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"If the
Bigslider had been around 5,000 years ago, the wheel
might have never been invented."
-- Jim Meigs
Editor-in-Chief
Popular Mechanics |
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Planting Italian Pines
Using BigSlider & CreteSheet to Make Planting Easier.
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Imagine my surprise. After three years of looking
and calling around to various nurseries, I found
Italian pines for our Japanese garden…at the front
door of the grocery store! Once I got them
home, I had some moving to do, so I got my Bigslider out and
loaded it up. |
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I put the pots at the tail (two of three shown here)
and rolled the mulch bag in front of the pots. Then
I threaded the rope through the tail holes, guided
the ends along either side of the pots and over the
mulch bag, curled the tail up as a backstop, looped
the rope through the hand hole and knotted it at
palm height. I used BigSlider to bring everything
from the car to the bed over driveway concrete and pea
gravel – all in one trip. |
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Here are pictures showing how I looped the ropes
around the handle to give me pulling power and
stability. Note that the ropes come over the mulch
bag and bracket the pots to keep them on the Bigslider. |
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But first, weeding. Ugh. That pain is mitigated by
my
favorite French and Japanese tools. I held the
lawn and leaf bag open with Professional BigSlider
and used a
StackSaver to kneel and sit on.
You can see it under the hoe next to the barrel. |
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To mix equal parts peat moss and soil, I put
everything on CreteSheet, which is a 50 in by 60 in sheet
with handles on each corner. I lifted alternate corners to
easily blend everything together by rolling it around on the
ground. Peat moss releases water slowly as plants need it,
aerates and prevents hardening of heavy clay soil (for root
growth), and reduces the need for fertilizer by reduced
leaching of nutrients. |
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Next, I dug the hole about twice the diameter and
twice the height of the existing root ball. This creates
space for plenty of peat moss/soil mixture so the roots can
gain a foothold. You can see I broke up the root ball by
banging it on the ground and with the trowel. Loosening the
roots gives them a head start into the new soil. And always
check root balls for any roots that may be wrapped around in
a circle like a noose. These must be clipped off and
straightened as ultimately they will continue in a circle
and strangle the tree in about five years, stunting growth
or killing the tree. |
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Before putting the tree in the ground, I built up an
inverted cone of peat moss/soil mixture at the bottom of the
hole and spread the loosened roots over the cone. I added
more mixture to make sure the height of the soil line of the
tree was at the same height as -- or slightly higher than --
the soil line of the bed. I grabbed the edges of CreteSheet
to make a funnel and sprinkled the mixture around the root
ball, then I stamped it firmly with my foot. I watered
thoroughly and filled in places where the soil immediately
settled. If you have any dirt left over, you can use it to
make a small dam around the tree to collect water and focus
it on the newly planted root ball. |
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In no time, I completed this project by myself. All
three Italian pines were planted, watered and
mulched. |
(To see larger pictures of my
completed project, click on the images above and to
the left.)
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Don’t they look great with the
green mound juniper, Japanese black pine, and laurel
trees? Beautiful!! |
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TOUGH. SIMPLE. EFFICIENT.
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Watch their
