You Bet Your Garden

Plant a tree this Arbor Day
By Mike McGrath

Mike McGrath The last Friday in April is Arbor Day, so let's plant us a tree -- to provide cooling shade, beautiful color, a haven for birds, leaves for composting and something for the kids to fall out of!

How: Don't make the hole too deep, but do make it nice and wide -- those roots love to spread out. Remove any metal or plastic, but shred and bury the burlap cover. Fill the hole back up, apply an inch of compost to the top of the soil, then water really well -- a full day of 'drip,' then daily soakings until it rains. Never mound mulch right up against the trunk of a tree. And don't mulch deeper than an inch -- you'll smother the roots!

What: Howzabout one of these well-behaved beauties:

Flowering crabapple. Clouds of pinkish-white blooms on a great climbing tree.
Serviceberry. White flowers, delicious berries and then brilliant orange, red and yellow fall colors.
Purple leaf Japanese maple. Beautiful leaves turn amazing sunset colors in the fall.
American smoketree. A neglected native! Beautiful reddish-green leaves; stems that resemble puffs of smoke; drought tolerant; pest and disease resistant; loves poor soil; turns a brilliant orange in fall -- the perfect small tree for the city!
Japanese tree lilac. Stays small; tolerates drought and salty soil; has large cream-colored flowers and a beautiful glossy bark.

Something historic! A Black Locust from Independence Hall, a Sycamore that heard Martin Luther King speak out, Amelia Earhart's Sugar Maple, JFK's Crabapple and even Elvis' Pin Oak! American Forests sells direct descendants of these living legends. For information, call 1-800-320-8733 or visit historictrees.org.

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