Choose & Cut Your Family Tree -- in a Suburban Nature
Retreat
Where to Plant Your Christmas Tree
You are fortunate to have purchased your tree from Ticonderoga Farms as all of
the trees we sell we have grown right here on the farm. They are therefore well
acclimatized to this area's weather and generally poor soils.
WHITE
PINE: White pine requires the best
drainage of all the trees we sell. Plant in an area which either has good
internal drainage (water seeps quickly into the ground) or good surface drainage
(a slope). Do not plant in low areas or areas subject to standing water. If
conditions are iffy, plant tree 3 to 4 inches higher than it was grown in our
fields, hilling the dirt up to the top of the ball.
SCOTCH PINE: Scotch pine is the most
tolerant -- among the pines -- of "wet feet" or poorly drained
areas. It cannot, however, be planted where there is standing water. Again, if
in doubt or forced to place in a lower than desired area, plant 3 to 4 inches
higher than it was grown in our fields.
NORWAY and BLUE SPRUCE: Spruces like
good drainage and will do best on a slope or on high, well drained soil.
RED CEDAR: Red Cedar will take quite
poor soil conditions and will generally grow in low lying areas, though
standing water is still a no-no (our bald cypress does well in such swampy
areas - but unfortunately does not hold its needles for Christmas so is not
sold as a Christmas tree).
In general all of your pines and spruces will do best with good drainage. There
are many places in Northern Virginia which suffer from especially poor
drainage, but circumstances vary tremendously from place to place. Therefore,
you should carefully check and consider the soil that you have available in
your neighborhood. (See contact numbers for agricultural offices under [how to plant].
In the event that
you do not have good drainage, the following hints will be helpful. For all
trees, if the area is not as well drained as one might like it to be, plant the
tree higher than it was planted in our fields. You may need to get extra dirt
from elsewhere to hill dirt up around the ball and build a little retaining
wall for watering we spoke of under planting directions. [how to plant]
In addition, if
your soil has very poor drainage, you should pay special attention. All trees
are susceptible (to one extent or another) to fungal infections that can
spread through the standing water beneath poorly-draining soil. If any part of
the root system is bathed in poorly-circulating or standing subsurface water,
there is a risk of infection in that part of the root that enters the standing
water. The phytopthora fungus can infect the
roots, and then spread throughout the tree, and can eventually kill the tree.
Please note that
there are certain swaths of land running through Northern Virginia where
retreating glaciers at the end of the Ice Age 'scraped' the land totally bare,
and the glaciers stripped away the natural topsoil. If you are in one of those
low-lying areas, you may have clay soil, which is tremendously poor for both
drainage and growing quality. It is not recommended to grow a tree in clay,
poorly-draining soil. (Consider playing with clay in school and recall how clay
dust acts when wet.) Therefore, you may want to add a layer of topsoil on top
of the clay soil, large enough to completely contain the root system of your
tree.
By contrast, in
areas where glaciers did not scrape the land bare, you may enjoy some of the
best growing soil around, such as in Western Loudoun County and other Western
Counties. So, it definitely helps to know your soil and know the conditions in
your own particular neighborhood. We encourage you to check with the
agricultural cooperative extension office in your County (which is a
State-County partnership).
MORE QUESTIONS?
Call your agricultural extension office.
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