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May 17, 2006
Ford to the Rescue
The local Conservation District here offers cheap saplings each year for trees and shrubs. The idea is to use them as windbreaks. Utah loses tons of topsoil every year because of its high winds and dry conditions. So the State hopes that by offering cheap trees, it can help prevent erosion. Being a New England Yankee to my bones, I know a good thing when I see one. I ordered 50.
Last year I got 40 trees, and dug all the holes by hand. It took me over a week to dig 40 holes and plant 40 trees. I didn’t know then about treating the soil, and about half of the trees died (ten of them within two weeks of planting). This year, I tried to learn from my experience.
The first thing I did was buy a 1950 Ford 8N tractor and a post hole digger. The first afternoon out, it dug 30 holes in 20 minutes—a vast improvement over digging by hand. Then I added soil conditioners to the underlying dirt, and mixed the fill dirt with garden soil and peat. Each tree gets an enclosure of 14-gauge wire, 36 inches tall, so the rabbits can’t eat them. I also tried to leave a rim around the hole, so each week I can pour a couple of gallons of water per tree, and it will have time to soak in rather than running off and watering the weeds.
Time will tell whether this will solve last year’s problems—but all of the trees & shrubs are getting leaves, so that’s a good sign.
Posted by DJSueellen at May 17, 2006 10:35 AM
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