Landscaping - Gardening - Lawn Care

Choosing the Right Site

It's fun to pick out a tree you like, but it's tricky to pick out a proper place to put it. Careful planning and positioning of any new addition to your landscape will ensure its success and avoid problems in years to come. As an essential landscape feature, use trees to delineate areas, form a focal point, or reinforce vistas.

An appropriately sited tree has plenty of room to reach maturity and won't interfere with overhead utility lines, underground pipes and utility lines, street traffic, lighting, or parking. Avoid planting under utility lines. If you must, choose low-growing varieties that will reach no closer than 10 feet from lines when mature.

Place strong-wooded shade trees at least 50 feet apart and 15 feet away from buildings and utility lines. Add another 10 to 20 feet for soft-wooded trees to move in stormy weather without breaking up. Space small trees at least 10 feet away from buildings and each other.

Locating trees on the east and west sides of a building provides maximum shade. Plan to shade driveways, parking areas, air-conditioning units, and dark-color surfaces such as roofs.

Group trees to increase shade and reduce lawn area. A group of three or more trees including the same species or mixed company can create a special effect. Plant two or more rows of evergreens when creating a windbreak. Be careful not to block the path of winter sun when building visual or noise screens.

Maintaining a New Tree

Try not to prune a newly planted tree unless the form needs improving. Prune flowering trees in spring, after blooming, to correct form problems. Crab apple trees, an exception, should be pruned in late winter. Remove diseased or dead branches anytime.

- Apply fertilizer only if necessary in the second and following growing seasons. Take a soil sample and have it tested before fertilizing.
- Mulch to conserve moisture, reduce weeds, and eliminate mowing near the tree. Spread wood chips or shredded bark 4 inches deep and as wide as the tree's canopy. Don't mulch poorly drained or oversaturated soils.
- Wrap tree trunks to help prevent winter damage from weather and varmints. Remove wraps in spring.
- Stake young trees, especially bare-root trees and evergreens, to give them strength against high winds. Use low stakes and mesh webbing straps (no cord, wire, or hose) to support the tree. Stake loosely and allow the tree to blow. Remove stakes after a year.

Better Homes and Gardens

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