PLANTING TIME AND CARE OF TREES 



101 



oughly watered before the top soil is 

 applied. The tree should stand midway 

 between the curb and sidewalk, per- 

 pendicular and in line with other trees. 



Tree Guards. Young trees, especially 

 street trees, should be protected and 

 supported by tree guards placed around 

 them immediately after planting. For 

 street trees, a wire or metal guard is 

 most economical. For lawn trees, a 

 single stake firmly driven into the soil 

 is usually sufficient. Leather or canvas 

 straps should be used to attach the 

 tree to the support. 



Cultivation. Cultivation of the soil 

 for three feet around the tree is beneficial 

 during the first years of growth . Loosen 

 the top soil with a spade or hoe a suffi- 

 cient number of times during the season 

 to keep down weeds and grass. A 

 mulch of leaves or manure in the fall 

 retains moisture and acts as a fertilizer 

 when spaded under. During the hot, 

 dry periods of the summer months, 

 watering should be done once or twice 

 each week, not oftener. The feeding 

 roots which take up the moisture are 

 located at a distance from the trunk 

 equal to the length of the branches, 

 and the water should be applied liberally, 

 but not too frequently, to these feeding 

 roots. 



CARE AND REPAIR OF SHADE TREES 



Training, trimming and pruning 

 Low branching will cause more rapid 

 growth in trunk diameter. The lower 

 branches should be pruned for shade 

 and street trees at intervals of a year 

 or more, as they interfere with street 

 traffic, until a clean stem of ten or twelve 

 feet is reached. Lawn trees require 

 little attention, since low branching, and 

 unsymmetrical form give them char- 

 acter. If possible, trees should be left 

 with single leaders, since crotches are 

 likely to split in later years. If two or 

 more main stems develop, leave the 

 central stem and severely trim or 

 entirely remove the others. When it 

 is necessary to restrict the spread of 

 trees within certain bounds on narrow 

 streets and roadways, the ends of the 

 branches should be shortened so as to 

 develop a compact symmetrical crown. 

 Anv time after midsummer is suitable 



for pruning. Shaping can best be done 

 while the foliage is on the tree. Heavy 

 pruning is better done in fall or winter. 



Old, neglected trees should first have 

 all dead and imperfect limbs removed. 

 Thin out dense tops by leaving main 

 limbs and the branches immediately 

 radiating from them and limit cutting 

 to the third and fourth divisions in 

 branching. As far as possible preserve 

 the character and natural shape of the 

 tree, making the finished tree look as if 

 no limbs had been removed. Start 

 pruning at the top of the tree and work 

 downward. All cuts should be made 

 smooth, close to the base of a limb, and 

 parallel to the axis of the stem. At all 

 times avoid unnecessary wounds by 

 cutting or tearing the bark in making 

 the necessary cuts and in climbing the 

 trees. The surface of scars should be 

 smoothed and painted with a mixture 

 of two parts coal tar to one of creosote. 

 It is safer to follow this with a heavy 

 coat of coal tar (the kind used for roofing 

 is best). Large scars should be re- 

 coated every few years. 



Control of insects and fungus disease 

 Leaf -eating insects can usually be killed 

 by spraying the foliage with a solution 

 of arsenic in some form. Success de- 

 pends upon the poisonous quality of 

 the insecticide and upon the time and 

 manner of spraying. The principal 

 leaf -eating insects are; Tussock moth, 

 Gypsy moth, Brown tail moth, Fall 

 web worm, Bag worm, Elm leaf beetle. 

 Sucking insects are usually destroyed 

 by contact poisons such as kerosene 

 emulsion, whale oil soap and lime- 

 sulphur wash which close up their 

 breathing pores. Important sucking 

 insects are the Cottony maple, woolly 

 maple, San Jose, scurvy, and oyster 

 shell scoles, and plant lice. Boring 

 insects such as the leopard moth, maple 

 borers and bark borers, are more or 

 less successfully combated by running 

 a wire into the burrows, cutting off 

 infected branches and twigs, injecting 

 carbon bisulphide into the galleries. 

 Fungus diseases affect leaves, branches, 

 bark, sapwood and heart wood and roots, 

 but are less serious than injuries by 

 insects, except the chestnut blight for 

 which no remedy is known. Diseases 



