Trees are “an incredible green machine,” says Chattanooga urban forester Gene Hyde.
Trees slow down stormwater runoff, provide shade and cool the pavement.
“The figure is in the hundreds of millions of dollars a year in benefits trees provide for us,” Mr. Hyde said.
You can pay tribute to these hard-working oxygen creators, climate regulators and beauty makers on Friday, Tennessee Arbor Day.
Nebraska journalist J. Sterling Morton planted the idea of an Arbor Day. The first celebration took place on April 10, 1872. Today, National Arbor Day, a day dedicated to planting trees, is celebrated on the last Friday in April, but each state has its own schedule.
In the South, tree planting is best done in winter months. Trees need time to lay down roots, before heat and drought of summer challenge their systems.
So Georgia’s Arbor Day is the third Friday in February. Alabama’s Arbor Day extends through the last full week of February. Tennessee’s is the first Friday in March.
Trees do best if they’re in the ground before spring rains (if any) end and before summer’s heat strikes. If you’re interested in installing trees this spring, March is a good month to do it, area experts said.
Here are some tips from the pros:
1. Don’t bury the root crown. “Keep the top of the root ball just above grade,” said Wes Kelley, co-owner of Mountain City Landscape. Joe Sawyer, principal of Sawyer Landscape Group, agreed. Many people kill trees by planting too deeply, Mr. Sawyer said. Place the tree in the soil just to the point where the trunk begins to swell to meet the root ball, he said.
2. Don’t mulch too much.
Tree roots need oxygen and water. Don’t pile more than 1 or 2 inches of mulch below trees — you’ll suffocate them. Clear mulch to about 2 inches away from the trunk. Moist conditions caused by mulch next to a trunk invite rot, bugs and disease, said Pete Nielsen, a landscape designer at Ooltewah Nursery.
3. Fertilize when you plant with a balanced, slowrelease fertilizer, following directions carefully. “The trees are getting ready to use a lot of energy over the next month to month and a half. That’s when it needs the food,” Mr. Sawyer said.
4. When planting a balland-burlap tree, “open the top of the burlap wrapping and bend back the wire basket so the tree is not girdled in any way,” Mr. Nielsen said. After filling the hole and tamping soil, put in stakes and a guy wire to hold the tree. Remove the guy wire after the first year. Any longer, and you risk “girdling” or choking the tree, if the bark begins to grow over the circling band.
“Only a very small part of the tree under the bark is the growing part of the tree trunk. If you cut off the circulation, which takes place just under the bark, the tree will die,” Mr. Nielsen said.
E-mail Kathy Gilbert at kgilbert@timesfreepress.com
RECOMMENDED TREES FOR CHATTANOOGA
Large (up to 100 feet or taller): Oaks (willow, overcup), maples (red), elms, river birches
Small (up to 30-40 feet tall): Redbuds (redbud Forest Pansy, Oklahoma, Alba), dogwoods, crape myrtles, Chinese pistache
EVENTS AND INFO
All about tree care: Arbor Day Foundation Tree Care pages, www.arborday.org/ trees/index.cfm
City of Chattanooga’s Arbor Day willow oak planting, 9:30 a.m., Battle Academy, 17th and Main streets downtown
TRI-STATE ARBOR DAYS AND STATE TREES
GEORGIA: Third Friday in February; live oak
ALABAMA: Last full week of February; longleaf pine
TENNESSEE: First Friday in March; tulip poplar
