Behold! My new Pinus Contorta “Taylor’s Sunburst”!
I know it doesn’t look anything special now, but this is one rare and amazing plant. In the spring the new growth lights up to a bright yellow (in contrast with the dark green older growth) in an amazing display. In Spring it will look like this:
So, did I name this post incorrectly? What does this tree have to do with compost and saving money? Well as I said, this is one rare and amazing plant. At Gee Farms, where I bought mine, a new grafted one about 6 inches tall is $50. A 4 foot one is $900. Mine, listed at 2 foot (but really two and a half+, I was told it has been potted up for sale at that size for 2 seasons), was $200.
Pretty expensive. If 4 feet is $900 then each half foot is over $100, and each inch is just under $20, lets round up and call it $20 an inch.
I make my own compost with my compost tumbler, but despite the fact that I compost just about everything I can. All garden waste, tree trimmings, all kitchen scraps that aren’t meat, etc. Despite all that, I garden so much I can’t make enough compost to fulfill all my garden needs. So I always ending buying more.
At the garden center 40 pound bags of topsoil are about $1 each, 40 pound bags of composted manure are $1.50 each. The compost however is a far far better growing medium. When you plant something you have just that one opportunity to improve the soil, you need to take it.
I’ve heard in some places when you plant a tree you should mix some native soil into the planting hole because you don’t want the tree to get “confused” or “disappointed.” I don’t buy it, for one, trees don’t think, they don’t have feelings, and in nature, all the time, will tree roots go through different types of soil. Secondly, I’ve noticed no problems planting trees in super improved soil, in fact, I’ve noticed only benefits. I think this whole theory was a result of one guy’s poor intuition that unfortunately caught on.
So anyways, you should always plant your new plants in the best soil possible, and full compost is the best soil possible. Yes, it is more expensive than top soil, but it is not expensive, it is still cheap, just not as cheap. Suppose a tree planted in composted manure grows just 1 inch per year more than a tree planted in top soil. With my new tree that 1 inch is worth $20 a year. I only needed to buy 4 bags of compost for this tree, so that is only $2 in extra cost, for $20 the first year, and that is if the compost only gives me 1 extra inch, if it gives a larger benefit the benefit is even higher.
Of course my tree is really expensive, not all trees are, but mine is also slow growing, and not all trees are. If you had a fast growing tree like a lombardy poplar you might get an extra foot or two per year by planting in really good soil.
An ounce of prevention equals a pound of cure, and a bag of compost up front can give you pounds of wood down the road. Spend the couple extra quarters up front and get bagged compost for all your planting (I also plant veggies directly in it), your plants will do better, and the increased yields and growth will far far outweigh the incremental cost of the compost.
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