Placement matters

A few weeks ago I was dreaming of growing and harvesting my own Sassafras Tree for making root beer. I randomly asked a friend of mine if she knew where I could get one, and she said that she actually had a bunch because she had just finished growing them from seeds. This blew me away, but that same night I found out that the Sassafras roots that used to be used for root beer are actually really bad for your liver and no longer used in root beer. No thank you.

Despite that, I decided I still wanted the tree because I really want to learn how to grow trees. For reasons based around the more long-term life of trees, which fascinates me and just learning what they need, the amount, and how often. Maybe one day I'll become an arboriculturalist, which would be fun to say, but boring as a full-time job I'd imagine.

So on to the point of this entry. I just placed my new 2 foot Sassafras tree next to my Basil, Oregano, Peppermint, Corn, and Pomegranate tree pots. And just watered it when I watered the others. This spot happens to get about half a day's worth of direct sunlight. I knew a bit about how placement was important for each plant, but I was about to learn how important it could be I guess.

I had read that the tree likes to be in deep shaded valleys and gorges. Basically, it really likes the shade, as well as moist areas. So about a week and a half after I got it, I found that it's once green and red leaves were not brown and curled. I'm not sure if it will be able to survive, but I did replace it about 100 ft. away in a fully shaded area.

So the lesson is pretty obvious, as usual, but the application is truly what makes it worth sharing. I'm realizing now as I'm leading a school and wanting to see the best possible growth for everyone, I'm realizing I know a lot about watering, feeding, and caring for plants/people, but I don't really know or care enough about placement. So I'm starting to see where I might be putting people consistently in positions where they're forced to work in their weaknesses and sometimes might even in some cases end up getting fried like my tree. And with my longing to do permaculture, I've gotta start to learn how to place plants/people where they thrive and bless the surrounding people/plants the most. Don't know exactly how to do that with all the situations in my life right now, but like the tree, I will move it  the 100ft when I figure it out. Along with that, I need to check where I position myself from day to day.