Zombie Tree

      They say to transplant a tree it needs to be healthy. The shock of the move itself is hard enough on the tree's roots that you need to find one that's in great shape so it can actually survive the demanding process. A lot of what I read about planting trees doesn't seem to be true, at least not in my experience. So I decided to give it a try.

      We found a small tree, some kind of Oak I believe, probably a first year judging by its size, it was right near the area where we dug up six other trees that we transplanted together in a small cluster. We decided not to add this one to the cluster because its leaves were turning yellow and dying and had spots on them. Because it was close to where we were digging, we weren't sure if we disturbed its root system so we scooped the little guy up and brought him with us. If we didn't kill it, it would have died where it was anyway, so if anything we were putting him out of his misery, assisted suicide if you will. Whatever is on its leaves wasn't on any of the surrounding tree's leaves, even the same type of tree just a foot or two away that we took for our new cluster of trees. So we planted him a few feet away from the cluster and watered him like all of our other new trees.

      It's been a month now, almost exactly as we transplanted him on June 13. Not only has the tree not died, it has new shoots and brand new leaves that do not have the fungus present on the older leaves. The camera had too much trouble focusing on them but in the center of the tree, you can easily make out one of the three new leaves (it's pointing downward and slightly to the left). No special treatment was necessary, we didn't even mulch around it like we did the others, thinking it would be a waste of time and mulch. The soil was horrible, you can clearly see the rocks, especially in the picture above. When we moved in the log a week ago and laid some leaves and pine needles around it, we put a thin layer around the small tree and dropped a rock there to make the dying tree easier to spot so we wouldn't accidentally step on it.

      Turns out the dying tree came back to life, making it a zombie tree. Not only does it have new shoots and leaves, its existing leaves actually grew in size and regained some of their appropriate green color, losing some of the yellow sickly shade they'd taken on when we found it. The fungus is still there but the tree is very much alive and doing well. I think its small size helped it adapt to its new home since we didn't lose any of its roots in transplanting it. Now that it has a name and heroic story, he'll be well taken care of and with any luck the fungus will be gone next year when new leaves grow.

      This goes to show that a lot of the information out there on this subject is incorrect. We're told something is a fact and we believe it because it makes sense. The truth is, nature is a miracle in itself. I mean, trees grow out of cracks in boulders in the harshest environments where the soil is so thin you can scrape it off with your fingernail. Its not a rare occurrence, trees growing in the craziest places are a dime a dozen, you just have to open you eyes to it. So who are we to say what they're capable of? Don't count your plant life out, they're capable of amazing things. Sometimes you just need to give them a chance.

New Forest Floor

      We got the first large log for the forest today and decided to start a new section of the forest floor. You see, when you go into the woods, there's no grass. Obviously a number of reasons cause this, number one being that there's no sunlight because the trees block it. Our trees aren't big enough to cast shade yet, it'll be quite a while. The other main reason there's no grass is because the leaves and pine needles make a thick blanket that grass and many weeds can't grow through. Since the trees in our forest only have a handful of leaves to drop, they won't be creating a carpet any time soon. So again, we figured we'd help it along.

      Last summer marked the beginning of our faux forest floor. It consisted of orange pine needles with a few sticks and old pine cones to give it a realistic feel. Overall the look was spectacular and it gave the impression of being a real forest. The majority of our trees are pine so it seemed only natural to have fallen pine needles everywhere. But, we knew that weeds would burst through. We did not however realize how quickly they would rear their ugly little heads. And I mean ugly, one of these things looks like a cactus with prickers that poke right through heavy duty gloves.

      So we picked up the needles, put them aside and fought back. The first plan was to use landscaping fabric. Yeah, no, waste of money. You see, that's why I don't put any money into the forest, go natural, it's cheaper. Well, almost natural, we used cardboard and newspaper. It did the trick. A few layers of newspaper, a layer of corrugated cardboard on top of that, then the dead pine needles to give it some natural beauty. It stopped almost all of the weeds, for the Summer and Fall. Then Spring came around and the weeds popped right up through the softened cardboard like it wasn't even there. Albeit not as many, but a lot of them. The only downside was that it didn't feel natural walking on the cardboard covered ground. It looked like a real forest but it didn't feel like one. The needles were authentic, even the snapping of tiny twigs beneath my feet, but the cardboard never felt like real ground, no matter how much it rained.

      This year we're trying it without the cardboard. The plan is to simply make it a much thicker layer of ground cover. This year we're also adding a lot of leaves to the mix. With some of our most successful transplants being leafy trees, we decided to adapt our forest floor to its surroundings. So we loaded up a couple bucket loads of leaves, pine needles, sticks and pine cones from the woods out back and dumped them in the yard, mostly beneath the new log. It's amazing how little a couple five gallon buckets will get you. We knew this from last year but it's always a disappointment. The rain prevented us from going back for a second trip so right now the tiny area we covered is only about two inches thick, half of what we're going for this year. But we'll see how it fares without a lower layer to block the weeds.