THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 10, 1996 TAG: 9603080114
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBERT STIFFLER, GARDENING COLUMNIST
LENGTH: Long : 272 lines
``I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree,'' wrote Joyce Kilmer in 1913. Those lines serve to remind us of the beauty of trees, as does Arbor Day, the annual day designated for planting trees.
In this area, Arbor Day is observed on various dates in April, and many garden groups give away small seedlings. Whether you want to wait until then and nurse a small twig to maturity or go to your favorite garden center and buy a tree that's more mature, the important thing to remember is to plant as many trees as your yard can accommodate and you can maintain.
In addition to the indisputable beauty of trees, The American Association of Nurserymen gives us many strong reasons for planting trees. Here are a few:
Trees absorb harmful carbon monoxide from the air and release fresh oxygen into the atmosphere.
Trees act as sound barriers when planted closely together, reducing a major factor of urban tensions.
Trees trap polluted particles in the air and hold them until they are washed to the ground.
Trees hold topsoil and prevent it from being washed into rivers and streams or blown away.
Trees strategically placed around a house help keep it cool during the hot days of summer.
Early spring, before trees have started to grow, is an ideal time to plant. Some trees suited to Southeastern Virginia and Northeastern North Carolina that prefer spring planting are dogwood, persimmon, franklinia, Carolina silverbell, American holly, Goldenrain tree, magnolia, Japanese zelkova and bald-cypress. But now is an excellent time for planting any tree.
The first step is to select the site and pick the proper tree for that site. Consider the adaptability of a tree to your particular location, including size and shape, the presence or absence of flowers and fruit, fall color and susceptibility to insects or diseases.
In selecting a spot for a tree, Diane Relf, specialist with the Virginia Tech extension service, advises, ``The right tree in the right place can make a difference in the temperature of a house and reduce the cost of air conditioning and heat.''
Trees that grow well in this area but are not planted often enough include these:
Halesia - This small native tree, more often called Carolina silverbell, has been improved with breeding. It is a popular small tree, growing about 30 feet tall, and has clusters of white bell-shaped flowers that hang from its limbs in the early spring before the leaves appear. It likes rich, moist, acidic soil and full sun or light shade.
Japanese red maple - This showy, small tree - from 8 to 20 feet high - is easy to grow but requires good drainage. Its deeply lobed, lacy leaves and brilliant dark reddish purple foliage make it a knock-out.
Ginkgo - This forgotten tree, also known as the Maidenhair tree is native to China and dates back to the age of the dinosaurs. It is the only tree that grows and survives in every one of the 50 states. It can grow to 80 feet high and has strong resistance to pests and disease and is tolerant of heat and air pollution. In the fall, its clusters of fan-shaped leaves turn a golden yellow, making it a sight to behold. Beware of planting unnamed varieties or female plants, which produce a stinky fruit. ``Autumn Gold'' is a male variety that has excellent golden foliage in the fall.
Amelanchier laevis - Also known as Shadtree or Serviceberry, this multi-stemmed, small native tree has attractive smooth, gray bark and beautiful delicate white blooms in the spring, just after daffodils bloom. It has small edible red fruits in early summer and brilliant fall foliage. Because it's native, it's easy to grow.
Japanese Zelkova - Also called Zelkova serrata or Japanese elm, this is a favorite of Virginia Beach arborist Roger Huff. It provides year-round beauty, grows fast, 40 to 80 feet high, and is tough, with beautiful fall color. It is similar to a small-leaved elm and is considered a substitute for the American elm. It likes full sun and provides good shade for lawns or streets. Huff can't figure out why more people don't plant it.
Chinese pistache - This is the favorite of Virginia Tech horticulturist Bonnie Appleton, who has done considerable research on trees. It's a tough tree, grows well in this area and is most beautiful in fall, with red and orange foliage. It reaches about 40 feet in height and has an umbrella-like canopy that casts some shade. Though its flowers and fruits are inconspicuous, it is tough, adaptable and neat, making it good for urban plantings. Appleton also likes lacebark elm, a beautiful tree in the elm family with dark green summer foliage. Also known as Chinese elm, it, too, is tough, adaptable and fast-growing with distinctive mottled bark and good disease resistance.
Cornus mas or Cornelian Cherry - This is in the dogwood family but much easier to grow than most dogwoods, because it tolerates full sun, drought and unamended soils well. In early spring, this small tree (20 feet at maturity) is loaded with bright yellow blooms, making a beautiful sight. There is one directly behind the restaurant at the Norfolk Botanical Garden, which should be in bloom soon. It has red fruits similar to small cherries in the summer and colorful fall foliage. It can be grown as a densely branched shrub or trained as a multi-trunk tree.
The dogwood most people are familiar with in this area is Cornus florida. It is a favorite native tree, noted for its white or pink blooms that appear early in the season, before leaves bud out. The dogwood germinates easily from seed in the woods, its favorite growing place, but often fares less well in homeowners' lawns. The white is easier to grow than the red or pink.
Dogwood will grow in full sun but prefers filtered shade under pine trees. It should be planted shallow in soil that drains well and must be watered regularly during summer droughts. Keep lawn mowers and string weed trimmers away from dogwoods, because if their trunk is gouged, borers will get in and the tree will decline and sometimes die.
After you've selected your tree, here are recommended planting procedures:
Handle with care. Don't break its branches or wound the trunk during loading and unloading. Don't drop the root ball or container on the ground or other hard surface.
Protect trees until you can get them in the ground. Don't leave a tree in the wind or sun for several days or weeks, without water, before planting.
Dig a large planting hole in loamy, well-drained soil. Michigan State University specialist Curt Peterson says: ``The hole should be as deep as the root ball (but no deeper) and twice as wide. The idea is to provide plenty of loose soil at each side, through which the roots can easily move. If you have heavy clay soil with poor drainage, dig a shallow hole and set the root ball in it, then build up a mound of topsoil around the roots. If you set the root ball in a hole of clay, water that gets in the planting hole will be slow to drain out and the roots may rot.''
Free the tree to grow. Remove all burlap, plastic pots, wire, plastic rope or other materials that restrict root growth or girdle the trunk as the tree grows.
Plant the tree at the same level at which it had been planted. Look for a change in color on the bark of the tree that will indicate the previous soil level. Your newly planted tree should be at that same level when you're finished. Don't plant too deeply.
Fill the hole halfway with the soil you took out, then water to settle the soil and eliminate air pockets.
Continue filling and watering again. Do not use your feet to tamp around the tree. That compacts the soil and may damage tree roots.
Create a reservoir for watering. Form a ridge of soil 2 to 4 inches around the outside edge of the hole.
To stake or not to stake? That is a question few agree on. Most experts believe that a tree should be staked or tied to guy wires only if necessary. If the tree is of a size that it might be whipped by the wind or blown over, use one stake on the windward side and two stakes on opposite sides, or three equally spaced. To protect the bark, use woven belt fabric or wire covered with garden hose to connect the tree to the stakes. Tree stake kits are available in garden centers. Be sure to remove stakes and wires by the end of one year.
Mulch over the tree root zone. Use 4 inches of shredded pine bark or pine straw. This reduces weeds, conserves moisture and eliminates the need to mow next to the trunk. Avoid using fresh wood chips or sawdust, cautions Peterson, because they tie up available nitrogen in the soil as they decompose.
Water regularly during dry periods. Water deeply to moisten the entire root zone but avoid overwatering, especially in poorly drained clay soils.
That's it for planting. Most tree specialists advise waiting a year before doing any fertilizing, although some say you can apply liquid fertilizer once or twice during the first year. Do not fertilize at planting time.
At the end of the first year, here are additional do's and don'ts:
Do apply water slowly and thoroughly each week when there is no rain.
Do follow directions on the bag when fertilizing.
Do keep grass as far from the trunk as possible, because grass competes with tree roots.
Do be extremely cautious in using herbicides near the tree.
Do avoid soil compaction by feet or machines.
Do prune judiciously in late winter or late autumn.
Don't use broadleaf weed killers over the root system of the tree.
Don't let a mower or string trimmer wound the trunk.
Don't park cars close to your tree.
Don't tie your dog to the tree or bump the tree trunk with a vehicle.
Don't use salt to control ice on walks and driveway near the tree.
When most people think about trees, they think of spreading branches, colorful foliage and sometimes blooms and fruits. About the only time people think of roots are when they find them in a sewer line or breaking up a sidewalk or drive.
But roots need to be considered when you plant a tree, because they are the tree's lifeline. And you should think about where they're going, so you don't have to get rid or roots - and possibly the tree - later.
``Roots are ugly, mostly invisible and nobody understands them, yet they provide sustenance and support for all plants,'' says California author Robert Kourik. ``Most garden books depict roots of trees as a mirror of their canopy.
``Tree roots in a heavy clay soil will often grow half again as wide as the canopy, while in loose sandy soil, roots wander up to three times wider than the drip line, or outer edge of the canopy. In a study of apple trees, roots radiated out 36 feet from the trunk, which was 26 feet beyond the drip line. It's now generally agreed that the diameter of the spread of tree roots is one and a half to two times the spread of the branches.''
This means applying weed and feed or any weed killer near a tree, especially shallow-rooted ones like dogwood, can be harmful to the tree.
Just as it is important to keep harmful chemicals away from tree roots, it's essential to provide water and food.
Many trees are fibrous-rooted, meaning they have very fine, hairy root systems like those found on an azalea or fern. Most of these roots grow in the top 3 feet of soil. It's generally agreed today that a tree gets most of its food and water in the top 10 inches of soil because the ``eatin'' is easier and the ``vittles'' more abundant there, writes Kourik in his book ``Designing and Maintaining Your Edible Landscape.''
Just as the roots are often ignored at planting, a tree's mature size is too frequently overlooked. When trees get taller than the homeowner anticipated, they are sometimes subjected to the horrible practice of ``tree topping.'' That's when you chop the top 20 to 30 percent of the tree off, giving it a brutal, flat cut.
It is exceedingly rare that there is justification for topping. If you top a tree, you begin to kill it.
What should be done is to thin out and space branches. This provides balance to the tree and helps prevent wind and ice damage. Do not hack off the tree top unless you want to write its epitaph.
Utility companies frequently face the dilemma of having to do major pruning or topping of trees that have been planted under power lines and grown up into the lines. Each year utilities spend more than $1 billion on tree pruning.
Bonnie Appleton is conducting a study at the Hampton Roads Research Station to determine what trees grow best under utility lines. One objective is to determine what trees will not encroach on the utility lines. Species from witch hazel to magnolias are being grown to determine the good or bad effects the trees and utility lines might have on each other.
When the results are in, this could be useful information for the homeowner who wants to grow trees under utility lines and not worry about them being aggressively pruned. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
ROBERT STIFFLER
VIRGINIA TECH
MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN/The Virginian-Pilot
Photos
BONNIE APPLETON
The Chinese pistache is a tough tree in this area and has striking
red and orange fall foliage.
KUNSO KIM/Norfolk Botanical Garden
Cornus mas is a good choice, because it has beautiful yellow blooms
and tolerates summer heat and drought.
BONNIE APPLETON
Japanese Zelkova is well suited to urban plantings because it
tolerates sun and provides good shade.
MARTIN SMITH-RODDEN/The Virginian-Pilot
Halesia gets its nickname, Carolina silverbell, from its bell-shaped
white flowers.
Graphics
HOW TO KEEP TREES HEALTHY
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
COLD-HARDY PALMS Almost every gardener at one time or another
tries to grow something that experts say won't grow here. Some try
palm trees or other tropical plants. The hardiest palm is the Needle
palm, but the Sabal and Windmill palms are also said to be viable
here, with special care.
For details, call Creative Native at (800) Native-1.
For information about growing palms in this area, call Kathleen
or Ralph Denton at Pungo Palms, 426-3677.
MORE ABOUT TREES
Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond will present a two-day
tree symposium, ``Trees Are Cool!'' on Friday and Saturday.
Friday's program is geared to horticulture and industry
professionals while Saturday activities are designed for home
gardeners. Fee is $45. Call (804) 262-9887.
To learn more about native trees - those that grew on this
continent before the arrival of Europeans - read ``Landscaping with
Native Trees'' by Guy Sternberg and Jim Wilson, (Chapters Publishing
Co., $24.95 paperback). Native trees are good to grow, because they
are disease and pest-resistant and tolerant of weather extremes. To
order, call (800) 892-0220.
KEYWORDS: WEEDER'S DIGEST by CNB