The Green Thumb - Caring for new trees - St. John, KS

All of this really isn't very hard to accomplish in having a healthy tree, but too many times people will say, “I don't have a green thumb and most everything I plant dies on me.” Well, for the most part, that really isn't true if one uses a common sense approach to tree care.

One added note - each tree, even from the same variety, has its own needs, especially when they get older (as each individual has his/her own needs). For instance – two newly planted red maples - where one tree might need extra care, whereas the same kind of red maple planted right next to it doesn't.

A real danger to a young tree are weed trimming devices, one swipe getting too close, wrapping the fishing line around the tree and cutting into its thin bark which can girdle the tree, killing it.

Once the trees are a little older, several other factors can come into play, such as fertilizing, treating for iron chlorosis (yellowing leaves in spring and summer as the result of our somewhat alkaline soil), spraying for insects (such as bores, spider mites, pine moths, etc.), and selective pruning to eliminate weak branch crotches and sprouts (in older trees such as flowering pears, maples, honey locusts, crabapples, birches, and elms).

As trees get even older, more pruning takes place, shaping them a little at a time over the years, and pruning off some of their lower scaffolds( usually one or two branches every other year). Here is perhaps where a problem might arise.

Homeowners are sometimes reluctant to prune, concerned about having less shade for their yards. Actually, if the pruning is done correctly, many times it acts like a “shot in the arm” and produces major growth (more about pruning addressed in a later article).

Newly planted trees need to be kept healthy throughout the year with a wood mulch layering three to four inches deep going out from the tree at least three to four feet, being watered when needed (but not over-watered), an occasional weeding, keeping most trees staked for at least one year and keeping the competing lawn grass away. (Do not use grass clippings as mulch because once it starts decomposing, it acts like a compost pile and starts heating up, having the opposite affect of a good wood mulch which helps keep the soil cool underneath and conserving moisture.)

All of this really isn't very hard to accomplish in having a healthy tree, but too many times people will say, “I don't have a green thumb and most everything I plant dies on me.” Well, for the most part, that really isn't true if one uses a common sense approach to tree care.

One added note - each tree, even from the same variety, has its own needs, especially when they get older (as each individual has his/her own needs). For instance – two newly planted red maples - where one tree might need extra care, whereas the same kind of red maple planted right next to it doesn't.

A real danger to a young tree are weed trimming devices, one swipe getting too close, wrapping the fishing line around the tree and cutting into its thin bark which can girdle the tree, killing it.

Once the trees are a little older, several other factors can come into play, such as fertilizing, treating for iron chlorosis (yellowing leaves in spring and summer as the result of our somewhat alkaline soil), spraying for insects (such as bores, spider mites, pine moths, etc.), and selective pruning to eliminate weak branch crotches and sprouts (in older trees such as flowering pears, maples, honey locusts, crabapples, birches, and elms).

As trees get even older, more pruning takes place, shaping them a little at a time over the years, and pruning off some of their lower scaffolds( usually one or two branches every other year). Here is perhaps where a problem might arise.

Homeowners are sometimes reluctant to prune, concerned about having less shade for their yards. Actually, if the pruning is done correctly, many times it acts like a “shot in the arm” and produces major growth (more about pruning addressed in a later article).

During the dry, windy winter months, trees will need one or two slow soakings of water if Mother Nature doesn't provide enough moisture by early January, and maybe even sooner during a drought. Just because a tree seems to be dormant all winter long, that isn't always the case, especially underground with its root system. Above ground, the needles of evergreens transpire moisture in winter. Their lack of water during the winter months usually doesn’t show up until months later with dead branches showing.

Barry Ragan is St. John’s volunteer city forester send questions or comments to bragan78@earthlink.net