Orchard/Food Forest Planting 2016

So this is the no pollination partner necessary plant that we picked out at the Atlanta Local Food Initiative's plant sale that I mentioned in my last post, Orchard/Food Forest Digging 2016. It's a pineapple guava plant, also known on our farm as the Molly Tree. Our friends Dave and Molly, hearing of Richard, Shanna and Emery's generous gift wanted to gift us a pair of trees for our wedding as well. Molly wanted to be remembered by something quirky and unusual, Dave something "curmudgeoness", more on the Dave Tree later. Here, the Molly Tree is shown in three different stages. In the first stage, it is simply planted in the native dirt in the same hole Rachel and Stacy were shown digging in the last post. Hopefully, by not planting directly in fancy soil in the hole it will venture outside of the original hole and not become root bound.

The next stage shows the soil/mulch that I added on top of the planting hole. I used Kellogg Garden Organics Planting Mix because it's organic and made locally. The fruiting trees from the tree sale were all planted in this manner with the mulch in close to the tree with only a few inches of space around the trunk. I planted the flowering trees later in the week and left more space around the trunk free from mulch. While watering and rains will eventually wash the mulch all over the place I've read that a wider area than what I've left here around the trunk makes trunk rot less likely. I feel as though as long as the soil depth on the trunk is maintained from where it had been growing originally that it should be OK. I think having the nutrients in close to the plant won't hurt it, but I  became more cautious as the planting week wore on none the less. Also, the wider mulch ring keeps the grasses farther away from the trunk while the trees get established.

In the third photo you can see how I topped the soil/mulch layer with another mulch layer of pine straw. Pine straw by itself would be too acidic for most of the trees but it's cheap, available locally, and holds the soil/mulch layer in place for longer. Plus, I like the natural aesthetic of the pine straw better than the groomed black rings of the mulch.