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I volunteer with a local organization that plants native trees (mostly Oak varieties) in the area. Over the years they have developed a pretty elaborate system
by psadri 4y ago
I volunteer with a local organization that plants native trees (mostly Oak varieties) in the area.
Over the years they have developed a pretty elaborate system for planting saplings to maximize their odds of taking root and maturing into grown trees.
The process involves digging the right sized hole, placing a fertilizer packet at the bottom, repacking the dirt around the plant, protecting the sapling from deer and rodents using a chicken wire fence and a tall translucent plastic tube that’s supported by a steel rebar driven into the dirt. Then building a small berm around to capture water and covering it with mulch. They claim these steps increase odds of survival to 95%+.
Point being that it might take more than shooting seeds into the ground to regrow a forest.
- IshKebab 4y agoI hate those plastic tubes. Nobody ever removes them and they just end up littering the countryside. There's a wood near me where someone has collected them all into an enormous grotesque pile. Very creepy.
- gus_massa 4y agoInteresting anecdote. Do you have photos? (Bonus points for a photo with arrows that explain the parts.)
- jaclaz 4y agoI guess they are this kind (and the article is about research on the practice being not-so-good for the environment as these tubes are not collected/recycled): https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/24/trees-should-be-planted-without-plastic-guards-says-uk-study-aoe https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/aug/24/trees-sh...
- psadri 4y agoYes these are the ones. I'm sorry to hear they can go uncollected. In our case they are always collected and often reused. It helps that the trees are being planted in the local area (the hills surrounding Stanford University) and the crews regularly check on them.
- gus_massa 4y agoIs it possible to make them using other material? What about wood?! My father had a 0°C to 100°C thermometer for the lab, and it has a wood tube to store it. It's probably more expensive than the plastic one, but it's 100% biodegradable.
- psadri 4y agoThese tubes are translucent to let light in and help the sapling grow. The saplings are only 20cm tall and takes them a couple of years to outgrow the tube. They will also have to last at least that long.
- jaclaz 4y agoAlso, probably wood would be chewed by animals, so one would need something that is both translucent and not edible/liked by deers, boars, etc.
- telchar 4y agoWhat happens to the tube and wire? Do these need to be cut away later to allow the tree to grow beyond a sapling?
- psadri 4y agoYup… once the tree is as tall as the tube (approx 1.2m high) the tube is removed.