How to Grow Shrubs and Trees Organically

Plant shrubs and trees for their shade, shapes, flowers and focal points and do it organically to create a landscape free from chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Practice organic techniques for choosing your plants, getting them into the ground and nurturing them for years.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Balanced Organic Fertilizer
• Gardening Tools
• Mulch
• Shovels
• Shrubs And Trees
• Carts Or Wheelbarrows

1. Think locally and regionally when choosing trees and shrubs. Varieties grown for years in your area are naturally adapted to prevailing conditions. Plant them on your site under conditions favorable for the species and take advantage of their nature to prevent problems that usually require inorganic solutions.
2. Design a diverse planting. With a variety of trees and shrubs, you'll avoid pest problems and set yourself up for organic care, which you'll enjoy doing rather than worrying about chemical smells and groundwater runoff.
3. Plant trees and shrubs in groups, and mulch an island around them to keep power equipment away from young trunks. You'll conserve water and fertilizer while protecting the trees from physical damamge. Put these organic practices to work along with adequate spacing around each mature plant for the air circulation essential to disease prevention.
4. Think "roots first." Prepare the native soil to provide organic nutrition and improve drainage conditions. Till and amend whole areas (not just individual holes) to create a soil reservoir of organic nutrients to foster years of steady growth - what organic gardeners call "thrift."
5. Plant trees and shrubs from fall to spring so roots can grow first and start off on the right root! Dig a hole 2 inches deeper and twice as wide as the container the plant came in. Cut slices in the rootball and spread the roots to make the best soil contact.
6. Take special care to fulfill organic principles in the first year. Mulch and cultivate to suppress weeds organically, and water deeply and often enough to prevent wilting and heat stress. Use a balanced organic fertilizer when new leaves appear in spring; buy an organic tree and shrub food or mix your own.
7. Stake trees only in the first year, if at all. Organically grown trees are usually strong enough to stand on their own.
8. Prune trees each winter in their early years to establish a strong canopy and to remove weak and crossed branches. Prune in later years to remove damaged leaves and to shape the tree.
9. Prune shrubs to encourage thrifty, organic growth - steady and consistent over the years. Wait to prune flowering shrubs until after they bloom.
10. Tip-prune evergreens in late winter or early spring to encourage branching and maintain shape.
11. Bone up on bugs and diseases, and learn about the organic strategies and beneficial insects that can control them. Watch for signs of trouble - twisted, chewed or browning leaves, excessive wilting, lack of growth - and address them organically right away for best results.

Tips & Warnings

• Plan for mixed hedges of flowering and evergreen shrubs to promote a diversity of beneficial insects and wildlife in your garden. A pleasing design uses two evergreens for every flowering shrub.
• Water shrubs and trees the day or morning before planting, and loosen compacted roots or make slices down the rootball if the roots are growing in a tight circle.
• Caution around trees! More young trees die from damage caused by lawn mowers and string trimmers than from any insect or disease.

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