There is a little known community program called Tree Steward.
To become a Tree Steward you attend a class and then perform fifteen hours of community service improving urban forests. The process is informative and enjoyable. You will meet like minded souls within your community along with others from nearby and surrounding areas. I was pleasantly surprised to see multiple generations, diverse backgrounds and heritage, varied economic status and age groups all representing the same interest level in preserving and maintaining these valued commodities we call trees.
We learned answers to questions I did not know I had questions for. Questions such as: What would be the first thing to look for when diagnosing a tree disorder? What is the major cause of urban tree distress? Are there trees that would be suitable to plant under power lines? What exactly is a sharp fork, a canker, a good prune, a less good prune? What is the purpose of leaves and roots anyway? Just exactly how deep should a tree be planted?
The last question held a surprise answer for me. I had always assumed a tree should be planted in deep enough so the roots would firmly hold it into the soil. After all it seems if the roots are happy, the tree should be in deep enough. After all it seems if the roots are unhappy the tree will settle lower than anticipated. This event was baffling. Why would the tree agree to settle low only to settle higher? I had never realized how deep the roots go.
The answer lay in the way the trees are structured. A tree is a self supporting, structural and robustly multi-purpose machine. Just as the structure of a house is strong and robust, so is the structure of a tree. The roots area is protected by a thin skin of bark, just like a dog’s skin. This bark is so thin, in fact, that the tree can be planted lower than the upper branches would think of, thereby giving the appearance that the tree is not growing very well. The outer bark consists of the outer layer of bark. This layer decides the height of the tree and much less than the inner layer of bark. The thickness of the outer layer is just about 2 to 4 percent of the total volume of the tree.
consist of too many mistakes during planting, while still caring for them. Ways to kill trees.
Just like humans, when they get ill, they do not get better. And trees are no different. There are certain times of the year when trees are especially vulnerable to illness. And there are certain illnesses that attack trees in late summer and early fall. Yet, here in Illinois we prune trees as a matter of routine. And both healthy and weak trees are pruned by a process so simple as the one above. It is a very important practice to prune and train trees to not become ailing timber.
Sometimes the outward growth of a tree becomes so dense that the sunlight is blocked out of the inner working part of the tree. This is when you need to add a fresh specimen of the species. It is important to remember that a tree should not be planted too closely to any building or structure. So this is another reason why it is better to plant trees too far away from buildings.
Sometimes during the middle part of summer, the sap flowing through the trees starts to “bleed” or drip onto the sides of the road. This can cause serious damage to the trees and therefore must be protected with additional protection. To separate the tree from the road, you need to then dig a furrow by using a garden spade and plant the separate timber.
Another reason why trees need to be protected during winter is when the sap rising off the branches is replaced by a wet snow. If there is too much moisture on the branches, they can break from the icy grip and those icepick’s can cause serious damage and even kill young trees.
It is then essential to use brackings in order to protect trees during the extremely cold winters. This can be especially true for newly planted trees.
Brackings are good protection against strong winds and heavy snowfall. They are far more insulating than the bark of trees and are particularly useful in areas that are prone to flash freezing.
What is a “Tree Birthday”?
If you were to receive a tree on your birthday, what would you do? Well, most trees marking their birthday are bare rooted specimens. This is especially the case for fruit trees.
So, how do you celebrate the arrival of a new bonsai? There is actually no reason why you should do so, but some people like to have the trees they have worked with for a number of years certified as “bought” or “iary”. This way, they can make themselves feel greater about the purchase when the tree matures.
unmarked trees are generally bought with very basic training.
