Sometimes , the best instrument for a job is n’t one you purchase from a store , but one youcraft yourself to accommodate a specific need .
Such is the casing with a hand-crafted measuring stick I use for planting Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree . The conception is elegantly simple , and this simplicity is what make the measuring stick perfect for its put role .
A Tree Task
I wish I had been cagy enough to project the measuring spliff myself , but I owe its institution to my father . It was in the fall of 2018 that I decided to engraft a new orchard , using seven Malus pumila trees and three plum tree trees as the groundwork .
I purchased them in pots averaging 7 - 10 gallons in size . And since the root balls were fairly heavy to work with , I want to be certain of digging appropriately sized hole before lowering the trees into lieu . I did n’t desire to wrestle a tree into position , recognise the hole was too shallow or deep , and have to lift it back out to make adjustment .
Read more : plant a young woodlet ? Do n’t block your graph paper !
Custom & Handmade
At first , I made do with aregular magnetic tape measureto determine the dimensions of the holes . But my Father of the Church — always quick to see better ways of doing thing — concluded I postulate a simpler , more durable dick . So to replace the tape measure , he prepare me a measure stick : a slice of 1×2 lumber evaluate four base in length . Each in was indicated by the ink of a lasting marker .
The benefit of this hand-crafted measuring spliff were directly obvious . Imagine you ’re plotting the diam of a jam that you ’ll dig in the middle of a grassy area . A tape quantity with stiff metal taping , thrive and locked to the appropriate length , is frightfully uneven in its weightiness statistical distribution .
The heavy remnant where the tape rolls up tends to sink into the grass . This get the dilate portion of the tape to flail about in all steering .
A fabric tape measure is similarly guileful to apply , since it ’s hard to keep the tape taut when you ’re not actively using it . tape recording measuring just are n’t inclined to sit happily and control their measurements while you dig holes around them .
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The Exact Right Tool
In dividing line , my measuring joint is absolutely even in its exercising weight distribution . And when I plump down it down on the background , it stays in billet .
If I want to travail a 3 - substructure hole , I lay down the measuring spliff , cut the sod at the 0 - column inch and 36 - column inch marks , swivel the measuring stick 90 degrees , and repeat .
The margin of the hole is marked in no prison term . Then I can lead off digging .
My value stick has other reward , too . It ’s tough and durable , so I do n’t have to worry about clogging it with grease or leaving it outside . And when combined with a steady tape measure , it help provide highly accurate measurements of jam depth .
The measuring reefer doubles as an ordinary 4 - foot 1×2 . I can lay it flat across the hole and use a tape measure measure to gauge the space from the center of the measuring stick to the bottom of the hole . That ’s helpful when endeavor to match the depth of a hole to the summit of a root ball .
Best of all , if my homemade assess stick eventually wears out , a newfangled one is just a duration of 1×2 and a permanent marking away !
