Planting sequoias with a trowel

I planted a new giant sequoia in Tahoe this weekend. This brings my count up to...let's see...six living trees. The giant sequoias are difficult in Tahoe. Seedlings do well if the are watered very frequently--but otherwise the long, dry summer means certain death. (I'm talking about planted seedlings, not real seedlings that grow in situ from seeds.) Older trees do well if they come from fairly deep pots, and are watered regularly, but many die over the winter.

A little detail on this planting. I used a trowel, which is quickly becoming my tool of choice in Tahoe! A shovel is just too big and you can never figure out how to get the rocks out, which leaves you out there making a tremendous racket and occasionally showering sparks all over the place. Using a trowel, though, you sit on the ground and settle in for a haul. When you find a rock, dig around it until you can lift it out. Stop when the hole is big enough. The process is mostly silent and gets your hands in the dirt. In the early spring, it is a pleasure to hit moist earth maybe eight inches below the surface. Gives one some idea how the plants are surviving out there.

The tree I planted is probably 3-4 years old and two feet high. It looks cute as a button right now. We'll see if it still looks that way after a Tahoe summer!