Tree Tips
Plant a tree and do your part in the effort against worldwide deforestation. Choose Arbor Day, the last Friday in April, and celebrate the grandeur of trees together with the whole country.
Why Do It?
Nothing is better for combating Global Warming than planting a new tree. It's an act that will still be doing the planet good when your great-grandchild is saying hello to her first grandchild!
Option 1: Plant a tree in your own backyard with inexpensive saplings sent to you by the Arbor Day Foundation. They'll help you select the right trees for your region and send you 10 trees for a small membership fee. http://www.arborday.org/
Option 2: Or if you don't have enough space in your own area, have Trees for a Change plant seedlings in National Forests that have been destroyed by wildfire, insects or disease. http://www.treesforachange.com
12/28/2009: ECP Staff writes: "Mulch encircling a tree in your yard or a community park is a great look, but the real benefits accrue to the tree and not its admirers. Three or four inches of mulch ringed around your tree will provide a tree of any age with nutrients while also increasing water availability, inviting helpful insects, and deterring pests. Mulch should be applied as widely as the branches of the tree extend (to the dripline), but you should leave a couple of inches bare near the trunk itself. Wood chips, leaves, and all sorts of tree waste make a good and natural choice for tree mulch, but raw grass and plant material can be problematic, smothering or inviting infectious agents to the area around the tree. You can also shape your circle of mulch into a catch basin, with raised edges on the outside to make a bowl shape toward the center, in order to increase the amount of rainfall brought to the tree's roots."
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01/05/2010: ECP Staff writes: "What's a tree worth to you? Perhaps you've never seen a poem as lovely, but when you get down to the nitty-gritty of personal finances and global climate change, a more practical calculation would be nice. The National Tree Benefit Calculator offers just that. Obviously, it's a rough calculation, but the quick and simple interface gives you a nice way to quantify the value of trees living or to be planted on your curbside space in front of your home or office. How much heating and cooling demand does a particular species reduce? How much money can you save, and how much value does it add to your property? The calculator also looks at the runoff pollution a tree will eliminate and the amount of carbon it will sequester. In part, it's just a fun little way to look at your home anew, but it's also a great tool for planning a new tree planting project."
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12/30/2009: ECP Staff writes: "One uncertainty that arises when pruning our trees is whether or not to cover the exposed part of the tree where a cut was made. Of course, small cuts will heal themselves over just fine, but what about the open wounds we get when cutting off large tree limbs? For a long while, the common belief was that it was best for the tree trimmer to use tar or some other asphalt-based sealant to seal the wound and prevent infection or infestation. However, most arborists now advise us to simply let the tree do the healing work on its own, supported by good watering and mulching habits. If anything, your local nursery will have a non-petroleum derived product that will be better from every perspective."
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12/29/2009: ECP Editor writes: "Pruning your trees can improve both their shape/aesthetics and their health. Any tree's natural response to pruning, as with most any plant, is invigorated growth. The reason is that pruning removes sub-optimal branches and leaves that were supported by the tree's root system, leaving a surplus of resources for the rest of the tree to benefit from. Whether you are pruning branches or limbs for the health of the tree, aesthetic reasons, or for public safety the rule of thumb is close but not too close. You want to cut a large limb back nearly to the trunk, but not so close as to injure the bark of the tree's core. With a branch that you simply want to prune back, do so nearly to the next offshoot or bud on the branch, but not snug up against it. In this way, you give the tree space to callus over (woundwood), and prevent infection, as with any of our own wounds.
When you have finished pruning, consider chopping the pruned branches down further and leaving them in place at the base of your tree as an ideal component of the tree's supply of mulch. Just be certain to remove any diseased portions."
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12/26/2009: ECP Staff writes: "There is all that preparation, all the fuss and anxiety for weeks leading up to the event and then with all suddenness Christmas is over! With the presents all unwrapped, you've recycled the wrapping paper or set it aside for next year's use. So now what do you do with that Christmas tree? Fortunately, there are increasing numbers of choices for your noble pine's last role in the holiday season, all of which make the choice of a natural tree preferable to artificial Christmas trees.
In fact, around 93% of American Christmas trees are recycled each year, and you may have curbside municipal pickup that will take care of it responsibly. Most of it goes to mulch to be used in gardens, children's playgrounds, and on public trails and walkways. However, trees are also recycled and reused as fish habitats, sand fencing to rebuild dunes and prevent beach erosion, wetland erosion barriers, or biofuel electricity generation, and Christmas trees even get a third life as heron nesting sites.
Just be certain to clean your tree off entirely, then use Earth911 to find the nearest Christmas tree recycling program of drop-off station."
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WATERING IN DROUGHT CONDITIONS
[YEA] 06/11/2009: Carol Smith from Santa Barbara, Ca writes: "I use large old soda or water bottles to water our outdoor trees. It's important to do since we have been in a drought condition for a number of years now. What's neat is that the soil draws water from the bottle when its dry. I have bushes planted around trees, so they hide the water bottles. Others might want to dig a hole to hide them. Once you fill the bottles with water, you push them in the ground (upside down of course)."
07/03/2009: Dj from Pdx, Or replies: "I was wondering if this works for a smaller setting like window boxes or flower pots. Instead of just tipping the bottle over, leave the cap on and drill a small hole in it so one loses less water as quickly than the large opening? Then if a person goes on vacation the water would be drawn out while they are gone or would it work just as well to leave the cap off? How far down into the dirt would a person shove the bottle?
Or has anyone tried using plastic tubing with tiny holes drilled into it flowing away from the bottle? Like trickle irrigation for pots. I can see an easy way to keep them upright (and upside down) would be to put a stake beside the bottle and use a piece of twine to tie the two together.."
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