By Tricia Stithem
The Haysville Times
Forester Tim McDonnell plays two roles. He is community forester and forester for South East and Central Kansas. He has been doing state wide programming now for three months since the previous forester moved to Nebraska. He has been with Kansas forest service for four years, and, he states, “I have 25 years of experience with trees.”
The June 5 program was presented at the community building for the community and sponsored by the Tree Board with Patty Waters presiding over the meeting. The presentation was titled Tree Death Begins at Planting. This were a PowerPoint presentation. Included was The Top Ten Mistakes During Tree Planting which according to Forester McDonnell are:
(1) Poor selection – Choose a healthy plant and look up and around and look for obstacles to the plant’s growth.
(2) Inadequate root system – For every inch of tree diameter, it needs a 10 inch to 12 inch of root ball. Anything less than that, and the tree will suffer more transplant shock and will take a longer time to establish.
(3) Poor Planting Site: Dig a hole to determine what type of soil profile you are dealing with.
(4) Pot Bound/ Girdling Root. Always look for girdling roots that are wrapped around the trunk and cut this root off. This prevents choking off of nutrients to the plant.
(5) Planting Hole Is Too Small. Dig the hole twice as big as the root ball is wide.
(6) Plant Too Deep. The planting hole should be no deeper than the root ball itself.
(7) The Tree Is Improperly Or Not Mulched At All. Mulch buffers the environmental fluctuation of our climate.
(8) Tree Is Not Staked. This is not always required. Stake in a park where there are children at play or in high wind areas.
(9) Improper Watering – Forester McDonnell states, “I probably see more newly planted trees drowned from too much water than not enough. Trees should be watered initially, then again the next day, then in three days and again in another three days.”
(10) Failure to Monitor “Scouting is the primary function of integrated pest management and means checking the crop etc. daily.”
Recommendations for tree planting, preferred trees for South Central Kansas, why trees are stressed by transplanting and fertilizing trees in the landscape was also discussed. All of these are most interesting and very useful pieces of information for those with trees or thinking of buying trees and for those in the industry. Another very interesting topic was the Kansas Pride selection of trees: 2006 – Kentucky Coffee Tree; 2007 – English Oak, which is at the Kansas Horticulture Center; 2008 – Caddo Maple; 2009 – Chinkapin Oak; 2010 – Lace Bark Elm, a state champion in Garden City.
Further information on this subject is available through your Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service.