Properly Planting Trees In Plano, TX and beyond

ANSI ( American National Standards Institute ) has proper tree planting guidelines. "Tree Planting" Best Management Practices which is a companion to the ANSI A300 Part 6: Tree, Shrub, and Other Woody Plant Maintenance - Standard Practices (Transplanting). In my opinion / experience it all starts with proper tree selection for the site. Then digging the planting hole to make it wide enough to be able to remove the burlap and wire basket that is around the tree root ball AFTER the tree is inserted into the planting hole, lowered by the basket not the tree. In other words don't handle the tree by the tree itself but the basket. You don't want to rip the roots so you move the tree around by the root ball and the dirt that's around the root ball. The top 18 inches is the most important of the root ball. Even peeling down the burlap and wire basket is acceptable. Not burring the root flare or planting the tree too deep is the next thing. Often the root flare has had dirt added to the root ball while in the nursery. The dirt must be removed from the root flare because the root flare is not root material. It's not supposed to be under ground and will rot over time disrupting the transport of water and nutrients to the crown of the tree (Transpiration). I like the idea of driving survey stakes through the root ball and "toe nailing" it into the ground as apposed to staking the tree. The tree needs to move so to increase trunk diameter and encourage root growth. They don't recommend putting mulch around the new tree in my opinion because people get carried away and make a volcano mulch pile with the tree being the eruption of the volcano. It also adds to the maintenance of the new tree. I like to add 2 inches or less of mulch so the nutrients won't be baked out of the root ball by the sun at least until the tree can shade its root system. Also, the temperature of the root system must be kept at an acceptable level for root growth. I plan on video recording a tree planting by my company aPerfectTree.com Totally Trees Yard Note Tree Service LLC, aPerfectTree.com Totally Trees...LLC for short, soon. Look for it soon on my YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/texastreeman/ Reading the above mentioned ANSI Standards will broaden your tree planting knowledge as it has mine. I can't write all that is said in the 41 page guide. You can purchase the guide from the ISA at http://treesaregood.com/ or http://secure.isa-arbor.com/webstore/ or http://www.isa-arbor.com/ . Just search ANSI Tree Planting.

Mistletoe

Have you noticed the Mistletoe has been on the decline this Winter here in Dallas, TX area ? Probably due to the drought. I'll ask the expert on the subject in Feb when I go back to school again. School is a part of my life now and I absolutely crave learning. Knowledge is power.

Watering your trees in Winter

Don't water your Live Oak trees just before a freeze. Last year, 2010, I saw a Live Oak split like a water pipe because its owner watered it the day before a freeze. The leaf surface must have reached a temprature warm enough to allow the Stomates in the leaves to open and transpire, pulling water into the tree's vassal cells the day before the freeze. That night it froze and split the tree down its side in a couple of places. I never heard if the tree survived. It probably did since it was so young.  You can research your questions directly from my site aPerfectTree.com in the search box, or right here.