Students from the Plant Sciences 355 Woody Landscape Plants course helped beautify the North Dakota State University campus on Arbor Day, October 8, 2013.  While digging holes and planting trees chosen for beauty and disease resistance, the students discussed internships and job opportunities available for Horticulture and Landscape Architecture graduates.  
Sophomore Horticulture major, Joshua Schwebach, would like to start his own produce nursery after graduating. He cited the success of Community Supported Agriculture gardens which sell memberships and deliver fresh produce directly to customers.

Derek Christianson will graduate in December with a degree in Sports and Urban Turfgrass Management and has interned with the Minnesota Twins groundskeeping and field maintenance crew, which he feels will help him find full time work after graduation.

Thomas Starkweather, a junior in Landscape Architecture, has planted hundreds of trees over the past 7 summers while working for a local landscape company. He hopes his experience will help him land a full time career in landscaping, and he may start his own company.

The tree planting activity commemorated Arbor Day and the designation of NDSU as the only North Dakota Tree Campus USA through the Arbor Day Foundation. (http://www.arborday.org/programs/treecampususa/)

Tree Planting Steps

1. IMPORTANT! Before digging, check local laws regarding tree placement, and contact utility companies regarding the location of underground cables.
2. Choose the best place for the tree to be planted.

   

3. Dig a hole as deep as the root ball and at least twice the width of the root ball.
4. Remove the protective covering over the root ball.

   

5. Loosen the tightly packed soil to free the roots and place the root ball in the hole.

   

6. Add soil back into the hole around the tree roots.

       

7. Add mulch around the tree.
8. Water the tree regularly.