Trees are a universal plant in the planet’s biosphere, found everywhere except Antarctica, and they have long since been a major factor in human development. Their lumber allowed humanity to build shelter, tools, ships to navigate the oceans, bows and arrows for hunting and war, and much more. Their shade can provide relief from th4e sun, and many species bear fruit that human beings or their livestock eat, and forests can even act as natural barriers against invasions. Today, despite modern technology from bricks and concrete to steel and terraforming, trees remain a major aspect of civilization today, and many nations today are aware of the perilous state of the ecosystem. Many forests and jungles have been harvested or burned away to either harvest lumber or make room for farmland, and a major part of the “go green” initiative is to restore populations of trees, which in fact is where the “green” part of that initiative comes from. A planting guide allows any city or volunteer group figure out how to plant new trees in their area, and a fall planting guide can help set up an orchard for later harvest.
How Trees Grow
These essential plants have been carefully studied and categorized, both for purposes of understanding nature and how to make better use of crop trees and lumber species. Their roots are a major factor, and healthy roots in the right soil make for a sturdy and healthy tree. Plants often have lateral roots that spread out sideways, and this usually happens within the first three feet of the soil where the plant is growing. After all, most nutrients and water in soil is found within the first six to 18 inches of soil. A mature tree’s roots, meanwhile, can spread out to two to three times the diameter of its canopy, and these roots will tend to stay within the soil’s top 18 inches to maximize efficiency. Soil deeper than that may have a low density of water and nutrients, making it a waste for roots to grow in. And various tree species will grow better in different climates and soil types, something that any landscaper or reforestation crew will have to keep in mind, or the trees may suffer.
Why Plant?
A planting guide helps any crew to get trees and similar plants like shrubs set up in a piece of land and help those plants grow in a healthy manner. Frost susceptible crops, for example, should not be planted outside of the climate that they are meant for, or wasteful crop damage may occur. Nurseries, however, are a great place to start for smaller-scale tree planting efforts, and a planting guide or two may be found there, too. The staff at a nursery will know all about different plants and what types of soil and climate they need, as well as rates for watering and fertilizing them. In the past, animal dung was used to fertilize plants, and today, many commercial products are available to make plants grow healthy and large. A tree root stimulator, for example, will help a newly planted, juvenile tree spread its roots faster, and this can also be helpful for orchards where a large harvest is needed.
A planting guide can help any volunteer team or city team get an orchard, a copse, or a whole small forest of trees set up. Why all these trees? For parks and residential areas, trees are a natural piece of landscaping that makes the area much more attractive, and tress also improve air quality wherever they are, since they absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen. Trees are also useful in properties, since their shade reduces the amount of warm sunlight hitting the home and thus eases the strain on the air conditioning. In parks, trees are to be expected, and they provide a pleasant, shaded area to walk and they can host wildlife ranging from squirrels to birds, and kids can climb them for fun (if allowed), and they can be beautiful in autumn. On a larger scale, planted forests can help prevent soil erosion and can restore forests that were decimated for lumber of farmland use, acting as wildlife restoration on a large scale.