The old tree is out the new tree is IN!  We dug an excellent hole.  Behold the most nearly perfect hole ever!  It is not easy to dig in dry bentonite.  The only thing worse is wet bentonite.  But the tree had to be planted so I dug the best hole I could.  It was about 4 or 5 more feet away from the house than the old tree.  When the hole was done it was 40 wide and 24 deep.  Louise filled it with water.  It took three days to drain into the surrounding ground.  Then we double checked and the people at Nick's (where the tree was coming from) said 24 was too deep and we need the top to be wider than 40.  No Problem!  Caved the sides of the whole into the bottom until is was 18 inches deep.  Then I stepped down to tamp the bottom level.  HA HA HA it was like walking on Jello!  I didn't break through into the mud, but the top wasn't stable.  We shoveled more dirt in and tamped it down.  It seemed fine.  Then I jumped up and down on it.  It was like a thin crust on pudding! But it didn't break.  The soil adsorbed more water and was pretty stable by the time the tree arrived.  I was worrying the tree would land on the bottom of the hole crack through and sink into the mud!

Two guys showed up from Nick's and dropped the tree into the hole and told us what to do.  We smeared a mirco-biotic mixture on to the burlap.  Shoveled the compost from the Denver tree recycle program.  Put in two posts to support the tree.

The tree is a Crimson Spire Oak.  It is a variation of a English Oak.  It will grow very vertical.  It doesn't drop its leaves until the spring. It should do very well here in Denver.  There are a large group of them planted at the Oracle's office in the Tech Ctr.  They have done very well, there for the past ten years.  It is a great tree.