Acts as small as planting a shrub or tree are huge these days

I follow a number of ‘green’ accounts on twitter. This morning:🔊 Play

Little Green Space is a UK-based person/group, but their messages can be applied anywhere: Do what you can.

Yes, that’s gardening AND household changes AND voting.

I’ve done a little of each this November, the latest being planting a few shrubs. I’m by no means an expert, but I have been gardening for decades and I’d like to offer a photo primer in how I plant a tree or shrub.

I got these as little bare root trees and shrubs in April from my local Soil and Water Conservation District–a fabulous source of at-cost, native plants. A number were planted in the spring, but the rest I couldn’t get to or was undecided on their placement. I put them in pots and made sure to water them.

I decided the elderberry shrubs, an understory shrub that tolerates part shade, might do well under my volunteer cherry trees.

I had to loosen the soil from the pot.

The summer was good to this plant–lots of roots.

Dig the hole deep, then back-filled with loose soil and compost to bring the rootball even with the surrounding ground.

Set in the rootball and fill with loose soil mixed with more compost. I make sure the soil is fine enough that no gaps are around the rootball. Large air pockets make it hard for the newly-loosened and sometimes damaged roots to heal and grow. I press lightly, not tightly. I’ve seen some paid grounds people stomp around the rootball. Soil naturally has air pockets formed by burrowing insects. The tree roots use capillary action to pull water through the soil and draw it up. If there are no air spaces… you get the picture. Loosely filled with soil you’ve crumbled is best.

Then water lightly and repeatedly so it soaks in. I’m on the fence about installing tree tubes around them. I have a few but I’ve never used them. I was instructed to make sure they are buried a few inches down so mice couldn’t get in and gnaw on the trees. And to stake them so the wind wouldn’t take the tree over. It’ll be tricky to get them on now that my little trees have leaves, but…

Right around the corner from our house. My new shrubs may need protection.