Deciding where to plant

The next grand debate occurred when we had to decide precisely where to plant it. This wasn’t too difficult – I got to stand at various locations pretending I was a hemlock until my Wonderful Husband found just the right spot.

I had asked WH (Wonderful Husband) to take photos of our tree planting project for this article. Unexpectedly, he discovered he was a Hollywood Director and Producer. As I was doing all the digging, he supervised my efforts, gently offering welcome advice (if you sense a bit of sarcasm here, you’re completely correct!).

The conversation consisted of me grunting with effort as I was shoveling and him telling me how to shovel.

“That hole’s not round! It’s too big! Put the dirt over here!” Such a Wonderful Husband!

When it came time to bring the hemlock over, I’ll admit he really was a big help as it was a heavy tree. As I pulled out my shop knife to cut away the burlap, I received true Hollywood-worthy direction: “Hold the knife like this. Get your shadow out of the photo. Hold it, hold it! Let me take a few more shots.”

I finally got to cut the burlap away and we carefully put our tree in the hole, tried to keep it straight and filled the hole back in. He took several more photos from different angles, making me move the rake, now move the shovel, pull out that weed, it’s in the shot. Gotta love a perfectionist!

Since this tree had shallow roots, some of the websites suggested leaving about two inches of the root ball above ground, which we did.

Maintenance of your tree

Mulching is a big part of our gardening regime. Mulch keeps down weeds and makes the weeds that do pop up easy to pull. As it decomposes, it enriches the soil, helps maintain consistent soil moisture and reduces the need to water. Whenever the local tree trimming service is in the area, they will drop off a truckload or three of woodchips.

The fresh mulch gets applied to pathways. But, after the chips have aged a season, they get applied to our garden beds as needed. It may not be particularly attractive, certainly it’s not dyed bright red or black, but it’s free. Our last “shipment” is two years old now and is beginning to break down. We applied about 6 bushel baskets of mulch around the tree, all gallantly shoveled and loaded by my Wonderful Husband. He did remind me to keep the mulch away from the trunk to avoid rot (really? I really needed to be told that?).

Eventually, we finished the job and I watered the hemlock in, apparently using the appropriate method; at least WH didn’t tell me how to use a water hose (perhaps because he knew I would be likely to turn it on him!)

It’s sometimes difficult living with such a Wonderful Husband!