Letters To The Editor: Sept. 1999

To the Editor:

I enjoy reading Lawn & Landscape. The articles provide good insight into the various niches people in the industry have carved out to make a good living. New products and equipment advertised and profiled are also informative.

However, I have to take issue with the advice from Kevin McSherry which you quote, “We normally look at a container and triple its size and that will become the size of the hole.” This may be a good idea for small plants (especially ones that will grow to a much bigger size), but it is not necessary or practical when planting bigger stock. We recently planted four Norway Maples that were in 32-inch B&B trees. If we followed McSherry’s advice, we would have dug four holes almost 9 feet in diameter.

We have been landscaping and planting trees for more than 20 years in our area and have never lost a tree that we planted at ground level. This is especially true for maples, which tend to root at ground level and, if planted too shallow, will send roots along the surface of the gound and “bulge” all of the grass around the tree.

Dave Francis
Montague Tree Farms
Montague, Mich.

To the Editor:

I love the Lawn & Landscape web site, especially the bulletin boards.

Blake Moore
Ferta-Lawn
Woods Cross, Utah