Getting ready

g squared 23

5 year old buck +
I've got the morning free, don't have to be at work until 1300 tomorrow. My trees from TWG have arrived and are leafed out and need to get in the ground. Its also supposed to rain tomorrow afternoon. So all signs point to me using the morning as well as using my time effectively. I can't be late to work, boss will have my @$$.

So....trying to do some prep work tonight and make sure I'm loaded and ready to go in the am.

I ordered this lumite alternative from amazon and it's my first time using a woven fabric. I figured I would cut my mats instead of wasting that time tomorrow. Went 6'x6' as I'm planting in an area that has some weed growth. Once I figured out a system it went pretty smoothly (no wind certainly helps). Also cut my aluminum screening which was quick but also something I'd never done before.

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Ready to go.

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Late dropping pears from the wildlife group don't exactly look ideal, but what do I know. Did I have them delivered too late? We'll see how they do in central IL. If they don't make it, this thread will be proof that I tried to get them in the ground ASAP, AND took care of the things best I knew how.

I'm excited for tomorrow. It's going to be a good day.



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I got mine last week. I had the ten tree pear package. Mine too were all leafed out. I just planted and moved on..I’m a big fan of prepping beforehand too. Good luck and keep us posted. Post some pictures if you can.
 
Just noticed your pictures a little better. Some of those leaves look black. That would concern me.
 
If possible if dunk those trees in a 5 gallon bucket of water and let them sit there while planting your trees.

Those leaves turning black make me think they probably got a little dry. If you. Can't do that make sure and water them into the hole well when you plant them.
 
Are you not targeted to get this "clipper" type storm coming thru? My area (south central IN) is forecast to see freezing temps tonight and tomorrow (down to 25) with 5" of snow tomorrow! I have trees being delivered today - and I will not be leaving them outside.....leafed out or not!
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I'd be pretty unhappy buying bareroot dormant trees if they arrived are all leafed out. Maybe they leafed out after you got them. If they did arrive like that, i'd e-mail those photos to them and let them know you are planting them but expect replacement for any that don't make it.
 
I did not realize it was going to get so cold. Oh well. Thats what I get from ordering from a southern nursery. I felt like I had to plant today and they WERE dry, so I watered them overnight.


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Proof.


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Yay , what Chickenlittle said... I get nervous when my bareroot stock breaks bud and some will say shipping put fruit trees into a sweat which is supposed to help with that (you want to wake up your plant)... but those are way out of dormancy. Their immediately going to be susceptible to a hard frost... I 2nd the photo and contacting the nursery idea... If you were further south maybe I would be less worried but you definitely need to get them planted - I would maybe opt for potting and garaging them with some extra tlc. Good luck with them... if they were shipped like that its nothing you did and its not that you ordered them to late ... looks like they were brought out of cold storage and leafed out prior to shipping.

How you planted them is near text book perfect... I know some guys also dump rock on the ground cover and go with a bit of white latex on the trunks
 
I've got apple trees set to arrive from Turkey Creek that I'm super excited about. I have a feelin' those might do very well in my area; we shall see.

Took me about 30 minutes/tree to prep, plant, mat, staple, screen, cage, stake and tag. Cutting the mats ahead of time surely helped things today. I can say I had one thing go right.


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Trees are tough...time will tell; I still have snow on the ground up here, a fridge full of scion wood and my shipment of root stock came yesterday. I have now got them in a big chest cooler on wet sawdust and snow and am debating when I should start grafting so Im kind of in the same boat only different.

At least you had a plan and got it done.

I only have a vague idea what im going to do with 100 apple grafts with ground planting a month out. I have tree pots for them but no or at least very little unfrozen soil to pot them in.
 
I've got apple trees set to arrive from Turkey Creek that I'm super excited about. I have a feelin' those might do very well in my area; we shall see.

Took me about 30 minutes/tree to prep, plant, mat, staple, screen, cage, stake and tag. Cutting the mats ahead of time surely helped things today. I can say I had one thing go right.


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My trees came from TC today (I have not seen them yet).....you should have been seeing fedex notification e-mails if they are on the way. Wife sent me a text "You have some wet sticks on the front porch"......"what sort of deer stuff did you order now?" If mine are still dormant and my soil is thawed enough I may be planting trees in the snow Sunday! I may be lazy and just put them in the fridge as well......we will see. Need to head off to the local farm store for some tree planting supplies (wire, fencing and posts). May have to drink a few beers to make some tags as well....just doing my part for the environment!
 
I've got apple trees set to arrive from Turkey Creek that I'm super excited about. I have a feelin' those might do very well in my area; we shall see.

Took me about 30 minutes/tree to prep, plant, mat, staple, screen, cage, stake and tag. Cutting the mats ahead of time surely helped things today. I can say I had one thing go right.


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My trees came from TC today (I have not seen them yet).....you should have been seeing fedex notification e-mails if they are on the way. Wife sent me a text "You have some wet sticks on the front porch"......"what sort of deer stuff did you order now?" If mine are still dormant and my soil is thawed enough I may be planting trees in the snow Sunday! I may be lazy and just put them in the fridge as well......we will see. Need to head off to the local farm store for some tree planting supplies (wire, fencing and posts). May have to drink a few beers to make some tags as well....just doing my part for the environment!

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Well look what we have here!! Going to try and get them in the ground Sunday. Super exciting as I'm pretty sure I ordered these things in August or September. I spend soo much time on the planning phase, it's nice to actually execute a plan.



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Weather here didn't cooperate this weekend for me so I hope Friday will....I will take pics and post!
 
Weather here didn't cooperate this weekend for me so I hope Friday will....I will take pics and post!

Wife didn't cooperate with my plans to plant Sunday...so I guess here's hoping I can get my permission slip signed for next weekend.


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Wife didn't cooperate with my plans to plant Sunday...so I guess here's hoping I can get my permission slip signed for next weekend.


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I understand how that works! I have Friday off as a holiday from work yet the kids have school......so I should have Friday all to myself. I may be planting trees in the rain....but I may have to take what I can get!
 
Well I made it out this afternoon and really p*$$#d the wife off. But oh well, better to ask for forgiveness than permission.

Anyway, really liked the whips from Turkey Creek. They were well packaged and dormant.

Put in an Arkansas Black, Dolgo, Enterprise and Goldrush, all on MM111 for my heavy clay soil.

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Rain coming rest of this week that I am now 100% ok with.


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Planted these in the same field (and within pollination distance) as the four I put last spring which were the high resistance package from Stark Bros (Freedom, Jonafree, Liberty and Macfree) on "semi-dwarf" rootstock. Put tags on these as well for fun and official record keeping.

This Liberty has done the best so far at around the 6 ft mark. My weed control was not ideal (mulch) and I'll add some weed mats when I can get the time and I'm not risking a divorce.

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I put in about 50 gray dogwoods while I was out there to finish off my shrub plantings for the year.

I have 2 crabs from SLN left to plant this spring and then I'm done. Not sure when they're supposed to arrive.

But I have to say, March might be my favorite month that isn't November.


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