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Liquid feeding by injection is a short-range method. Its effects are quick but transient. It is valuable for trees needing a prompt shot in the arm, since the nutrients are immediately available, in aqueous solution. But much virtue may leach away before the tree has imbibed all its needs. After anemic trees are thus invigorated, the experts recommend a lasting supply of solid food, such as suffices for non-critical cases. The home tool for this is a punch-bar, pointed at one end, wedge-shaped at the other. Any schoolboy of moderate strength can learn to drive the wedge into turf at an angle, to raise and lay back a broad divot. From the opening thus made, a pound or so of soil is scooped out and piled nearby for replacement later. The bar's sharp end is now plunged into the hole repeatedly, deeper and deeper. Work the buried point back and forth on each stroke to loosen the subsoil and at the same time ream out the hole's mouth. Rocks and hardpan permitting, the holes are driven 18 to 24 inches deep. |
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