Rush, rush
It was nice to see newly planted ginkgo trees (Ginkgo biloba) last week on both boulevards running along one of my residential high-rise sites. I love tree planting. We need more trees in our cities. But I noticed several problems with the planting, as did the building caretaker.
For starters, the sidewalks had dirt on them and so did the lawns. Broken off wooden stakes were left on the grass for me to pick-up and dispose of, I presume. The whole vibe was rush, rush, rush. Stick the trees in the ground and bail.
Now, I know for sure that the city is responsible for boulevard trees but it’s not clear who did the planting. It might have been a city crew or a contractor. I don’t know which but tree planting must factor in good clean-up. More on that later when we look at my corrections.
Planting
First, the good news. The string holding the wire cage together was cut, correctly. It would have been nice to bend the top of the wire cage more. I fear there might be some collisions with string trimmers later in spring.
Planting trees in wire cages and burlap is totally up to your discretion. According to the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA), there is no conclusive evidence showing harm to trees planted in wire cages and burlap. Personally, I remove everything and only the tree goes in the planting hole. If you’re short on time, keeping your trees in cages saves time.
Now, the bad news. Water bags are great to have, especially in summer, but why install one with a huge hole in the bottom? It’s useless.
There was also a lot of burlap left on top so I took the liberty of cutting it away.
I can’t excuse the soil spread all over the lawn and sidewalk. The trees may be planted but the overall presentation is awful. As soon as I arrived on site, the building caretaker was out to show me the mess.
Corrections
I grabbed an edging shovel with a straight bottom and created water wells around all trees. Then I raked up the loose soil and created the classic donut shape.
There is no soil piled up against the trunk and the grass edge is clearly visible. Most of the soil is mounded in the middle, giving us the donut look. With the tree well in place, it should make it clear to lawn care workers to stay away from the tree. So, yes, the plastic guard is overkill but I don’t mind. Let’s train the lawn care dudes first.
Soil can’t touch the trunk above the root flare because it would rot the wood and potentially invite disease into the tree. The tissues above the root flare aren’t supposed to be covered with soil. When they are, you can also get adventitious roots developing from buds in the stem. If the soil stays and the roots thicken up, they can girdle the tree. Avoid creating soil or mulch volcanoes at all costs. Go for the donut shape.
Conclusion
- Clean-up must follow installation work.
- Planting with wire cages and burlap on or off is up to you, but make sure the strings are cut and removed.
- Establish tree wells around your trees.
