Planting Trees from Musser Forests, Inc.
Tree planting continues at the farm with a group of beautiful evergreen specimens.
The outdoor grounds crew has worked very hard to plant the thousands of trees that have arrived - most recently, a collection of pine trees, spruce and red cedar trees, larch and black locust trees, sargent crabapples, dogwoods, sweetgums, and one of my favorites - bald cypress.
They all came from Musser Forests, Inc., a Pennsylvania-based company specializing in conifer and hardwood seedlings and transplants. Many of the bare root trees were potted temporarily while their root systems develop, but a lot of young trees were also planted directly into the ground back in the woodlands of my farm, where they can thrive under forest cover. Enjoy these photos.
-
- I’ve bought many trees from Musser Forests Inc. over the years and have always been very pleased with their specimens. http://www.musserforests.com
-
- The Equipment Barn was transformed into a giant potting shed for this tree-planting project. Ryan carefully removes the bare-root cuttings from the boxes, and groups them together in sizable containers.
-
- Well-packaged bare-root cuttings arrive with moist roots and, if any, bright foliage.
-
- The root portion of the plants are immersed in water, so they can soak well – doing this gives the plants a better start.
-
- The cuttings are also kept in their bundles, so they are easily identifiable when potted.
-
- On the left are Sargent crabapples and on the right are rhododenrons. These came to us as small potted seedlings, which we will repot into larger vessels.
-
- My farm is more than 150-acres, so there is ample room to plant all the trees. Many will be planted directly in the woodland.
-
- While others will be potted and allowed to develop further before being transplanted. We had so many trees come in, we had to order more plastic pots!
-
- The crew has developed a very well-paced production line for getting everything potted up quickly and efficiently.
-
- Healthy bare-root cuttings should not have any mold or mildew on the plants or on their packaging. The branches should be mostly unbroken, and roots, rhizomes, and other parts should feel heavy – not light and dried out.
-
- Wilmer concentrates on potting the hundreds of evergreens that arrived from Musser. We always use composted manure and soil in all our garden beds and in these pots.
-
- Wilmer keeps the cutting centered in the pot as he fills it with soil.
-
- And then gently works the soil in and around the roots.
-
- Finally, he lightly tamps the soil around the roots, so there is good contact.
-
- Fernando loads the potted specimens onto the dump truck, so they can be transported to a temporary location where they will remain until they are bigger to plant in the ground.
-
- Some newly potted trees are also transported by wheelbarrow – here is Dawa moving a load of seedlings.
-
- Once they are potted, they’re brought to this parking area in front of the main greenhouse – it is the best location, so their development could be closely monitored. These are bald cypress. Bald Cypress trees, Taxodium distichum, like lots of water and do not mind the occasional flood. They especially need generous moisture in late spring when their leaves appear, and in the fall prior to going into dormancy.
-
- Many of you know, I have bald cypress trees lined up along the carriage road across from my clematis pergola – they are such beautiful trees.
-
- Ponderosa pine, Pinus ponderosa, is an evergreen tree that may get up to 165-feet tall and has a soaring straight trunk topped by a relatively small crown. The majestic pines are native to North America and are common across the United States in mountainous terrain and high plateaus.
-
- Austrian pine, Pinus nigra, is a coniferous evergreen prized as a bonsai or landscape specimen for a generally symmetrical canopy and smooth outline. Austrian pine rarely requires pruning, but young specimens sometimes need shaping.
-
- These are Sargent crabapples, Malus sargentii – highly ornamental trees. This small, showy tree usually grows no more than eight-feet tall with a rounded canopy that spreads 10-feet or more. In spring, the tree features clusters of deep pink buds that open into fragrant, white flowers.
-
- This is one of two pairs of Sargent crabapples that I have planted outside my Tenant House.
-
- American red pines, Pinus resinosa, is also called Norway pine. is a large evergreen tree that can reach heights of more than 125-feet tall, but averages only 60-80 feet tall with a rounded trunk and symmetrical oval crown. Each year a new set of encircling branches is grown.
-
- ‘Boursault catawba’ rhododendron is a medium-sized, dense, broadleaf evergreen shrub that has large, glossy, dark green leaves. Like other rhododendrons, this will thrive in a site with part shade and moist, acidic, highly organic soil that is perfectly drained.
-
- There are now thousands of tree seedlings potted and kept in this area in front of my main greenhouse.
-
- They are all organized by type and kept in sectioned rows for easy identification.
-
- Other seedlings are already being planted into the ground. Phurba is planting some in what we call the “triangle” in the woodlands.
-
- They are very small now, but in time, if they are in good condition, the plant should do just fine.
-
- Phurba digs a hole wide enough so the roots aren’t crowded or bent and as deep as the root system, usually twice as wide as deep.
-
- Phurba places the seedling into the hole and backfills the hole firmly.
-
- Each tree was individually planted with consideration to its eventual size, growth habits and needs.
-
- If you look closely, the outdoor grounds crew planted many trees – these are Eastern red cedar trees. Eastern red cedars, Juniperus vinginiana, are also known as juniper, savin evergreen, cedar apple and Virginia red cedar. The trees are shaped like a pyramid or column with grayish to reddish-brown bark. The foliage is blue-green to green and needlelike.
-
- For added support as it develops its strong root system, Chhewang plants a stake next to each tree seedling and ties it to the tree.
-
- I think it is very important to plant every tree seedling with a stake to protect it from machines, such as the weed whacker in summer, and the plow in winter. I know all these trees will be very happy here at the farm.
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
