Healthy Steps
All of that means it is important to reduce the impact on your soils. And fortunately, there are easy and inexpensive ways to help preserve, protect, and create good soils for your trees.
1. Resist cleaning up! The best mulch available is the debris that trees and plants shed, so leave all of the leaves, needles, branch, and trunk parts in place, or move them to areas beneath trees. Forests are not tidy clean places, and humans who insist on cleaning up their forest areas often create problems.
2. When removing trees, leave the wood chips on site. An easy way to distribute the chips is to use the chipper to broadcast them into the forest, and then use a rake or fork to spread the chips, leaving a 3-4 inch layer. Clear the wood chips and debris 6-12 inches away from the bases of trees or woody plants, and free up herbaceous plants, ferns, etc., so that they are not buried.
The same applies when using wood chips for pathways and gathering areas—make sure not to bury the trunks of trees or woody shrubs. I have seen photos of sites where repeated applications of wood chips have buried trees and caused issues with tree and plant health. Use the minimum amount needed to keep the soil covered, but do not overdo it.
3. Provide a low-impact way for participants to view the tree attachments. People are fascinated by tree-supported structures, and they will go look. Provide a wood chip pathway or stepping stones, and ask that people stay on the trail. It may be helpful to provide an interpretive sign that explains why the forest floor is important, and why you don’t want guests traipsing about off-trail.
At the root of it, your trees’ health starts at the forest floor. The best way to ensure the longevity of the trees at your site is to engage a professional who can guide you in ways to maintain a healthy environment. As always, I look forward to hearing your feedback and related stories about this subject.
For more on tree health, watch for an upcoming article on attaching structures to trees at adventureparkinsider.com.
