Trees arrived, now what?

[chummer]

I apologize, I am sure this has been covered. I just opened my trees from cummins and there is a lot of green in the box. They are starting to break bud. I will be planting them tomorrow, is there anything extra I need to do because of this? I was very impressed with the size of the trees. Most are over 5' tall. How far down should I prune them and does them breaking bud change how I prune them? I typically get frost until June so I hope that is not going to be a problem. Thanks for the help.

 

[aerospacefarmer]

Chummer I don't think it should be a problem but maybe you can keep them for another week or so inside. I would guess that its leaves that are breaking so they may be a little more susceptible to freezing. A lot of my trees are at 1/2 inch green and should be good to 27 degrees.

 

[chummer]

I have to plant them tomorrow. I have a couple hundred various trees and shrubs coming the next two weeks. It is also looking like a lot of rain after tomorrow. The 10 day has nothing near freezing after tonight so maybe I will get lucky.

 

[jaximus]

i called woodstock today, my receipt from this winter said they should be ready for pickup around 4/20 and that they would call when they were ready. i called hoping they had them ready but they said i had to wait for my call. im worried because buds are opening up all around me and i have off all weekend, but next week i work 5 out of 7 days, nights, 12 hr shifts, so i wont have much chance to get them in the ground if they dont call me tomorrow.

 

[Maya]

That's normal Chummer, plant away and have fun! Are they whips or feathered? Prune back central leader approximately 20% or so just above a nice bud. If feathered keep in mind that about 6-8 inches below you cut those buds will break into branches, so I like to cut it high enough for those to break bud plus leave another 8-10" or more above the lower scaffold. You can see roughly the cut was made roughly 16-18" above the lower scaffold in this pic. Good luck!

 

[chummer]

View attachment 73 That's normal Chummer, plant away and have fun! Are they whips or feathered? Prune back central leader approximately 20% or so just above a nice bud. If feathered keep in mind that about 6-8 inches below you cut those buds will break into branches, so I like to cut it high enough for those to break bud plus leave another 8-10" or more above the lower scaffold. You can see roughly the cut was made roughly 16-18" above the lower scaffold in this pic. Good luck!

Thanks for the help. They are mostly whips. I will be removing any side branches . I learned from the trees I planted last year that any branches below the snow pack just get ripped off anyway. Is it a bad idea to keep anything below 3-4' clipped off all year or will that confuse the tree?

 

[Maya]

I don't mind keeping them on. More leaves taking in sunlight on young trees can't be bad. I take them out after a year or two if they are ones I don't want.