Will these trees pay to plant?

[Mortenson]

Learned some hard lessons in my backyard nursery. Planted too close to my fence. Planted too close together. Most importantly I allowed some to get way too big. I had a devil of a time getting these out of the ground. The 1 on right has a few more roots than on left. I have a few more trees in there this size. Plant and stake or what? Help please.

 

[PoorSand]

I'd probably cut the tops back to match the amount of root left, then pot them for the summer, and plant them in the fall about a month before the ground freezes.

 

[Telemark]

I would plant them immediately and cut the tops back. Keep them well watered.

 

[chickenlittle]

When I bought my first set of trees from Cummins, I followed their directions to top the tree at about 36" and cut each limb back to 1-2" long. They've done great ever since.

 

[Mortenson]

Thanks guys. I took those 2 down to the timber and am planting them now. They're already cropped back in the pic, but I'll trim them even harder. Intend to drive a stake in right beside them and tie off with a section of hose so that the wind can't jostle them around at all til they get som fresh roots.

 

[yoderjac]

I agree on cutting back the tops to match the root ball. Expect a year of sleep, creep, and then leap.

 

[OakSeeds]

I'd be prepared to dig a pretty deep hole for the tree on the right; it has a couple of nice, longer roots that should be planted as close to straight down as possible (I wouldn't cut them off and you don't want them to j-hook). They will help to anchor the tree as it grows and assist in water uptake during dry periods.

 

[Chainsaw]

That tree on the right is a beauty. At what age are the two trees at this point? And were they on seedling rootstock or clonal rootstock?

 

[Mortenson]

The tree on right is an Enterprise that I grafted 2 years ago on growing mm111 rootstock that was a failed bench graft from the prior year. So the tree is 2 years old and the roots are 3 years old. The tree on left is a Kerr on mm111 that I bench grafted 3 years ago. I've only grafted twice - 2018 and 2019. Took last year off but this year I'm grafting 25 more plus a few failures in the nursery. I wish I had a more sandy site for a nursery. They really got rooted into the heavy soil.

 

[Chainsaw]

Thanks Mortenson for the reply and the great tip about it being easier to dig in sandy soil. It is an obvious detail but I honestly hadn't considered that in my planning but will. There are two nursery gardens ready for planting grafted rootstocks here this year, one will be in very sandy soil with a large amount of well aged horse manure mixed in and the other will be in more clay soil but also with well aged horse manure. It sounds like digging the clay soil trees for transplanting next year or the year after should take priority over the trees in the more sandy soil nursery with all other things being equal.

 

[yoderjac]

Thanks Mortenson for the reply and the great tip about it being easier to dig in sandy soil. It is an obvious detail but I honestly hadn't considered that in my planning but will. There are two nursery gardens ready for planting grafted rootstocks here this year, one will be in very sandy soil with a large amount of well aged horse manure mixed in and the other will be in more clay soil but also with well aged horse manure. It sounds like digging the clay soil trees for transplanting next year or the year after should take priority over the trees in the more sandy soil nursery with all other things being equal.

If I were going to grow trees in the ground and then transplant them on a regular basis, I would consider a Missouri Gravel Bed: https://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/jrnl/2004/nrs_2004_kirk_001.pdf

 

[H20fwler]

The tree on right is an Enterprise that I grafted 2 years ago on growing mm111 rootstock that was a failed bench graft from the prior year. So the tree is 2 years old and the roots are 3 years old. The tree on left is a Kerr on mm111 that I bench grafted 3 years ago. I've only grafted twice - 2018 and 2019. Took last year off but this year I'm grafting 25 more plus a few failures in the nursery. I wish I had a more sandy site for a nursery. They really got rooted into the heavy soil.

I heal my grafts into a raised bed that I rolled the bare ground over in with a spade then added a bunch of bags of potting soil and few of peat over top. Makes it way easier to dig them out a year or two later with the soft dirt and they are close so I can baby them all summer.

 

[cavey]

They look better than a lot of the bare root trees I have gotten over the years.... plant, top, stake and try if possible to get them watered periodically, they will be fine. I have clay and have a fun time getting mine out too. This year the skid steer is coming into the nursery and I am lifting a mess in mass. I have been pre staging cages and t post this spring, and did a bunch last fall. The worst part is digging them out, and I top off many afterwards. My best nursery trees are ones I topped back a foot or so each year for the first 3 years.

 

[Mortenson]

Good tips guys. Definitely going to make notes. I pulled 4 more out today, various small sizes ranging up to 36-40" and it was drastically better. Easier digging and a much better root to tree ratio. Without checking records, I'm thinking the 3 apples here are P18 roots.

 

[Tree Spud]

Learned some hard lessons in my backyard nursery. Planted too close to my fence. Planted too close together. Most importantly I allowed some to get way too big. I had a devil of a time getting these out of the ground. The 1 on right has a few more roots than on left. I have a few more trees in there this size. Plant and stake or what? Help please.

View attachment 33899

Purchased 4 fruit trees in 2 gallon pots from Box store and plated them per directions. All 4 died. When I pulled them all 4 had root balls the size of a soft ball. Determined they died ass there where no long deep roots that could pull moisture and roots near the root collar really did not have enough regular moisture to survive. I would suggest after planting to put a good mulch ring to maintain soil moisture at the shallow root depth.

 

[White Oak]

Purchased 4 fruit trees in 2 gallon pots from Box store and plated them per directions. All 4 died. When I pulled them all 4 had root balls the size of a soft ball. Determined they died ass there where no long deep roots that could pull moisture and roots near the root collar really did not have enough regular moisture to survive. I would suggest after planting to put a good mulch ring to maintain soil moisture at the shallow root depth.

 

[White Oak]

Tree Spud , My Father just picked up some right nice looking Dwarf Moonglow Pear trees from Food Lion for $16.99
The trees themselves are huge ! , the roots were in a large plastic bag, with mostly dirt...lol and softball sized root ball like yours. He's proud of them, hopefully they survive.

 

[Mortenson]

Can give a little update on these 1st year trees I planted in March. I got into the top orchard with the mower yesterday and was surprised to see the trees struggling from the dryness/heat. Having planted them so early and getting good rains early on, and having good weed control, I thought they'd be lined up well. As it turns out, I took them each 5 gallons of water today and will again every few days til we get a good soaking rain again. I experimented with a tiny tree in a tube this year. It's actually thriving in the tube and didn't look moisture stressed at all. Hopefully I saved the others in time. 1 of the bigger ones looked really good, must have had some better roots to begin with. All other trees in the orchard look healthy and don't need watering at this time.

 

[Mortenson]

Quick pic of our biggest modern pear tree. Looks to have a crop of 100-200 pears this year, it's first crop. To the left is a Chestnut crab and to the right is an Olympic/Korean-Giant.

 

[Mortenson]

From my post #18, check out the growth out of that tiny apple tree planted in the tube. I'll do more of those next year on trees I otherwise would leave in the nursery another year.