Tree Planting initiative by Citigardens

Objectives:

• a. Utilizing the utilized and under utilized land for gainful purposes.
• b. Utilizing public lands belonging to educational and religious institutions, and even a long highways(Road development projects). Many such lands are currently available for plantation and landscaping.
• c. Encouraging private investment to develop land. Many land owners are employed in other processions do other jobs in the country or abroad and tend to neglect their land. We provide services to develop the land even in the owner's absence.
• d. Contributing to protect the environment. Presently human activities pollute the environment and leave a considerable carbon foot print. Planting trees will help balance global warming.
• e. Taking part in the national program to save the environment and support the economics is the right thing to do as a community. Therefore we support involving the community in tree planting.
• f. Creating opportunities for greater number of people to make merit by planting to benefit in this life and in the next life in accordance to their faith.

Why plant Trees?

• a. Trees are for life for human, animals and birds
• b. Trees for shelter, food and medicine
• c. Trees are to protect and purify the environment and the air we breathe
• d. Trees are for income
• e. Trees are for making merit in this life and for next life as most people believe.

What and why the plants are selected?

• a. Plants for Timber-, Teak, Mahogany, Khaya, etc...
• b. Low risk from attacks and theft, Low maintenance, high value on maturity
• c. Citigardens has the knowledge and skills to plant, maintain and hand over

Teak

• • Grown in poly bags for 6 – 10 months
• • Planted just before rainy season so irrigation system will not be necessary
• • Suitable plant for the dry zone

Mahogany

• • Grown in poly bags for 6 – 10 months
• • Planted just before rainy season so irrigation system will not be necessary
• • Suitable plant for the wet zone

Khaya

• • Grown in poly bags for 6 – 10 months
• • Planted just before rainy season so irrigation system will not be necessary
• • Suitable plant for the dry zone

What is the technique used to make it a 100% success?

• a. Selecting the quality sapling in small bags and setting them in a nursery
• b. Grow them for 2 months under sprinkler irrigation
• c. Transfer to grow bags 14"x16" size with correct potting mixture
• d. Grow them for 10 – 12 months under sprinkler irrigation until they reach a height of 4 – 5 feet to plant in the ground just before the rains start or during the rainy season.
• e. Use dolomite to reduce the PH level and increase the calcium and loosen the soil
• f. Maintain by weeding and fertilizing for one year.
• g. Use a drip irrigation system to make a fast and healthy growth
• h. Prune the plants to get the girth of the main trunk and replace to poor quality with a good quality plant
• i. All the plants will be in rows and same age, so the harvesting can be done at the same time to reuse the land and a better practice


Net house made of fiber glass rod and shade net (50%) to establish the nursery for young plants at the Citigardens premises in Dambulla. This unit can be established in a day and the cost is within Rs.10, 000.00

How to make it a low cost project

• a. Order the plants in bags or plant the seedlings in the bags by setting up a nursery. The cost will be Rs. 20 – 30 per plant
• b. Replant them in grow bags. The cost will be Rs. 60 – 70 per plant
• c. Grow them for one year under sprinkler irrigation. Cost of a part time employment for 1 hour per day
• d. The cost of a one year old plant could be within Rs.200.00
• e. Once the plants grow 3-4 feet in height, plant them in the ground in straight lines to make the irrigation possible.
• f. Grow the plants in grow bags in the site itself if possible to avoid the transport cost later

• Khaya plants growing in the open field nursery under sprinkler irrigation, before being planted in the ground.

How to protect the plants?

• a. To protect the seedlings from deceases use the correct soil mixture and suitable environment
• b. To protect the plants from hot sun use the 50% shade net in the nursery
• c. To protect the plants from drying and keep them moist all the time keep under sprinkler irrigation morning and evening
• d. Use the proper grow bags with a correct drainage system to prevent the plants from dying due to excess water
• e. To protect plants from other animals make a fence net and keep the plants inside
• f. To ensure better growth check the soil condition and use dolomite, urea, compost etc to improve the soil
• g. To keep the plant straight while growing plant a support pole and tie the tree gently

Anticipated value at harvesting time….

• a. For 1 acre (4,000 sq.,m) every 10m x 3 trees, approx. 360 trees
• b. Fell 50% of the trees in 7-10 years. Value 50,000 x 180 trees = Rs. 9,000,000.00
• c. Fell remaining trees in 20 years , value 100,000 x 180 trees = Rs.18,000,000.00. Total anticipated minimum income from 1 acre         27,000,000.00 (this value as per today's price. It can be more in 20 years. Timber price rate increase faster than the gold)


10 months old Khaya plant just being planted from Grow bags to the earth at the Citigardens premises in Dambulla on the inauguration day of the 1.1 million tree planting campaign on 15 September 2010.