Norway Spruce Screen Decisions

[Derek Reese 29]

Got the 40 trees of my screen planted today. (It sounds impressive but 1/2 were little 1’ Midwest crabs and hawthorns). Was very fortunate and it rained right after for 3-4 hours pretty steady. Trees were a little smaller than I wanted but I ordered late and got the biggest that I could that were left. Very pleased with the cages and a lot of the trees had good roots. I’ll add pics when I get back to work next week. Wife is already calling this “John’s woods” as it was planted 5 days after our new kiddo came into the world...pretty cool.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

Here's some pics of the project:
Looking from the property boundary toward the food plot which is over the slight rise

Looking uphill into the first 3 rows

Looking straight downhill along the first row

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Congrats on the little mountain man!!!!!!!!! Hope Mom, you, and John are all doing well. Enjoy EVERY moment!!

Trees look great. Nice layout!! I wish we could use that 4 ft., 2" X 4" type garden fence at camp. We tried it some years ago and the bears destroyed it just playing with it. Seedlings had no fruit or seed to rob & eat. fencing was just a toy for the bears. You shouldn't have bear problems there where you are. With that sun exposure, your trees should pop pretty well. Take some pics & measurements now, and again in the fall - then next June. I think you'll see good growth. Maybe sprinkle a bit of 10-10-10 around them next April 20th or so. Then watch 'em!!

Nice work!!

 

[Derek Reese 29]

Congrats on the little mountain man!!!!!!!!! Hope Mom, you, and John are all doing well. Enjoy EVERY moment!!

Trees look great. Nice layout!! I wish we could use that 4 ft., 2" X 4" type garden fence at camp. We tried it some years ago and the bears destroyed it just playing with it. Seedlings had no fruit or seed to rob & eat. fencing was just a toy for the bears. You shouldn't have bear problems there where you are. With that sun exposure, your trees should pop pretty well. Take some pics & measurements now, and again in the fall - then next June. I think you'll see good growth. Maybe sprinkle a bit of 10-10-10 around them next April 20th or so. Then watch 'em!!

Nice work!!

yep little guy and Mom are doing great! that 2X4 stuff is sure alot easier to work with than the 6X6 remesh and I still don't think it would hold up to a determined or randy buck, but I did have a bear come through last June but I don't think he would be interested in any evergreen trees or shrubs..hoping that south slope and good soil gets them growing real fast

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Got some of my screen planted this weekend.. it’s too damn wet. Hope I don’t drown these things before they have a chance to get started.

Mulch will come later. Now I’m worried about keeping the 1 gallon potted trees healthy til I can plant more this coming saturday.

 

[sandbur]

Got some of my screen planted this weekend.. it’s too damn wet. Hope I don’t drown these things before they have a chance to get started.

Mulch will come later. Now I’m worried about keeping the 1 gallon potted trees healthy til I can plant more this coming saturday.
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I would put the potted trees on the north side of a building and they should be fine.


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[Tree Spud]

Got some of my screen planted this weekend.. it’s too damn wet. Hope I don’t drown these things before they have a chance to get started.

Mulch will come later. Now I’m worried about keeping the 1 gallon potted trees healthy til I can plant more this coming saturday.

If the ground is that wet, why mulch?

 

[Wind Gypsy]

If the ground is that wet, why mulch?

Good point. For help in the summer?

 

[BuckSutherland]

If the ground is that wet, why mulch?

Because its not always that wet (see summer of 2021), because it will help hold the weed mat down and reflect the hot summer sun away, because the mulch will smoother all that grass and the tree will establish 10x faster then just plopping it into the grass and walking away. Grass is a mortal enemy of young tree seedlings....

 

[BuckSutherland]

^^^^^

Here is a short little article that explains why a person should do a weed mat and mulch on new young trees if they wanna see real results.


https://www.agweek.com/opinion/growing-together-trees-grass-interfere-with-each-others-growth#:~:text=They%20interfere%20with%20each%20other's,tree%20grown%20in%20bare%20soil.

 

[H20fwler]

The BHS we put in around the pond last fall are showing a lot of new growth.
Caging them has completely stopped the deer browsing.
They are planted in very heavy soil from the spoil from digging the pond, had a few start to lean due to the hard west winds so we cross staked those with 1”X1” for now until they root good into the clay.
Will water them this summer then hopefully they will be fine and thrive on their own after that.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

They look really nice!

 

[Wind Gypsy]

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Those are great looking trees! Since you said last fall is it fair to assume they looked pretty close to that when you planted them?

 

[tlzkaasen]

I'm going to have to start caging some of these. I noticed one of my BHS has bite marks all over one side after looking fantastic 45 days ago...

 

[H20fwler]

Those are great looking trees! Since you said last fall is it fair to assume they looked pretty close to that when you planted them?

Absolutely, except for the new light green growth on the tips so far this spring.
I hope the roots are spreading and going down too.

 

[H20fwler]

I'm going to have to start caging some of these. I noticed one of my BHS has bite marks all over one side after looking fantastic 45 days ago...

They started going after mine within days of planting, just nipping the ends off branches.
It really showed after the sap turned tips white.
So we had to cage them for protection, at 4’-5’ they are still small enough that bucks would try and rub them too.

 

[TheGroveEstate]

Blues are having a disease infect them. I don't remember the name of the disease, but around here it causes the needles to turn rusty brown and then the trees die. I haven't planted ANY blue spruce for that reason - but I like the color a lot. I hope science comes up with a treatment for the disease.

Commonly referred to as "Needle cast", technical name = Rhizosphaera. Which is a fungal disease of spruce trees that causes needles to turn brown and fall off. Most affected in the humid summers of the North East. I am in South Central PA, Zone 6b (almost 7a) and we will NOT plant Blue Spruce - it's not worth the investment and time. We have turned to Concolor Fir as a replacement.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

yep little guy and Mom are doing great! that 2X4 stuff is sure alot easier to work with than the 6X6 remesh and I still don't think it would hold up to a determined or randy buck, but I did have a bear come through last June but I don't think he would be interested in any evergreen trees or shrubs..hoping that south slope and good soil gets them growing real fast

got a bear on camera about a week ago, but he left the cages alone...almost a year to the day he went by last year...thinking based on the size he might be the same critter...he's about 200-250 lbs now so he put on some weight..hoping he didn't grab a fawn as he went by...

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Commonly referred to as "Needle cast", technical name = Rhizosphaera. Which is a fungal disease of spruce trees that causes needles to turn brown and fall off. Most affected in the humid summers of the North East. I am in South Central PA, Zone 6b (almost 7a) and we will NOT plant Blue Spruce - it's not worth the investment and time. We have turned to Concolor Fir as a replacement.

I’m guessing that’s what’s going on with the tops of these two blues at my house.

 

[Brian662]

I’m guessing that’s what’s going on with the tops of these two blues at my house.
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What a shame, beautiful trees they are.