When my husband graduated with his masters degree last spring, I wanted to do something a little different at his ceremony. Cards, flowers, stuffed animals... none of them are really his style. Earlier that morning, I made a visit to the local farmers market and found the perfect graduation celebration gift- a blue spruce.
Needless to say, things have been quite busy this summer and we have yet to plant that spruce. We took a big trip to California, got hitched, and bought our first house. With our first yard, we're having fun planting and watering to create a beautiful space outdoors. We had a late start planting in the end of June, and our main focus, our veggies- are just now starting to produce a small harvest.
This creates a strong desire to get an early start next spring! Although I do love fall, my favorite seasons are spring and summer. I love feeling the cold break and seeing the first peek of springtime flowers. I've hit the library for some great garden design and composting information books. The best way to get flowers early in the spring is to plant bulbs in the fall! So we stocked up on Narcissus at Costco, (an awesome recent discovery).
Since the weather broke and is now a bit cooler, it's a great time to start husbandry around our land (digging to keep weeds in check, aerate the ground, and expose larva of pests to the winter cold- not to mention making it way easier to plant in the springtime). Our land has never been worked to the extent I want to work it- so it's going to be a big undertaking- a good thing we borrowed the tiller from Mom and Dad, (thanks guys)! While we're at it, we're also going to plant the Narcissus bulbs and the spruce. As you can imagine, I was relieved to learn that autumn is a good time to plant pine trees, as it allows enough time for the roots to take hold and establish themselves before the freeze comes along.
Many of my college friends don't have yards of their own yet, but still find it relaxing to garden and share tips they've learned. If they're up for it, I like to garden with my girlfriends- planting flowers around the yard, (I'm sure as they acquire their own land, the fun of planting on ours will taper off). Even though I plan just a small portion to be gardened together as to keep from being overwhelming or time consuming, it's a nice reminder of them and of our greatest times together when the flowers start to bloom, and a great reason for those friends to come back for a visit and see how the flowers have grown!
Here's some information I found helpful, and you may also find helpful if you want to plant a pine this fall:
- The hole for the tree should be twice the diameter of the pot it is in and as deep.
- Place the tree so that the top of the rootball is even with the ground surface. Make sure you remove the pot and spread out any roots that are circling the pot.
- Fill the hole with good potting soil and mulch around the tree with not more than 3 inches of mulch and water.
- The roots will penetrate the clay soil but if you want to you can dig the hole deeper and fill the bottom with potting soil making sure the top of the root ball is level with the ground.
Happy Autumn Planting!