a cool gardening tip

Our organic farming, permaculture expert friend Ande recently gave us this gardening tip that was such an easy and wonderful idea, I had to share.

If you've planted any trees before, then you know what a large hole must be dug for all its roots to be gently placed and spread apart inside. The general rule, I believe, is to dig twice as wide as you dig deep. My rule is to dig twice as wide or a foot larger diameter than the existing roots when spread out gently - whichever is larger.

When you're finished, you have a nice big dirt spot that is quite easy to distinguish from the surrounding grassy area. But within no time at all, it becomes a weed patch.

Ande says that he plants shade-tolerant perennial herb seeds around the base of new trees when he puts the tree in. Then, he surrounds them with some sort of fencing to protect the tree (and the herbs, by proxy) while it's little. This means that as the tree matures, so does the herb garden. In the end, there is no weeding to be done around the tree and you have useful plants under there to boot.

We are planting many, many trees this year. Some have been given to us, some we will order to add to our budding orchard, and some we will transplant from the woods. I'll also be ordering many, many perennial seeds and flowers of different varieties to plant around each tree.