Planting depth a critical part of ensuring healthy, thriving trees and shrubs

Community Report

Spring is for planting! But when it comes to trees and shrubs, you may want to double-check your planting technique. Not long ago, the local Extension Office received a question about why some landscape trees in the common area of a neighborhood were failing to thrive. They were covered in lichens and the branches were dying back. Some were tilted rather than standing upright. All of the trees in the nearby forest seemed to be perfectly healthy, so what could be going on?

People occasionally blame lichens for tree decline, but they are a symptom that a plant is growing slowly rather than the cause. After some sleuthing, we discovered that the trees in this case had not been planted deeply enough, and a large portion of their rootball, although covered in mulch, was multiple inches above the surface of the ground. Trees and shrubs should be planted at the same depth as they were planted in a pot or in the ground at a nursery. Generally speaking, this means the “root flare” is level with the soil surface. Holes for woody species should be only as deep as the root ball, but twice as wide. It is helpful to chop some horizontal slits into the side of the hole, especially in heavy clay soils. Backfill the hole with the same soil and tamp it down just enough to remove air pockets. There is no need to fertilize or amend the soil, although finished compost can make a nice mulch material for around your new tree or shrub.

That leads to another common sin of spring: the mulch volcano. Mulch should be spread evenly and shallowly around the root zone of a plant, never heaped against the trunk. For newly planted plants, you can mound the mulch into a small berm or “donut” around the outside of the mulch ring. This can help hold water during wa- terings. Springs in Virginia can be hot and dry, which is hard on new plants. So while spring is for planting… so is fall. In fact, we at the Extension Office much prefer to plant new woody plants in the fall. If you haven’t yet gotten around to planting perennials this spring, you might want to consider holding off a while yet. submitted by the Virginia Cooperative extension Office

About three hours after sunset at midmonth, our overhead view finds the faint and probably unfamiliar constellation Canes Venatici (Hunting Dogs) near zenith. With no bright stars to distinguish this constellation, your eyes may drift to the north and start tracing down the “handle” of the Big Dipper – both familiar and incorrectly named, as the constellation is actually called Ursa Major (Big Bear). Alkaid is the star at the end of the handle, then the double binary Mizar where the handle bends. Aliothe marks the connection to the bowl. Below Aliothe we will find the front end of the bowl. Follow the line through Merak and Dubhe (the “pointer stars”) to Po- laris, the North Star. Twenty degrees southeast of zenith will bring your eyes to Arcturus, in Bootes. Vega, the brightest star in Lyra is east-northeast about 35 degrees above the horizon and rising. Saturn is to the south, near Spica in Virgo. Saturn is the brighter of the two. Castor and Pollux, in Gemini, are setting to the west northwest, finally clearing the skies of winter constellations. Regulus is the bright star in Leo to the west southwest.

If readers have questions about astronomy in particular (or science in general) that you would like covered in one of these columns, please feel free to contact me at gspagna@rmc.edu. (I have retired from RandolphMacon College but will continue these columns and use of that email address for the foreseeable future.)

Joanne Van Arnam Curnutt

CURNUTT, Joanne Van Arnam, 79, was born on March 23, 1944 in Roanoke, Va., and passed away on april 20, 2023 in Mechanicsville, Va. she was preceded in death by her parents, Frank Jordan Van arnam and sarah ann Burnette Van arnam. she is survived by her husband, William “Bill” C. Curnutt III; son, stephan M. Curnutt; daughter; Pamela a . Curnutt; two granddaughters, Ciara “Brooke” Curnutt and autumn n. Curnutt; sister, nancy V. swanson (Ben); brother, Robert J. Van arnam (sandy); and many nieces and nephews. “Grammy” was a wonderful wife, mother, sister, aunt and grandmother. she adored her two granddaughters, autumn and Brooke, and loved spending time with them. Joanne has touched the lives of many people and will forever be missed. services will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, april 26, 2023 at the Mechanicsville Chapel of the Bennett Funeral Home, 8014 Lee davis Road. The family will receive friends an hour prior to the service. Interment will follow in Hanover Memorial Park, 4447 Mechanicsville Turnpike. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the United network for Organ sharing, the organization that gifted Joanne another nine years to spend with her family and friends. bennettfuneralhomes.com

Walter L. “Bubba” Harley

HARLEY, Walter L. “Bubba”

III, 76 of Mechanicsville, Va., joined his beloved wife in heaven, Thursday, april 27, 2023. He was preceded in death by his wife of 54 years, Karen J. Harley; his parents, ann and Walter L. Harley Jr.; and two siblings, Patricia Harley Jones and James Harley. He is survived by his children, Wendy Hale (Randy) and Jeffrey Harley (Michelle); five grandchildren, Kayla Faulkner (Hunter), Kyle Harley, Jacob Hale, emily Hale and Kasey Harley; two great-grandchildren, William and adela Faulkner; and two brothers, Michael and Joseph Harley. Bubba proudly served his country in the U.s army national Guard. He retired from Philip Morris after 30 years of dedicated service. He was a member of the Richmond east Moose Lodge, the Central Virginia Mustang Club, The shelby american auto Club (saaC), Local Union IaMaW, and a former little league coach at Mechanicsville Little League. He had a passion for restoring classic Ford muscle cars and riding Harley-davidson Motorcycles with friends. Bubba was a loving and devoted husband, father and grandfather and loved spending time with his family. The family will receive friends for a visitation and classic car cruise-in from 4 to 6 p.m., Friday, May 5, 2023, at Monaghan Funeral Home, 7300 Creighton Parkway, Mechanicsville, Va. 23111, with a memorial service will follow at 6 p.m. with military honors. you are welcome to bring your classic car or bike to display. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his honor to the american alzheimer’s Foundation at https://act.alz.org.

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