[Arid_gardener] Planting trees

[Cathy.Rymer at chandleraz.gov]

Hi Bruce,

Thanks for your question.  Native trees are your best choice for your 
location in Marana.  These include Palo Verdes, Mesquites, Acacias, 
Ironwood and several others.  They are resistant to pests and diseases, 
require little maintenance and of course need less water.  You probably 
have compacted soil but may not have caliche.  A caliche layer will be 
impervious to water.  Dig a hole and fill it with water - if it doesn't 
drain within 24 hours you have a drainage problem. 

The reasons trees fail in winds is because they are staked improperly, are 
pruned into little 'umbrellas', are watered incorrectly or were planted 
wrong to begin with.  For the best success in planting follow these tips.
1) Water the area where you plant to plant the tree about a week ahead of 
time.  Allow the water to soak into the soil at least two feet.  This may 
require letting the hose trickle slowly for several hours or overnight. It 
's best if you moisten a wide area and have the landscapers loosen this 
soil before they plant.
2) Dig a hole in the center of the loosened area where you intend to 
locate the tree.  The hole should only be as deep as the container of the 
tree and should be a little wider than the container.  Tree roots will 
extend in a wide area around the tree, but seldom grow deeper than 3 feet.
3) Remove the tree from the container.  Gently massage or loosen the roots 
on the sides and bottom of the rootball.  You can also use a utility knife 
to cut 1/4 inch lengthwise down the rootball in 3 or 4 places and across 
the bottom. 
4) Place the tree in the hole.  The soil of the rootball should be level 
with the surrounding soil.  Planting too deeply will cause decline and 
death.
5) Backfill with native soil.  Do not add amendments (mulch, potting mix, 
etc.)  Research has shown that trees establish better when planted this 
way.  Use mulch as a 3 - 4 inch  top dressing on top of the soil.  Just 
don't pile it up against the trunk.
6) Remove the original nursery stake.  If necessary, use two 2-inch wooden 
poles to stake your tree.  Place the poles outside the rootball.  Tie 
loosely using a piece of garden hose and wire (or equivalent), allowing 
the trunk to move slightly within the ties.   The tree's trunk will become 
strong only if it is allowed to move a bit in the wind.
7) Do not prune the tree at planting.  In fact, leaving small lower 
branches on the tree will help strengthen the trunk.  Each green leaf is 
making food for the tree which it uses to grow.  Next year you can begin 
removing lower branches as long as you don't remove more than 25 percent 
of the foliage in any year.
8) Water well.  Because your soil will be moist (see No. 1 above) the 
small tender roots will be less likely to dry out.  As new roots grow they 
will extend into the surrounding soil that you have loosened.  Don't 
overwater.  The key is watering deeply to a depth of 3 feet each time. 
Water deeply every 3-4 days for the first two weeks.  Water every 6-7 days 
for weeks 3 and 4.  By then it will be June and you should water every 7 
days or so through the summer.  By fall extend your watering interval to 
once every 10 days.  This winter you should only need to water once a 
month. 

You may need to run your drip system for several hours to deliver the 
amount of water your tree needs.  One gallon of water moistens about 1 
cubic foot of soil.  If you plant a 15 gallon tree you will need to 
moisten not only the rootball, but surrounding soil as well.  As your tree 
grows you will need to move the emitters out to the dripline instead of 
next to the trunk.  Moist soil is more unstable than dry soil and if large 
trees are irrigated next to the trunk they are much more likely to blow 
over.

The University of Arizona planting guidelines can be found at 
http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/garden/az1022.pdf

I hope this helps.  Please let me know if you have any questions, I'm 
happy to help.

Cathy Rymer
Certified Arborist
Certified Landscape Irrigation Auditor
Master Gardener

>>>>>>>>
Bruce
85658
Bruce.Chandler at tmcaz.com

Hello,

My wife has hired landscapers to native plant trees.  They built a box 
area about 10 feet by 10 feet out of cemet blocks--it is nice, but I told 
my wife to be sure and tell them to break up the cliliche (sp) before she 
has them plant the tree, otherwise the tree won't grow properly in the 
space.   It is very hard and difficult to dig in our yard, and I know that 
they won't do it unless we insist.   Other trees in our yard, in fact the 
entire neighborhood have blow over--trees that were five years 
old--because the landscapers just seem to have made a small hole (ground 
is very very hard) and roots have fanned out and not in the ground.  Can 
you comment on this please?  I'm afraid that they trees will not take 
proper root.

Cheers!

Bruce
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://CALS.arizona.edu/pipermail/arid_gardener/attachments/20080418/91d54e0f/attachment.html