I’ll read articles about either a country planting billions of trees to combat climate change, or a story about a husband and wife taking it upon themselves to plant thousands of trees. Are they planting seeds or saplings? Don’t they need to be watered and fertilized?
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There’s no universal way to do it, but generally they’re saplings a few inches tall that are grown in big flats so that they can be grown in large numbers. If planted in the right time of year when there will be plenty of rain, the saplings will generally survive on their own, although when thousands or millions of trees are planted it’s understood that there will be losses.
More or less the same way large amounts of lettuce are planted. They throw a bunch of seeds into the ground very close together. When they sprout they are removed and planted on the field, with the necessary spacing in between.
Usually saplings, and usually done using sheer man-(and woman)power, but I’m certain that there are tractor attachments for planting en masse too. Drones are beginning to enter the mix as well, but this isn’t really applicable as to what you’re asking.
I think I know what story you’re on about — you can spend an entire summer planting over many, many acres [if you have the time for it](https://youtu.be/AbA-hoIuHM4).
Trees used for reforestation are almost always started from seed in bags. It only takes a few weeks for a seed to sprout and a couple months for most trees to be ready to be planted. There are sapling supply farms for these projects. Large reforestation projects are usually done by machine planting, where the saplings are loaded in a device that bores into the ground, breaks up the soil, and then inserts the tree while compacting the soil. Reforestation projects are usually done with native trees accustomed to the climate where they are being planted so that watering/fertilizer is not necessary, although there always will be some plants that don’t make it.
That is the only reasonable way we can combat climate change. Ok trees take time to grow. But when they do they just soak up carbon like a sponge. And in amerca we have more than enough land to plant trees and still give people enough living space.
Seeds or saplings? When I planted trees, it was saplings. Shove your shovel in the ground, pry open a hole, plop the baby tree in, and on to the next. It’s backbreaking work but it’s satisfying. And yes, a single person can plant literally thousands of trees. It’s not difficult, just tiring.
Water/fertilizer? They get watered by the rain, and fertilized by whatever minerals are in the soil. That’s all they’d get in a forest anyway. Besides, trees are pretty tough.
I’ll mention that I wondered this because I spent last summer planting saplings all over my property to replace countless dead and diseased trees and try to bring some new life but it certainly doesn’t seem like Johnny Appleseed. It seems like a constant fight to get anything to grow and take hold. I guess as it was mentioned, you can expect many to not make it so you have to plant as much as feasible and hope for the best.
Professional tree planter here, who is currently doing reforestation work for the Canadian government. My company buys “pre-sprouted” trees from a nursery. They are the ones who plant the tree seeds and let them grow in a controlled environment until they’re about 6 or so inches tall, and able to survive on their own. Then we buy those saplings and plant them in the ground. Usually in areas that have recently had a forest fire, or large areas that have been cut down for lumber. They usually survive in nature just fine without human intervention, so no watering or maintenance is required. The goal is to plant as quickly as possible, so it’s not hard to plant 1000s of trees in one day of you have experience. So the government planting “billions of trees” is just commissioning tree planting companies to have their employees do the work.
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