Horticulture Revision Team May 2007

The majestic giants of the plant world.

They cool us. They heat us. They feed us. They protect us. They keep us living. Trees are the answer.

To everything Everywhere Everyday. Food Shelter oxygen

What makes a Tree a Tree?

3 main Parts Of a Tree.

1.trunk: the central stem of a tree.

Scaffold branches are the major branches attached to the trunk.

2. Leader : The tip end of the trunk. The tree’s main growing point Tree’s are pruned in order To have ONE central Leader, not two.

Crown Where does a king wear his crown? The top portion of the tree that includes most of the scaffold branches and leaves.

canopy The outline of the tree top. The uppermost branches that get most of the sunlight. The canopy is the outermost branches of the tree. Canopy and crown are sometimes used interchangeably

Tree Canopy

Understory Trees Smaller trees and shrubs that live under the shade of larger trees’ canopy. Dogwoods are understory trees and they prefer a shaded location instead of full sun.

Drip Line of a Tree The imaginary line where water drops off from the farthest point of branches.

The area inside the drip line is the location where water and fertilizer needs to be applied.

The truth about tree roots.

Girth The distance measured around the tree’s trunk. The circumference of a tree trunk.

dbh Diameter breast height. A standard measurement used in the forestry industry for measuring tree size.

3” caliper dbh trees

Growth Rings rings of tissue in a tree that represent one full year of past growth. As the tree goes dormant in the winter, a new ring will begin to form. Wide rings indicate fast growth. Narrow rings indicate slow growth or a water shortage for that year.

Growth rings: each ring represents one year of past growth.

Trees are amazing creatures.

Tree crotch The junction of a scaffold branch to the trunk.

Narrow Tree crotches are weak and sometimes split

Watersprouts

Soft tissued branches that arise near wounded areas on a tree trunk or branch. Undesirables because they are so brittle and unsightly.

suckers

SUCKERS Soft tissued branches that arise near wounded areas on a tree trunk or branch. Same as a watersprout, but found growing at the BASE of the trunk, not in the upper branches.

Specimen tree Any tree that is distinctive and is used to create a FOCAL POINT in the landscape. Specimen trees are planted as an eye catcher in the landscape, not in groups.

TREE FORM The shape or outline of a tree as seen from a distance. Silhouette

Tree Forms