The
Dartmouth Gardener
hedgerow, 550ltr specimen trees as landscape features and acres of orchard. But the one thing I have concluded is that unless you plant the right tree in the right place it will ultimately fail. as we are now entering the ideal time to plant trees, I thought it pertinent to mull over the rights and wrongs of tree planting. we all have a favourite tree, often from our childhood
Shaking The Tree O
that we may have climbed, possibly fallen out of, or one that frightened us witless, as its finger-like twigs tapped on the bedroom window on stormy nights. In his acclaimed book Wild Wood, roger Deakin states, “Humans beings depend on trees quite as much as on rivers and the sea. our intimate relationship with trees is physical as well as cultural and spiritual: literally an exchange of carbon dioxide for oxygen.” so to planting. when digging out your
GARDENING
By Alex Webster
ver the last 30 years I must have planted hundreds if not thousands of trees; whips in miles of
into leaf, for at least the first year or two. Depending on the size of the tree a stake of suitable size needs to be fitted, even a whip of 45cm has a higher chance of thriving with the support of a cane and spiral tree guard. Larger specimens are best staked with the “H” frame or even with under ground tree anchors. tree selection is vital.
planting hole or tree pit, dig it square as tree roots just love to take the path of least resistance and if planted in a round hole the roots will follow the curved wall and spiral instead of pushing out and anchoring the tree. also do not dig over the ground beneath the root ball as in time the root ball will settle and the base of the trunk will be below the original soil level and the tree will never become established and eventually die. tony Kirkum the head of arboriculture at Kew Gardens recommends, “ If anything plant a little higher than the surrounding ground level and apply a generous mulch”. they also mark new plantings in Kew with a white peg, as a reminder that in dry weather the tree needs to be watered. as the peg rots the tree becomes less dependent. newly planted trees will need watering as they come
Should
You don’t want to plant a parkland tree in a
you be privileged to have trees in your garden, there is a sense of stewardship.
small back yard so you will need to do your research. many of the good tree nurseries have all the information required to make the correct choice. should you be privileged to have trees in your garden, there is a sense of stewardship. more often than not the tree was there before you moved into the property and even probably there before you were born. Duty of care is part
of the privilege of being the steward or owner of any tree. the landowner has a responsibility to maintain and inspect one’s charges and carry out any pruning or care. at Kew they even mulch their oldest resident as far as the drip line as a way of prolonging the life of the specimen. I was walking recently along the Dart in the deer park
at Dartington, when I spotted a row of mighty oaks along the riverbank. now I’m no tree hugger but just seeing such a mighty specimen made me want to measure its circumference. oliver rackam suggests, “should a tree be free standing in open ground, for every inch of the circumference one could calculate one year.” so using my out-stretched arms and the thorns of a bramble as marker pins I found this one tree to be over two hundred years old. now as any good old school boy would tell you, back in 1800 the oak was in great demand to build warships to fight the French. so to find an oak older than 200 years is a rare thing. winter gives us the ideal opportunity to carry out a visual inspection, look out for any damaged branches or any showing signs of disease. If necessary call in a qualified arboriculturist or tree surgeon for advice.
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