Ecology Ottawa is embarking on our largest tree giveaway in Ottawa’s history! We are giving away nine different types of trees throughout summer. Thank you if you already have your tree sapling and here are some characteristics about your tree that you are about to plant!
If you got a white spruce, keep in mind what your tree likes :
- Moisture: Tolerates a range of moisture levels.
If you got a blue spruce (also called Colorado spruce), opt for :
- Moisture: Tolerates a range of moisture levels.
- Shade: Full sun is the ideal condition for this tree, meaning it should get at least six hours of direct, unfiltered sunlight each day.
- Soil: The Colorado blue spruce adapts well to many soils—growing in acidic, loamy, moist, rich, sandy, well-drained and clay soils. It requires normal moisture with moderate tolerance to flooding and drought.
- Size: The Colorado blue spruce grows to a height of 50–75' and a spread of 10–20' at maturity.
If you chose a white pine, don’t forget :
- Moisture: Tolerates different moisture levels.
- Shade: Full sun and partial shade are best for this tree, meaning it prefers a mini mum of four hours of direct, unfiltered sunlight each day.
- Soil: The eastern white pine grows in acidic, moist, well-drained and dry soils. While it does best in moist soil, the tree can has been known to tolerate everything from dry, rocky ridges to bogs.
- Size: The eastern white pine grows to a height of 50–80' and a spread of 20–40' at maturity.
If you have a white cedar, you should know :
- Moisture: Prefers moist soil.
- Shade: Tolerates shade.
- Soil: It mostly grows on calcareous soils that are neutral or nearly so. Although it grows best on well-drained sites, it may be dominant in swamps. In cultivation, it grows in a wide variety of soils.
- Size: This medium-sized tree grows to a height of 25 to 50 feet, and a diameter of 1 to 2 feet.
If you are ready to plant your hard maple (or sugar maple), keep in mind :
- Moisture: It prefers moist soil conditions but has moderate drought tolerance.
- Shade: Full sun and partial shade.
- Soil: The sugar maple grows in deep, well-drained, acidic to slightly alkaline soil.
- Size: The sugar maple tree grows to a height of 60–75' and a spread of 40–50' at maturity.
A red maple requires:
- Moisture: naturally occurs in low wet sites.
- Shade: Full sun is the ideal condition for this tree.
- Soil: The red maple grows in acidic, loamy, moist, rich, sandy, silty loam, well-drained and clay soils.
- Size: The red maple grows to a height of 40–60' and a spread of around 40' at maturity.
If you received a yellow birch, you need :
- Moisture: Prefers moist soil.
- Shade: Full sun and partial shade.
- Soil: The Yellow Birch grows in acidic, alkaline, loamy, moist, rich, sandy, silty loam, well drained soils.
- Size: The Yellow Birch grows to be 60' - 75' feet in height.
If you have a white birch, your tree needs :
- Moisture: tolerates diverse environmental conditions.
- Shade: Full sun and partial shade.
- Soil: grows well in moist soils
- Size: The paper birch grows to a height of 50–70' and a spread of around 35' at maturity.
If you have a red pine :
- Moisture: native to areas with cool-to-warm summers, cold winters, and low to moderate precipitation.
- Shade: Full sun is the ideal condition for this tree.
- Soil: Natural stands of red pine are confined largely to sandy soils.
- Size: Height of 70'-80' on good sites
If your new sapling is a chokecherry you should consider a planting site with:
- Soil and moisture: The ideal soil is average to moist, rich and well-drained.
- Shade: prefers full sun but tolerates light shade.
- Size: A small tree that grows to around 25 feet high (possibly up to 9m or 30 feet). Spread will reach 3.5m or 11.5 feet. The chokecherry grows quickly (up to 33-71cm/yr or 13-28 inches/yr).
If you are planting a hackberry, remember the following:
- Soil: The hackberry grows well in acidic, alkaline, loamy, moist, rich, sandy, well-drained, wet and clay soils. It has some tolerance for both flooding and drought.
- Moisture: It prefers rich moist soil, but will grow on gravelly or rocky hillsides.
- Shade: Full sun is the ideal condition for this tree, meaning it should get at least six hours of direct, unfiltered sunlight each day.
- Size: 9 to 15 meters (30 to 50 ft) in height. This tree grows at a medium to fast rate, with height increases of anywhere from 13" to more than 24" per year.
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