We need trees in the desert...
CONTRIBUTE TO YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD HEALTH AND HAPPINESS! With Fall arriving on the 23rd, now is a great time to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather. Gardening is a great way to take in the fresh air and foster greener streets, but consider the guardians of our communities: trees.
SAVE THE SHADE! Plant a tree and improve every aspect of your immediate environment. Decrease water evaporation (often greater than the water requirements of a thirsty tree), improve air quality and invest in the future with a new tree. Trees of all sizes are available, and local growers have specimens that will transplant well into your Albuquerque yard or garden.
Help trees flourish again!
Following is some great information for planting, which was forwarded by a Trees that Please (south of ABQ) expert, in selecting the right tree for the time. These guidelines were provided for Gardeners’Guild to assist in the Pilot Ecology Program started this year at Jefferson Middle School, where new trees are being planted as educational and awareness tools:
1. Consider the current condition of your selected tree.
Is it in the ground or in a container? This will let you know what to do.
Pre-dug trees, ones that were dug and put into containers last winter, have as much leaf cover as the root system will carry and so can be moved and planted anytime. They must be moved in a covered vehicle so the wind does not stress them or pull the leaves off. As long as the tree has leaves it will grow roots. By planting in the fall, but before leaf drop, the tree can get a jump on getting established before the drying winds of spring. Containerized trees should be planted as soon as possible, no matter what season. Being in the ground is a much better environment for the trees, as the pot dries out quickly and the roots become cramped.
The number one problem encountered when planting a dormant tree (a time after the first freeze) is that folks forget to water over the winter, or water insufficiently in the early spring. Because there are no leaves, it can’t wilt, and so they don’t realize they have a catastrophe. Wilting, by the way, is a lousy way to tell if a tree needs water. By the time a tree wilts, it has reached the point where it may drop leaves as an emergency response to drought. It takes a lot of energy to re-leaf, and if the tree is again stressed for water and drops its leaves a second time, it will almost certainly die. However, digging a tree up in full leaf and then planting it in an environment where it almost certainly will not have enough water is a recipe for disaster. It will drop its leaves, and if stressed further will die. That is why we NEVER dig trees that are not completely dormant, so trees in our field must wait to be planted until after all leaf drop, usually the end of November.
For the full year of fun gardening tasks, consult the weekly LYL calender.
