Freshly planted trees typically have their own unique set of challenges. Imagine being the tree in the above photo:
You had been comfortably growing in a nursery all your life, getting plenty of water and food. Suddenly you are experiencing the shock of having 90% of your root system cut off. What’s left has been tightly wrapped in burlap and wire. Now that you’ve arrived at your new home, someone’s front yard, you discover that the earth you are being planted in is heavy, hard clay. If you’re lucky, the man planting you is taking the time to remove that tight cover of burlap and wire from the top of your root ball, so water and air can get to those aching roots of yours. At this point, the only thing you want is to be able to re-grow your roots into the new surrounding soil, and get yourself established….
Though the scenario above may seem a bit over-dramatized, the basic points are very real. We don’t have to look very far to find new developments, where the topsoil has all been scraped away, and the poor subsoils are now at the surface. Even with older homes, the situation is not much different. In order to survive, a newly transplanted tree must re-establish its roots as quickly as possible. If the soil in the planting hole is not somehow fractured to provide pore spaces for water and oxygen to penetrate, the roots will have difficulty growing into it. This is why so many transplants die in the first year. More often, however, trees get through the first year, even if poorly planted, but, struggle for years with stem-girdling roots, or other soil-related problems, before they finally die. Statistics say that the average lifespan of a tree in a typical landscape is about 30 years! Compare that with the natural lifespans of Maples or Oaks, for example: 200, 300, 400 years!
ORGANIC AIR’S SOLUTION: If a tree was planted using a Tree Spade, like the one shown above, the first step is to aerate the potential root-zone, using the Air Knife. If the hole was hand-dug, at least twice the size of the root ball, aeration after the first year will overcome settling and provide oxygen for continued development. In either case, Organic Deep-root Fertilization, should be performed shortly after planting , to rebuild populations of beneficial microbes, that are generally lacking in compacted subsoils. Together, these services will give roots the environment they need to grow strong and fibrous, so they can access water and oxygen that they would otherwise struggle to obtain.
A landscape is an investment that adds many thousands of dollars to the value of a home. What other assets do people have, with that type of worth, that are not either insured, or somehow cared for and protected?
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