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bare root trees ?
cowdoc
Member Posts: 5,847 ✭✭✭
has anyone ordered trees online? if so what kinda luck did you have?
I found a wholesale tree nursery out of Tn that has really good prices on 3-4ft ponderosa's like around 4.00-5.00 a tree but are bare root shipped with roots dipped in tera-sorb silicone gel.... any ideas on transplant success rates on trees that big? seems awful big to bare root them...but if they transplant good thats quite a few years growth already...
when we plant shelter belts the trees are bare root but are normally less than a foot tall
Comments
We have planted over 20,000 trees in the last two years. All of them have been 4 to 6 foot. 9,000 of them have been improved varieties. We probably average about 90 to 92% live. Don
I've planted some bare root trees that size with decent success, not as good as the smaller trees do, but not bad. Our conservation department sells bare root seedling-1 year old trees very cheap in the spring, they do really well.
do you use a tree auger for post hole digger to plant them?
i was looking on the internet and found a 3ft auger not sure my bell tech hydraulic digger would have enough power to run it...i use a 12" auger it on my skid loader for digging holes for rail road ties
We use 18 and 24 inch augers on Danuser hydraulic post hole diggers. I have one bobcat mounted that is easy to operate. The other is tractor mount. Don
I use a 12" auger on the tractor for most of it, but we have really rocky soil so it does require some hand tools at times.
I’ve planted over 30k bare root trees over the years, but mine were 18” max that we planed with a modified single row vegetable planter. We have also planted taller ones (2’ +/- ) by hand. All were different varieties of scotch pine and fir trees. And very good survival rates too, depending on your soil type, an auger may make digging the holes for that sized root system easier. I’ve used one when planting bare root apple trees.
keys for us -
are to plant in very early spring
plant as soon as you are able when they arrive or keep cool
don't let the roots dry out when planting
disk up the area if you can
keep weeds down for a couple years as they compete for water
sounds good
probably my biggest concern is the shipping the site says US priority mail.... from what Ive experienced recently and have heard getting anything shipped and delivered timely is a rather big problem.... the one place i found is in Tennessee and I'm in S Dak
Can you upgrade to UPS and get them in a day or 2? Likely they will get packed cold and ship out of a cooler. They would be wrapped in plastic with the gel on the roots and then in cardboard. So they shouldn’t dry out en route. Early spring gives you some natural refrigeration for transit.
SC Forest service practically gives away bare root trees, when I was using my property as a nursery I planted thousands and very good results. I wouldn't hesitate to order bare root.
that i dont know i'll have to call them
Many years ago I ordered bare root dwarf Japanese maple saplings from a place in McMinnville TN.
I had very good luck with them. As I remember all survived transplanting. Out of 100 trees I got about 25% that were of the desirable red leaf color. Can't recall the company but they were good folks to deal with and had reasonable prices.
When I moved out of Indy in '82, I had 5+ acres divided in 3 sections by tree clusters. The back field was about 100 yds deep and the property line east & west had a double row of white pines (about 5' tall) on each side. I bought 200 or so hardwood bare root saplings from the IN Dept of Natural Resources. They probably cost me around $15.00! The middle of this small field was just grass so I got out there with a spade and potting soil. I planted about 6 trees and, quit. I planted the rest by just sticking the spade in the ground, sticking the tree in, tamping the soil down, and wishing them luck. Over the next week I planted the rest in 4 north-south rows. I mowed between the rows for a couple of years and then quit. Today much to my surprise most of those trees grew. Everything is 20+/- feet tall and it now is a dense woods. Deer & other critters live there. Don't be hesitant to use bare root saplings. You may be surprised as I was.