Letters To The Editor: May 2001

We are slowly but surely being controlled and out maneuvered by special interest groups. This is only the beginning, and if we do not organize, we will be at their mercy. This issue is potentially lethal to all of us.

Greg Kenel
Creative Landscapes by Gregory
Silver Spring, Md.

To the Editor,
I just read the article "Auger Appeal" in the February 2001 issue of Lawn & Landscape. The article begins, "Ed Wojciechowski got tired of wasting one hour of manpower to dig one hole for one tree, so he invested in an auger attachment for his compact utility loader." I realize augers are a very useful product, but they are the wrong tool for planting trees. If digging by hand is difficult, it is likely because the soils we commonly plant in are abused, compacted subsoils on developed properties.

A better tool or tractor attachment in this situation would be a rototiller or stump grinder that can loosen the soil, and perhaps incorporate some organic material, in a large diameter planting area. That way the tree roots will grow outward without being confined by a soil interface such as is created by an auger. And the attitude of having "wasted" a man-hour is misguided. Did you ever hear the old nurseryman adage "Don’t put a dollar tree in a dime hole?" The time spent in properly planting a tree is well invested. After all, you can't replace the time it takes to grow a mature tree. Thirty years down the road, the result of a poor planting job will likely be a tree that needs replacing, instead of an irreplaceable landscape asset.

Warren Jacobs
Jacobs Tree Surgery
Perklolmenville, Pa.

If you would like to express your opinion in a Letter to the Editor, please send your letter along with your name, title, company name and location to Letter to the Editor, Lawn & Landscape, 4012 Bridge Ave., Cleveland, Ohio 44113. Or send your letter via e-mail to nwisniewski@lawnandlandscape.com.