The Craftiest Workshop

This past week we loosened the ground in the areas we were going to plant trees, moved triple mix over to the spots and added mulch around the raspberry and haskap planting areas. Our soil is mostly clay so we couldn’t just dig a hole to put the tree into, we needed to plant on top of the ground in good soil.

The trees we ordered were coming from Hardy Fruit Tree Nursery in Rawdon, Quebec. The growing zone there is the same as ours in North Western Alberta. The other reason we chose this tree nursery is that the trees come dormant with bare roots making them easier to ship.

https://www.hardyfruittrees.ca/

The trees left Quebec last Monday, the 15th, via Canada Post, and only just arrived yesterday. This is what the package of 19 trees and 12 berry canes looked like in the packaging.

We had not had any rainfall since the snow melted. It has been unseasonably hot with temperatures between 25-30°C for two weeks. Wildfires in North Western Alberta have been raging out of control since May 5.

Well…Sunday it started to rain around noon and it POURED. It was still raining when we went out last evening to plant the trees. The trees needed to be planted within 48hrs of arrival and it was suggested to plant them in the rain if possible. Here is what the ground looked like.

It was very wet only about 7° when we started planting just after 7pm.

We started with the raspberry patch and I quickly discovered that trying to use a garden trowel was useless. The triple mix was now sludge mud, the kind of mud that a child would love to play in. I had donned rubber gloves so I decided to dig and replace the mud with my hands. It was a bit cold on the hands but that was an incentive to get the job done faster.

I was told to look excited to be planting.

We put in the two varieties of Haskaps next in a similar set up as the raspberries then moved on to the Hazelberts.

This area was actually under water. We were supposed to water the trees with 20L per tree so I don’t think that much water being there temporarily will be an issue.

The Black Walnut trees went in next 30ft apart parallel to the road. These trees can grow to 100 ft tall eventually and will take 8-12 years before they actually produce nuts.

We moved to the opposite side of the house to plant the other fruit trees. Two different Apple trees, two different Plum trees and a Chokecherry tree. My husband wanted them in a spot so he could see the apple blossoms in the spring. I realized I had not taken a picture of these last night. Here is it today from the deck. The water level has already started to go down.

One hour and 15 min after we started and we were finished. I decided to take advantage of a puddle after we were done and rinsed my gloves and sleeves off.

The trees we planted seem under-whelming. Not much tree for the cost. We have heard good reviews about this tree nursery and the hardiness of their trees. The trees can grow up to 4ft in a growing season so I expect things will look much different by next spring.
My job now is to add mulch around the base of each tree, leaving ring of soil around the tree itself. The mulch will aid in keeping the roots from drying out, retain moisture and provide insulation in the winter.

The plan is to see how these trees do in the clay areas we planted them in.
If most or many thrive, we plan to order more trees/canes going forward.
It was a fun way to spend the evening.
I realize that I am more sensory than I thought.
I quite enjoyed playing in the muck.