Master Plan For a Historic Center

"Going To a Timberland, Nursery, or Garden Center can be an enjoyable and peaceful time. Taking a look at all of the plants, shrubs, and trees and envisioning how they will fit into your landscaping strategies. However there are some vital things you need to look at before you purchase; otherwise your lovely plant or tree, that looked so great when you bought it, will turn your landscape into an eyesore.

A True Story:

Nancy enjoys plants and trees, nature, and wildlife; but she just bought a brand-new home in a new development that has very little landscaping and no personal privacy. Spring Time comes and Nancy is thrilled to improve her landscape. So Nancy goes to her regional garden center to choose some plants and trees. She is so pleased when she arrives; all the plants and trees look so great. Nancy wants instant privacy so she selects the biggest trees they have, but they are too huge for her to deal with so she has the garden center deliver and plant the trees. She views as the crew at the Garden Center moves her trees off to the side. She flinches as they pull her tree out of the others since she can hear the branches breaking as they get captured on the other trees.

A year goes by and the trees that Nancy had actually planted simply don't look as good as they carried out in the garden center. Some of her Spruce Trees have brown branches on the bottom and they look type of yellow. Nancy calls the garden center to complain, they come out and state that the tree is great and is just a little stressed. They state it will submit next year and will look excellent. ""OK"" Nancy states.

Well, next year comes, and Nancy's Trees do not look any better, but it is still not dead and by this time its warranty has expired. Every year the tree wants to barley hold on. The branches are thinning and slowly the tree dies. Now Nancy wants she had never ever purchased those trees. If just Nancy had actually read my article she might have had a tree that will always look as good as it did the day she purchased it.

Do not be Nancy!

Here are some things to Consider:

Rootball Size – This is the most significant element of why your tree will suffer down the road. Trees require roots – The more the better! Christmas Trees look great when you buy them, but what takes place buy New Years – they die. A great deal of Garden Centers are offering trees that are very little better than Christmas Trees. It only makes good sense from their viewpoint. Dirt is extremely heavy and things that are heavy ended up being expensive. They are more costly to move, plant, and set up. It is less expensive for them to need to change a tree if it passes away than to sell a tree that is predestined to live. The size of a rootball will inform you how it will look down the roadway. If one garden center is less expensive, do not just compare the tree but compare the roots.

How it is watered – Numerous Garden Centers water their trees various methods and some don't appear to water them at all. Once the rootball has been dried out, a lot of damage has actually currently been done. Make sure the place where you are purchasing your trees is keeping them watered.

Potted or Balled and Burlapped – Do not be fooled into thinking that if you are buying it potted, somehow it is much better than balled and burlapped. It is not uncommon in the market for a tree to be removed early in the spring and placed in a pot, rather of positioned in burlap. All this does is make you believe that it was grown in the pot. Make certain to ask for how long it has actually been in the pot. If you get a balled and burlapped tree make certain that the burlap and wire basket is tight; if it is loose, root damage will occur when it is moved.

Guarantee – This is a big misconception, I have actually replaced a number of my rivals' trees that allegedly had a guarantee, however the tree was not dead – simply 1/2 dead and unsightly – so they do not replace it. Other times the client was told by the garden center that they did not water the tree and they were not going to replace it. While the client may have not provided it the appropriate quantity of water at all times, if you get a tree that has a bigger root system you have a lot more wiggle space to make errors.

How it is Handled – The more a tree is handled the more root damage can happen. The very best is if a tree spade, mounted on a truck moves it directly from the field to your lawn. If you can not go that path make certain that they are using the appropriate devices to plant the trees. Couple of things are worse for a tree than to be dropped, kicked, pulled, and pried; this is what will take place if they are not using the proper equipment to plant the tree."