arborvitae

i didn't post this yesterday because i was ( and still am ) not clear on all the names and details ( read on...shakiyla has kindly jogged my memory and the details are now intact ) but i wanted to get it posted before it gets stale so will ( hopefully ) edit in all the pertinent details asap...the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority on campus has donated an arborvitae tree to the community garden and we are grateful for the gift and the attention...we set out to plant it yesterday morning ( we were successful ) and in the top photo you can see cynthia starting the ball rolling by digging out the first shovelful of sod...shakiyla took over in the second photo and in a matter of minutes we had dug up a couple of hundred dollars more of otto's grass to make room for the tree...the third photo is of all four of the crew involved in the planting ( including the garden engineer...don't usually do selfies...and didn't this time...jimbo lane happened by and he was kind enough to take this photo for us...from left to right, cynthia, the engineer, shakiyla, and delia ) which was fairly complex with a lot of water and elimination of air pockets around the root ball...the tree will require watering on an "as needed" basis for the first year ( one wonders about what that means in freezing temperatures...more research ) ...basically when the first one to two inches of soil around the tree are dry...then the entire root system will need to be soaked...something of a time consuming process to ensure a thorough watering...after the first year that can be throttled back...afterwards C.U.R.E. director ellen szarleta stopped by to have a look at the new addition...it will do well i hope...we found a site that accents one of the corner boxes and which seemed to provide the drainage the tree needs...saturday was a productive day in the garden...new bed...new planting...the season is building...stay tuned.