A little disappointed with MDC tree order this year

[willy]

I ordered 700 red cedar and 50 swamp white oak, and 750 various shrubs from them for this spring.

They have always been great to work with and the product I have received from them has been of very good quality. This year all was the same except the red cedars were poorly packed on top of being less than plug size that Chief River Nursery sells. The vast majority of the cedars were less than 5", roots were longer which was good but they looked dead already when I received them. The 700 were packed so tightly into 3 small duffel sized bags that it was hard to get them to be standing upright when planted as they had been bent in many directions.

In keeping a careful eye on the newly planted seedlings, I would say if I have 10 percent living cedars, I may be a bit generous.

Now on the positive side, The oaks are 100 percent so far and the shrubs are very close to that. Also I have taken pictures and voiced my concern via email and phone to the MDC. They have been very open to my issue and said to take a count of cedar that didn't make it(by Sept 1) and they will replace next spring. They did say this year's cedar were on the small side.

I'm sharing this so if anybody else had a poor order of red cedars from the MDC they can possibly get them replaced.

 

[NE PA QDM]

Sorry to hear. I got the best looking Norway spruce I’ve ever gotten from them this year. Hopefully you can get a refund.

 

[ksgobbler]

It just blows my mind people want to plant that many eastern red cedars.

 

[willy]

It just blows my mind people want to plant that many eastern red cedars.

Its the only tree I've found that deer don't damage or destroy that I can use for screen, bedding, and wind break. Not a fast grower but the ones I have planted average a little over a foot a year growth. In 5 years they start providing the above benefits.

I want cedars where I want them otherwise I kill them if I can't move them. I am intrigued by the project MO is undertaking with developing all male red cedars for eventual sale.

Ne Pa, I am just going to roll the dice and get the amount of cedars that don't make it or mix and match with other shrubs and get cedars from another place.

 

[Orlando]

Disappointed with my MDC tree order this year too, but not because of MDC. I broke my leg at the end of January. When trees were delivered, I crutched out and stared at them in the cool garage wondering how long they would last. Finally, figured out there was no way I could get them in the ground and threw the 300 ERC in the trash. Oh well. I'll order more next year.
Gobbler -I planted a shelterbelt in 2000. It is now almost ready to provide a good screen to get to my favorite treestand. It also is providing a screen from the road and effectively making the property hunt bigger.

 

[NE PA QDM]

It just blows my mind people want to plant that many eastern red cedars.

Kind of how I feel when I hear people pay for white pine seedlings. You can come to my place and dig them up for free, by the thousands! It would save me time spent cutting most of them down.