Planting Trees in the Woodland
It's tree planting time here at my Bedford, New York farm.
Every year, I try to plant as many trees as I can. I feel strongly about reforestation and giving back to the earth, so the more trees planted, the better. Trees provide habitat and food for birds and other animals, they absorb carbon dioxide and potentially harmful gasses, and they release oxygen. My outdoor grounds crew has been working very hard to plant hundreds of trees in the woodland - most recently, a collection of catalpas, gray dogwoods, and maples.
Here are some photos.
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- I keep thousands of potted young trees in this area behind my stable, where they can be closely monitored and well-watered. Every year, we take stock of the inventory and decide where many of them will be planted.
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- These saplings, or young trees, were originally ordered as bare-root cuttings, which are plants that are removed from the earth while dormant and stored without any soil surrounding their roots. I order a selection every spring and then nurture them in containers for a couple of years until they are ready to plant in more permanent locations.
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- Among them – evergreens, such as these white spruce trees, Picea glauca, a species of spruce native to the northern temperate and boreal forests in North America.
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- Its needles are sharp, and stiff, and are arranged spirally on the twigs – they become pleasant smelling with age.
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- Recently, Ryan and the outdoor grounds crew began loading up the trees to start planting – some of these trees have grown quite tall.
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- This woodland area is just beyond my pumpkin patch near the carriage road to my compost piles. These catalpa trees were placed at least 20 feet apart. They prefer full sun or partial shade locations. While catalpas do best in alkaline soils, they also thrive in neutral, acidic and somewhat salty soils.
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- Catalpa, commonly called catalpa or catawba, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae, native to warm, temperate, and subtropical regions of North America, the Caribbean, and East Asia. Catalpas develop a beautiful, symmetrical and rounded habit when they are given plenty of space to grow.
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- The leaves of the catalpa are about eight to 12 inches long and heart-shaped. They are also thick, firm, dark green on top and downy on the underside.
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- This is the leaf of a gray dogwood tree. Its leaves are opposite, ovate to lance shape, and taper to a pointed tip. The lateral veins are evenly spaced and tend to curve. Gray dogwood is very adaptable and excellent for naturalizing, especially in difficult sites, such as pond and stream banks.
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- The gray dogwood is a slow grower. It grows less than 12-inches per year, but it is also easy-to-care for and can tolerate dry soil.
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- Fertile flowers of the gray dogwood produce globular, ellipsoid shaped drupes, four to eight millimeters in diameter which start off green and turn white in the fall. Each flower stalk turns to a conspicuous red as the fruits form and mature.
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- Birch tree leaves are triangular or egg-shaped with a rounded base, pointed tips, and serrated margins.
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- One can also recognize birch trees by the bark. Look closely and notice the long, horizontal marks called lenticels. As it grows, the tree will develop strips of peeling bark that can be white, gray, or yellow.
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- As each tree is planted, it is also fed with a good quality tree fertilizer. Remember, if you eat, so should your plants and trees.
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- And each tree is also well staked with bamboo and jute twine. Notice how the twine is secured – I always teach every member of the crew to twist the twine before knotting, so the tree or vine or cane is not crushed or strangled. I like to tie the twine in a figure-eight formation. Each piece is tied just tight enough to keep the tree secure, but not break it.
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- Here is a grove of growing maples. Acer is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. There are more than 130 species of maple, most of which are native to Asia, with a number also appearing in Europe, northern Africa, and North America. Most maples are deciduous woody plants, ranging from multi-stemmed shrubs to large upright trees with massive trunks.
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- Maple trees commonly have leaves with pointed lobes and with deep indentations between the lobes.
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- Up the carriage road is an area planted with evergreens. When planting these trees always select evergreens that tolerate the sunlight options in your garden: full sun, partial sun, partial shade, and full shade.
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- All spruce varieties are in the genus Picea, a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae. This one is already well-established with lots of room to grow.
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- I can’t wait to see all of these trees flourish around my farm. I hope you can go out and enjoy some of the trees near your home, or plant a tree in your own backyard.
Martha Pins
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