Phase II Completed

 

Song:  Arwen's Vigil

Artists:  The Piano Guys

As it had rained off and on for the past two days...

I had to shelve initiating Phase II until the weather cleared up.

As this morning was clear...

I began the soil augering of phase II.

I had earlier ordered two soil augers...

a long but narrow auger...

and a wide but shorter auger.

Both fit into a power drill.

I began by installing the narrow auger.

I drilled mostly horizontally for the first set of holes nearest the top.

I would drill into the sides...

and then periodically pull out the auger to pull out the collected soil.

On each hole...

I would go as far down as possible.

I then started the second set of holes at a much steeper angle.

The west facing holes I had to put at a much steeper angle...

as there were large rocks just above them.

I then switched out the augers.

I used the large auger for the center hole.

After going down as far as I could with the large auger...

I then put back on the narrow auger to drill down farther in the large auger hole.

I had reached gravel with this auger...

indicating I would have excellent drainage.

Actually...

on all of the holes...

I had hit gravel.

With a plentiful amount of drainage holes dug...

I will not have to worry about root rot on my Japanese Maples.

However...

the holes were dual purpose.

They will guide the root system to take hold into the side soil...

so as to ensure a strong and deep hold for tree stability and overall health.

From my garage...

I then took up a 60 lb bag of coarse sand and pebble mixture...

and a bag of humus rich soil...

to the tree preparation site.

I then proceeded to layer each...

one on top of the other...

...over and over again.

I then put in dirt I had originally dug from the hole...

and mixed them together.

I then topped off the mixture with the last of the bag of humus rich soil...

and then called it for the day.

Even though the air was cool...

and the sun partially occluded by the clouds...

while the infrared rays are reflected by the clouds...

the UV rays are not.

Again...

at my altitude...

I must be careful of absorbing too many UV rays all at once.

While I had completed Phase II...

I still must do more soil preparation before I can plant the Japanese Maple.

I will wait for today's evening hours for the sun to be low on the horizon

before I water down the soil several times...

to allow it to naturally compact itself...

and I will place more soil on top and compact it once again

before I create a mound of soil...

and then the planting hole for the Japanese Maple.

I will then cover the top of the soil with several inches of mulch.

After I plant the tree...

I will then emplace four stakes around the tree...

and then gently tie the tree to the stakes to ensure stability in high winds.

For the final phase (in a month or so)...

I will then wrap the outside of the stakes with a plastic wrap...

fill it with mulch...

and then cap the top with more wrap

(winterization...of which will only need to be done for the first few years).

I will place a few holes in strategic locations on the wrap 

to allow 'breathing' (moisture release).

But I will wait for all of the leaves to naturally drop off in late Autumn

before I winterize the Japanese Maple.

------------

I've only just realized...

I should get myself a large wheelbarrow...

or maybe a heavy duty four wheeled garden wagon.

My other trees will be planted farther from the house...

and I will be hauling a hundred or so pounds at a time.

Plus...

in winter...

when I haul up wood from down the ridge...

I could haul much more at a time.

I will look for one in a month or two.

(I buy things off season for the best prices)