Instant gratification is a feeling we all can find enjoyment in and have, frankly, become accustomed to. We want instant gratification with many things in our lives, but one thing that we should all consider taking our time with, is planting a tree.
Donna Legare recently shared a sweet seedling story with me. It was a story that started with her simply gathering natural mulch, a neighbor's American beech leaves, and now has resulted in a beautiful American beech near her driveway. A beech nut was mixed among her leaf pile, which then sprouted and rooted all on its own. This is sometimes known as a “nature planting” or a “volunteer” plant. If that beech nut had landed on a manicured lawn instead of bare soil, it would not have been so lucky to have the chance to sprout. This particular volunteer has now outgrown her previously planted American beech in her backyard, which is about 10 years older than the volunteer. There are plenty of factors to consider when comparing the two beech trees, like the amount of sun and soil drainage, but a particular factor to consider is that the volunteer beech in her yard was never constrained by a pot.
Donna was fortunate with her volunteer tree, because not all nature plantings deserve a spot in your landscape. And while we may not all be so lucky as to have a stunning native tree pop up in our yard, we can however get pretty close to that same feeling of easy landscaping by choosing a bare root tree.
If you have ever considered planting a tree, now is the perfect time to do so. Most trees have a dormancy period through the winter, making transplanting less shocking, keeping maintenance to a minimum, and allowing the tree to focus primarily on its root development. One of the best things about planting a tree in the winter, is that you can easily find an adorable little native tree for a fraction of the cost, and it is the overall healthiest option for the tree. These tiny trees are usually called “bare root” seedlings – and the name says it all.
Bare root trees are usually one to two years old, and are grown in a loose medium such as sand, allowing full root development without being constricted by a plastic nursery pot. What makes bare root trees even more appealing, is that they are extremely affordable. Instead of spending a hundred dollars on an overly large tree that has been bound in its pot and takes multiple people to plant, consider spending a mere seven dollars or less and have a little patience with a younger tree. A bare root tree can be a canopy tree or an understory tree – some readily available and easy to care for native bare root tree species are white oak, bald cypress, longleaf pine, red buckeye, western mayhaw, and American snowbell. Despite how good instant gratification can feel, the feeling of caring for, and watching something grow and thrive over time is even more rewarding. You can spend less time digging a ginormous hole, and more time admiring the new baby native tree in your yard.
