We planted a tree!
That's the first stage of our new landscape design done!
It's a Shantung maple. Our landscape designer, Val, recommended it. She said it would be a good size for our yard as they only grow to about 25-30 feet across at maturity.
I had heard that maples don't do well here, but apparently Shantung maples are different. They are from a part of China that is similar to our climate and soil conditions. They can handle full sun and heat, as well as cold, and even our alkaline clay soil. So Val assured us that it would do well here. She has one herself that is quite healthy looking.
I did have doubts though when I read that they need consistent watering. We are sometimes away for long periods. But John did not think that would be a problem since he is developing a drip irrigation system for our yard that should go on working even when we are away. He is doing a beautiful job creating the system. I just hope the technology is as reliable and as easy to maintain as he expects.
Anyway, a week ago last Friday we went to Metro Maples in Fort Worth, TX. Getting it home in our car was an adventure. We put both the front right seat and the back left seat down and laid the tree down with the bucket in the back of our small hatchback. The trunk and branches went up through the middle of the car. It was even touching the dash. I sat in the back right seat. Somehow we got it all the way home without breaking any branches. Sorry we didn't get any pictures. John said it would have been the most interesting part of the whole process!
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We got the variety called "fire dragon" for it's red Fall color. There is also a variety that has yellow leaves in the fall but John preferred the red. Of course being late Fall here the leaves have all fallen off for the winter.
It was a 15 gallon size. (I just measured it and the height now that it is in the ground is 93 inches (7.75 feet) tall.)
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Figuring out how far from the side walk to plant it.
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Before we planted it we did a perk test. That is, we filled the hole with water and waited and measured the water level frequently to see how long it took for the water to drain out.
It took over 13 hours to drain! Val said anything over 2 hours would indicate poor drainage. So it seems we have very poor drainage.
I wish we had known that before we bought the tree. The staff person at Metro Maples (MM) asked us if we had good drainage. At the time we thought we did since we had never noticed a problem. I wonder what she would have said if we had known how really poor it is. We might have decided to pick a different kind of tree. We'll never know of course!
Anyway, Val didn't seem too worried. She said it mainly means we don't need to water as often. But I wish we had done the test before buying the tree.
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Here is the hole the next morning after the water finished draining. The leaves blew in over night. John only dug part of the hole deep enough for the perk test as he needed to get back to work after our trip to buy the tree.
(I tried to take a picture when we first filled it with water but my phone battery went dead and I had to recharge it and then I forgot to do it later when it was more charged. I really need a new phone!)
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| John digging the rest of the hole out so we can plant the tree. |
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A few roots from our old ash trees were in the way. Here John is removing one with his sawzall (reciprocating saw).
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We cut the bucket off the maple because
there was a root coming out of one of the holes at the bottom.
Unfortunately it broke despite our best effort to save it. |
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| We added two inches of expanded shale to the bottom of the hole. Val said that would help even out the moisture by improving both drainage and moisture retention. The two small brown tubes going across the hole are part of the drip irrigation system John created. |
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| Here (and the next picture) John is loosening the root ball a little. That is important to help the tree roots to reach out properly. Otherwise they might end up growing round in a circle like the shape of the pot they were in and eventually strangling the tree. |
The tree was a little root bound in places. It was kind of scary since Val said breaking roots can have long term consequences for the tree! We did end up breaking a root in the process. My friend Susan, who is a master gardener, said not to worry about it. She said the tree would be ok. It's interesting how every gardener has strong opinions that often contradict other gardeners!
Then we had the "fun" of getting it to the right level and position. First we had to stand back and make sure we had it straight and turned the way we wanted it.
And then we had to get it to the right level. Deciding what the right level was was the hard part! MM said the top of the root ball should be 3 inches above grade. Val said in her printed instructions that the same grade as it was in the pot was best. But when we told her what MM said, she said we could go an inch above grade. She thought that three inches was much too much. Most other experts said in their tree planting guides that the top of the root ball should be level with the grade. We ended up splitting the difference between Val and MM and did about one and a half inches above grade. Now I wish we had done it even higher since it will likely settle. And we could have just added mulch around the root ball.
My friend Susan said that more than 3 inches would have been better! See what I mean about gardeners having different opinions! John wondered if maybe since all these experts have different opinions maybe it doesn't matter as much as they think it does. The main thing that they all agree on is that the point where the trunk meets the root ball must never be below the level of the surrounding soil!
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"Watering it in" before mulching around the root ball.
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More watering after mulching it. Notice mulch is kept away from the base of the trunk. That is another thing all gardening experts agree on--never put anything around the base of the trunk!
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We did a few other steps including adding compost ("top dressing") around the outside edges of the root ball once it was in place before mulching and applying something called Seamist root stimulator after mulching.*
Here it is the next morning. I was standing a little off center when I took this photo. It really is centered between the two left windows.
*Please note: this account is not meant to be a complete tree planting guide!
