Embrace culture of planting indigenous trees

DURING the Christmas holiday, I had an opportunity to visit the Garden of Peace, which is located in Westgate, Harare.

The day was marked by sporadic light showers.

Upon entering the place, one is not immediately impressed by the environs.

However, that perception changes when one eventually walks through the garden and sees the entire vegetation, including the large expanse of green lawn.

The Nyanga flat top (acacia abyssinica) is what stands out in this beautiful garden. This brings us to today’s discussion — how to grow indigenous trees in our own gardens.

It is sad that most of our urban residential areas are greened-up mostly with exotic trees, while our own local tree species are restricted to rural areas. All this can change once we embrace a culture of planting indigenous species.

The starting point is seed collection. One can visit a nearby natural vegetation area and collect seed.

For evergreen species, collect fresh seed and plant it immediately. However, for other deciduous types, seed must be left to dry out or drop off the tree before collection.

Once collected, the seed needs to be scarified. This entails scratching the hard outer layer of the seed so that water can percolate into the embryo to initiate germination. The process is meant to stop seed dormancy.

If not scarified, a seed can take a very long time to germinate. A gardener will have probably given up on any prospect of seeing seedlings.

The seeds should be planted in well-drained soils that are rich in organic matter. This allows for good growth of seedlings. It is advisable to plant the seeds in trays.

When you have your seedlings, transplant them only after a good root system has developed. They should be transplanted in individual pots or plastic sleeves, starting with a small size, and eventually moved into larger ones as they grow.

Trees can be planted into the ground once they are at least 15 centimetres in height.

The longer you leave them growing in pots, the better, as you can easily control their environment.

You can plant them when they are large enough to withstand adverse weather conditions. To plant your tree in the ground, start by digging a hole that is at least a metre deep and a metre wide.

Add organic matter and 250 grammes of compound D to the dug-out soil, mixing thoroughly before refilling the hole and planting the tree.

Proper care, including application of fertiliser, will eventually result in beautiful trees as those found in the Garden of Peace.

If you would like to be featured in our green-up campaign, contact us on: ataurai@gmail.com or sundaymail@zimpapers.co.zw

The alluring vegetation in the Garden of Peace