Winter Tree Planting

[TonySoprano]

I ordered a couple of pear "trees" during the summer that needed to ship before the end of the year to get the sale price. In retrospect I probably should of had them Shipped in October and planted them right away . However my ship date is the last week of Dec. The "trees" are probably more like seedlings and will ship in a small container. I assumed the trees would be bigger, like Blue Hills or Whitetail crabs until I saw this pic taken in july on their Facebook page. I'm in Virginia , if the ground isn't frozen should I plant them in January with a tube around them ? or maybe keep them in the garage with the containers wrapped in a old towel and plant in Feb or March ?. The earliest I ever planted was last year in Feb , trees from The Wildlife group and they are all doing well.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

I would say if the ground isn’t frozen plant them! The trees should be dormant (unless you ordered some from the Deep South (don’t ask me how I know about this). Give them a decent amount of water and wait for them to wake up!

 

[MW22392]

Agreed if the grounds not frozen, i would plant them.

 

[bigboreblr]

I've chopped up 2 or 3 inches of frozen ground to plant trees 2 years ago at camp. whitetail crab trees on anty. They all are doing well. I watered them as well. Was about mid december. Febuary it was -38 one day that winter too.

The working mans mehod to thaw ground out is to buy a big 90 degree elbow to put over a salamader heater. Aim the heater at the ground for about 10 minutes or so. You can heat up a stone with a gas grill and cover the ground with a blanket over it too. Hot water in a bucket covered up in a blanket works too.

Dormant fall planting is the way to go. Try not to feeze out the plantings before you put them in. Even if you do, they;ll probably be ok, just a little dieback on some roots.

 

[TonySoprano]

I would say if the ground isn’t frozen plant them! The trees should be dormant (unless you ordered some from the Deep South (don’t ask me how I know about this). Give them a decent amount of water and wait for them to wake up!

They are coming from Georgia , a little further south than me. I'll keep everyone posted on what the trees look like and how they survive.
I don't mind a smaller tree, that will allow me to prune the way I want, I have receieved some trees that were cut WAY back to fit on boxes . However if these trees are priced the same as trees from Blue Hill or Whitetail crabs , and 1/4 the size I probably wont order any more.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Best of luck with them!!! Planting stuff gets addictive.

 

[bigboreblr]

You might have more problem with them not being in the ground.