Arborday Foundation trees

[dado potato]

A friend called me and asked me how many trees I would like to plant, out of her Arborday Foundation package.

I was not planning to plant any trees this year. But after a couple of days, I thought maybe I could make room for two or three. Now I have planted 3 Norway spruces (the quintessential Christmas Tree).

I wonder if other SLF people have planted trees from the Arborday Foundation.

The price (free!) of these trees is hard to beat. And they came with detailed instructions on planting and mulching.

The trees I planted will mature in 30 years, if all goes well, and the browsing deer can be fended off all that time. Wow.
Cent'anni (as they say in Italian).

[rosarugosa]

I never have. You will have to let us know how well they do.

[catherine]

I haven't planted Arborday trees, but I certainly love the idea of it. Lately I've been thinking that in the interest of keeping my ecological footprint low I might start planting a tree or two for every cord of wood I use. The problem is, I don't have much room at all to plant another tree--I could plant trees on my little sliver of land I own bordering the lake but my neighbors would kill me. So, I was a thinking of posting an ad where I would get the tree and offer it to someone else to plant.

Maybe I could just make a donation to the Arbor Foundation instead. Hmmm.

[Chicken lady]

Catherine, a better solution would be to do some investigation about the production of your cordwood. Try to find someone who is using sustainable or regenerative forestry.

We burn wood. We cut it from dead trees on our land. We also have our bonus son come by and cut wood for his Mom. We don’t actually keep up with the dead wood - particularly with the emerald ash borer, but it is ok for some of it to rot and replenish the soil. I would offer to plant trees for you, but we currently plant as many native trees as we can handle every year. We also mark the good “volunteers” to avoid accidentally mowing or brush cutting them.

[catherine]

Catherine, a better solution would be to do some investigation about the production of your cordwood. Try to find someone who is using sustainable or regenerative forestry.

We burn wood. We cut it from dead trees on our land. We also have our bonus son come by and cut wood for his Mom. We don’t actually keep up with the dead wood - particularly with the emerald ash borer, but it is ok for some of it to rot and replenish the soil. I would offer to plant trees for you, but we currently plant as many native trees as we can handle every year. We also mark the good “volunteers” to avoid accidentally mowing or brush cutting them.

Good suggestions...I get wood from a couple of guys up here...one is probably not all that sustainable, but it's good wood. He inherited several acres of wooded land and he makes a business of selling firewood. We get mixed woods and they are seasoned.We also get wood from a guy who charges a lot less, but I'm sure it's sourced from the dead wood and fallen trees on his property because it's not as neat as the first guy's and it burns very unevenly. Not bad, but some of it burns up in a flash.

Regarding the volunteer trees--just a side note on an observation: When I've been hiking in the state park I've noticed the forest floors are flooded with tiny volunteer invasive Norway maple saplings! I'm sure the park ranger knows how to deal with them, but wow. It reminds me of how important it is not to plant invasives!

[iris lilies]

Catherine brings up a good idea for Arbor Day: pull up a few junque/ invasive trees to help the native canopy.

That activity is more up my alley anyway.

[lmerullo]

I got an Arbor Day tree this year. It's a slash pine. Not my first choice, but it was either that or an oak, and I've got four of them already on my suburban sized lot.

I wanted a red.maple, but the lady running the event said they went quickly. There was a magnolia in the list as well, but I don't like the seasonal leaf drop, so I skipped it. They had mahogany - too big for me, and some type of swampy plant for the coastal areas. I don't live in that region, so it was not of use to.me.

[catherine]

Didn't want to start a whole thread on this, but it's a beautiful article reprinting an essay by Hermann Hesse: "On What Trees Teach Us About Belonging and Life."

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/h...jC-JvB_c-wERj4