Help! We ordered 95 trees (pines, beech, maples) and they have arrived early. Our school is under construction and the trees need to be planted. Can we plant them in a safe area for now and then replant them when we know where they should go and when the construction has stopped? Any suggestions for planting would be helpful...I have never planted a tree...I was only in charge of selecting the species, yikes!
assuming they are all in containers, I would keep them alive in their containers until you where you want them. Don't know what your time frame is though. I just know it is much easier to plant from the container than to dig one up and transplant it. Much safer for the tree too!
Make the hole twice the diameter of the container and no deeper. I hear it's better to back fill the hole with native dirt, but please do mulch the planted tree with a good compost and keep the roots from drying out while the tree is becoming established.
While they are still in containers and waiting for their permanent home, feed fish emulsion or compost tea, top dress with compost, foliar spray with seeweed, and keep the container evenly moist. Do not go past the original "ground" line at the bottom of the truck.
Seems lot a lot of maintenence, but it should keep those babies healthy.
Everybody, if I left anything out or a little off here, please let me know what the proper techniques are. This nature stuff is a lifelong learning project for me!
THis is useful information, but the trees are not in containers. They are in large industrial bags, 10 trees to a bag. They were obviously in pots because the roots and earth are shaped like pots. As for the time frame, they arrived today and we don't reall have ownership of the school until August, but we could plant them off to the side for now. Are you saying that it would be best to put them in containers and do all the things you listed until we can plant them permanently? This is way more than I bargained for! Thanks for your answer.
I assume these trees aren't too large, so what you do is heel them in for a few months. Dig a shallow trench such that you can lay the trees in the trench sideways (at a shallow angle so they won't blow over). Then cover the roots with topsoil, some peat moss, and straw to make sure the roots stay moist. When they're ready to plant, you can lift them out and plant in their new homes. Good luck!
