If you only have a
limited amount of money and are looking for a tree, I will always shop at a
local nursery that has a good reputation and a sales staff that knows plant
materials. These nurseries have experience with what thrives in your area and
reliable information to answer your questions about species selection, how to
plant, how amend soil or whatever else you might need to know. Buying at big box stores can also be an interesting and useful experience.
A quick summary when you’re box store shopping:
- They have lots of tree variety, but many species are poorly suited for long term success.
- Look for trees with a good leader
- Avoid trees with damaged trunks.
- Plant materials are very tender when they are fresh from the nurseries. Give them a few days to adjust and make sure you give them temporary shade in the hottest part of the day.
- Pick plants from the center rather than the edges of the displays.
Box stores have the advantage of mass buying and
therefore lower prices. They also get plant materials that are often so poorly
suited to the high desert that I wonder who does their purchasing.
If you are shopping for trees, here are a couple of links
that give some basic suggestions:
For annuals and some perennials, it is not such a big
deal, but if you are investing in a tree, a bit of research on what species can
thrive in our merciless sun is very important. Having said that, I will admit
to seeing trees doing fine that I would never have expected to survive three
years. So if you have the heart of adventurer and want to try something a bit
risky, go for something unusual.
I always look for a young tree with a strong lead,
because most young trees, whether they are evergreen or leafy, need a strong
lead to produce a good-looking tree. The lead is the top center growing branch
that is heading skyward. Some smaller trees, like crabapples or specialty trees
have more side branches and a less visible lead but large trees should have
one. I can’t stress enough – if there is not a good lead, don’t spend your
money on a tree.
 |
| Trees should have a good leader if you are going to buy them. From istockphoto.com. |
As always, there are exceptions, like fruit trees which have
the leader cut off to stimulate branching or weeping varieties.
 |
| Weeping trees...an exception to the leader rule for tree buying. From sscornelius. |
Many years ago, I had a friend show me a tree that she
was thinking of buying on sale. It was a linden, and had been so badly pruned
that it looked like a lollipop. The lead was gone and the other branches that
would have formed the beautiful structure of the grown tree had also been
hacked off. (My guess was the tree had fallen of the delivery truck and had
been really damaged.) But it was cheap.
"Yikes," I warned her, "that tree will never outgrow its
really bad haircut." But the price was too good for her to pass up. Sure enough,
this poor linden was the oddest looking tree and never grew into a good shape. She
told me 8 years later that she should have gotten another one.
The problem with buying a questionable tree is that
besides money, you also invest time. After when she finally admitted to herself
that the tree was never going to outgrow its bad pruning, she had invested many
years. It is worth paying for a young tree that has a good shape when you think
about the investment of time that is intrinsic to a mature tree in your
landscape
When you are buying a tree, it’s also critical to make
sure that the trunk is not damaged. A badly damaged trunk is damaged forever.
It does not fix itself like human skin. If there is damage deep in the bark
that goes down to the wood, the bark will never grow across the trunk to repair
itself. It will heal along the edges of the damage, but there will always be an
opening or scar in the bark. If you start looking at tree trunks around you,
you can find examples of trunk wounds that are years old and still visible.
The bark on the tree trunk is the way that water and minerals
from the soil move up to the leaves and plant food move from the leaves down to
the rest of the plant and the roots. Because of this, a damaged trunk will
always affect the vigor of your tree. In short, if you get a crummy trunk, you
will have a crummy trunk, forever.
Even small nicks or dings can cause problems. It’s
definitely worth it to buy a tree with an undamaged trunk- take the time to
shift or remove the wrapping on the trunk at the store. When you plant it at
home, you want to do it in such a way that you can keep the lawn mower and the
string weed eater away from it.
If you have questions, it's always great to shop at your local nursery. They'll have trees suited to your area and expertise to share!
No comments:
Post a Comment