Planting Norway Spruce Advice

[Victor Van Meter]

I will be planting 50 Norway Spruce this spring. I was curious if I should add anything to the holes like fertilizer, manure, lime, etc. when planting? Thanks for all the advice this site offers.

VV

 

[Sconnie]

For pines/spruce I only add a dip in bucket of Soil Moist to help the first few weeks. After year 3 I add a cup of slow release fertilizer with iron around the drip line. Weed mats are a great choice, if not controlling weeds use tall flags for easy future finding.

Apple trees get a full amendment treatment!


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[Victor Van Meter]

That Soil Moist seems like a great, inexpensive way to help trees survive. Never heard of it before.

VV

 

[Buckly]

How big are the trees you’re planting?

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I wouldn't add lime to a spruce planting - they prefer soil that is a bit more acidic. I've planted LOADS of spruce over the past 25 years or so and my best results have been to just return the native soil to the backfill. I used to add compost and it tended to dry out too quickly compared to the native soil alone. I lost a few spruce by doing that. My best success "addition" is caging the spruce from deer nipping. Inexpensive 3 ft. tall garden fencing ( welded wire ) worked for me. 100 ft. rolls are the best use of $$. You may or may not need cages.

The soil moist is a good move.

 

[Victor Van Meter]

How big are the trees you’re planting?

Just seedlings, 2’ or so.


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[scott44]

I put the seedlings in a bucket of water along with some soil moist to take back to where I'm planting and also add a scoop to the hole.

 

[BuckSutherland]

I thought about going down to the local recycle place and getting a bunch of cardboard to throw down around some of my spruce plantings this coming spring. Going to be doing about 185-195 trees again. If I get some help I think we could plant them in a day and place cardboard around them to keep the weeds down and help them get sun.


The sun and the largest seedlings you can get combined with early planting and a little water is about as good as you can do. Make sure to keep them in the sun all season. I will battle our ferns and grass again this season.

 

[Buckly]

With seedlings I have found the most successful thing you can do is plant twice what you need. If your goal is 50 trees then plant 100. You can always thin later. Spruce seedlings are very cheap.

 

[Victor Van Meter]

Thanks for the advice!

VV

 

[g squared 23]

Cages are mandatory here in central IL. No cage and the deer nip them and they're dead. I use welded wire, normally 4' tall which will last a few years.


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