For Earth Day, we decided to plant a tree! Our community came out with a program this year, where households could sign up to receive a free tree to plant. We signed up right away, and were lucky enough to get one!
They had several trees to choose from… Pin Oak, Ironwood, Kentucky Coffeetree or a Sugar Maple. We chose Sugar Maple, but my second choice definitely would have been the Kentucky Coffee tree!
When we went to pick up our seedling we brought a garbage bag in order to use to cover up the tree roots and keep them moist while we transported our tree.
The first thing we had to do when we got home, was pick the perfect location for our tree! “X” marks the spot!
We then dug our hole twice the size of the ball of tree roots.
Next, we filled the bottom of our hole with about 4-5 inches of loose potting soil.
We then inserted our tree into our hole, and filled in around it with more potting soil.
We then broke up the dirt that we had dug out of the ground and added it on top of our potting soil.
When I transplant something, I like to carefully dig up the grass, and then put it back so that you can hardly tell anything ever happened!
The final thing that we did and still continue to do every day, is give our tree a fresh bucket of water.
Planting our seedling was really so easy! And could you imagine, if every family just planted a tree for Earth Day?! How great would that be?!
Here is a summary of the steps that we took:
- Find the perfect spot for planting your tree.
- Dig a hole, at least two times bigger than the root ball on your tree.
- Fill the bottom of the hole with about 4-5 inches of loose potting soil.
- Insert your tree into the hole, and add more potting soil around it.
- Loosen up the dirt from the hole that you dug, and add it on top of your potting soil.
- Give your new tree a big bucket of water after planting, and continue to do so each day.
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