Anyone can plant a tree to benefit wildlife and property

LITTLE ROCK - Spring is practically upon us, and it’s a good time for planting a tree.

It will do good things. It will make you feel good long after the temporary muscle aches from digging a good-sized hole in the ground.

That tree in your yard close to the house, but not too close, will be used by birds and possibly other wildlife as well as being an addition to your property.

You may have several acres around your house, or you may have a small city lot. You may have an apartment in town, but you work with someone with land or have a grandma out in the country. This tree planting can be done alone, or you can make it a family project, getting the kids involved.

Trees are bedrocks of wildlife habitat and much in discussion as well as appreciation by Arkansas Game and Commission biologists.

That tree you plant will enhance your property, maybe not raising the value significantly but potential buyers; prefer a billiard table treeless tract to one with a tree or several trees or woods.

Plant the tree for yourself. Yes, the birds will like it. The environmentalists will like it for added benefits in a time when trees are whacked down every day. A tree will be an addition to nature’s filter system, helping with rain runoff. When it is good-sized, a tree will have a cooling effect on your house if its shade extends over the residence part of the day.

In many areas of Arkansas, construction is in high gear, particularly in booming Washington and Benton counties in northwest and in central Arkansas locales like Conway and Cabot. Once green, meaning grass, bushes and trees, the areas with new construction become mostly concrete and asphalt.

When they build a house, a stopping center, an office building, a road, trees and grass are removed and hard, solid stuff replace them. Rains come, and the water can’t go into the ground and be absorbed by roots. Instead, it washes downhill, eventually into a creek, river or lake, carrying assorted particles with it.

This tree planting can be most anything you make it. Go to a nursery and buy a young dogwood with roots wrapped in burlap. The seller will give you planting instructions, and the tree package itself may have the necessary how-to information.

Logically, you’ll have the site for the tree picked out before you make the purchase. If it is close to your house, like a corner of your lot, check carefully. Make sure the tree hole won’t be on top of utility lines - electric, gas, water, phone, television cable. Picture the tree when it has grown for several years and when it reaches maturity. Will it interfere with anything, like hang over a neighbor’s property?

From tiny acorns, mighty oaks grow. Yes, and they grow oh so slowly. Oak trees are good, highly desirable, but if you want something to make an impact in just a few years, choose a quicker growing species of tree. Better still; plant both the quickie tree and the oak. Plant a tree can be plural as well as singular.

Don’t skimp on digging the hole. If your instructions say three feet in diameter and two feet deep, be sure it’s at least that much, preferably a bit more. Toss a little compost, peat moss or other amendment into the bottom of the hole. Put the young tree in place and fill the hole carefully. Water well.

Then urge a friend, neighbor or relative to plant a tree.

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