I would like to start adding trees around my property and would like to do it in the most economical way possible. Since I am looking at 100+ trees I can't exactly afford to go buy a that many ready to plant trees. I know that it will be a big undertaking but I feel it is worth the work.

Does anybody have any info on a good way to get started? I know that they will have to be irrigated. One of my big questions is plant them in the ground or in large pots? To me the ground would seem like a better idea because of soil moisture and extreme temps.

I would really like some books or a person that has started one that I can call and talk to.

I am here in ms gulf coast in zone 8b, give your texas dept of agriculture, talk to a forester and sign up for any workshops on
timber management/tree planting, my favorite pine here is the longleaf pine, and hardwoods are the oaks and pecan hickories. Anytime i plant a tree i dig a hole 4 times the widith of your root mass, if in a pot or burlaped is still
6 inch pot means a hole two to three feet wide
after digging the hole use your shovel and rough the hole, mix two shovels of leaf mulch into the soil in your wheel barrel(msp) and add
1 cup of composted chicken manure,place your tree in hole and loosley shovel your soil mix
onto the roots and water the soil to remove any
pockets of air around the roots, then place no more than two inches of mulch on top of soil mix
around the tree, no fertilizer for entire 1st year

Also, talk to the extension agent about any possible programs. Sometimes you can pay for 2/3 of the trees and the government pays the rest.

Anyway, worth looking into.

But yes, the hardest part will be that they will need regular water for at least that first summer.

I agree that keeping seedling trees well-watered for the first few years will probably be your hardest chore.

With regards to tree seedlings in general, I've purchased from Musser Forests in the past & have been quite pleased with both the prices & quality. Here's a link to their site:

Musser Forests

Can you start seedlings in containers and then transplant when a foot or so tall? They would be easier to manage when very young (you could group together & provide more protection if needed) and reduce watering frequency needs once transplanted.

i was planning on dedicating an area that would be my tree nursery. I would keep all of the tree there until they were large enough to transplant. that way i could setup a drip system to irrigate.

I've started Pawpaws and persimmon in gallon buckets of dirt and transplanted after 3 sets of leaves are present---pawpaws particularly have long taproot that are hard to transplant so anything smaller than a gallon bucket would've caused the taproot to bend or kink.I stratified them in the frdge in a small baggy of dirt.

The one peach tree I managed to start from seed came from a pit that I simply planted in a flowerbed to get natural stratification. It came up the following sprig and it is larger than the 2 trees I bought from a catalog 4 years before planting the pit.

Willows of all kinds like moister soil than is generally the rule for central tx, but they sprout very easily from cuttings. Weeping willows get huge and are majestic, curly willow have nice twisty branches for crafts. If you have a friend or neighbor who has some, ask for a few cuttings in spring and plant temporarily near where the gutters empty. The moist soil there will promote rooting and the plants can be transplanted in a couple-three months when they start producing new leaves.

Rose of Sharon bushes are extremely easy to start from seed or cuttings. I sowed some in potting soil in styrofoam cups and almost all came up in a couple-three weeks.

The most important thing is to make sure the trees you're trying to grow are compatible to you zone and to the site you're going to grow them.

By joining the Arbor Day Foundation for $10, you can get 10 free trees which will take care of 1/10 of your tree shortage! If you talk any of your friends or family into joining and they don't want to keep their trees, they can donate them and have them shipped to you. This is a worthwhile organization with a wealth of information about trees.

Bumblebee - have you joined the Arbor Day Foundation & received those free trees?

I only ask because I have yet to come across one person who's done that & been satisfied.

The reviews on Dave's Garden Watchdog are reason enough for me to use my $10 elsewhere.

I have joined and received my trees that had been chosen for my region. I planted them in my tiny and shady back yard, which was not the ideal place for them. Needless to say, they didn't do well. They were small, I have to say that.

Now that I am living in a house with some acerage I was thinking of joining again to get the small flowering trees which would be perfect for an area that is grown up in vines gone wild.

I will consider putting them in gallon containers for a year in a nursery setting so that I can grow them a little larger before planting them.

I haven't read what Dave's garden has to say, though.

Arbor Tree Foundation
is in Nebraska City, NE

http://www.arborday.org/shopping/memberships/memberships.cfm

I have grown Japanese Maples from "voluteer" seeds that came up around the mother tree. The first year they were in large pots and then I transplanted into the yard. They are slow growers, but they are about 5 years old and have done fine. It seems that it would be much easier to go the nursery route due to watering that first year.

We get all kinds of volunteer trees here. The squirrel population does most of the planting for us. We just have to flag the trees we want to keep so they don't get mowed down. Sometimes they plant them in pots but I cover pots with chicken wire to prevent that when I am trying to grow something besides trees! We get Pin Oak, Burr Oak, Texas Sephora, Mexican Plum and Redbud volunteers.
Call your extension office, they run specials on Native trees and plants at a very low cost too!

I'd like yo to start with a list of trees you hope to grow.

Peach?
Nectarine?
Pecan?
Walnut?
Black Walnut?
Apple?
Pear?
Cherry?

Some of these are going to be frankly easier for you to start with already grafted cultivars.

Some you can start from cuttings. Some will need to be grafted.

If you have enough space to practice grafting then almost any apple (for example) root astock will do to start to practioce on.

Pots sort of require overhead irrigation, trickle systems will work best for in-ground plantings.

You are far enough south that your county AG will have lists of the number of chilling hours trees need to fit best in your zone.

A peach from NH will never get enough cold in zone 8A. A zone 8 peach won't like it up h'yre in cow-hampshire.

I joined Arbor Day and was happy with the ten trees. They were small, but did well in my parents's backyard, even without special care. A few died from lack of water, but most were fine.

Check around for volunteers--we get tons of volunteer maple, oak, sweetgum, magnolia, and others. I actually have to remove them to keep from getting completely overgrown. Wish I could send some your way!