Trees, trees, and more trees

I've always had this idea that I ought to plant as many trees on my property as I can afford to water.....for the environment, for satisfaction while watching something grow, for the local wildlife, for shade in the hot summer, for so many reasons.

Five years ago, I began my journey to create my own personal forest, with the help of The National Arbor Day Foundation, who provided seedlings of American Redbuds and Hazelnut (bushes). Five years later, I have a small forest of ten Redbuds on the west side of the yard and another forest of eight Redbuds on the east side. When planted, these little seedlings were ten to twelve inches tall. Those on the east side now stand at six to eight feet tall. On the west side, they're between two and three feet tall. Water and soil is the difference. Initially, both plantings were given large amounts of water, but over the past couple of years, I've watered them less and less, hoping and praying that they would have a good enough root system to find a water source. Though this is an arid area, rose bushes that were planted here more than fifteen years ago are flourishing, watered only by the rain in the spring and fall. It occurred to me, that the Redbuds should do equally well, especially since they have a tap root that goes deeper than any other tree.



This is a photo taken in March 2006 of one of the taller Redbuds.

Besides the Redbuds and Hazelnuts, I've planted two Raywood Ash trees, a Hybrid Poplar, and a Flowering Plum. The Raywood Ash weren't the best choice for shade because the limbs tend to grow straight up rather than horizontally to the trunk providing a rounded crown rather than a spreading crown, but eventually they'll provide some shade.



This is a photo of the largest Raywood Ash taken in August of 2006.

Another Raywood Ash, planted a year and a half after this one was doing well until a windstorm snapped off its main trunk. Because the limbs grow nearly vertical to the main trunk, I'm attempting to save the tree and am training the strongest limb to become the main trunk. It's a strange looking tree now, and I'll have to see if my theory works.



This is a pic of the Flowering Plum taken in August of 2006. Since planting, it's almost doubled in height, and it's already become a haven for local wildlife.

The Hybrid Poplar shot up about four feet the first year, but it's not grown as fast after the first couple of years. Probably because it hasn't received as much water as it did the first year. It should do better now since it's going to receive a fair share of the swamp cooler drain-off during the summer months.