Trees arrived, now what?

chummer

5 year old buck +
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
apple tree planting & spring turkeys 08 016.jpg 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!
 
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?
 
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.
 
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