(soft upbeat music) - [Instructor] Oklahoma Gardening is a production of the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, as part of the land grant mission of the division of agricultural sciences and natural resources at Oklahoma State University.

Dedicated to improving the quality of life of the citizens of Oklahoma through research based information.

Underwriting assistance for our program is provided by the Oklahoma department of agriculture, food and forestry helping to keep Oklahoma green and growing.

Welcome to Oklahoma Gardening, with spring soon approaching we wanna make sure we spend some time highlighting the trees that are the backbone to the landscape.

As we come upon Oklahoma's Arbor week, today I'll introduce you to a tree that's already filling the landscape with color.

We head down to Golspie to learn about tree seedlings grown for conservation efforts.

Mark Bays shares with us the best time to plant a tree.

We've got a segment that has been in the making for 28 years that I know you won't wanna miss.

And finally, I learned about a different type of tree trunk.

It's a full show.

So let's get started.

(soft upbeat music) - It's almost like an aumbry of sunset color.

(soft upbeat music) It's not the (indistinct), right?

(soft upbeat music) A lot of times we think about trees during the summertime when they provide us with a reprieve during our hot Oklahoma summers.

And also in the wintertime we're ever grateful for our evergreens because of the green that we know will soon return to our landscape.

However, today, I wanna show you a tree that is still providing color even in the middle of winter.

And that is the coral bark Japanese maple.

As you can see it got its name from this bright red color that it gets on its new growth that is only intensified as we go into those cooler winter months.

Now this tree, it does like dappled shade, especially in hotter climates like we are here in Oklahoma.

So you can see it's planted here on OSU Campus on the east side of several more mature trees just east of Theta Pond.

Those trees are gonna provide it with that dappled shade.

However, it is gonna get a fair bit of morning sun but be protected in those hot afternoon hours.

The other other thing is that shade that's provided by the canopy of the other trees will also kind of protect it from the harsh drying winds that we often experience here in Oklahoma.

Now we don't have to worry about the canopy of those other trees too much because this trees must stay a moderate size of about 20 feet tall by 20 feet wide.

As you can see it's got color in the wintertime but once it starts leafing out, it's gonna have more of a light green lobed, traditional Japanese maple leaf.

Now we're gonna continue to get color with it in the fall as those light green leaves turn to a more a golden yellow color.

Now this tree is better suited for Eastern to Central Oklahoma as it does like in the acidic soil that is moist yet well drained.

Now, while this tree isn't suited for all of Oklahoma sometimes the bark is just as important as the bike.

- Today, we are here at the Forest Regeneration Center in Goldsby, Oklahoma, and it's actually a little bit of a farm, but a different crop that we're growing.

And we're gonna take a look today at these trees.

Joining us today is Jari Irby, who is the manager and operator of all of this activity out here.

Jari, thanks so much for talking with us today.

- Thanks for coming.

- So tell us a little bit about what this center is responsible for doing.

- Yeah, so here at the Forest Regeneration Center, we grow tree seedlings, around four and a half million a year, and those seedlings go out to conservation plantings all across the state.

So right here, we're lifting some of those seedlings as you can see.

The best time to lift those trees is right now in the winter.

And so they're gonna go out for different conservation plantings like wildlife enhancement, reforestation, Christmas tree growers love our trees, and all sorts of great projects.

- [Casey] So when you talk about the winter months, it's January through February is really the time that you're doing this?

- [Jari] Yeah, so we'll start lifting in January and continue lifting until around the 1st of April.

- [Casey] All right.

So lifting meaning harvest right?

- [Jari] Right, correct.

- [Casey] So tell us a little bit about the process of growing these seedlings.

These aren't traditional trees that you're getting here, they're smaller.

- Right, so they are seedlings, so a lot of them are either a year, or even less than a year old.

We collect a lot of the hardwood seeds that you see back here, these seedlings, all across the state.

So this is native trees that we'll go out, collect the seed, bring it back, plant it in the ground, and then we'll lift it and send it out.

Some of our pine seed actually comes from our orchard down in Idabel.

We'll harvest those cones, process them, and then stratify, put 'em in the ground and then lift them as well.

- Excellent.

So tell me a little bit about who your customers are.

Can anybody buy these trees?

- Yeah, anyone can buy our seedlings as long as there's a conservation project.

So like I mentioned, reforestation is a big one, wildlife enhancement.

They can order starting October 1st, and so they can place their order on our web store, or they can pick up the phone and call us.

So those start October 1st and then we start lifting in December, start shipping them out in January, and they can plant 'em right then when they get them.

- [Casey] All right, so we're on the tail end of people ordering.

There might be some that are already sold out.

- [Jari] Right.

- So mark your day for October.

- [Jari] Exactly.

- So tell us a little bit about what the number of trees that you have and what selection you have to offer people.

- Yeah, so we grow both hardwoods and conifers, bare root seedlings.

So those are seedlings that we lift and shake the dirt off the roots.

And so you have to order a minimum of a hundred seedlings, but they come in bundles of 50.

And so you can get two species, if you would like to do it that way, or just get a hundred trees and get them into the ground.

So we also grow container trees.

So for folks that have maybe a harsher site they can purchase those containers to get a little bit a step up on those trees and get 'em in the ground as well.

- [Casey] Excellent.

And tell us a little bit about like what if some of doesn't know what they need to get?

I know your website has a lot of information but can they contact you?

- [Jari] Sure.

- [Casey] And do you have conservation packages?

- [Jari] Yeah, so our website has a lot of information when it comes to hardiness zone, soil types, maybe what tree will be the best tree for a shelter belt, for instance.

But, you know, we are here to help answer any of those questions when it comes to what tree to plant.

You know, our goal is to get the right tree in the right place.

And so they can call our office and talk to me or some of our staff and we can help guide them in their tree planting decisions.

- Okay, well I know Oklahoma landscape changes dramatically from east to west, north to south, and that might mean choosing different trees, right?

- Right, and you know, we're pretty unique here at our nursery.

We grow over 30 varieties of tree species.

So we wanna make sure we're taking care of folks down in McCurtain County and all the way into the Panhandle.

So we have a variety of species available to help meet their conservation needs.

- And a lot of people might have your trees that they didn't realize were your trees, right?

You work a lot with different groups, and Up With Trees, and tree giveaways, and things like that?

- Yeah, so we partner with a lot of different organizations, and we're at a lot of different Arbor Week events throughout the state, where we will donate seedlings.

So we can make sure that we're doing our mission by protecting the natural resources here in our state and planting more trees.

- Excellent, well thank you so much for sharing this with us.

- Okay, thanks.

(soft music) - As we all know, we've experienced a lot of ice damage on our trees over the last couple of years and joining us today is Mark Bays, and he is here to tell us when is the best time to plant a tree?

- Well, the best time to plant the tree was 20 years ago, right?

- Okay, yeah.

- The second best time is now.

And why is it so important now?

It's because we are just on the cusp of celebrating Arbor Week in Oklahoma.

- Okay.

- Arbor Week is the last full week in March, and we've been celebrating Arbor Day since before statehood.

It was actually the 1903 Territorial Legislature- - Uh-huh.

- That enacted the recognition that we need to celebrate trees, just because they're so important to have on the prairie.

- Okay, well I thought Arbor Day was in April.

- Yeah, so the Arbor Day Foundation has been around 150 years, and so they started celebrating it the last Friday in April, as National Arbor Day.

- [Casey] Okay.

- [Mark] But then each state figures out the best time to actually plant trees related to that state.

So March is a really good time to be out planting trees.

And so that's why we didn't want one day we have a whole week to celebrate trees because that's how important they are in Oklahoma.

- [Casey] All right, and so you mentioned March is a really good time to be planting trees.

Any trees?

Evergreens, deciduous?

Are they all getting out- - [Mark] Any tree at all.

- [Casey] Okay.

- [Mark] You just wanna make sure, the earlier you get them in the ground, the better success that you'll have with that tree during the hotter part of the summer years.

'Cause you want to give those roots enough time to become established in that soil before the heat of the it comes out.

So even if it's in February, anytime during the winter that's also a good time to be planting trees.

March is also a good time.

- Okay, a lot of times the trees are dormant right now, so is that okay to go ahead and plant a dormant tree too?

- Yeah, you wanna do it now because, that way you have, the roots are still growing.

The top of the tree still might be sleeping through the winter months but the roots will still continue to grow.

So that's why you get 'em in the ground.

You mulch them, you water them in, and then you allow those trees' roots a little bit of time to grow before the heat of the summer.

- And what about fertilizing trees?

Do we need to do that when we're planting or wait on that?

- Let's wait on that.

- Okay.

- The best thing that we can do is choose the appropriate tree for the location that you're planting it in.

And coming from the nursery, wherever it is, it has enough nutrients, especially in a container grown tree, to get it through the first year or so.

So you really just want to give it the best chance by planting the right tree in the right location.

And don't put any kind of fertilizer down for a few years.

- All right, well I know there's a lot of cities around the state that celebrate Arbor Week, so, and some of 'em might be giving away trees, possibly, right?

- Right, right.

We have over 20 cities across the state that are celebrating Arbor Week this time of the year.

And so it'd be a great time for people to either plant trees in your yards or go out and celebrate with a city that may be being recognized as a tree city.

- All right.

And also, I mean, just kind of looking behind us a lot of times trees, they grow, right, and so they get old and they need to be replaced.

Right, so- - And we're seeing that across Western Oklahoma a little bit, right?

- Yeah, in Western Oklahoma, a lot of our shelter belts that were planted back in the twenties and thirties, they've been there forever.

And so you really get, and appreciate the fact that the people that came before us really were smart enough to plant trees.

And so we have to carry on that tradition of planting trees.

And that's why I keep saying the best time was 20 years ago.

The second best time is now.

And we can actually go, what's really neat, is we can go in and revisit some of these places, like this shelter belt that was planted so long ago.

What's really fun in my career now is going back and revisiting places that when I first started, that we were just little bitty, small trees and planted- - Oh, you're not, been around that long.

- Not quite, but a couple of years.

So it's really fun to go back and revisit some of those places.

So I would suggest reaching out to your city, whether it's the Park Department, whether it's the City Manager's Office, get a hold of them to see if they're celebrating Arbor Week in Oklahoma.

- All right, and there you have it.

You've heard the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago but the second best time is now.

So go ahead and get out there and get those trees planted.

- Oklahoma Gardening is one of the longest running gardening television shows.

And over the years we have done multiple segments about various projects.

Keeping in mind that 20 years ago is the best time to plant a tree, we thought it would be fun to revisit a tree segment from 1994.

At that time host, Steve Dobbs visits with urban forester Mark Bays about a tree planting project at the recently developed Stillwater Public Library.

Over the past two decades, both Mark and Steve have become prominent figures and experts in their field.

We were excited that they hadn't forgotten their roots and they were still willing to come back and revisit one of their earliest projects.

(gentle music) - We're at the latest welcome into Stillwater and that's the city library.

And joining me is Mr. Mark Bays of Oklahoma Department of Agricultural Forestry Services.

And you know, when we think about forestry we think a lot about timber production in the commercial aspect, but Mark there's really a lot more to it from an urban aspect and that's really evident here at the new library.

- That's right.

- Tell me what you think about the planting of trees here and what kind of benefits we're gonna see?

Well, Mark Bays, long time, no see.

- Where you in man for the last 28 years?

- I know, can you believe it?

And here we are back in Stillwater, Oklahoma at the Stillwater Public Library where you and I did a segment 28 years ago, hard to believe.

- Yeah, I got the same shirt on.

- I see that, yeah.

- Same pants, what about you?

- Well, just don't ask me to take my hat off.

- Okay.

- But we're back here and it really is remarkable to see how the trees are matured at this time.

- Everything, it's just, you know, that old antic about the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, 28 years ago.

- [Steve] Yes.

- [Mark] Second best time is now, and it's really nice to come back and visit and see all that forethought that they put into this design.

- [Steve] Same location, we talked about right tree, right place, right location.

And we talked specifically about the low area here, how it would hold water and the ball Cypress trees.

What do you think?

- [Mark] It's the right tree right place.

- [Steve] Yes.

- [Mark] And that was just something that we were talking about, spacing them out, giving them plenty of room to grow because when they were planted they were just like two inch small trees and everything but they thought long term, they thought 28 years ago.

Same thing with the Japanese maple planted over here in the shadow and everything.

It's nice to see that one still doing well.

- [Steve] Yeah, a lot of the trees are matured and of course think about what all has happened over 20 years with the trees.

Not only for you and I, but with the trees, the ice storms, the heat, but it still looks great and we really focused on that proper planting at that time.

Do you remember specifics on that?

- Yeah, the choosing the right tree, planting it correctly, mulch, and then the after maintenance.

The easy thing was getting the trees in the ground, but then having that sufficient amount of mulch around that tree and then having it enough on a regular watering schedule for at least three years or so and they've done a great job.

- And I think that's the surprising thing for most homeowners is they think, oh, let's just go plant a tree and really forget about it and we alluded to that, but there's work to getting it established and it takes three years you say, for most of them to be established.

- About one year for every inch in caliper, and so these were two to three inches when they went in, so about three years, you really have to watch it really closely.

- [Steve] And they were ball and burlap and I know you would emphasize again today that this hasn't changed, but wide hole?

- [Mark] Yes, wide, at least two to three times the diameter of the hole and you don't wanna dig it any deeper than the root ball is 'cause you don't want that tree to settle in.

And the more trees we've really found out have died because they've been planted too deeply rather than just a little bit shallow.

- [Steve] And with the ball and burlap or container grown quick tips on what do you do?

Do you leave the burlap on?

Do you take, what do you do?

- [Mark] Well, I've been saying for the last 28 years, cut it off.

There's been some people in the industry that says we don't have to cut it off, but it's really just like, it's like a package around that tree.

It's like getting a Christmas present and playing with it, you know, with the wrapping paper on it.

No, go ahead and cut it off at least half the root ball, take half the wire basket off and you really want to get rid of that.

- Yeah, and I agree with you.

I think we found more success with that as well in establishment.

What's most exciting though, we talked about how trees are beneficial and we've always known that, but now there's proof to show that is there.

- Long time ago, we talked about the carbon storage.

We talked about the air quality, but in the last 28 years there's been so much research out there that just showcases the value that trees provide for carbon storage, for properly planted trees.

If you were just to go out, it reduces your heart, it reduces stress, it improves your human health.

And there's a lot of this research that's out there right now that you can find on a website, we only had brochures back then but they have these websites out, Healthy Trees Healthy Lives and it's a place where you can go and learn about all the health benefits that trees provide.

- [Interviewer] All right, now you've done your homework.

Here we are several years later you know the value of these trees, right?

- [Interviewee] Yes.

So you can go to another website, it's called i-Tree Design, and you can go on that website.

You can put in your address at your home, kind of scary.

(both chuckling) But you can look at your tree, you can plant trees, and you can forecast the value that those trees are gonna have.

So I kinda backdated this planting project and everything.

- [Interviewer] All right.

- [Interviewee] And so on for the last 25 years or so these trees have provided $5,000 environmental benefits.

- Wow, and a homeowner again with planting trees really March is the best time to do that, is it not?

- That's why we celebrate Arbor Week, last week in March.

Get trees in the ground.

It's a perfect time to be out planting trees.

Really all winter is good but we focus it during Arbor Week, which is the last full week in March.

- And do you have one last thing you'd like to tell homeowners on that website again, where to find that.

'Cause that's intriguing that I can go as a homeowner and now tell what I'm doing in my own urban forest.

- [Interviewee] Through Google Earth imaging, - [Interviewer] Right?

- [Interviewee] You can go in on I-Tree Design website, type in your street address and your house will come up.

And then you can look and if you're thinking about planting trees which really it's a tool 'cause you can plant a young tree, 'cause you can plant a Shumard Oak, a bald cypress, anything like that.

And then there's this growth component to that.

- [Interviewer] Wow.

- [Interviewee] You can grow the tree for 20 or 30 years and then so.

If you're wanting to plant it right here and you grow it for 20 years and you say, wait a minute, it's grown into my house, the power line, something like that.

You can say, maybe I need to change this.

- Yeah.

Which most people get things too close to their homes anyway.

- All the time.

- So a lot has changed, technology's changed.

What do you think will happen in the next 20 years?

Do you think you and I can make it?

- Give me a call, I'll be here.

I'll ware the Shirt (indistinct).

- All right, let's back in 20 years.

Good to see man.

- Okay, you too man.

(upbeat music) - [Instructor] To see this video and others from previous hosts visit our OKGardeningClassics YouTube channel.

(upbeat music) - Today we are joined by Tony Pascall who is the education coordinator for the Oklahoma Forestry Services.

And Tony, you've got a new tree trunk you're gonna show us and not the traditional tree trunk we're thinking of.

- Yeah, so I'm really excited.

We are created some curricular materials for teachers and for program specialists to bring out for kids.

This is about dendrocronology.

- So what is dendrocronology first of all?

- So dendrocronology is basically the study of time.

Dendro means tree, chrono means time.

So it's the study of trees through time.

- Okay, so trees do tell a story, huh?

- Yeah, exactly.

We can learn a lot from kind of looking at the tree rings.

We can see like, oh this is a really big wet cool year.

So that's a year that maybe the tree grew out more.

This is a drought.

This is a year that there's not very many much space between the tree rings.

- So that's the particular topic on this tree trunk, right?

- Exactly.

- Tell us a little bit about what this trunk includes.

- So this trunk is built for third through eighth grade.

And so there's science and math student materials for you to take into your classroom and print.

So you can actually like we have worksheets and PowerPoints that teachers will have access to as soon as they check this out.

- So somebody who might not know anything about trees you've got it all here to walk them through this process of learning about dendrocronology.

- Yeah, exactly.

Yeah, and it's actually aligned to state standards for math and science for your teachers.

- Okay, excellent.

So what's so special about these, were they called tree cookies?

- Yeah.

- What's so special about this particular tree cookie.

- So that's what this makes this trunk so exciting.

These tree cookies were cut down at a Mesonet site.

So that's where the weather data was collected.

And we cut these trees down right next to the data collecting sites.

So we actually know how wet it was, where these trees were growing and all that's in there.

So students are actually gonna graph the rainfall each year that this tree was alive and like compare like.

- [Tony] Weather data in the tree's life.

- [Casey] Okay, so, basically some of the larger rings might mean that it's a more wet season for that growth and stuff.

Is that what you're gonna extract out of this?

- [Tony] Yeah exactly, in 2007, which is the wettest year of this tree's life in, where it was cut down, it was the, you'll see like the biggest ring during that year.

- Oh fantastic, that's exciting.

And so, obviously you've done a lot of work getting these aligned with state standards.

So, some of the subject matter that it covers is science, math, is that correct?

- Yeah, so for like math, you're gonna be graphing, you're gonna be like looking at data and like collecting it and analyzing it.

And for science, you're gonna be actually like learning about the parts of the tree on the inside, the heartwood, the cambium, the xylem and the phloem, the bark.

- [Casey] Okay.

So who all can have access to these tree trunk?

- This is for any educator.

So, if you want to check one of these out, you'll actually go to our website or you can go to our Bitly that we'll have linked and then you can actually like check these out, you can get the, any one of our five area locations.

- All right, well thank you so much, and we look forward to, are you gonna have more of these different subject matters coming out as well?

- Yeah, this is actually just our first trunk, there'll be several coming out over the next few months.

- All right, we'll look forward to this, thank you so much Tony.

- Thank you.

(bright upbeat music) - [Narrator] There are a lot of great horticultural activities this time of the year.

Be sure and consider some of these events in the weeks ahead.

(bright upbeat music) - [Casey] Join me again right here next week, when I show you what and when to prune this time of the year.

We will learn how to graph vegetables, we'll check our home irrigation system, and head inside the Botanic Gardening Greenhouse to see how it's exploding with color.

Also, Jessica Riggin is back with another tasty dish.

Over the past two (giggles).

You know we're starting to do bloopers on the end of our show now?

- [Narrator] To find out more information about show topics as well as recipes, videos, articles, fact sheets, and other resources including a directory of local extension offices, be sure to visit our website at oklahomagardening.okstate.edu.

Join in on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

You can find this entire show and other recent shows as well as individual segments on our OklahomaGardening YouTube channel.

Tune in to our OKGardeningClassics YouTube channel, to watch segments from previous hosts.

"Oklahoma Gardening" is produced by the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service as part of the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at Oklahoma State University.

The Botanic Garden at OSU is home to our studio gardens, and we encourage you to come visit this beautiful still water gem.

We would like to thank our generous underwriter, the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture Food and Forestry.

Additional support is also provided by Pond Pro Shop, Greenleaf Nursery, and the Garden Debut Plants, the Tulsa Garden Center at Woodward Park, the Oklahoma Horticultural Society, Smart Pot, and the Tulsa Garden Club.

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