Speaking of planting trees I thought it was important to address the watering of large trees separately since they are so key in our yards and also a bigger budget item.

(less than 12 weeks)

Water once a week for the first eight to twelve weeks, with a second watering during hot, dry summer months.

The larger the tree or shrub that is planted, the more water it will require to soak into the root ball and surrounding soil. By laying the hose on top of the root ball (with the water running at a very slow trickle!) for 30 to 45 minutes, the tree gets water soaked into the root zone. Don't rely on lawn irrigation systems to water trees. These systems are designed to water the top 1 or 2 inches of soil and usually do not provide enough water to soak the trees' root zone.

One gallon of water for the plant and one additional gallon of water for each caliper inch of the tree. A 3-inch caliper tree will need four gallons of water with each watering.

(twelve weeks and longer)

By 'real yards' I mean the 30 to 50 foot yards that most of us have. And even if you have a bigger one, I think tree size is equally important as I have had to assist several home owners with "too many trees... too close together syndrome" over the years.

I often feel un-Canadian when I tell my customers that I do not recommend a Maple tree for their yard or I recommend they move the Maple tree that their builder so kindly planted 5 feet from their front door of their new home.

My reasons are simple.  At 40 plus feet tall and wide, these trees over time are just plain too big for our yards.  They're aggressive and any shallow root system makes it impossible to grow anything under it, including grass, and the shade they create while initially practical will be so dense that other areas in the yard will be affected as well.

By choosing smaller trees, they will complement the yard and gardens better as everything grows in. If privacy is what you are after, grouping smaller trees together will create a nice screen but still allows the trees to reach maturity without concern of crowding.

There are many, many great small tree alternatives; here are some of my favorites:

Ivory Silk Lilac (Syringa reticulata 'Ivory Silk')	Nice showy white flowers in June	15 to 20 feet high and 10 to 15 feet wide
Serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis)	Lacy white flowers in spring, fruit for birds in summer and brilliant fall colour	25 feet tall, 20 feet wide
Pyramidal Oak (Quercus robur "Fastigiata")	Pyramidal shape, retains leaves in winter, great for privacy	50 feet tall, 10 feet wide
Chinese Flowering Dogwood (Cornus kousa)	Showy white flowers with long bloom time and red fall colour	15 to 25 feet tall, 25 feet wide
Pagoda Dogwood (Cornus alternifolia)	Clustered white flowers in spring, fruit for birds late summer and nice fall colour, good for shade, north or east side of house	20 feet tall, 25 feet wide
Columnar Siberian Crab Apple (Malus baccata "Columnaris")	Fragrant white flowers in spring and persistent bright red fruit in fall, nice narrow habit	25 feet tall, 8 feet wide
Dawyck Beech (Fagus sylvatica 'Dawyck Purple')	Rich, dark purple foliage and extremely narrow habit	18 feet tall, 6 feet wide
Japanese maple (Acer palmatum 'Bloodgood')	Slow growing beautiful ornamental tree that is burgundy in colour, deepens in fall	20 feet tall, 20 feet wide
Ornamental Pear	White spring flower, fall colour, columnar shape	15 feet tall, 15 feet wide
Amur maple (Acer ginnala)	A compact, dwarf form of maple tree that's much more appropriate for small spaces than its many imposing relatives	15 feet tall, 15 feet wide

If you have any questions about the right tree for you, please post a question on Facebook and I would be happy to help.

Ornamental Pear.	Ornamental Pear.

And if you really want a Maple Tree, consider an Amur Maple,   smaller in stature and leaf size and nice fall colour.

Amur Maple.

Amur Maple leaf.

Joanne Shaw
Landscape Designer
Down2Earth Landscape Design
joanne@down2earth.ca
www.down2earth.ca
905.839.1597
905.903.2597