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Tuesday, 29 July 2008 06:01 |
Trees can be broken down into three main parts: the roots, the
leaves and the woody structure between them. The roots" function
is to bring raw materials-water and mineral salt dissolved in
water-to the tree. The leaves absorb carbon dioxide from the air
and use the sun"s light energy to combine this gas with the
moisture from the roots, thus making the simple sugars that are
the basic nutrients of the tree.
The trunk, limbs, branches and twigs hold the leaves in position
to receive the life-giving sunlight and air; they also act as
transportation, carrying raw materials between roots and leaves.
The materials absorbed by the roots are pulled up by capillary
attraction and the osmotic action induced by evaporation of water
from the leaves. Loss of water through the leaves is called
transpiration.
On a summer day, a single birch tree may transpire 700 to 900
gallons of water. It is this enormous flow of water that causes a
continuous flow of sap from the roots to the topmost twigs.
In planting or transplanting a tree, and in building on a lot
where you wish to preserve the trees, the gardener"s chief
consideration must be to protect the root structure of the tree.
The big roots near the stem anchor the tree to the ground, while
the fine root hairs at the ends of the rootlets absorb the water
from the soil.
The stem or trunk of a tree has three parts: the bark, the wood
and the pith. The pith is the central part and around it is the
wood. Between wood and bark is the cambium, a thin layer that
produces new wood and bark. When the cambium ring is severed, as
by a wire cable, the tree is killed, and since the cambium
protects against insects and disease, anything driven into it can
wound the tree severely.
Outside of man himself, trees have countless enemies.
There are 200,000 known kinds of insects that attack trees, in
addition to diseases such as blight, rust and rot, storms and
droughts. Luckily, birds help to keep caterpillars, borers,
beetles and other insects in check.
About the Author
Paul Curran is CEO of Cuzcom Internet Publishing Group and
webmaster at Trees-and-Bushes.com, providing access to their
nursery supplier for a range of quality plants, trees, bushes,
shrubs, seeds and garden products.Visit their trees section
to find a great selection of trees for your garden |
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Wednesday, 19 March 2008 23:00 |
In planting or transplanting a tree, and in building on a lot
where you wish to preserve the trees, the gardener"s chief
consideration must be to protect the root structure of the tree.
The big roots near the stem anchor the tree to the ground, while
the fine root hairs at the ends of the rootlets absorb the water
from the soil.
In planting trees, their mature height and spread must be
considered before a selection is made. Tempting as are the
nursery catalogs, it is necessary to choose carefully, especially
on the average lot, because crowding spoils the growth and
appearance of trees, particularly specimen trees.
In general, it is wisest and most economical to plant young
trees. Planting a mature tree is difficult and, if done
professionally, costly. If, however, a mature tree is badly
needed for a terrace or for screening, it may well justify the
expense. What you are buying is the time it takes a smaller tree
to mature.
Today you can plant trees when in full leaf with the aid of new
wilt-proof sprays that seal the leaves against moisture loss
until the roots are established. This, however, costs money and
entails greater risks than buying your tree and planting it in
early spring( the best time) or late fall or winter.
If you are planting a tree over 6 feet tall, it will suffer less
setback if moved with a bur-lapped root ball. The soil
preparation described in the previous chapter is helpful for most
tree and shrub planting. But since the root system must have
fertile soil when it is planted, special steps must be taken.
Dig a hole 2 feet deep and at least 1 foot wider each way than
the full spread of the roots. The bottom of the hole should be
broken up with a pitchfork and thoroughly mixed with peat, leaf
mold, loam, etc. Manure should be used sparingly and only on the
top of the hole as it burns the roots.
The deeper you can cultivate your hole, the better for your tree.
Once it is planted, you can cultivate around it but not under the
roots. If you strike a subsoil of building rubble or clay, which
you are very apt to find anywhere near a house and in which a
tree cannot grow, this subsoil must be removed and good soil, or
better still, garden humus, substituted for it.
If you are planting a seedling that is not balled and burlapped,
you will want to protect it by "heeling in" a vacant flower bed
where it may be kept before planting as long as dormant. This
means laying it on its side and covering the roots with good
soil. When you take it from the soil, give it a mud bath or
"puddle" it.
Puddling protects the roots from exposure to air before planting
and also from any air pockets which may exist after planting.
Having filled the hole to the depth required by the roots of the
plant, flood it with water to settle the soil at the bottom; when
this has drained away, place the tree in the position in which it
is to grow and settle the soil about it.
Use a stick or shovel handle to work the soil around the roots,
and make cer tain there are no air pockets. Spread the roots out
naturally, planting the tree at about the same depth as in the
nursery or its former location. When the hole is two-thirds full,
trample it down and again fill with water. Don"t firm down the
remaining soil, so that the water will drain towards the trunk.
A balled-and-burlapped tree is one dug with a solid ball of rich,
heavy loam in which it has been growing in the nursery for years,
its root system thus amply covered and protected. The ball is
firmed and held in place by a secure covering of twine and
burlap.
To plant it, set the tree in a hole a trifle lower than it stood
in the nursery. Work the soil beneath this depth, as directed
above. Dig the hole about twice the size of your ball and plant
at once. If the ground is dry at planting time, fill the hole
with water and let it soak away before planting.
Cut the burlap at the top when you put the ball in place, rolling
it back 3 or 4 inches. Plant ball, burlap and all—the burlap will
soon rot away. If you are planting a big tree, it is transported
in a truck, lowered to the ground by winches, rolled along a
plank track on rollers and maneuvered into the exact center of
the hole on a single board.
A holding rope from the truck to the base of the tree trunk helps
to position the tree. After the tree is planted, cutting back is
proper. Cut back sharply at least one-third, pruning the
branches. It is necessary to brace the tree with wire ropes so
that the roots will not be broken by the wind.
Use a single wire around the trunk and three guy wires. For the
first year after planting, the more cultivation the better Keep
weeds away, too, with straw or mulch, and strawy manure mulch in
the spring and fall will help keep the moisture in the ground.
About the Author
Paul Curran is CEO of Cuzcom Internet Publishing Group and
webmaster at Trees-and-Bushes.com, providing access to their
nursery supplier for a range of quality plants, trees, bushes,
shrubs, seeds and garden products.Visit their trees section
to find a great selection of trees for your garden |
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Thursday, 15 November 2007 23:00 |
How to Transplant Trees
by LeAnn R. Ralph
975 words
With a little patience and tender loving care, you can easily transplant small trees that you have found growing in a ditch or that are growing on one part of your property but that you would like to move to another part of your property.
Spring is the best time to transplant trees. Transplanting in the spring will allow the trees to develop more roots before winter arrives again and they go dormant.
Here are 10 steps for transplanting trees:
1. Identify and select the trees you would like to transplant. Smaller is better, although if they are too small (seedlings that are only a few inches high), their chances for survival are less. Over the last 10 years, my husband and I have discovered that the best sized trees for transplanting range from six inches to two feet tall.
2. Fill a bucket or another container half full of water. It is very important to keep the roots of the tree wet between the time you dig it up and the time you transplant it, even if you are digging up the tree and moving it immediately. Trees cannot seem to tolerate their roots drying out, even if it"s only for five minutes.
3. Dig carefully around the tree using a spade or a shovel. Remember that there is as much tree below ground as you can see above ground. In other words, if the tree is 10 inches high and the branches all together from side to side measure 20 inches, that means the tap root is 10 inches deep and that the other roots spread out from around the tree at least 10 inches on each side. The wider and deeper you can dig around the tree, the less likely it is that you will be cutting roots. If you can avoid cutting too many roots, your tree will stand a better chance of surviving.
4. Put the tree in the pail of water after you have dug it out of the ground.
5. Dig a hole where you want to transplant the tree. Make sure the hole is big enough to accommodate the length of the tap root and the width of the other roots. For good measure, you might want to put manure in the bottom of the hole so that the tree has some fertilizer. (You can buy dried manure in bags at garden shops.)
6. Pour water into the hole before putting the tree into the hole. This will ensure that there is plenty of moisture at the tip of the roots.
7. Place the tree in the center of the hole. Keeping the tree level, put dirt back into the hole around the roots.
8. Leave a shallow depression three or four inches deep all the way around the tree instead of mounding the dirt up around the trunk. When it comes time to water the tree, if you leave a shallow reservoir around the trunk, the water will have a chance to soak in right by the tree instead of draining away.
9. Pour several gallons of water around the tree after you have planted it. Transplanted trees need more water than other trees to help them get over the shock of being moved.
10. Water your transplanted trees regularly during the summer and early fall. For larger trees, give five gallons of water. For smaller trees, give one to two gallons of water. Water your trees every other day if it is dry where you live or if you have drought conditions. If it is raining regularly (1 to 2 inches per week or more), water two or three times a week. Continue watering throughout the first year and the second year. After the trees have become established, you will not have to water them as much, and eventually, you won"t have to water them at all.
Observations about transplanting trees:
1. If you transplant a deciduous tree after the tree has leaves (oak, maple, or other trees with leaves), and the tree loses its leaves, do not give up hope. We have transplanted small maple trees with leaves that immediately lost their leaves. A couple of weeks later, the trees sprouted new leaves and went on growing as if nothing had happened.
2. Trees that are watered regularly grow faster than trees that do not receive as much water. A few years ago after we had transplanted a couple of maple trees, I missed one (couldn"t see it in the tall grass around it). I watered the other trees I could see, but the one I couldn"t see got left out. In the fall, I discovered the tree I had missed, and I noticed that over the summer, the other trees had grown much more than the one which did not receive water.
3. If you transplant a pine tree and the needles turn brown, that"s it for the pine tree. None of the pine trees we have transplanted that turned brown have ever come back.
4. Be careful about digging up trees to transplant that are not on your property. In the state of Wisconsin, for example, it is illegal to dig up anything that is in a state park or is growing in the ditch along a road that runs through a state park. And of course, if the trees are on someone else"s property, make sure that you receive permission from the landowner.
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Are you looking for a good book to read?
LeAnn R. Ralph is the author of the books "Christmas in Dairyland (True Stories from a Wisconsin Farm" (trade paperback 2003); "Give Me a Home Where the Dairy Cows Roam" (trade paperback 2004); "Preserve Your Family History (A Step-by-Step Guide for Interviewing Family Members and Writing Oral Histories" (e-book 2004). You are invited to read sample chapters and to sign up for the free monthly newsletter, Rural Route 2 News -- http://ruralroute2.com
About the Author
Are you looking for a good book to read? LeAnn R. Ralph is the author of the books "Christmas in Dairyland (True Stories from a Wisconsin Farm)" and "Give Me a Home Where the Dairy Cows Roam" -- http://ruralroute2.com |
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