Trees Planted!

It took a while, but our trees are finally planted, staked, wrapped, and tied into our drip irrigation system. Here is our front yard tree, the Shumard Red Oak. It is doing well. I love how Ben did such a good job on the tree circle. You rock Love!

For the Pecan tree in the backyard, we decided we would encircle it with black edging.

Here is the tree all planted, wrapped, and staked. For both trees, we circled them about two feet away from the trunk with 1/2 inch tubing. Every foot or so around the ring, we put a two gallon per hour emitter. We connected the tubing in with our drip system so we can water all of our trees at the same time. If you look closely at the picture above, you can see the line of dead grass where Ben dug the trench for the 1/2 inch tubing.

We also wrapped the trees with a protective wrap. This protects the tree from sun scald.

The Pecan tree is already starting to produce some pecans. How fun!

Planting Trees

Planting trees in triple digit heat is not fun! Especially with it being as humid as it has been lately. Ben planted one of our two trees last weekend.

First, we dug out the grass and threw it away. We dug the hole to a diameter twice that of the tree's container. Then we removed the pot from the root ball and shook out some of the roots. Because container trees are usually root bound, the roots have a hard time breaking away from the knots they have created for themselves. They have a harder time branching out if they aren't loosened up a bit before planting. Then we mixed some garden soil with the clay and sand mixture that was already there, and then we put it around the root ball. (The orange dirt is the sand. The big clods are the clay.) I put about three gallons of root stimulator on the whole thing and put down a generous layer of mulch over the top.

We put a stone circle around the tree to protect it from the encroaching Bermuda grass.

Ben is terrific at this. His attention to detail always makes for flawless tree circles. You go Ben! First he digs out the dirt to the level he wants the circle to sit. Then, he places the first brick and uses some scrap lumber, a hammer, and a level to ensure that it is sitting firmly level. Next, he puts a second brick next to it, and hammers it down so that it is flush with the first. Then he uses his level to make sure everything is plumb. He repeats these steps until the circle is complete.

We also wrapped the trunk to protect it from sun scald, and staked it. The relentless wind was part of what got our Shantung Maple that died.

The Shantung Firedragon is doing well after its recent pruning. I thought I would post a comparison of the leaf structure of our different trees. Above is the maple tree.

This is the red oak. I love red oak leaves!

This is the Pecan. We are going to plant it this weekend. It is already producing some fruit. I don't know if it will be edible, but I am stoked about that. I can almost taste pecan pies I will make. . .

Trees

Apparently, late summer is the time to buy trees. We got a flier in the mail for 70% off on trees, so we went and checked them out. They were so beautiful and such a great price, that we bought two, one for the back yard, and one for the front to replace the Shantung Maple that we killed two years ago. The Plant Shed, where we bought them, offers a 6 month guarantee on their trees, and they were confident that planting them in triple digit heat wouldn't kill them. Here's hoping . . .

Each of these trees were in thirty gallon pots and were three hundred dollars regular price. We got them for less than $100 each. They are huge! We are so excited to have them in the landscape.

This tree is a Pecan. It should start producing pecans in a couple of years. We are going to plant it in the backyard.

This one is a Shumard Red Oak. Red oaks have beautiful fall color like the Shantung Maples. Transplant stress may prevent it from doing much this fall, but next year it might be pretty.

This is not a new tree. This is our Firedragon Shantung Maple. Ben decided it needed the bottom limbs removed so it could focus on gaining some height. He used to work as a tree trimmer, so he knows what he is doing, but I have a hard time with pruning. I do much research before I ever cut anything on my plants, so I had to close my eyes while he did it. I must admit, the shape of the tree is better now. I am looking forward to seeing some increase in height as well. I wish I had a before picture, but I don't. The most recent shot I have of this tree is from last fall.