Trees, Leaves, and Mulch

As fall truly begins to settle here in NY there are things that can still be done to your living garden and lawn.  Did you know that you can plant tree's now?  Saplings are best as they already have some roots and planting now or begining of spring is best as they have time before the major weather changes to set their roots.  This past May we ordered some trees from the Arbor Day foundation and planted them with pride.  Unfortunatly some just didn't make it.  Most with in a month had leaves...or some other sign that the stick we planted was trully a tree sapling.  In talking to the guys at Arbor Day turnes out that maybe something was wrong with those and they said they would send new ones come fall.  And so they did.

Here in a bucket of water are the new saplings that were mailed to us. 

So after a day or so of soaking in water it was out to the yard for some diging and planting.  These guys may not look like much now but beleive it or not they are alive.

Here in the middle of the cage is a stick that is a Sargent Crabapple Tree.  No leaves, no buds, nothing but a stick.  This is back in May.

But here just 2 weeks later up close you can see that it is starting to get some leaves. 

Here 5 months after planting the leaves are following suit with all the other trees and changing color and falling off.  The tree didn't get taller but the leaves got to look almost full size. 






It has been a very interesting 5 months watching the trees grow.  None seemed to get any taller but like the Crabapple the ones that lived had leaves.   Different shapes, sizes, and even color. 

Since it is now fall and I have replacement trees to plant....or rather did as they already are planted) to find a place to plant we had to clear away fallen leaves.  Did you know that leaves are natures way to provide mulch and compost for the following spring?

Yup if you were to leave a layer of leaves on the ground anything under will have a few extra days of warmer soil..allowing for roots to set.  But come spring time most if not all will actually be gone.  Disinigrated into the soil providing some natural nutrient rich compost.  Course this doesn't mean that you should just leave the leaves all over the lawn....but in the garden...sure leave some. 

I wouldn't go out of my way to put some their unless you are planting for spring now...but just let nature take it's course.  Have you ever wondered why your gardens always have tons of leaves?  Well I think it is for a reason...to aid the spring and summber plants by providing protection and compost.

Knowing this after we planted our new trees a few days ago we pilled some leaves up around the trunk.  Attempting to give these tender little guys as much help as I can.

Leaves as mulch or just plain mulch is actually a very usefull and smart thing for all kinds of gardens.  Leaves may look bad so most would chose mulch.  But did you know that mulch around your fruit and veggie plants is important?  I didn't.  I do now.  A lot of garden centers will also have colored mulch.  White to help reflect the sunlight back onto the plants.  Black to absorb the heat of the sun for release at night.  Red to aid in the ripening of veggies like Tomatoes.

Now this is not to say that you can't grow veggies with out mulch but it can help with your success.

So help the planet and plant a tree or 2.  Leave some leaves in the garden this year and see if it helps come spring.  Add some color to the garden by way of mulch and see if that helps.  Try something new.