FAQ

In Iowa we try to stick with plants that are zone three, four and five, primarily due to our long, cold winters.

Short answer, no, but our prices reflect that. We aren’t including an insurance plan in the price you pay. Unless you completely ignore your recently installed plants, you shouldn’t have a problem. With that said, mother nature does do some unpredictable things. That said, we do care about our customers’ experience and will do everything we can to keep our customers coming back.

***KEEP THE WIRE AND BURLAP ON***

Do not remove the wire or burlap. The wire will rust and our untreated burlap will decompose in no time. The new hair roots will grow through the burlap without a problem.

Dig a hole as deep as the rootball is on the plant and a few inches wider as it is wide- we like to use a tape measure to be accurate. The top of the rootball, once set into the hole, should be flush with the top of the ground. Avoid planting too deep.

After the tree or shrub is set into your hole cut and remove the the strings and burlap from the top of the ball.

Watering is critical to ensure newly installed plants get off to a healthy start.
We recommend the following watering schedule for medium sized plants:

Week one – five gallons, three times the first week
Week two and beyond – five gallons, once per week though the summer (if planted in the spring) or until frozen ground (if planted in the fall)

For small plants, use two gallons, with the same frequency as listed above
For Large plants, use ten gallons, with the same frequency as listed above

Every tree is different, please call for direction.

To be safe, generally the best time to prune your tree is in the late winter months after a majority of the extreme cold days are past (i.e. Late January through early March).

It is important to remove any secondary central leaders on both conifer and deciduous trees. That is, there should only be one, main trunk from the base of the tree to the very top.Pruning is often necessary in the early years to establish a strong, healthy tree in the future.

We do not recommend pruning your windbreak conifer trees’ branching because it will alter the way the wind blows through and around the tree, hindering the design of the windbreak altogether (the exception to this is removing multiple central leaders).

When pruning deciduous trees, the general rule of thumb is to remove no more than one third of the tree’s branches in a single year. It is primarily a personal preference as to how high you want to prune up from the ground. Typically, homeowners will stop pruning when they are able to mow the grass under the tree without hitting their head.

Mulching is important for two reasons:

1) Suppress weeds from growing around your plant

2) Conserve soil moisture

3) Hold the soil at a warmer temperature, therefore allowing the roots a longer growing season

4) Prevents lawnmowers and trimmers from hitting the plant

In Iowa it is rare to find soil that needs fertilizer. We typically don’t recommend fertilizing, however should your newly planted tree need help establishing itself, we recommend slow, time-released fertilizer spikes.

Deer are our biggest pest too. While our dogs are great at keeping them away, some other methods are:

• Adding white tree-guards to deciduous trees
• Circling each tree with wire fencing or snow fence
• An electric fence
• Spreading human hair clippings
• Surrounding the property with high-strength fishing line (deer can’t see the line and it spooks them when they feel it)