Choose a site, size and shape for your shrubs and trees

I highly recommend watching this video-made-better-by-covid and the creative thinking of both the presenter, Caseylee Bastian, and the Stow community TV team to Making Your Yard Work with the Environment for Sustainable Stow, MA. Grab your yard design notebook and a pencil and list all of the elements of your yard or public planting space and any of Caseylee’s ideas that suit your goals.

Prep your site

If you’re planting on a hill, consider doing a bit of earthwork and plant on contour to capture rainwater runoff. Use a hand-made A-frame to plot the contour and then use hand tools to create swales. Watch this video produced in Australia by Huttons Valley Permaculture – a human scale enterprise: Ensuring water for my new olive tree grove | swales on contour

At the very least, start prepping your forest soil as soon as possible – this means hoarding bags of leaves the autumn before you want to plant. The goal is to create layers of organic matter to feed the soil. This is done by adding materials on top of your lawn that will break down by sun, rain, snow, freeze/thaw and with the aid of mycelial networks, earthworms, birds, rabbits, voles and insect activity.

In early spring for an autumn tree planting (or even the autumn before), cover the planting area with a layer of cardboard to block any grass or weeds from gaining access to sunlight. Flatten cardboard and remove packing tape and labels.

Add a 6″ layer of leaves and about 3″ of wood chips. Consider Get Chip Drop or contacting local tree services for a truckload of chips.

These layers are best laid down just before a soaking rain and all in one day so stockpile the ingredients before you begin.