....because you’ll soon find yourself propelled to the top of the blue rinse brigade’s mobility scooter hit list
propelled to the top of the blue rinse brigade’s mobility scooter hit list (ask Laurence).
Mass plantings, on the other hand, need a bit more thought. It is better to have a mixture of species rather than a mono- culture, unless you are growing a specific crop for its future commercial value.
Mono-culture tree planting, like a mono-
culture turfgrass sward, can be at risk of catastrophic die back if one tree in the planting becomes infected by disease. If intervention is not immediate, it is quite probable that the disease will spread like wildfire to all of the trees in the planting, as they will be equally susceptible to the same disease.
An additional benefit of a mixed species planting, however, is that it gives a bit of variety with the different species having distinct characteristics throughout the year, such as autumn colour. It is also a little bit like spread betting and not putting all your eggs in one basket, because there’s always the possibility that one species won’t grow as it should, if at all, in spite of what all the tree books say.
6) Spacings, straight lines and irregular plantings
The spacing between the plants depends on their initial size but, typically, two metre centres should be sufficient, with the trees being thinned out as they grow, so that a forest of lanky tall skinny trees isn’t produced - unless that's what you want of course.
If you are intending to carry out mass planting, it is
worth considering the end result before you start. That is, how it will look once the trees have established, or at least appear to be a reasonably mature stand of trees.
Plantations that have been formed out of regimented planting, with a consistent spacing along and across the area planted, always end up looking unnatural and contrived. Whereas trees planted in a haphazard fashion become more natural looking, as if they were planted by Mother Nature herself. However, the area between the planting is easier to maintain where a regimented planting scheme has been adopted, while haphazard plantings can be a bit of a pain to manage in the initial years of establishment.
7) Planting method
I’m sure the readership of Pitchcare magazine know full well the rudiments of planting so, rather than go through the step-by-step process, here are a few add on points.
• For small bare rooted saplings in a mass planting scheme, making a slit in the ground is usually sufficient. Place the sapling in the slit and gently heel back the slit around the plant.
• For larger bare rooted saplings you will need to dig a hole as you would for a container grown plant. When back filling the hole, gently shake the sapling up and down to ensure the backfill is filling in between the roots,
Steer clear of putting trees with large leaves near to your fine turf as they will cast a dense shade
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