Bradford Pear Tree
Build a Tree
I
drove through town today and noticed that many of the early blooming
trees are
actually
blooming. Maybe a bit early but not that bad. I saw several white
blooming Bradford
Pear
trees and a couple of the pink blossoms on some purple leafed plum
trees which are usually
the
first to bloom here in our high desert country. I know people are
seeing these beautiful trees
and
are going to the plant nurseries asking for them. But do they really
think about what they
are
doing before they buy and then plant their new trees?
Many
people look at growing a tree as they would raising a child or caring
for a pet. They think
they
have to sweet talk the tree, play music for it, pet it and give it
special TLC. For some people
this
might be the proper approach for growing trees and plants, but not
for us builders.
Don't
just plant that new tree or shrub. Build it. Many people seem to be
afraid of the idea of
growing
or raising a plant. I worked in a plant nursery for many years,
hearing so many people
complain
that they couldn't grow anything. I heard comments saying they didn't
know why they
were
buying a tree as
it probably wouldn't
grow. I would tell them, “Have confidence in yourself
and
build that tree.”
The
dictionary defines 'grow' as 'start to increase in size, develop, to
reach maturity, to
expand'.
The dictionary defines 'raise' as 'to cause to move upward, to make
greater in size, to
build'.
To
Build! To develop or expand. Maybe we should stop thinking of growing
or raising plants,
but
of building plants.
The
same people who say they can't raise or grow plants, frequently, are
builders. These are
people
who are architects, and engineers, people who build homes, offices,
and bridges. Or
they
are mechanics, who build or repair cars and trucks. They can be
carpenters, who build or
make
furniture, and they may be electricians who build or develop
computers. We even 'build' our
children,
or we hope we are building them into good people.
I
can grow a tree, but I would be lost trying to build a computer, as
many computer people would
be
growing a tree. All of us can do one thing better than another, but
we can all try to build something.
Trees
are really easy to 'build' if you will just give yourself and the
tree a chance. We build lots of
things,
including trees, shrubs, vegetables, and houseplants as well as those
computers, and homes.
So
the next time you start to plant that new tree, think of it as a
building project.
First
you excavate a hole. You want it twice as wide and twice as deep as
the pot the tree is in. You
build
a proper foundation by adding several good shovel fulls of peat moss
and compost to the soil
you
dug out of your hole. Mix it all well and put a couple of shovel
fulls back into the hole. Now pull
the
tree out of the pot and put it in the hole. (Yes, I have heard of
people who didn't take the tree out
of
the pot before planting it. No, it will not grow that way.) Now use
your water hose to fill the hole
with
water all around the tree. As the water soaks in add the rest of the
soil mixture to the hole around
all
sides of the tree, tamping it down some as you layer it in. You can
compare this project to baking
a
cake – a baker builds a cake by adding the right ingredients
together to make a cake. Instead of milk,
butter,
eggs, sugar, and flour you are mixing water, peat moss, compost,
maybe some light fertilizer
like
root stimulator. Remember don't give it very much fertilizer or you
will burn the tree and it won't
grow
or build right, if at all. You wouldn't want to put to much sugar or
oil into your cake, would you?
Water
the tree again after you have all the soil mix in the hole. You will
want to water it well every day
for
the first couple weeks and then every other day for another couple of
weeks working down to about
every
three days for the summer or more often if it is really hot and
especially if you see the tree looking
droopy.
Now you don't want it standing in water but keep it damp for the
first summer. The next summer
you
shouldn't need to water it near as much.
I
recommend adding a stake to your tree so that it can be helped to
support its self when the wind
blows
or someone accidentally
pushes against it. Make sure the stake is not tied to tight to the
little tree. If
the
ties are to tight they can cut into the truck of the tree causing it
to not breathe
right. Yes, your tree
breathes.
It breathes
in carbon dioxide
and breaths out oxygen.
The same kind of oxygen
you breath. So
not
only will your tree look pretty as it grows it will help you breathe.
You in turn will help it to breathe.
All
plants take in carbon dioxide
and give off oxygen.
Remember,
this isn't one of those quick, one day projects, like painting a
room, or even a project that
takes
a couple of months like building a house. It is an expanding,
on-going, never-ending project similar
to
raising a child. Over the years the tree will grow, expand, and
mature because you will add the re-
quired
amounts of water, fertilize, and mulch, as well as the occasional
repair or removal of a branch that
forms
wrong or doesn't look good. Your tree will require cleaning and
repair just as your home does, or
your
car or computer. But it
will give back so much. Not only will it give you oxygen but it will
give you
pretty
blossoms to look at in the spring, leaves for shade in the summer and
colorful fall leaves. Or if you
are
planting an evergreen tree like a pine or spruce it will be green all
year for you.
Next
time your looking for a new project, give it a try. Build a Tree.
