Evergreen Planting Basics

• 1). Conduct soil tests where you plan to locate evergreens. Get help from your local county extension service if this is a new process to you. Successful growth depends in large part on providing good nutrition for trees.
  
  
• 2). Choose evergreens that are suited to your area. County extension recommendations can help you from choosing trees susceptible to local diseases or frequent growing conditions, like high wind.
  
  
• 3). Dig in soil amendments as recommended by soil test results. Setting the goal of improving soil to a depth of 2 feet gives young evergreens good soil in which to establish strong root systems.
  
  
• 4). Water soil thoroughly before planting and again afterward. Young trees need regular watering until they survive transplant shock (about six to eight weeks) and throughout at least the first growing season.
  
  

Locating Evergreens to Improve Air Quality

• 1). Rank the problems you are trying to address with tree-planting. For example: airborne and windblown dirt; general air pollution; noisy, dirty, ugly industrial area; truck noise from highway; UV exposure and ozone hazards. Prioritizing will help you determine tree locations and kinds of trees.
  
  
• 2). Set up both evergreens and deciduous trees in rows or a line of clusters to serve as a windbreak. Leaves of deciduous trees catch dirt when trees are in leaf. The year-round needles on evergreens make them particularly good particulate cleaners, functioning as brooms for dirt-laden air.
  
  
• 3). Scatter trees over as large an area as possible to address general or undefined air pollution. Trees consume carbon as part of the growth process, and spreading them out increases the area from which they can draw.
  
  
• 4). Use evergreens alone or with other trees to screen noise and visual nuisances. (While these are not technically air issues, the effects are airborne.) A thick screen of evergreens mutes noise year-round; this capacity is lost by deciduous trees when their leaves fall. Evergreen varieties that keep some branches close to the ground, even at maturity, enhance screening capacity.
  
  
• 5). Make evergreens part of landscaping for heat and hazard controls. Their deep shade contributes to cooling air around buildings, helping indoor air-cooling work more efficiently. Because of the correlations between air temperature and ozone hazards, large clusters of tall evergreens may lessen hazard days.
  
  
• 6). Utilize the deep shade of evergreen trees to counteract sunburn and other personal hazards in recreational settings. A border or cluster of evergreen trees can provide a respite from direct and reflected UV exposure, such as found at a swimming pool, patio or open play area.