Picking out and Planting Trees

Planting trees seems so easy but can be so hard if you aren’t sure what the first steps are or even what types of trees you want to plant.

They create breathable air, provide building material and firewood, shelter various animals in their boughs, and even help keep the weather moderate throughout the seasons. With a simple search on the internet, you would be hard-pressed to find negative aspects of trees. Save for certain circumstances, planting new trees will generally work wonders for the local environment. So keep reading as we spend this article talking about various tree types and some of the things we’ve learned about planting them.

Different Types of Trees and Their Uses

Fruiting Trees

Throughout most sources, the definition for a fruit tree remains pretty much the same as the Wikipedia entry. “A fruit tree is a tree which bears fruit that is consumed by animals and humans…” Fruit trees include most, if not all, of the fruits and seeds we consume, such as apples, bananas, pears, peaches, etc. Most farmers and homesteaders plant their fruit trees in organized orchards for the sake of easy harvesting. Be careful if you plan on having multiple types of fruit trees, though. There are many fruiting trees, like apple trees, that are notorious for cross-pollinating with other species of fruit trees. If compatible, the crossed fruit trees can create a unique and flavorful fruit. But if the fruit trees aren’t compatible, they can end up being unable to fruit or can create mostly inedible fruit.

Nut-Bearing Trees

Technically speaking, nut trees are also fruit trees. As far as eating fruits and nuts goes, the only real difference between the two is which part you eat. For fruit-specific trees, you eat the fleshy outer covering that encases the seeds. With nut-specific trees, you eat the actual seed. Most nuts in our regular diet grow a hard outer shell instead of flesh.

Windbreak Trees

The University of Minnesota says that a windbreak is generally a living fence made of trees and shrubs growing closely enough together block and redirect the wind. According to the Arbor Day Foundation, there are a few different reasons to plant a windbreak. These include shading your home to protecting crops from being destroyed by strong gusts. Pine trees such as firs, spruces, and cedars are often used in windbreaks. These trees are great because they grow fast and have densely packed leaves that generally reach to the ground. Along with this, they can be planted closer together than other trees, making for a denser fence. Also, they don’t lose their leaves in the winter. While deciduous trees, the ones with leaves instead of needles, work as windbreaks, the loss of their leaves in the winter reduces their efficiency in the months that generally have the stronger storms.

Shade Trees

Shade trees are similar in purpose to ornamental trees. Most people plant shade trees for aesthetic purposes and because they can provide protection from the sunlight once fully grown. We can’t list many specific trees in this category because so many trees provide shade when fully grown. Given that freedom of choice, it is important to keep in mind what hardiness zone you live in. Knowing this helps you pick non-invasive trees that can survive your climate.

Craftsmanship Trees

By our definition, craftsmanship trees are any trees used for woodworking projects. Getting into woodworking can be hard. Even more so if you worry about being environmentally conscious. But planting your own trees solves both of those problems. Sure, it may take a few years to grow trees big enough to give you good lumber. But you can plant older trees to start and even take their seeds to plant the next generation of trees. Wood falls into two categories: hardwood or softwood. Softwood trees are generally conifers, or evergreens, like the ones you would plant in a windbreak. Hardwood trees are mostly trees that lose their leaves each winter, like oak, maple, and mahogany. Both wood types are used for similar purposes. Hardwood grows more slowly, is more dense, and costs more than softwood.

Wildlife Habitat

Like with shade trees, it is hard to say what specific trees are considered wildlife habitat trees. For us, we consider trees native to the region to be wildlife habitat trees. The reason for this is because native, non-invasive trees are ones that have adapted to survive the conditions of their region without disrupting the local plant life. Being fit for the region’s climate allows them to withstand the average weather changes and support the local flora and fauna alike.

Ornamental Trees

Ornamental trees are just as they sound—their sole purpose is to be aesthetic! Generally, ornamental trees are smaller trees that act as focal points to help draw your eye to specific features in your yard. Ornamental trees just make you happy to look at. Some ornamental trees flower. Technically, any tree can be ornamental, but some of the most commonly used are crab apples, dogwoods, and hydrangeas.

Planting trees

Actually planting the trees is simpler but much more difficult than researching which trees to plant and when and where. Essentially, all you have to do is dig a hole large enough to cover up to the base of the tree’s roots and wide enough that they can then grow outward into the soil. However, depending on how large of a tree you are planting, that could mean you need to plant a one- to two-foot-deep hole straight down or a hole that deep across a three- to four-foot span. It might be hard to get a planting hole started by hand, but we believe the results are well worth it. Here is a quick rundown of the steps we have found success with when planting trees on our homestead:

1. Measure the size of your tree’s roots before digging the hole. You don’t have to measure exactly. Just get a general idea of their size.
2. Start digging. For the most part, the standard round-head shovels you can find at most stores will work great for planting trees You might need to put the tree in the hole to see if it will fit. If it doesn’t, just keep digging!
3. Put the tree in the hole once the hole is large enough for the tree’s roots to sit under the ground.
4. From there, refill the hole with the dirt you just dug out, making sure to keep the tree upright and centered. Pat the soil down lightly as you fill it to make the ground around the roots stable enough to keep the tree upright on its own.
5. If necessary, stake the tree into the ground so it stays upright while the roots take hold over the first few weeks.

Notes for Planting Trees

Planting trees really is an easy process. Once you’ve planted one tree, you know how to plant all but the most finnicky of trees. If you plan to plant multiple trees in one area, be sure to research how far apart they need to be from each other. Planting trees too close together can various problems like stunted growth and increased disease among the overcrowded trees.

It is also important to research what region you live in for a few different reasons. You wouldn’t want to plant trees that won’t survive in the climate where you live. But you also wouldn’t want to plant trees that are so well-adjusted that they become invasive and destroy the plant life around them.

Why Start Planting Trees?

At the end of the day, planting trees is a task that fulfills long-term goals. As quoted by Nelson Henderson, “The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.” Even with fast growing trees such as many conifers, trees will take a decade or more before you even notice their progress. But there are so many reasons to plant more trees, from environmental reasons to agricultural or even aesthetic reasons. We hope we’ve been able to give you some ideas about what trees you want to plant.