Fall planting of bare-root trees

[snewman]

I found a great deal on 5 foot sugar maples, bare-root. I'd like to try to plant a bunch in various places on our property. Is now a good time to plant bare root trees (Wisconsin, zone 4/5). Will they have any chance of making it?

 

[Greensage45]

This one is a bit confusing.

Are you getting these from a grower near to you? Are they being shipping in?

Typically, if this is a company selling bareroot stock, they take orders and then set 'future dates' for shipping based on regional needs.

These could also have been treated with a dormancy oil to keep them dormant (I doubt bareroot would encompass a leafed out specimen).


Tell us a bit more about these Sugar Maples. Then we might be able to pinpoint a more appropriate direction to take.

Ron

 

[snewman]

They're from a supplier in Michigan, the same zone as I am, and they say unless they're instructed otherwise they'll schedule a fall delivery. I assume the trees are dormant, but I'm not sure about that.

 

[lesa]

I'm in zone 4- now is the perfect time to plant trees. Just make sure they stay watered. You will be thrilled to see them bud in the spring!

 

[Greensage45]

I get it!

They set the order and once the trees go dormant they pull them up and ship them out. This is perfect as long as during the trip they do not get too hot and then want to set buds, but I am thinking they won't arrive until well after any of that...so perfect timing.

Once they arrive waste no time planting. Identify your spots now and have the holes ready with the back-fill prepared as you want it.

These trees will slumber til Spring and wake up to a new World! How cool is that?

Did they give you a 'replacement' offer? Or is the deal that good that they are 'as is'? Can we get in on the ground floor?

Ron

 

[snewman]

Great, thanks for the feedback! The website is www.coldstreamfarm.net and they're in the upper part of the lower peninsula of Michigan. I'll get my order in now!

 

[patandchickens]

If the site is somewhat sheltered (i.e not real exposed and windy) and on good well-drained-but-not-dry soil, and if you trust them to send you GOOD QUALITY trees dug/sent in GOOD CONDITION, then it might well be worth it. (If they were from a local pickup nursery and you could inspect them first, and a kind site to plant them in, I'd say for sure do it)

If OTOH it is possible these will be poor trees (most roots hacked off, then let to dry out) or if the site is a windswept hill or open field, or if the spring soil conditions are not great, then it will be a lot more of a gamble how it comes out.

You pays yer money, you takes yer choice

If you do plant them it is IMHO worth staking them even if you are not normally much of a "tree staker", as it is annoying to have larger bareroot trees blow over before the ground freezes or after it thaws.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[snewman]

How should I prepare the holes and fill soil for bare root trees? Any thoughts or opinions? I have access to multiple kinds of manure (horse, llama, chicken, duck, turkey), but should I also treat the roots with anything? I've never done much with bare root stock before.

 

[patandchickens]

I would not amend the planting holes at all (but dig them *big*, to provide a large area of well-broken-up soil for roots to readily spread out into). You want the roots to go elsewhere, not just stay curling round and round the planting hole b/c the soil is so much nicer there. If you just HAVE to chuck something into the planting hole, add some bone meal, but I do not think it really matters much. Again, get it spread out over the whole large wide area, not just right under the plant.

I also would not treat the roots with anything, unless a lot are very broken and the plant seems to have really insufficient root mass for survival in which case you can try LIGHTLY (!) dusting on a little woody-plant rooting hormone, which I can't prove helps but IME it *seems* to.

The biggest thing is to keep the plant watered without being soggy, and (for these decent-sized trees) stake it so it doesn't blow over before it has a real root system grown back. You may not get 100% survival but if it's a good deal on basically healthy trees it can still be worth the loss rate.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[snewman]

Thanks! I placed my order and they'll be on their way. Shipping was a little high, but I got five, 5-6 foot sugar maples for $60. They're guaranteed to leaf out in the spring or will be replaced. Seems ok to me, what do you think?