Creating a tree journal

Listen to this radio story (MP3 download) or read below.

Radio interview source: Tchukki Andersen, staff arborist, Tree Care Industry Association

In our new grove, we planted 42 new trees and shrubs, but I'm not sure what they do at various times of the year.

If I kept a tree journal, it would be easy to log leafing and blooming times, pruning records, growth per year, and other helpful facts. Tchukki Andersen, the staff arborist with the Tree Care Industry Association, says the process is really simple.

"You walk through your lot, take a weekly journal and note: April 12, the trees look like this and the weather has been like this," Andersen says. "And then on April 27, the trees still kind of look like this, and the weather's been looking like this. So you keep track throughout the year what the trees look like."

Also, record new tree plantings and why each tree was selected. Years from now, the journal will reveal the fascinating story of your property.