealing with tools and techniques.

Yule Log Lore

This time of year abounds with tradition and folklore. Trees and tradition are always of interest to certified tree people!

The yule log is a tradition that traces its roots back to northern Europe including England and the Scandinavian countries. This time of year is also the approach of winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. With the shortest day comes the longest night. In Pre Christian times the Yule log was lit to celebrate the end of the long dark nights as days would be getting longer.

Pope Julius the 1st realigned the Christian calendar in the fourth century AD, to celebrate Christmas around the winter solstice. The tradition of the Yule log was adopted and continues in many countries to this day.

The basic tradition is as follows:

The family gatherers a log from their property, traditionally Oak or Ash. You could be given a yule log but never purchased. It is brought into the fireplace and decorated with evergreen boughs, cider, ale or other aromatic oils. The log was then set ablaze and allowed to burn throughout the night. Some traditions will have it burn for twelve days. The burning of the Yule log always indicated the start of the Christmas festivities. English tradition has it burning from Christmas Day through to Epiphany on the Sixth of January. Other traditions include a prohibition of labor during the burning of the yule log.

An unburnt piece of the log was kept until next year and used to start the following year's yule log to maintain continuity.

While the log was burning family and friends would gather round to sing carols and reflect on the year past. As in the Scottish New Year's Song “Auld Lang Syne”, personal faults, mistakes and poor choices of the year were thought to be consumed by the Yule log flames to be forgotten and forgiven.

Variations on the Yule log theme abound, tenant farmers would gather bundles of ash sticks tied together with ash binding or ribbons by unmarried maids. Once lit, the first bindings to break would indicate the first girl to be married the following spring.

In American Appalachian country the tradition of “ Back Stick” called for a very large log to be soaked in a stream to ensure a long burn time. This ensured that the party and celebration was long lived as the revelry was permitted to continue until the fire went out.

Urbanization has led to the adaptation of this tradition. I still have a candle holder that my nephew gave me that is a modern variation on the Yule log. Made from an oak limb, 12 inches in length 4 inches in diameter, split in half, this table top log adds rustic beauty to your celebration. Three holes are drilled in the round side of the log to place candles. The log is decorated with Holly leaves and evergreen boughs. The candles have various symbolism's and are lit on Christmas Eve. French traditions create an edible Yule log of wrapped sponge cake that allows celebration when you can't start a fire!

Cherish and enjoy your own holiday traditions and have happy safe New Year!