Comments on: Arbor Day – BAD for planting. Earth Day? Same deal.

By: jodi

jodi — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 04:32:15 +0000

I missed this post somehow–was too busy reading feeds via Blotanical instead of my usual feed reader, I guess. We don’t have Arbor Day (and if we did we’d spell it Arbour, of course…) but there is some fuss around Earth day and planting trees. But that’s where our climate differs so radically from yours; being a maritime climate in the Maritime provinces, we don’t experience droughts as such; maybe a dry spell sometimes in late July or August, but nothing like what more southerly parts of the continent (including parts of more western provinces) endure. So we CAN plant trees and shrubs all through the growing season. It’s being an effort, however, to encourage people to keep ON planting past mid July–be it annuals, perennials, shrubs or trees. They’re learning, but slowly.

By: Ginny Stibolt

Ginny Stibolt — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 16:31:38 +0000

Actually late spring is a good time for planting in Florida where our wet season starts in June. We normally have twice as much rain during our 5 wet months as in our 7 dry months. Of course, there are no guarantees on that rainfall, but still if you take the averages, the wet season is the best bet. For dormant, deciduous trees in northern and central Florida though, early winter is the best time to plant and Florida’s (and Louisiana’s) Arbor Day is the 3rd Friday in January. This is pretty much the equivalent of fall in temperate climates like the Mid-Atlantic.

By: Kathy

Kathy — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 21:14:04 +0000

Hmmm, maybe we can re-educate folks to spen Arbor Day making their existing trees healthier – or caring for those in nearby parks by removing invasive vines off them, fertilizing, pruning dead limbs, etc.
Earth Day can be more about food and sustainable gardening and get off the tree topic. Give out packs of veggie and herb seeds or native flowers instead of sickly saplings.

By: Linda Chalker-Scott

Linda Chalker-Scott — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 00:33:29 +0000

Thanks for bringing my web topic to the gardening masses! I agree, it is tough not to succumb to planting in the spring. And if you’re doing your own landscape, you can devote the extra water to them in the summer. But here are a couple of the strategies I use for my own place as well as others:
1) Have Arbor Day/Earth Day be a Tree Care Day – spend the time spreading good organic mulch. This will prepare your landscape for the dry summer months, as well as helping to suppress weeds. (I have just published a literature review on landscape mulches in the December 2007 issue of the Journal of Environmental Horticulture. Email me for a free pdf copy!) Other good activities: removing invasive plants, planting flowering annuals in containers or borders, putting in bulbs, tubers, etc.
2) Go ahead, buy those wonderful blooming shrubs and trees – just don’t install them yet. Move them around your landscape during the spring and summer to figure out where you like them the best. Keep them well watered – and in the fall, you’re ready to install them.