methodology of tree planting project proposal

The Methodology of Tree Planting

A footnote on the progress of the Southern Beaches Community Garden at Tugun in south east Queensland, Australia.

Our last planting of the food forest was held on the 4th August 2010. Since then we have had a very wet winter and spring this year in the lead up to the wet season in Queensland. So our food forest in now on its own and thriving.

I’m putting the success down to the planting methodology shared by a good friend and college of mine, Matt Kilby from www.globallandrepair.com.au . Matt has been researching and refining this methodology over many years.

It’s not what you plant but how you plant it. And in my own experience over the years in the Landscape industry, where we must have planted hundreds of thousands of tube stock trees over 12 years, we could only manage an 85% strike rate on mass plant outs.

The approach that Matt Kilby has been mastering looks at preparation as one of the keys to mastering tree planting and the high survival rates, as well as biological planting methods used.

At the community garden we didn’t have the chance to get much preparation done, like deep ripping on contour with a Yeomans Keyline Plow 12 months before planting. Instead we had to look and really concentrating on the soil (or sand in our case) and what we could do to improve it and what biological methods could we look at.

Below I have listed the steps that Southern Beaches Community Garden adapted from Matt’s methodology to produce these successful results:

Step 1: Compost was sourced from a local permaculturist and added to the tree hole that was dug 3x the size of the tree’s pot that was going in the hole — wide and deep to allow good root penetration and development.

Step 2: We then added Tree Starter. Tree Starter uses a three-pronged support system for soil biology. Firstly, it supplies a wide range of food sources for soil life including humates, kelp (seaweed) and compost. Secondly, it retains moisture and provides a home-base for beneficial organisms through the inclusion of zeolite and rock minerals. Finally, highly paramagnetic materials are included into the formula to stimulate microbial proliferation. In addition to this trio of benefits, the compost component also inoculates a new workforce of beneficial microbes into the soil to get the trees jumping out of the ground.

Step 3: We flood-irrigated the tubes and fruit trees to remove all the hot air from the roots. In the water we added Tree Tonic. During transplanting trees often suffer from transplant shock. This is due to root damage and a change of environment during the transplanting process. Tree Tonic lessens the impact of transplant shock by providing essential nutrients and to reverse the negative effects of transplanting and helps the plant to recover and increase growth rates. One thing I must say is that these plants started their life the conventional chemical way, so this biological treat must have seemed like paradise to them.

Step 4: We added something which I think is very special. Tree specific mycorrhiza fungi. Mycorrhizas are fungi that live in a beneficial relationship with most tree roots. Mycorrhiza increase the tree roots’ access to water and nutrients and therefore increases tree growth, especially in poor soil conditions which are often found in tree planting areas. And that was more the case in our sand pit of a garden.

Just as we apply starter fertiliser when young trees are planted we also need to consider inoculating with mycorrhiza to enhance survival rates. Most soils in Australia are becoming more and more devoid of mycorrhiza due to tillage, chemicals, compaction and loss of organic matter, making small trees very susceptible to drought and nutrients shortages. If we can inoculate the tube stock with mycorrhiza we can limit these stresses and survival/growth rates will increase — as demonstrated now in our food forest trees.

Step 5: Back to the hole preparation and the finishing off or landscaping the earth around the tree. A bull horn swale, a technique that Matt always uses, places the tree in a dish below ground level with small swales to focus the water into the tree. This is another of the keys to this methodology, giving the tree every chance it can to thrive rather that just survive.

Step 6: We used recycled paper Eco Mulch Mats, specially designed for this type of work, and the thing for our gardeners was that the Eco Mulch Mats would last for 12 – 18 months and is the equivalent to 100mm of mulch. Also, they are organic certified and contain organic fertiliser. The mats deliver sustained nutrient release including essential trace elements as the mat naturally biodegrades. We also placed 300mm deep of mulch around the outside of the tree guard 1m around the tree.

Step 7: Our Garden members all laughed at me when we got to step seven: pink tree guards. That right folks, pink . Now I have been working and trialing these tree guards for some time now, and I’m a believer. The theory is that visible light can be split into a spectrum of colours. Green leaves absorb light from the red fraction to drive photosynthesis. Research has demonstrated that the colour pink reflects and focuses the red fraction, concentrating this photosynthetic energy to enhance plant growth.

The guards at our community garden location have also provided wind protection against strong salt-laden wind, which can cause severe dehydration of young trees and can result in high losses and salt burn. The Plant Pink Tree Guards have given our food forest ideal protection from strong winds in this early stage of growth and also creating an environment of increased humidity and sun protection.

The guards have also stopped predation from hares, rabbits and wallabies.

Step 8: 10 – 20 liters of water per tree with Tree Tonic.

And then we left it to Gaia to look after….

So, three months on and the tube stock have bounded out of the ground. Some have a vertical growth of more than half a meter with good lateral growth. In the past 12 months I have been planting trees in some extreme climates around Australia and still this method wins hands down.

Matt is an open source and would be more than happy to share this information with you. See his website for more details or print outs of the methodology.

As for the community garden. We are in maintenance mode and have just planted more support species and ground covers like sweet potato and pinto peanut. If you have the chance to test this tree planting methodology, please keep us updated on how it goes.

Further Reading:

• A Man of a Thousand Trees

Nick Huggins

Just say no to gmo, biochar - potential or pitfall carbon storage vs. soil quality, 12 comments.

viva la manzana… VIVA!

Great work and excellant research. Im slowly coming around to the colour pink.

Won’t leaving that load of apples on stunt such a small tree?

That’s tree planting on steroids! Seems like a very successful protocol for tree planting all over the world!

Thats an amazing survival rate! I’ll try it myself. Although I agree with JBOB. It’s better to remove any fruit in the younger years. its like a 12 year old having children, although physically possible but not an ideal outcome.

The method of intensive soil amendment in the planting holes will work fine in sand or loam soil, but beware of doing this on a site with heavy clay or a compacted subsoil. When the planting hole ends up with more pore space than the surrounding soil, this space can fill up with water in wet weather, and only very slowly be absorbed into the surrounding soil. Tree death from waterlogging results. In these type of soils it’s becoming consensus wisdom to plant in unamended native soil, and apply any organic matter, manure, compost, etc. as a heavy surface mulch. When I have wanted desperately to bury amendments (such as humanure, dead animals, etc.) I have had success placing these in holes near, but not under, the new plants. Feeder roots can then access the amendments at need, and be sacrificed to waterlogging without killing the plant. In a badly hardpan, perched water-table situation I have also planted trees in shallow mounds of enriched soil. It is easier to supply water than to drain away excess. As the nound settles the tree settles with it, and surface and deeper roots spread out…

I really like those pink tree guards, could have used about 30 or so for our recent plantings.

Eventually the trees will be a windbreak, but until then, it’s not easy for new plants to survive.

And it’s nice to SEE the new plantings. I’m having a tough time finding all those little trees and it’s easy to forget to water some of them.

Looked at Matt’s site https://www.globallandrepair.com.au/contact/ and apparently they’re not available in the US. Too bad really, I’d like to order several products. There’s a business opportunity …

Bob: Good advice. Generally deep rip twice, 12 months before planting on contour with a Yeomans. Matt has worked on every soil that Australia has. And while some situations are different, the methodology is the same. Deep ripping with a Yeomans even in Clay (assuming the moisture is right, not to wet for the rip to glaze or to dry for the rip to shatter and turn the soil over)this will encourage root development of grass and or weed to penetrate. The weeds will accumulate minerals from the clay, and then you can slash them down to start the process of soil creation. This all comes back to design. (Permaculture design) you can’t just throw trees into a situation that you describe where there is a potential to get water logged. Good design through secession, Weeds, Grass then pioneer trees then your forests trees. Following succession will allow time, roots to de-compact ground, create soil and also for the plants to cycle water and regulate the grounds water holding capacity even in peak rain events.

I can be contacted at nick at globallandrepair.com.au if you have any questions.

Thanks for the Comments Christine, See a Post by Eco Films: https://www.permaculturenews.org/2009/10/02/man-of-a-thousand-trees/ I would be happy to talk with you on Matt’s behalf via Skype about opportunities of the sales, marketing and licensed production of the Guards in the USA. Matt currently sends small batches of guards around the world and we could do the same for you. Last week he sent a pallet to the UK of the biggest guards he makes. Matt main focus is getting trees in the ground, having the highest survival rates and sharing his passion for it. And having people around the world using this system would be his dream coming true. Matt has been planting trees in some of the most extreme places in Australia with little or no rain fall. See the comments by Geoff Lawton’s on the post above. My email is [email protected] Skype nick.huggins

JBob, as always thanks for the advice.

Sad to pluck off your first little fruits, I know, but everything I’ve read says to prevent fruit for the first 2-3 years. Listen to old Leviticus 19:23 himself:

“And when ye shall come into the land, and shall have planted all manner of trees for food, then ye shall count the fruit thereof as uncircumcised: three years shall it be as uncircumcised unto you: it shall not be eaten of.”

A very late comment, but here it goes;

Ditto what Adam T said. Those trees will be living in the native soil for decades. A bit of compost at planting will encourage the root to stay in the original hole, instead of spreading out in search of nutrients. Nature puts organic matter on the surface, not below the roots. Mulch, mulch, mulch.

What are you guarding the plants from? I have deer here in the U.S., ready to nibble all of my seedlings. What is the problem in Southern Beaches?

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Developing a Tree Planting Plan for Your Community Project

Lewisburg Borough Tree Planting Plan Credit: Amy Levan

The difference between a successful tree planting with healthy trees and a line of dead and dying stems often comes down to the analysis of the sites and selection of appropriate tree species for the conditions that exist at each site. 

Spending the time examining each planting site, taking notes, and then (and only then) using that data and knowledge collected in the field to select several species that will survive and hopefully thrive on that site is critical to success.

In the context of developing community forestry planting projects, the majority of these projects involve planting trees along streets and roads, which adds some site stressors and site restrictions that need to be examined and understood. Other community forestry tree plantings might take place in parks, green spaces, stormwater bio-swales or rain gardens, and schools. Usually, those sites are less restrictive and have more room (above and below ground) to grow a large tree compared to a curbside setting in a community.

Finding Planting Sites for Trees in Your Community

It is good to start with a map of the community or utilize some satellite images on Google Earth or Google Maps before you start driving around town. Often the satellite images are up-to-date, and you can begin to see what room exists on certain streets, boulevards, and parks. If you have an inventory of your trees, or an urban tree canopy assessment, you should pull that out and begin to look for potential planting sites on public property through the community. In Pennsylvania, communities can utilize the TreeKeeper online platform provided by DCNR Bureau of Forestry. You can input any newly planted trees or inventory data for existing trees in your community into this GIS-based system.  

Another approach to finding tree planting sites in your community is to look at areas where trees have recently been removed. If your community has a shade tree commission or committee (and it should), you might have a list of tree removals from the past 2-3 years you can work with and prepare for replacement trees. If you don't have an active list, you can ask the public works director for areas that have lost trees over the years or drive around and look for stumps (although fresh stumps will add some work to site preparation). 

The last approach for finding community tree planting sites (especially street trees) is to ask residents if they would like a tree planted in front of their house (roadside, or within the right-of-way). Writing an article for the local newspaper or community newsletter, posting something on the community's social media accounts, or holding a public meeting are all good ways to involve the community and solicit requests for new tree plantings.

Getting public input and interest in newly planted trees is important for community buy-in and survival of the trees. Although state statutes allow a municipality to plant trees along their streets and roads, it is best to ask an adjacent property owner if they would like a tree. Alternatively, you could ask them if they have any objections to seeing the street planted with new trees. If you want the trees to survive and not disappear during the evening hours, it is best to communicate with the adjacent property owners. It might take some convincing and explaining that the tree you are proposing to plant will improve their property value and provide numerous benefits (including summer cooling, energy savings, stormwater and street flooding mitigation, and walkable safe streets, to name a few) and the newly planted trees should not cause future conflicts because you will be selecting an appropriate species for that location. You can even involve the residents in the species selection, but you might want to conduct the site analysis first and develop a short list of tree species that will work for that site before you open selection to a resident and soon find out you can’t find that tree species or should not plant that tree roadside.

Examining the Planting Locations

Once you have a list of addresses or park locations you think will work or could use some new trees, you should plan to take the time to drive around town and visit each location. This part can be time-consuming, but I don’t believe you can truly examine the site and understand the constraints or growing conditions by just looking at a map or aerial image. Over the years, I have seen too many landscape designers select species for a project and add them to a map or plan without physically visiting the site to see the soils are highly compacted or there are potential conflicts. A tree may grow too large for the site, growing up into overhead electrical lines or growing out and in the path of school busses or delivery trucks travel past or park in that area. 

When evaluating a planting site, it is important to ask the following questions, or utilize a site assessment checklist, like the one created by Dr. Nina Bassuk at the Cornell University Urban Horticulture Institute. Here are some of the questions you want to think about when on site:

• What are the soils like? Are they compacted? Are they clayey, silty, or sandy in texture? Do the soils drain well or is their standing water after a rain event?
• Is there heavy vehicle and truck traffic along the street? Or in a park setting, is there heavy foot traffic?
• Are there overhead primary electric lines on poles? This can be a tough one because there are lots of lines on poles along our streets, including telephone, cable TV, and secondary lines feeding electricity to homes and businesses. We are most concerned with the lines at the top of the poles that connect to insulators and transformers. They are high-voltage, uninsulated electric lines that trees cannot make contact with and are pruned for clearance every few years (see image). It is best to plant a tree species that is compatible with the limited growing space and will not mature into the primary powerlines.
• How much distance do we have between the curb and the sidewalk to grow a tree? Or what are the dimensions of the tree pit (growing space surrounded by concrete on all sides)? The more room we have between the curb and sidewalk, the less likely we will have issues with a tree lifting sidewalks or outgrowing its space, creating conflicts.
• How close to the corner is the planting site? Is there a stop sign or light at the corner? It is typically best to avoid street intersections by about 40 feet to maintain lines of sight for both drivers and pedestrians, especially if there is a stop sign or other traffic controls that must remain visible for safety.
• How close is the building or home to the planting site? If a building is close, we would want to select a more upright or columnar variety to fit that site.
• Do cars park adjacent to the planting site or tree pit? If so, we would want to locate the new tree and parking space relative to each other to avoid car doors opening into the tree.
• What species of trees are growing at the site or on the street? Examine the surrounding vegetation (trees) in the planting area and determine what tree species are doing well and which are declining or struggling to grow. You might be able to gather some information about soils, drainage, heat, or light levels just by looking at what is growing well on the site. Or you might find a species on the street that is not working well for various reasons. For example, salt damage to sugar maples (even young trees), or mite and lace bug damage to serviceberry that was misplaced in a hot, full sun location (serviceberry likes and needs some shade because they are an understory tree). 
• Look for the presence of diseases or insects impacting existing trees. If you know oak wilt is in the immediate area, you may want to avoid or limit planting red oak group species. If fire blight has impacted crabapples or callery pears nearby, you should select disease-resistant varieties of crabapple or plant another species not susceptible to fire blight.
• Are there shop signs present downtown or commercial area? If so, we would want to plant in between signage and businesses to try and avoid blocking business signage. We would also want to select an upright branching (or columnar) tree whose lower branches can be pruned for clearance (for sign visibility and pedestrian and vehicular traffic).
• Will the planting site be heavily salted during the winter months? Is it a busy road that receives lots of deicing salts? Or a commercial district, hospital, or school where sidewalks will be salted heavily? Remember, every street tree will have to have some salt tolerance, but some sites tend to receive more than others and most trees struggle to survive in these areas. Only a handful of species can tolerate lots of deicing salts.  
• Consider the use of the site. If you are planting in a park setting, think about whether the new trees will function as a shady grove for users or line a path or trail. Perhaps they will be in the way of an impromptu game of frisbee or touch football. If you are planting street trees, consider the amount of traffic, parking, commercial areas, bus or truck loading zones, etc.
• If you are planting in a park or natural setting, consider focusing on native trees that will provide more benefits to wildlife, pollinators, or aquatic insects. Avoid planting anything invasive or could become invasive. If you are planting a street tree in a tough location, sometimes native trees cannot tolerate the conditions, so planting a non-native makes sense. You should always avoid planting known invasive species like callery pear and Norway maple. Non-native, but also non-invasive species like Ginkgo, London planetree, hybrid elms, hardy rubber tree, and Japanese tree lilac are selected to grow in various sites like downtown tree pits because they will survive some of the harshest conditions.

Sometimes taking notes about each planting site works well for small plantings or similar sites, but it might be best to develop a spreadsheet or checklist where you can either place coded notes about things like the presence of primary electric lines, size of the tree lawn, < and compacted soils conditions. Having a camera on our phones these days allows you to take some pictures of the planting sites you can review later and incorporate into the planting plan. Images are especially helpful if you are preparing a planting plan for a grant as they help the grant reviewers to better understand the plan for a site they may not be familiar with. Developing a written plan with pictures of the sites can also help sell the project to municipal officials, residents, or outside funders.

An example of good visual tree planting plan (with pictures of each site) is the Milford Borough Tree Planting Plan.

Maximizing Benefits and Tree Canopy

Once you determined what size trees will grow in the planting site, it is best to try to maximize the amount of canopy you can grow. Large canopy trees such as oaks, maples, and elms provide eight times the benefits or ecosystem services of small trees like flowering cherry, crabapple, or dogwood (USDA Forest Service Research). It seems like everyone these days wants a small tree, often because they are concerned larger trees will cause them problems, such as outgrowing the site or causing damage should they fail in a storm. In most cases, with proper maintenance, the trees we are planting should not become a problem in our lifetimes and we want to make sure the new trees are providing the maximum benefits to future generations.

Selecting Several Species that Might Work at the Site

It is usually best to first determine what type or size of tree will fit the size of the site. Next, use other site conditions (soils, drainage, salt, usage, reflected heat loads) to begin selecting several species and cultivars that might work well in that site. Why select more than one species, you might ask? Nursery availability of some species might impact your selections, so it is good to be flexible and have three or four trees that work and rank them. For example, if there are overhead primary (high voltage) electric lines running through the planting site, a small stature tree should be planted and the species options could include Japanese tree lilac, hedge maple, amur maple, crabapple (if I am not concerned about fruit dropping or sidewalks are not present), flowering cherry, or a cultivar of zelkova called 'Wireless.' If we are looking at a tree pit in a downtown streetscape setting, then we know the site will be hot, have limited rooting space, and de-icing salts will be spread heavily. In that location, we would be looking for a species (and cultivars) tolerant of salt, heat, and droughts. Avoiding the planting of some species like red and sugar maples would be a smart move if we want the trees to live long and provide numerous benefits.

Learning more about species tolerances to various site conditions takes time, research, reading, and familiarizing yourself with the characteristics of different species and cultivars. I would start with some online resources such as Cornell University's Urban Horticulture Institute’s Recommended Urban Trees: Site Assessment and Tree Selection for Stress Tolerance and the Woody Plant Database . Or consider Penn State Extension's – Landscape Tree Factsheets , which contains color images of over 200 urban tree species and cultivars, and contains an excellent six-page chart of species and their tolerances to site conditions such as soil drainage, salts, urban stresses, as well as mature size, hardiness, ease of transplant, and tolerance to diseases and insects. The book might have a few species that we no longer recommend planting due to their invasiveness, but information on urban species and color images, still makes this publication a "go-to" when selecting trees for urban planting sites.

Another useful short publication is the TreeVitalize Guide for Tree Selection, Planting, and Care , which can be downloaded for free.

A short video produced by Dr. Nina Bassuk at Cornell, Tough Trees for Tough Sites , covers site analysis.

Diversity in the Planting

When developing a planting plan for a streetscape or park, there are some design considerations to weigh against the need for plant diversity. Our history of overplanting just one or two tough urban tree species along our streets and in our landscapes has created unhealthy ecosystems impacted greatly when a new disease or insect appears. The result of this limited species diversity is the loss of thousands of trees over a short period of time, leaving behind clearcut streets and shock to the system. Dutch Elm Disease and Emerald Ash Borer come to mind as examples of those situations. It is best to build diversity to your plantings so we work towards an urban tree population that fits the 10-20-30 rule. In urban forests, we should strive towards having no more than 10% of the tree population be one particular species, no more than 20% be of any one genus, and no more than 30% of any single family of trees. It is not a perfect rule, and it can be a challenge to achieve, but it is a good goal to work towards when we consider the possible devastating impacts of the arrival of an insect like Asian Long-Horned Beetle if your community, as is quite common, has a high percentage (30-50%) of maple trees (these beetles like to borer into maple trees).

When designing a streetscape, a row or line (allée) of the same species of trees often looks appealing and uniform to the human eye. This can still be achieved without compromising the need for diversity. When designing a run of the same species down the street or park walking path, it is best to switch species when there is a natural break in the system such as a cross street or even driveways and buildings. An even better option to consider is alternating two or three species of similar size and form when planting the street. Should one species become impacted by insects or disease, hopefully the other species survives to continue to provide some canopy into the future compared to losing the entire population of trees on a given street.

Developing planting plans takes some time and knowledge of both the site conditions as well as the species attributes (size, form, color, flowers, etc.) and tolerances (salt, heat, soils, drainage, droughts, insects, diseases, and storm damage). Once the plan is developed and you have some species in mind, have an experienced urban forester, landscape architect, or ISA Certified Arborist take a look at the plan and provide comments. Don't be afraid to change species as needed, whether because the trees can't be found in the nursery, or the species selected might not survive the conditions of the site. Once planting plans are developed, they can be used to acquire a grant or funding source and help illustrate to others the need for trees in the community. As long as the site is not significantly changed, planting plans don't expire and can sit until your community is ready to plant or funding becomes available. Remember, a good plan developed by detailed site analysis and species selection can be the difference between healthy and beneficial future canopy cover in the community or rows of unhealthy, dying stems detracting from the community and not providing benefits.

• Urban Forestry
• Arboriculture
• Urban Stormwater
• Green Infrastructure
• Urban Stormwater Management

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