Plant More Trees Please!

Tree Planting 101 or 101 Trees to Plant? We'll share a little of both in this post. When trees began arriving by the semi load it was awesome. We ordered 30 trees ranging in size from 8-11 feet tall for one job. It was a beautiful shipment with several trees topping the 11 foot mark.

Wow! Look at the size of that root ball. It's bigger than our ball cart! How do little Pillywiggins manage such large trees? They call in the machines to help. These trees were delivered in the morning & planted the same day! See how we did it below.

Tree Planting 101

We were called to a site recently to meet with a new customer and his neighbor to discuss their landscaping needs. Of particular concern were the new trees that had been purchased and installed about 2 months prior by another nursery/landscaping company. The owner said the trees looked healthy when they were planted but soon began to show signs of stress & decline. The trees were already beginning to die. A quick glance was all that was needed to determine the problem.

PROBLEM IDENTIFIED
EXPOSED BURLAP FROM ROOT BALL COVERING = ALMOST CERTAIN DEATH FOR TREES & SHRUBS!

​When burlap is exposed (as shown in these photos) it acts like a candlewick drawing moisture from the earth up to the surface where it simply evaporates. The problem is the burlap underground completely surrounds the tree's root ball. Leaving a tail of burlap exposed like this is a direct attack against the tree's root system. Wicking moisture away from the earth surrounding the root system is starving the tree!

Further investigation revealed all 8 of the trees installed had exposed burlap and/or large tails of attached burlap covered only by a light layer of mulch. (A few trees were left with the wire root basket handles poking out of the ground!) NONE of the trees were planted deep enough as you can see in the photo above. Note the highlighted area. That hump isn't a mulch volcano, it's the top of the tree's root ball covered with mulch! 

B&B trees (balled & burlapped) are larger trees with root systems too large to fit in a plastic container. Instead, the roots are bound in burlap to keep them safe. Burlap is a woven fabric made from natural organic materials such as jute or sisal so it is biodegradable and designed to be planted with the tree. ​However, when you unbind the twine that secures the burlap & root ball, you must also cut away all of the excess burlap at the top of the root ball. When planted, ALL remaining burlap must be buried deeply underground with the roots.

This summer,
Please plant at least one tree!
​Healthy Trees = Healthy You & Me

“One day when you wake up, you will find that you have become a forest. You have grown roots & found strength in them that no one thought you had. You have become stronger & more beautiful, full of life giving qualities. You have learned to take all the negativity around you & turn it into oxygen for easy breathing. A host of wild creatures live inside you & you call them stories. A variety of beautiful birds rest inside your mind & you call them memories. You have become an incredible self sustaining thing of epic proportions. And you should be so proud of yourself, of how far you have come from the seeds of who you used to be.”  Nikita Gill