Planting a tree is super simple right? Just dig a hole, drop the tree in, then cover with soil. Boom💥! Done! Well not quite, planting a tree is easy to do, but involves some planning and care to ensure that the tree actually survives and thrives.

The government of Barbados has set a goal of planting at least 1 million trees by the end of 2020. This is an ambitious project, but quite achievable and was kicked off in January 2020. We at De Plantuh Man have done our part by planting a few trees so far, but we can and will do more. In this blog post we’ll show you how to go about planting a tree such that it has the best chance of thriving.

Why Is Planting Trees Important?

Before we get into it, I’ll describe to you why we need to plant all of these trees in the first place….I mean, we have plenty trees already right?. Well the truth of the matter is that ~1 million trees are destroyed each day in the world. This really is a staggering figure when you consider the many benefits that trees provide to us:

  1. Trees protect the land: trees play a role in improving and maintaining the general health of land. The root systems of trees hold the soil together thereby reducing soil erosion, while leaves and branches shield the soil from the heat of the sun, thus limiting water loss from the soil. These effects along with fallen and decomposed foliage (leaves, branches and twigs) help to greatly improve soil health and fertility. These factors are all very important to creating the conditions needed for farming. By planting trees we are potentially creating farms of the future!
  2. Trees provide many useful products: This is the most obvious benefits of trees. They provide food for humans and animals, wood and other materials for building and crafting (e.g. coconut shell craft) and even medicines (e.g. Cinchona tree contains quinine used to treat malaria).

Coconut Shell Art Piece

Small Sample of What Can Be Done With Coconut Art

  1. Trees help to combat climate change: Make no mistake global climate change is an existential threat to life on each as we know it. One of the driving factors of climate change is the drastic increase (See graph below) in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2), a potent greenhouse gas.

Graph Showing Carbon Dioxide Concentration Vs Year

Graph Showing Carbon Dioxide Concentration Vs Year

Trees, and all plants for that matter, absorb CO2 from the air and convert them to biomass (wood, leaves, roots, fruit etc.) in a process known as photosynthesis. This effectively reduces atmospheric CO2 by locking the up the CO2 as carbon (the C in CO2) in the trees themselves.

Cycling of Carbon Dioxide from Trees

Schematic Showing How Trees Utilise Carbon Dioxide to Create Biomass

How To Plant A Tree?

What Do You Need?

  1. A sapling (young tree); See Type of Tree below for popular trees
  2. Shovel or spade
  3. Compost (if available)
  4. Water
  5. Mulch (dried grass, other dried organic matter or untreated woodchips)
  6. A camera to take pictures or record a video of you planting the tree

With that background information out of the way, it’s time to finally plant some trees🙌….not just yet😌..proper planning, as with most things in agriculture, is the first and most important step. There are three main things to consider when planting a tree:

  1. Location
  2. Type of tree

Location

Location is one of the most important things to consider when planting a tree. Choose a location away from power lines, telephone lines and other structures. Remember that a tree will grow to be much much larger than it currently is (See Type of Tree for tree heigts). Also ensure that the tree isn’t planted in an area where it is likely to obstruct paths or intrude on someone else’s property in the future.

Type of Tree

There are many different types of trees all of which grow to different sizes (heights and widths). Some popular trees to plant in Barbados, and which will be planted for the We Plantin’ a Million Trees Project include:

  • Soursop: up to 30 feet (9.1 m) tall. More info.
  • Sugar apple: between 10 to 26 feet tall (3 m to 8 m) tall More info.
  • Golden apple: 30 feet to 60 feet (9m to 18m) More info.
  • Bajan Cherry: up to 20 feet (6 m) tall. More info.
  • Pomegranate: up to 20 or 30 feet (6 or 10 m) tall. More info.
  • Jamoon: up to 40 or 50 feet (12-15 m) tall. More info.

I highly recommend that you purchase a tree from the Soil Conservation Unit in Haggatts St.Andrew. They have a wide selection of tropical trees at very affordable prices and the scenery alone in the area makes it worth it the trip.

Soil Conservation Unit Barbados

Some of The Views at the Soil Conservation Unit

When you’ve selected your tree, it’s good practice to find out from the nursery whether that tree has been ‘sun-hardened’, that is, has your tree been ‘trained’ to tolerate the full sun with no shade. This is important because young trees grow leaves that are the right size and shape for the amount of sun that it was exposed to. Putting a tree which has not been sun-hardened into direct sunlight can stress the tree resulting in slow growth or even death. Most nurseries provide hardened trees, but if your tree is not sun-hardened, you will need to gradually reduce that amount of shade it receives over a couple weeks before planting it in its final location.

Now to finally plant that tree:

  1. Dig a hole that approximately the same depth as the root ball of the tree and is also two to three times wider than the root ball. Dig this hole such that the middle of the hole forms a slight mound; this will act as a platform for the tree to sit and ensure that water drains to the sides of the mound.
  2. Remove the tree from the bag or pot, being very careful not to disturb the roots. Gently remove dirt from the sides of the root ball until the roots are only just exposed. Remember, planting a tree is a very stressful process for the tree and minimising damage is key.
  3. Gently place the tree into the hole, making sure that the tree rests on the mound in the center of the hole. Try to place the tree such that it is as upright as possible.
  4. Cover the hole with a mixture of the soil that was removed and some compost, if possible, to give the tree a boost in life. Ensure that no roots are exposed.
  5. Add some mulch around the tree, this will help to reduce water loss and to further fertilize the tree as it slowly breaks down. Mulch can be wood chips, dried grass and leaves or other dried vegetable matter, just make sure that these were not treated with any harmful chemicals.
  6. Remember to take pictures or record a video of you planting that tree and post on social media.
  7. Plant more trees!

You can give yourself a pat on the back😎, you’ve done your part in preserving our environment, feeding the nation and ensuring that we reach the target of one million planted trees in 2020. Be sure to encourage friends and family to do the same.

References