The sugar maple in the front yard got a little pampering last week. Caleb and I had added a little fertilizer and compost in the spring after the hailstorm, and I decided to repeat that process in the fall (without my helper this time). My older brother uses the rule of thumb, "when all the leaves have changed colors and half of them have dropped" is the time to fertilize trees. I have a cold-rot compost pile that I use for my ornamentals. Whenever I want compost, I scoop it out from the bottom of the pile (sometimes without even trying to move the stuff on top).
I screened the compost through a piece of hardware cloth right into the wheel barrow. After spreading the fertilizer and compost around the tree, I watered it in with about 20 gallons of water. I hope the tree will respond well to the pampering. It has been such a slow growing tree that I like to fantasize that years hence, the lumber would make a fine-grained wood suitable for a musical instrument. Who knows, though, maybe with all the pampering, the tree will begin to grow faster and the wood will end up with an irregular grain.
I hope it works. Sonny my BIL transplanted oak trees about 2" through. He always fertilized them by drilling into the ground mixing some concoction and pouring in the holes. I was always amazed that he had planted them when he was 20 yrs old. when he died 60 yrs later they were over 3.5' in dia.
ReplyDeleteI never thought about the regular and irregular grain as a tree grows. I love both when finished into furniture or instruments.