Fall is the best time to plant a tree. My method is to dig a hole the size of the root, use a garden fork to punch some holes in the bottom, water, allow to drain, spread the root out carefully and feed the soil back in. If you’re planting a native tree, and those are the only kind I plant, there’s no need for special soil or amendments. As long as it’s in an appropriate environment – shade for Striped Maple, sun for Tulip Tree, moisture for Ohio Buckeye – the tree will settle in because it’s where it belongs.

However I do use a mulch. You can use wood chips but those look corporate to me. If I were to use them, I’d try to ensure they are aged and beginning to decompose. I prefer leaf mould, which is made from the leaves of the fall of last year gathered into a mesh bin and watered from time to time. They have mostly rotted down into a fresh-scented humus that is just a pleasure to spread around flower beds and newly planted trees. Even better next spring when I do more planting

I’m planting Pawpaws (Asimina triloba). The fruit is about the size of an avocado and the custardy flesh is reputed to have a flavour that’s a combination of banana, pineapple and mango. It was apparently much appreciated by the megafauna that preceded us on this land. It doesn’t travel well because it bruises easily, which is why it’s not a commercial proposition and no one I know has ever tasted it.

The Pawpaws are going into a field that’s mostly alien invasive grasses, although Indian Grass and Switchgrass have started to fight back and spread. So I have been happy to try a new product from Lee Valley Tools – the weed suppression square. It’s not cheap - $17.50 for 5 but I think, placed above a layer of leaf mould mulch, it will help the little seedlings along. I want my new Pawpaws to get the best possible start as they’re only a foot tall, and eliminating competition in the rooting area is a big help. I added a piece of spiral tree protector for good measure although these trees are apparently loaded with toxins that makes them unpalatable to rabbits and browsers. 

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Thanks to all who got in touch and ordered plants! Stock getting low on most. Check the list from time to time as new material will come available - for instance, Red Oak Quercus rubra, from last fall's acorns, germinated May 20. A seedling is the best way to plant an oak as after the first year, containment in a pot is not beneficial. Entomologist Doug Tallamy, who wrote the book on the oak, notes that oak trees grown in pots can become root-bound quickly, potentially hindering their future growth and ultimate survival.
Enjoy the great gardening days ahead and nurture your insects with native plants, water in shallow receptacles at different levels, no chemicals.
Edward O. Wilson - The Little Things that Run the World

Take a river, add a canoe, binoculars, notepad and pencil and you have a recipe for time well-spent. In this case, the time was during the 1940s, the river was in Ottawa and the watcher was the British High Commissioner, Malcolm MacDonald.

MacDonald’s keen observations of avian lives and loves, drama and tragedy - just a few paddle strokes from his office - survive the test of time. The Birds of Brewery Creek, published in 1947, is organized by the month and it’s a pleasure to find how the May chapter from 80 years ago mirrors the parade of birds observed here in south-central Ontario in May, 2024.

May is the start of nesting – and the familial experiences of many birds are described in detail. (The book can be read online on the website archive.org – by being borrowed for an hour at a time. I never had any problem renewing for another hour.)

“One of the most fanciful designers and builders of nests in Canada is the Baltimore Oriole. No bird is more skilful. Its creation is so fine that it might be classified as a work of art rather than one of mere craftmanship,” MacDonald writes. He found several such nests, but was disappointed in his efforts to view a bird in the act of building.
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