Like all wild babies, young trees need care to thrive. Tend to yours and watch it grow! And share the results of your planting experiment by registering your tree with the Million Tree Project.
Caring for Your Tree
- Water your tree twice a week—more often if the soil looks dry. About 3 buckets of water, or 15-20 minutes with a slow garden hose, is a good guideline.
- In the first year, use only high phosphorus (P) fertilizer. You can add a little extra nitrogen (N) as your tree matures.
- If your tree is staked, make sure the fastener isn’t too tight—your tree trunk needs room to grow.
- Try not to prune within three years of planting. If you need to remove dead or damaged branches, wait until late fall or early spring, when the tree is dormant.
Keep a Field Notebook
Scientists use field notebooks to track their experiments and observations about the natural world. You can use yours to track the growth and development of your tree! Here are just some of the things you could include in your notes:
- How fast does your tree grow? Measure its height and/or width at planting, and measure again on the same day each year. To estimate rate of growth, divide the change in height or width by the number of months between measurements. You can even plot a graph of your tree’s progress over time!
- Do the leaves look healthy? Are they brown, curled, or falling off when it’s not autumn?
- Do other plants, moss, or lichens grow on or near your tree?
- What animals visit your tree? What insects, spiders, birds, and mammals do you see, and what are they doing? Include photos or drawings in your notebook.
