Omaha daily bee., 1905-11-13
TREE PLANTING and CARE
I, Timml,r, Landscape Gardener, Reads an
Interesting Paper
GIVES RESULTS or PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE
Merits Of rail- and SprinE FiaptInE
and of 'Dinerent Methods of
Trimming as an Expert
Views Them.

Following is a synopsis Of paper read
before the Omaha Florists club November
. on THE Planting and Pruning OF Trees:
About this question OF planting trees
exists regular tug-of-war. Some favor
fall and others spring planting. Both par
ties are generally right. There is generally
tho belief that after the leaves drop and
the ground freezes few inches all the life
in trees and shrubs comes to a standstll
But II is scientifically proved this Is not So
Trees even in zero weather, when they are
covered with ice. keep on growing, This
growth is not visible. as the part which Is
mostly growing is underground, the roots
Many people who preach for spring plant
ing are right to some extent A tree pcr-
spires all winter and IL YOU 1.-Two in places
where the winters are very dry and fire.
) quented bv dry winds. YOU are liable 10 the
| loss of all your trees, but " you have
| chance to give them 4 thorough wettlng I
| think this can be overcome But should
| there he hot drouth these trees would az
most any time be lost. An early fall
! planted tree will always withstand spring
! drought better than spring planted one,
! as in most instances II is well rooted by
! that time. There is more time for planting
! In the fall and the ground is in better work
! ing condition. Don't wait until the last
I
/ discoor, even II you have to strip some Of
! them. BY planting early I'm the fall YOU
! gain time and the trees make better growth
| the first year. For myself | would do all
my planting in the fall.
Manure to he Freely Used.
| I have observed that many people in
planting dons use any MANURE or very
little. many Of them saying they are going
TO use liquid manure i'm the summer. That
is all right II that is done, but the cheapest
way is TO use a good deal Of manure while
planting. Dig the holes large enough aud
put manure in the bottom mixed up with
soil and put more soil on top so that the
roots OF the tree don't come in contact with
the manure. but It ought to be in easy
reach of them. so when they form new
Gbrous roots the manure soon can be
reached by them In our short-lved age we
want quick results and | don't see any
other way TO get them. After you give
manure on top cover the hole up entirely
and give a good mulching. Mulching done
in the fall keeps the frost longer out OF the
ground and gives the roots OF the newly
planted tree q longer growing season. And
in summer II keeps the moisture In the
ground. In spring mulching keeps the
ground longer from being thawed up, 50
the tree don't get on an early start
Question OF Trimming.
Trimming or not trimming trees while
planting is a greatly argued question. The
old teaching was that wherever you trim
the roots, that is, cutting them while TAX
ing the tree up you ought not to touch
the top. Even experts are OF different opin-
ions; some favor the trimming and others
like to see the trimming done one year after
planting. 1t is hard to tell who is right
On a tree in it's winter habits we don't see
anything but twigs of different sizes, and
the argument is whether to cut any Of them
or not II you take. for instance, a small
branch and inspect the buds on it you will
ind that the upper buds at tho end Of the
twlgs are larger than the lower ones and
fully developed and in trimming you would
cut them on. These upper buds are the
first ones to leaf out and start their work
ing duty in the plants life. The lower
buds a good deal slower in opening up.
Through the leaves the plant breathes and
perspires. For instance, IL you plant a
young tree with long young shoots and
don't put them back for a year, as said be-
= fore, the upper buds will break out, while
the lower ones will stay dormant and dur
- ing the year will be thrown on the plant
a useless. Now, a year after planting
when you start cutting them back to give
. your tree some shape you will find that
many buds are thrown of and you cam
get a well branched head as II you had
= trimmed them while planting Even II
your trees don't bud out right away there Il
Z no danger. There are many reserve sub
stances heaped up in the tree which are
% taken in use to build up new parts and the
=: tree is not as much in danger of drying VI
through heavy evaporation. The better
Z and the more roots a tree has the lesi
: trimming it needs. II roots are few trim
=, top strong.
. have seen people in the southwest go Il
the forests and dig UP elm trees which ar
:: considered hard growing trees. They would
- cut the tops of entirely and just plan
l., the stems alone. A row Of these tree
s looked after planting like a row of posts.
never believed that any of them would live
!. but I hardly saw any losses there. Ger
tainly every tree will not stand for har,
/; trimming and would not advise any sever
., cutting back like that mentioned, but Jus
D. cut enough back to balance the top with tn
T. loss OF roots.