Konnie LeMay
Hands down, Gene Schmidt knows his northern pin oak has “got to be the most beautiful tree on the block” at his home near the Duluth-Proctor border. There is a lot to love about his Minnesota native tree that’s grown beautiful and expansive above Gene’s hosta plantings, creating a storybook image when everything’s greened up in summer.
But perhaps the really loveable thing about this tree – for those bargain shoppers among us – is that it was purchased during an early fall clearance sale and planted late in the season. That means as you read this, you can still get out and plant a tree.
Gene, the go-to tree guy at Boreal Natives, the Duluth-area branch of Prairie Restoration based in Princeton, Minnesota, nurtures local trees from seed to sale, each year collecting seeds along the Skyline Parkway, on Spirit Mountain and elsewhere. He raises his crop of oaks, birch and maples at Boreal Natives’ greenhouses in Munger, just outside Duluth.
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Boreal Natives, located just outside Duluth in Munger, grows most of its trees from locally gathered seeds like these tiny red maples.
While spring and fall are good times to plant trees because of cooler temperatures reducing water needs, there is no bad planting time during the growing season as long as the tree gets at least six to eight weeks of root growth before the ground freezes and at least 1 inch worth of water each of those weeks. Gene’s favorite plant time, though, is early fall because of the tree-buying bargains.
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Customers can buy trees in 10-gallon containers or less expensive “plugs”.
Raising a healthy tree, Gene says, starts before you even plant it in the ground – and the ground into which you plant it makes all the difference in what you choose. The first thing to do, in other words, is assess your soil type and moisture content. This is where choosing a tree native to your region helps. In northeastern Minnesota, for example, clay is often the base. Gene recommends northern pin or red oaks and sugar and red maples for his local customers. If they prefer evergreens, he suggests red, white and jack pines. Ask your local nursery for area-specific recommendations.
Whether you choose an evergreen or a deciduous tree might depend on whether you prefer a solid screen or
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Gene discovered a nest in the greenhouse – a great example of trees enhancing wildlife. (The hatched sparrows did fine.)
wind break (evergreen) or shade for your yard (deciduous). Fruit trees are also an option, for obvious reasons.
Next, Gene advises, look up and around from where you intend to plant. Think about what the tree will look like in 10 years and what trouble it might get into by growing into those power lines or spreading roots under your home’s foundation. Of course, be well aware of those underground sewer lines and natural gas connections. Call your local government’s locator service, which is free.
Choose a larger, more expensive tree or a small seedling depending on your patience. “It’s more of an immediate gratification if it’s larger,” says Gene, “but smaller trees might transplant better.”
Once you’ve chosen a species of tree, Gene is more laid back than many about whether your tree arrives in a container or bound in a burlap ball as long as it’s not root bound. “There should be no reason you can’t find a healthy tree in either.”
Gene is adamant, however, that you find the main tree root and make sure 1) that no roots are positioned above it, and 2) that you plant the tree with that root at surface level.
“More trees are killed by planting too deep than anything,” he warns. Enthusiastic tree planters who place the tree with lots of dirt above that main root run the risk of “stem girdling” when the roots literally grow up and around the base of the trunk, eventually strangling the tree itself. Often the tree planter won’t even know this mistake has been made for a decade, as the tree – and its strangling roots – grows merrily along until its demise. By then, of course, it’s too late to replant.
So find that main root, assess the basic depth of the root ball and dig deep enough to place it, but make sure the main root remains near the surface.
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Another potential cause of stem girdling is the soil in the hole you create for the tree. The hole should be two or three times wider than the root ball and you may want to loosen the walls of the hole a bit. The best dirt for filling in after placing the tree, says Gene, is the soil you removed to make the hole. “Whatever you take out of the hole is fine.”
If you buy a “super growth” soil to fill around the tree, the roots may decide not to try pushing into that less-rich soil at the edges of the hole. That, again, could result in roots turning around on themselves to the detriment of the tree. Once the hole is filled, you can use about 2 inches of mulch around the base but leave
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Gene highly recommends this USDA brochure, downloaded for free at treeownersmanual.info.
space open near the trunk. Remember though, Gene says, that mulch becomes soil and if it’s too deep, stem girdling may begin.
Once the tree is properly in the ground in a location safe for it to grow large and wide, then the tree planters’ main job for the first two growing seasons is providing enough water. The tree should have the equivalent of 1 inch of water each week, Gene says. That may mean daily waterings, depending on what rain may come. By the third growing season, the tree likely can get enough water by itself, unless there are extreme dry conditions.
While Gene believes trees can be planted any time during the growing season – from thawed soil to freeze
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up – mid-summer presents the most challenges because of watering. “July is tough. You can’t plant and forget it. You have to be there to water it.”
So planting at your seasonal cabin, if you’re there only occasionally on weekends, means hiring help or making good friends with the year-round residents. As a final bit of advice, Gene recommends adequate fencing around the tree during its first years after planting to protect it from rabbits and deer. “You’re making that $100 (or more) investment in the tree; protect it with 10 or 15 dollars of fencing.” A plastic trunk protector could be placed in winter to deter bunnies, but it should give the trunk adequate space and be removed each spring.
Once you’ve worked on these basics, all you need to do is enjoy the tree as it grows into, if you’ve played your planting cards right, “the most beautiful tree on the block.”