Don't forget about newly planted trees and shrubs

You know, there are times I'd like to make a point about a topic, but somebody else already did - and better than I could! In last week's MSU Landscape Alert, Associate Professor Bert Cregg advised us to remember our newly planted trees and shrubs. Here's how he begins:

"Buying and planting new trees and shrubs is an exciting and time-honored rite of spring. But it’s important to remember your trees and shrubs AFTER you’ve gotten them in the ground. The first two years after planting are critical to the long-term survival of most woody ornaments, especially the first year. New trees and shrubs, whether container-grown or balled-in-burlap, need time for their roots to grow into surrounding soil in order to survive the transpiration water loss associated with summer temperatures in the 80’s and 90’s."

Rather than reinventing the wheel, I'll just link to his article. It expresses a lot of the tree care advice that we use at Trim Pines, such as infrequent, deep watering and using organic mulches. And check out Dr. Cregg's comment above, about the first two years. It's a wonderful thing! We like to go one further, and consider a tree "new" for the first three years.

Boy, are we a lucky farm! We've had a bee hive box sitting outside, waiting for us to find or purchase some bees to move into it. Yesterday, we think a hive swarmed and moved in without our even asking. Now we have one more colony of bees here to pollinate our pumpkins & veggie garden, and help the local ecosystem. Check out these photos of the bees moving in: The first shot shows a large number of bees near the entrance to the box, and in the second it looks like most of them have moved in already. Their move-in process made it a challenge to get into our own front door for a little while, and it was fascinating to watch!

Some neat information that we've learned about bees this year:

If you see bees swarming, it means that a new colony has split off from the old one, because they've outgrown their hive. They're looking for a place to build a new hive! So, with our pumpkins and veggies in need of bees for great production, we've bought some bee suits & other equipment and are looking to collect any swarms that we see. If you see a swarm, contact us and we'll try to help collect it. Once it's moved in here, we might just name it after you!

It's going to be extra hot all week long! Forecasts indicate that we'll be having temperatures in the mid to upper 80's through Friday. We've paused in transplanting, and want to recommend some care tips for the week.

Last week's rain may not have watered your trees sufficiently. And, trees get wilty when it's hot and sunny, just like we do, so they'll need your help to push a large amount of water up through the leaves. Step outside today and check the soil, to see if it's wet. If not, give them a good soaking so they have a lot of moisture in the root ball. And it wouldn't hurt to check again in a day or two, to see how much they're using. The photo at left shows a handful of soil where a tree would need to be soaked well for this week.

Second, if you haven't got mulch on top of the root systems yet, do it now. Mulch will help keep that moisture from evaporating, so the tree can use it better.

Third, while you're watering is a great time for an application of Root Stimulator. Let's help those roots grow so they can use the moisture in the surrounding soil.