Groasis redux

Okay, one year later and where are we with the Groasis waterboxxes?

One bare root choke cherry from Cold Stream Farm has made it and is looking *fabulous*

in case you've forgotten this is what it looked like last June:

The teensy choke cherries which I planted last fall are also hanging in there

I didn't expect growth over the winter ...

and I didn't get it- but they're not dead and there is some green for Spring.    

The boxes are holding water well:

but I think if I put in anymore I'll silicone around the wick on all of them…

This one had root infiltration and sucked the water which should have gone to the baby choke cherries. 

The other thing I'm trying is planting a  third seedling in each box. After listening to "To the Best of Our Knowledge." and their excellent program on "The Secret Language of Plants" with Suzanne Simard I'm hoping for some cooperation between seedlings so maybe those who get more sunlight will share. (Here's what a bare root tree from Cold Stream Farm looks like when you get it.)

Overall, it could be better it could be worse. There's no question that if you keep the native grass roots out of the waterboxx that the seedlings or the bare root trees will grow. The other factors seem to be getting a good bare root tree to start which is tall enough to get some sunlight and making sure deer don't eat that little baby tree once it starts to turn green.

It's certainly cheaper than running irrigation over to a remote part of the property. It's really not that labor intensive; and it's a smart use of water. The box does trap snow and rain well. I don't know if the condensation is working as well in practice as in theory but the point is there is water year round. In June and July that's very important in the high country desert of the Western U.S. 

The dirt (and I use the term loosely- since it's really compacted clay) looks good- damp- holding water well- and under one box - *worms*!!! (worms are good).

My conclusion would be if you're not in a hurry to see full grown trees overnight this one is worth a try.

Groasis grows.... or not.

First the good news. My good buddy Chris (landscaper who planted my apple trees) got some cages to cover the Groasis Waterboxxes to help keep the deer away.

On Memorial Day weekend I planted 20 choke cherry trees in 10 Groasis waterboxxes. Twelve of these were 12"  choke cherry (Prunus virginiana) seedlings mailed from Cold Stream Farm in Michigan and eight were 2" itsy bitsy babies from CSR in Rifle Colorado 

One of the larger seedlings seems to be doing well.

The other eleven, not so much. As you can see by the close up this one is dead- and snaps in two with a little flick of my thumb.

The others are dead or dying.

It seems that spiders have contributed to their demise. I'm not sure what kind of spider, but anything which makes a funnel web I give a wide berth. My camera has a zoom which fits nicely in the Groasis opening so I could get a view right down at plant level without getting too close.

Of the 8 baby seedlings 6 are still green so there's still hope.  I think I'll try and plant new seedlings in the fall where the other's have died but I'll definitely go with smaller ones.