Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Lessons from Arbor Day Celebrations

On February 12th, the city of San Benito hosted an Arbor Day celebration at the Cameron County  Fairgrounds.   Jr. Master Gardening students from  one of the elementary schools participated - and learned a little bit along the way.   They learned that when planting a tree, you should dig a hole the same depth and 2-3 times as wide as the rootball.   The planting hole should not be smooth - new roots will not always penetrate a smooth surface, but instead turn and circle its "earthen pot".    One of our customers likes to dig a square hole.  You can always use your shovel to make a jagged surface.


The RootMaker bag is being removed from the rootball. Now all those fibrous roots will really take off!


 
You can see that this tree will be planted too deep!   After this picture, the tree was removed and more dirt placed in the planting hole.   To cover a tree's root flare with even a couple of inches of dirt will cause it to eventually die. 

The city of San Benito was awarded a number of live oaks from our "100 Trees for 100 Years" program.  They are placing two on either side of the entrance to the Cameron County Fairgrounds.  What a welcoming sight they will be in a few years!

Thanks to the city of San Benito along with all the city, chamber and school officials who attended!


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