It's Back, but Two Trees Planted!

 

Birch planted, but it needs a cage!

This week, we planted a second tree, a river birch, Betula nigra, along a band of the Japanese knotweed we are trying to eliminate between the driveway and the south property line. This six foot birch is a "keystone" tree for the Atlantic Highlands, although not really native to the Pocono High Plateau. We planted it here where we will see it from the sunroom and where the runoff from our sump pump and gutters flow across the driveway. We will need to not let this major project for this summer, reclaiming the knotweed infestation, become overwhelming. One approach can be celebrating small steps such as planting this tree, instead of fretting over the size of the task.

While planting the birch, we found several thriving rhizomes and dug them up. The large clumps of stalks and associated roots do appear dead, but some of the younger plants with smaller rhizomes are sprouting as seen in this photo. If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you can see the emerging red pods. Walking around in the field yesterday, we saw many new pods/leaf shoots appearing. Again, it will be a challenge to keep from becoming overwhelmed or demoralized. Focus on the new tree, which needs a cage to protect it from browsing. That may be our next small step!

The first tree, really a pair of twigs, that we planted a couple of weeks ago is surrounded by a cage to protect it. The twigs are red oak, Quercus rubra, seedlings growing together that we transplanted from right next to our house's foundation. Quercus rubra is also a keystone tree and clearly native to the Pocono High Plateau. We have several other oak seedlings growing next to another section of the foundation to transplant out to this back section of the knotweed fields. Since the monetary cost of transplanting these is low, we may transplant some on the far side of the property line. 

Earlier this week, we journeyed to Edge of the Woods,  a relatively close native plant nursery. We purchased the two Virginia bluebells, Mertensia virginica, to plant under the majestic oak at the south end of our house. Our plan is to allow that area to naturalize with leaf litter and some spring ephemerals there instead of turf. Although much harder to see in the photo, we also picked up three spicebush,  Lindera benzoin, seedlings (basically six inch sticks) and the one gallon pot with a young witch hazel, Hamamelis virginiana.  Although we don't have a specific final plan yet, we are thinking that these will be associated or visually layered with the birch. While the spicebush will be somewhat deer tolerant once established, we will need to cage them and the witch hazel while they become established and can be gobbled in a couple of bites. Speaking of caging, I just came across an interesting how-to video on making various kinds of cloches. It is kind of a rabbit hole, but kind of fun too! Celebrating small successes and having fun will be key moving forward!