Red Spruce = Picea rubens

[Tangler]

I have 25 seedlings in my truck to plant tomorrow. Location southern NH (Weare NH) (zone 5b)
I know, might be a little early but ground is no longer frozen and the trees came in the mail from cold springs nursery today:
Questions:
1. Planing on planting on a slope in acidic soil to help with "screening" my property from the road. Any obvious pitfalls/problems with this?
2. Tree cages or tree tubes? I have both and could use either. I am leaning small cages.
3. I am planning on just making a slit in the soil and throwing them in there. Small saplings/seedlings.

Thanks for listening. Sorry if this has been asked already.

 

[Telemark]

1. Are they not sensitive to acidic soil?

2. Cages.

3. That doesn't give you a chance to amend the soil. I would dig a hole, mix in a bunch of barn lime and some lawn lime with the dirt. If you spread lime uphill from the tree, I'd be worried it would just wash down the slope rather than penetrate the soil and raise pH.

 

[bigboreblr]

Ive litterally chiseled forzen soil for a hole for tranplanting black spruce from one spot to another at camp in the adirondacks. It does just fine.

That dibbler hole method foresters use does work. But I find taking the time to dig a hole, amend, make enough room for the roots, and mulching is way way better than the slit in the hole. 25 isn't a ton of time. Get some lime... 1 ton of lime per acre 6 inches deep is probably a good amount for sandy soil. Unually with acidic clay its 2+ tons an acre. Covert that to a 5 gallon bucket of soil, that about .9 ounces of pelletized lime. An ounce wight of pelletized lime is about an once volume. Clay soil should be about 2 ounces per 5 gallons. I add an ounce of triple 12 fetilizer in the hole. I also add agriform tablets or osmocote in the soil. I really like using peat moss. coffee cup or two n a 5 gallon hole is great.

Tubes vs cages. Driving around, I see alot of dead plants in tube, alot less in cages. IF deer pressure is low, spruces might survive without them. I've planted 2 to 3 hundred over the years, almost all no cages. Some will get nibbled, none get nibbled with cages though. I have medium to high deer density at home and have tons of spruces go to maturity. My bigger problem is when they're 4 years old and the bucks wanna rub things.

I have 20 white pines I am planting in late april at camp. No plans to cage them. Pines are more nibbled than spruces. My foodplots are by the road, old log landings. I got a lease and can foodplot where there an open spot.

On a hill, get some buckets and drill a 1/8 to 3/16" hole in it. Water goes slowly deeper instead of running down the hill. Can't water, then mulch it more. Water when you plant atleast.

 

[Teeder]

What kind of trees are you seeing dead in the tubes?
That doesn't match my experience.