We're planting trees!

[csziggy]

They are tiny bare root seedlings from the Arbor Day Foundation they we got as a "gift" for donating money. They sent us:
3 white dogwoods
3 redbuds
2 Washington hawthornes
2 crabapples
+ "not trees" - 2 crape myrtles.

We're scattering them around the house, some along the driveway, some on the south side for a screen, and a grouping on the north side in front of the house.

When we first bought this farm we planted several thousand bare root seedlings - dogwoods, Southern red cedar, loblolly pines, and sawtooth oaks. Most of them survived and still growing. But that was almost forty years ago. About thirty five years ago we planted a bunch of sycamores and they are seriously huge and impressive.

We haven't planted many trees since - a few living "Christmas" trees, and an American holly for the front yard of the new house. The "Christmas" trees and holly were large when we planted them, unlike the bare root trees. So it is exciting to be planting these tiny little twigs and planning for them to get big.

I hope I live long enough to see these flowering trees reach their full maturity!

[hermetic]

1. I got the same ones!

They came yesterday. I live on a regular sized lot and I will put a row across the back by the alley and scatter the rest here and there. Probably give a couple away to friends.

I'm concerned though, we have a nasty storm coming through next week. A bit of snow even. So I have to wait at least another week to plant them. They're still in the little bags inside the big one. I have them in my laundry room which stays at 40 - 50 degrees. I hope they survive. And I echo your last statement.

Here's to a future of flowering trees

[csziggy]

2. The directions recommend opening and putting the roots in water

Separate the roots gently then put them in water - a tall drink cup is pretty close to large enough for all of them. Otherwise I would worry about them drying out or getting moldy. .

There really shouldn't be a problem planting your trees before the storm. There isn't enough to them to blow over - just bare sticks - and unless you leave them in the warmth there probably aren't any buds to get damaged by cold.

When I bought thousands of bare root seedlings from the forestry service, they came bundled with no protection in the fall. We stuck them in buckets with some water, stuck them in the ground within a week or two, and did nothing to them all winter. Pretty close to 100% survived and most are still growing

Because we have to worry about deer eating things, I bought tomato cages for these trees and we are going to wrap with bird netting. And since the young men that mow for us are not good about identifying stuff or remembering where things are, I wrapped a strip of bright pick survey tape around the tops of the tomato cages so they are highly visible.

I hope your trees do good!

[hermetic]

3. Thanks for the tips

I thought the instructions meant to put them in water 3-6 hours before planting. Well, the good news is snow no longer in the forecast so I guess I'd better get out there and start digging some holes. I've got tomato cages I think I will put around them for now to keep the feral cats from digging in that nice, fresh dirt.

[csziggy]

4. They do say that but longer is fine

When you first open them the roots need to be hydrated. But leaving them in the water longer won't hurt.

LOL about the cats digging! I found some dusty miller at Lowes on clearance for $1 a flat of six and bought five flats. Planted them all today and as soon as I finished my cat jumped into the flower bed, dug a hole and took a dump. You'd think he'd wait until I was out of sight at least!

[hermetic]

5. Lol!

I have a 7 mo. old kitten. Yesterday I was putting towels away in the bathroom and she came in, jumped up into the sink, and peed! Ack. I was screaming and jumping up and down and she just blinked at me and walked away. (There is a box in the bathroom and it does get cleaned daily.) I think she might be a bit unhinged.

I dug 6 big holes yesterday. I can feel that in my legs today. It's raining so tomorrow I will be planting. I will have 2 redbuds left over because I really just don't have a place for them. Might have to go out and do a bit of guerilla gardening somewhere.

[csziggy]

6. Cats invented chutzpah! This morning mine walked right through my needlework

And laid down on the bag of threads. I had to grab him and put him on the floor - no yelling was going to get him to move off his comfy spot.

My husband dug all the holes and planted all the trees. I have one crape myrtle still to plant and I don't know where to put it. We already have lots of crape myrtles. When we first bought the place we planted a line of them on the west side of the house for open shade - they are 30-40 feet tall and we only see the blooms when they fall to the ground.

A few years later I bought out the crape myrtles from a nursery that was going out of business - pretty watermelon variety with white edged pink blossoms. I used them to dress up the show ring at one of our shows then we planted them around the farm. Those never get bigger than 15 feet. Some were in places that got so shady they never bloomed or grew much so when we built the new house my husband dug them up and transplanted them on the east side.

Since I don't know what variety crape myrtle they sent us it's hard to pick a spot for this last one!