Planting My Favorite Tree: The Eastern Redbud
Like we shared earlier this summer, we finally cut down the rest of our big front yard river birch tree. We hired a stump grinding company to take out the stump. They were able to grind it down all the way to 15 inches below. Unfortunately, due to the location of the tree and the way the landscape beds were created perfectly around it, we wanted to plant a new one in the same place.
Preparing the Ground
Doing some research, I found that tree companies typically advice against planting a new one in the exact same place, but if you are going to it is best to completely remove the old tree and roots attached for best success. Taking out the remaining stump and roots attached would come to be the most time consuming thing I did on this project.
River birch naturally have lots of roots that extend near the top to collect water. My goal was to completely remove every root and stump and leave a foot and a half around the new tree. That way it would give the new tree a couple of years before something was blocking the new roots path. That ended up being a pretty big hole, which would come in handy when planting our new tree.
To remove the remaining stump and roots I got out my shovel, chainsaw and Sawzall. I started by removing any dirt around the wood, which was difficult because we had so many roots. I next went to my chainsaw and had some success getting the bigger roots cut down. However, with so much dirt mixed in, it quickly got into the chainsaw blade making it difficult to cut. I put on a new blade and had the same problem.
My final tool to use was my Sawzall. I had used this tool before when cutting out older trees. One of the blades you can actually buy is called a pruning blade, made for tree wood. This blade worked great cutting out root after root and eventually taking out the remaining stump. The dirt didn’t bother it and I was able to slowly work my way around, taking out root, after root, after root.
The biggest mistake I made was not wearing gloves the whole time. This gave me a large number of blisters from all the shaking and press down gripping. Gloves aren’t just for safety, but also for the health of your hands. At the end I measured 52 inches across and about 3 feet deep.
The Eastern Red Bud
We spent some time thinking about and researching what we wanted to replace the river birch with. We thought we wanted to have a pine tree up there, but since we already have junipers and a blue spruce globe bush, we decided to go with a tree with leaves. Kiersten has to "see it" so she Photoshopped a couple options to see what it could look like up front. Slide through below to see the ideas.
The tree we finally decided on was a clump Eastern Redbud (Cercis Canadensis). A clump means it has multiple bottom trunks. This is the hardiest red bud for northern gardeners. The Eastern Redbud was specifically created to survive the cold winters. I’ve planted several other red buds and I’ve never lost the MN strain when planting. Redbuds bloom in the early spring shooting out pretty bright purple/pink flowers and usually are one of the first trees to flower, even before crabapples. This is a great tree to have because it distracts your eyes towards it and everything else in your plant beds can grow. The pink blooms last for a couple of weeks and are a beautiful sight to see. Typically, redbuds grow 20 to 30 feet and can grow well in full to partial sun. In the forest you’ll see redbuds growing below the rest of the tall trees. Redbuds grow well in most well-drained soils and aren’t very fussy. When researching the redbud one of the main problems tends to be caused from salt. Read more about them on the Arbor Day Foundation site.
Since the tree we lost was likely 20 years old and very large and mature, we wanted to get the largest yet most economically feasible tree we could find rather than putting a small little baby tree in that spot. After looking at several garden centers with no luck, we put Kiersten’s cousin who works at a local tree farm on the hunt and he let us know when they got some 8-10 footers in. Trees that large from quality growers aren’t cheap and the cost of a company planting it would almost cost as much as the tree. Instead, we scheduled for the company to simply deliver the tree, and we would plant it.
Planting the Tree
The delivery crew said to lay out a tarp where we wanted it but the delivery crew thought we were crazy and wouldn't be able to move a tree that big! Kiersten was home when the tree arrived so she sent me a video where I saw three adult men moving (not lifting) the tree on a motorized giant wheelbarrow. They moved the tree near the hole on the tarp. I spent a lot of my morning coaching looking at the tree during my breaks to try and figure out how I was going to move it into the hole without heavy machinery.
On my way home I went and bought some quality top soil, humus mixed with manure, and tried a new soil product called Bio-Fiber that is an alternative to peat moss. The best soil to plant trees in contains compost or organic materials, known as soil amendments matter consisting of soil conditioners and rotten manure promotes health and speedy growth.
Once I was home I first tried to lift the tree. They were right, I wasn’t able to move it an inch. They did give Kiersten the advice to make sure to perfectly measure the size of the root ball to ensure the hole was exactly perfect before putting a tree that big down into the hole.
I carefully measured the root's height which was covered in a large ball of clay. I needed the hole to be perfect, because no way was I going to be able to lift it out once it was in. The clay surrounding all the roots was a blessing because it meant I could slowly slide and twist the tree without hurting the roots.
I used mulch bags as a ramp and slowly rolled the tree into the hole. The extra width also helped because I was able to roll it into place.
Thankfully I had measured right and lastly I mixed all the different soils and conditioners together around the tree.
Several times I checked and walked around the entire tree making sure it was level and set up.
Lastly, I placed mulch around the tree and gave it a good water. I always use Earl May's Plant Start when planting a tree. This is a product that helps prevent planting shock and gives it the needed nutrients to live.
I also added tree trunk guards to each trunk to protect it from the animals that roam our neighborhood who love to snack on our plants.
Our New Red Bud Tree
It wasn't easy but at the end I saved lots of money by planting this myself and we have a great looking very large new tree in the front yard.
It looks great from all angles and we hope that it is able to grow and thrive with all the soil prep work we did.
It even looks great a night lit up with a solar light. The clump really stands out.
I can’t wait until next spring to see the pretty pink blooms!
Need a tree planting fix? Here's what we used:
Clump Eastern Redbud Tree 8-10'
Quality black dirt, soil conditioner and mulch
Tree Trunk Protector Guards affiliate
Tools for the job:
Echo Chainsaw affiliate
Milwaukee Sawzall affiliate
Work Gloves affiliate
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