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Outside and Waiting: Your New BFF Queen Village’s canopy includes many Accolade
Three easy steps to becoming Best Friends Forever with your tree.
Flowering Cherry trees. The species is one of the most adaptable trees to urban environments, and horticulturalists consider it a top choice for curbside planting.
Photo by Dan Gibbon
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s you and your tree come out of winter’s hibernation, it’s time to think about what you might do to ensure that you and your tree become or remain BFFs.
From Compacted Hibernation to Exposed Flares Take a good look at the pit your tree lives in. The soil is likely compacted, so it’s time to un-compact it—like shedding the layers of winter sweaters. Minding the roots, so as not to damage them, carefully work a shovel, trowel or soil knife in between large, woody roots. While you’re loosening up the soil, work on exposing the root flare—the place where the tree’s roots meet the trunk. Buried root flares restrict the carbon dioxide/oxygen exchange that is critical to the health of your tree. Gloved hands are the best tool for uncovering the root flare. If you
By Dan Gibbon
want some help with this, I and other members of Queen Village Tree Tenders would be happy to lend a hand.
Mulch Moat vs Mulch Volcano When the soil in the pit has been loosened up and the root flare exposed, it’s time to add mulch. Be careful to keep the mulch away from the trunk of the tree and the exposed root flare, and lay down about three inches of mulch in the pit. Think in terms of a ‘mulch moat’ as opposed to a ‘mulch volcano,’ where mulch is piled up against the trunk. Your friendly tree tender will be happy to provide you with mulch.
Two Buckets are Better than One Last, but certainly not least, your BFF needs water to survive. For the first two years after planting, a tree needs about twenty gallons of water a week during the warm and hot months of April-Sep-
tember. That’s equivalent to one of those green gator bags full of water. While Queen Village Tree Tenders has a limited supply of gator bags, Home Depot has an unlimited supply of utility buckets. Here’s a great life hack for watering your BFF: buy two Home Depot buckets and put a dime size hole near the bottom of one. Put the bucket with the hole in the pit next to the trunk of the tree and fill it four times a week with the other bucket. The water will slowly trickle out, fully saturating the roots Queen Village Tree Tenders believe every tree, especially new ones, needs a BFF. So claim one in front of your house or on your block. You can get those utility buckets for $3.25 a pop, or go in on a 20 pack ($55) with neighbors and share the love of watering! It’s a great block project, and your BFF will be singing your praises forever. Have a tree question? Let us know at TreeTenders@QVNA.org. ■
Philadelphia Gardens, Inc. URBAN GARDEN DESIGN + INSTALLATION CONTAINER GARDENS TONI ANN FLANIGAN 215.951.9193 WWW.PHILADELPHIAGARDENS.COM Queen Village Quarterly Crier \\ spring 2020
