AgEBB-MU CAFNR Extension
Green Horizons
Volume 20, Number 2
May 2016
Urban Forestry
Planting a Tree: A Feel Good Thing to Do!
By BY BO YOUNG | MU Center for Agroforestry
By KIM YOUNG | Forrest Keeling Nursery, Elsberry, Mo.
I was asked to write an article about why planting trees make us feel so good. Just knowing all the benefits derived from planting a tree is enough motivation to get us out there planting this spring! The obvious beauty, the environment, habitat and creating a cool retreat from the hot summer sun is what motivates many of us to plant trees. That, and the sincere hope and belief that the tree will be here for many generations to follow.
I then began to recall all the fun I had as a child playing in and around trees. While raising my children, I made sure we spent a great deal of our days out-of-doors, and I was always so delighted to see them playing under some of the very trees I played under, and even helped plant, as a child. I asked my son to share his thoughts and experiences on the value of a childhood spent growing up and playing amongst trees.
In Bo's words:
I can remember growing up in Elsberry, a rural farm town no more than a hop, skip, and a jump from the mighty Mississippi, just north of St. Louis. Growing up on an orchard, I was surrounded by trees of all kinds but not yet able to understand their purpose, or their significance. I can remember my sister and I climbing a mighty oak tree, whose branches neither broke nor buckled under us. I can remember us running through our 'tickle tree', a weeping willow of considerable age with descending limbs that would brush against us and make us laugh. I remember a black walnut tree adjacent to our driveway, and my curiosity being aroused by the unique smell and color of the walnuts when I tried to gather them.
I can remember understanding, for the first time, the concept of the plant nursery, where I was raised throughout middle and high school. I was intrigued with the cultivation of trees as crops, and the preservation of natural resources through them. I will always proclaim that most of what I have learned about agriculture, and the conservation of natural resources, came from my grandfather. Through his guidance, I learned the importance of trees, and the role they play in our daily lives.
A grove of sugar maple trees that sit adjacent to my home in Elsberry gave us sap from which we made maple syrup as an FFA project. We would bring out the boiler early in the morning on a Saturday in late February, and be there all day with friends and family that would come and go until the syrup was ready to be bottled. These are moments that helped shape my life. But it doesn't take hundreds of trees to create fond memories in a child's life. By planting a single tree in your yard with your children's help, you can begin growing memories that will last a lifetime.
Something as simple as a tree in your yard can create a new world for your family, just like the tickle tree did for my son and his sister. Some of the greatest childhood memories happen in the company of trees. So let's get out there this spring and plant a tree with our family. Engage the children in the process.
Trees come in lots of shapes and sizes with varying needs of sun, shade and water. Make sure you choose a tree that will thrive on your site but not outgrow the location where it is placed. Regardless of the tree you select, preparing for the planting is very important. You should dig the hole at least twice as big as the container from which the tree is being removed. However, it is even more important that the tree not be planted too deeply. It should remain at the same height as it was in the container. After filling in the soil and tamping the ground gently around the roots, it is a good idea to layer a 3-4' ring of mulch about 2 inches deep around the perimeter of the tree. Apply a good slow release fertilizer and keep your tree watered throughout the summer and fall-you have just started creating fond memories for your children.