Monthly Archives: September 2008

How To Plant Trees

Posted on by
Reply

There are probably many ways to plant a tree, but this method I learned from an experienced gardener. Her garden is about 1000 m2 (11,000 sq ft) and I think it’s at least 20 years old, so I guess she knows what she’s talking about. It’s even open for visitors on some occasions. I have used this method with success several times so I think it’s worth sharing. It’s not that advanced but sometimes also the small things counts. So here goes.

This is the tree we want to plant. Soil is still attached to the roots. You can see the grass of the lawn:

Plant A Tree 1

Dig up three times as much turf as the root is wide and put it aside for later:

Plant A Tree 2

Dig down to about the double height of the root and put the turf in the bottom of the hole with the top down. Put the soil aside for late. In time the turf will turn into mould and provide the tree roots with nutrients. It will also prevent water from draining down too fast:

Plant A Tree 3

Put half of the soil from the hole back again. This could also be replaced by horse manure which would be absolutely great for the tree if you have it at hand. Or maybe compost. Just remember that horse manure will probably be compressed as time goes by so use a little more than you would do with the original soil:

Plant A Tree 4

Fill up the hole with water:

Plant A Tree 5

Let the water in the hole drain into the bottom and surrounding soil, and wait until you can’t see it anymore. This usually takes around half an hour in my soil. Then moisture is available for the tree in the coming days. Put the rest of the original soil back to fill up the hole. Also do a bit of watering on top of the soil:

Plant A Tree 6

This method can also be used on warm days since the soil will be wet below ground even though the sun is shining on the surface.

How I Built A Cheap Composting Box

Posted on by
Reply

Composting Boxes

Composting Box Plans

Here’s a cheap way to make a good composting box. I’ve bought the wood with the notches pre-cut in a DIY kit, but you could cut it out yourself. Notice that the length of the notches is a little bit shorter than the thickness of the wood, therefore the wood will wedge itself together making a rather strong construction. I had second thoughts about using pressure-treated wood due to the chemicals used and the risk of it leaking into the organic material inside the box, but I did use it and at least this type of material will last longer. So let’s see what happens. Comments are welcome on this issue (or anything else you have in mind ;-) )

How I Improved The Soil Of My Raised Beds

Posted on by
Reply

Carrots

If you want big healthy vegetables you need a good soil. The first year we grew vegetables in raised beds the soil was loose all right. We dug a rectangular hole below the raised bed wooden frame to a depth of 30 cm (12 inch) below the ground. This soil we put aside and started filling up the hole with the good stuff. We’re talking box trailer full of horse manure and several 25 kg (55 pound) bags of peat moss. Then we put the soil back as a top layer but this turned out to be a bad idea. The horse manure and the peat moss got so compressed under the weight of the original soil that those two layer shrunk to about 10 cm (4 inch). The roots didn’t have a chance of reaching the good stuff, but the vegetables turned out well anyway.
This year it’s quite different because the beds were turned completely, so all of the 50 cm (20 inch) dirt inside the wooden frames was mixed very thoroughly. I’m very pleased with the vegetables this year, they’re very healthy and beautiful as you can see in the picture. The loose soil provides good draining of excessive rainwater, so that’s another bonus.