My idiot neighbour broke one of my conifers when he came home drunk one
night (I presume that he fell on it). What's the best way to replace a
single tree? It's part of the border between our gardens. They're quite
densely planted.

Do I just dig-up the roots of old conifer and plant a new one? Are mature
conifers expensive? Are they difficult to plant successfully?

Should I buy a mature tree or a young one and let it grow to the same height
as the existing trees?

Cheers.

Bobby

In article , "Bobby" wrote:

My idiot neighbour broke one of my conifers when he came home drunk one
night (I presume that he fell on it). What's the best way to replace a
single tree? It's part of the border between our gardens. They're quite
densely planted.

Do I just dig-up the roots of old conifer and plant a new one? Are mature
conifers expensive? Are they difficult to plant successfully?

You don't say what kind of tree you lost or will replace it with, but if
it was small enough to break off when a drunkard fell on it, then it was
not big enough to be an expensive tree. Find a big nursery with lots of
tree choices. You'll probably be buying one that has its root in a burlap
bag. Dig the hole twice the size of the ball, & while the soil is out of
the hole, mix a lot of organic material into it (a quality compost). But
the rootball in the hole, burlap & all. Cut off all the strings holding
the bag & pull them out. Then peel back the burlap to expose AT LEAST the
entire top area of the ball.

At this point people will disagree whether or not the remove the burlap
entirely. But because the greatest risk to the planting is that the
rootball will "crack" permitting air to the root which will permit harmful
fungus attack, the burlap is best pealed only about one-third to one-half
of the way down the side of the ball. UNLESS the soil is nitrogen poor &
bone dry, the burlap will decay into nutrients very quickly. But if there
is any chance whatsoever that it isn't real burlap, but some artificial
fibre that may not decay, then you have to risk cracking the ball &
getting all of the wrapping off it.

Then refill the hole with the enriched soil & tamp lightly. Get a five
gallon bucket of water & mix some Vitamin B in the water, & give the root
a good soaking.

Pretty much the same thing if you buy a potted tree. If it is so pot-bound
that the roots can be seen to be tightly pot-shaped, try to loosen some of
those roots at the very edge, & scrape the bottom & side a bit to loosen
the roots.

Specific care of different conifers can vary but the above is generically
usually correct. Good nurseries guarantee their trees for a year. Success
is so easy they're not apt to lose money on such a guarantee.

Should I buy a mature tree or a young one and let it grow to the same height
as the existing trees?

You have to decide what's aesthetic for your taste. There's no reason it
has to be the same kind of tree or the same sized tree. You could get a
bigger one, a smaller one, the same kind, or a different kind. If it was
me I'd want a different kind, identical trees in tidy little rows are too
artificial for my tastes, & even hedges I wish were usually "mixed hedges"
rather than one-species-squared. But if you do get a smaller tree
expecting it to catch up with the others, you may never be satisfied.

If the trees you have there now are some sort of dwarfs (which I'm
guessing they are if you regard them as mature but still small enough for
a drunk to fall on & break), you may want to consider getting a strongly
columnar evergreen that'll shoot way up tall than the littler trees.
Unevenness of heights can be cool looking, & it's more an issue of what
would never get too broad for the little space you have for it.

There's also the possibility that, since they're "quite densely planted,"
you don't really need a tree there. A flowering bush could be just as
useful & lend variety & greater beauty to your property-edge plantings.

-paghat the ratgirl

Cheers.

Bobby

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/

I think you should give the problem to the idiot neighbour. Why should you
pay?


Bobby scribbled:

My idiot neighbour broke one of my conifers when he came home drunk
one night (I presume that he fell on it). What's the best way to
replace a single tree? It's part of the border between our gardens.
They're quite densely planted.

Do I just dig-up the roots of old conifer and plant a new one? Are
mature conifers expensive? Are they difficult to plant successfully?

Should I buy a mature tree or a young one and let it grow to the same
height as the existing trees?

Cheers.

Bobby