Post date: May 29, 2017 7:27:49 PM
Shade Tree
I’ve been seeking a shade tree to eventually replace the invasive Siberian Elm that came with my building lot. I considered Burr Oak, but my neighbor recently planted a Burgamble Oak Hybrid (Quercus gambelii x macrocarpa) on the property line, and variety would be nice.
Meanwhile, a very old Cottonwood is being removed from the Taos Plaza. It is being replaced with a London Planetree (Platanus x acerifolia ‘Bloodgood’). I had landed on Sycamore (Platanus) as a candidate, since there is an Arizona species. That one tolerates the heat but does not grow at this elevation or climate zone.
The local arborist told me that there is a Planetree recently planted in the John Dunn shops, which I visited this morning. It is about 15’ tall and comes from a wholesale nursery not far away. But it must have cost at least $500, and I was hoping for something much smaller as a start. The other twist is that most nurseries that stock this tree are wholesale only, as is the Corrales vendor who sold the local specimen.
I have found two dealers in North America that might sell retail — at least they have prices on their web site. Or I could buy a package of 25 rooted branches and go into the nursery business for under $50! [Update 15 June: I ordered a bare root Planetree too late to ship this Spring, so won't get it until November. But I did dig the hole (and remove another 5 gallons of rocks) for it.]
Irrigating Trees
Last year, after I planted twelve conifers, I set them up on my drip irrigation system. Each tree has a ring of drip hose with 1/2 gallon per hour emitters spaced 12” apart. Each ring is about ten feet circumference, which I figured would be adequate.
Over the winter I learned that the drip should be at the drip line (outer reach of branches) to encourage the roots to grow outward. So this morning I unstapled the existing drip lines and spread them out. Of course they are now not long enough, and only irrigate about half the circumference, so I must extend each of them. That means buying nearly 100’ of added drip line, but it is not expensive.
Flowers
I went to a garden club presentation on plants for wildlife and took note of several species that are native and might look nice in my garden. Of course the local hardware store did not have any of these species, but they did have some similar, so I bought eight plants. I spent a couple of hours digging a hole (through tree roots and many rocks) on Friday, then another hour digging on Saturday.
Out of this little hole (only about one shovel deep) I removed five gallons of rock and replace that with compost. Yesterday I planted them. I need to add drip irrigation, but that is not urgent.
Fertilizer
I have been putting wood chips on top of the soil as mulch to retain moisture in the soil. The decomposition of this woody material requires nitrogen, and our soil lacks nitrogen to begin with. So I have added Ammonium Sulfate, which also helps counteract the alkalinity of the soil. So the past few days I have been manually broadcasting fertilizer across my entire lot, then watering it to avoid leaf burn (where there are leaves) and ensure that the fertilizer soaks into the soil.
My first attempt (on the south berm) was a bit skimpy. I had calculated that the bag should just cover my garden. I didn’t use half the bag on half the property, so I increased the spread rate for the rest of the garden and repeated the application on the south part.