LandscapExperts Tip of the Week, December 17

Executing a Landscape Renovation

Tools Needed to Move Plants, Soil, Mulch, Supplies

Wheelbarrow with Solid Tire -- single wheel makes maneuvering easy, solid tire never goes flat and reduces repair

XL Double-wheeled Barrow -- for hauling lightweight but bulki materials such as straw, pinestraw, mulch

Garden Cart -- 4-wheeled cart for hauling heavy statuary, equipment

LandscapExperts Tip of the Week, December 10

Executing a Landscape Renovation

Pruning Tools Needed

Bypass Hand Pruners – fine pruning, removal of crossing branches, maintains graceful shape of the plant

Ratchet Lopping Shears – 2-handed pruners for thicker stems and branches, ratchet provides extra power to get through 2-inch branches

Pruning Saw – cutting through small limbs

Pole Pruner – reaching branches high up in shrub or tree

Hedge Trimmer – create smooth topiary surface in small-leaved evergreen shrubs

Traditional Butterfly Bonsai Shear – fine cuts that redirect branching in herbaceous perennials, small shrubs

Bonsai Convex Cutter – remove branch at base, leaving smooth cut that readily heals over without stubs or scarring

Sharpening File – essential to have sharp pruning tools

Alcohol or 10% Bleach Solution – sanitation between cuts to prevent spread of disease

LandscapExperts Tip of the Week, December 3

Executing a Landscape Renovation

Digging Tools Needed

Pick -- useful for breaking through hardpan

Round point, long-handled Garden Shovel – primary digging tool for all-around general digging

Flat Garden Spade – for edging and outlining

Spading Fork – flat tines for digging, separating  

Hand Trowel – small handtool for planting bulbs, annuals, veggies, groundcovers

LandscapExperts Tip of the Week, November 26

Executing a Landscape Renovation

Backfilling the Planting Hole

The main reason for digging a wide planting hole is so we have plenty of soil that can be “fluffed up” or turned and aerated for backfilling around the root system or root ball. 

Where formerly a variety of organic materials were added to the backfill soil, Crabapple LandscapExperts follow current agricultural research recommendations for best practices and simply disturb an area two to three times the diameter of the root ball in width to produce a zone of well-aerated native soil that plant roots readily grow into in the month or two following planting.

LandscapExperts Tip of the Week, November 19

Executing a Landscape Renovation

Planting Container-Grown Large Trees and Shrubs

CrabappleLandscapExperts check the root systems of container-grown trees and shrubs Before we plant a tree that has been grown in a pot, we make sure that no major roots are circling or “girdling” the trunk.

This problem could eventually kill the tree. As tree and roots continue to enlarge in diameter, the root would eventually cut off the circulation (called translocation in plants) restricting the upward flow of nutrients and water from the roots and the downward flow of elaborated carbohydrates from photosynthesizing leaves.

If girdling roots are found, we do not purchase that tree, and in pre-existing planting we cut through to eliminate the problem.

LandscapExperts Tip of the Week, November 12

Executing a Landscape Renovation

Trees and Shrubs in Fiber Pots

Fiber pots are supposed to allow plant roots to grow through the sides and biodegrade. However, Crabapple LandscapExperts know that if any margin of the pot protrudes above ground, it can serve to “wick” moisture out of the surrounding soil, leaving the fiber pot dry and inpenetrable, thereby drying the root ball further.

Fiber pots (often made of peat or coir) are best removed if the roots have not begun to grow through the walls. If roots are growing into the fibrous pot, we use our best judgment whether to strip off the side walls or to remove the top part of the pot down to the soil ball. 

LandscapExperts Tip of the Week, November 5

Executing a Landscape Renovation

Prepping Large Woody Ornamentals for Planting

When large trees or shrubs are needed in a landscape renovation, Crabapple LandscapExperts select them as field-grown specimens in-ground at a tree nursery to ensure our clients get the healthiest plants with the prettiest branching habits. These are typically mechanically dug with a large root ball. 

To maintain the root ball and keep it from splitting during transport, the nursery wraps it with burlap, ties it with twine that is secured with nails or pins, and places it in a wire basket.

 

What is good for transporting, however, is not good for growth after planting.To prevent a check in growth or serious root deformation our LandscapExperts Team: 

• Removes the slow-to-biodegrade wire basket (or cuts it apart if it is to remain in the hole)
• Cuts the twine circling the trunk
• Pulls out the nails or pins 
• Removes the burlap covering the root ball (in particular, any portion of the burlap that protrudes above ground must be removed, so it does not act as a wick and pull water out of the ground, and most certainly if the burlap is synthetic and not natural fiber)

This practice ensures the roots will have the easiest time of becoming established, without physical impediment to root growth.