Well it is crazy around here... it is that time of year. We are planning, growing, and planting stuff... Well my orders of trees have started to show up and I am up at night when I should be sleeping trying to sort out where I want to put them, worried about getting these bare root trees in some dirt fast, and trying to keep them alive and happy as I figure out where things can go here in our urban homestead and how to keep the ones I cannot plant here alive so that I can get them out to our rural property in MO.
So the first bunch of trees arrived from the Missouri Department of Conservation. I had ordered these trees back in November. The purpose of these trees was for my rural property. Sadly my plans to go out to the rural property have been delayed due to other crisis and priorities so now I am left with the task of finding a way to plant these trees in pots to keep them alive until I can get them out to MO. Possibly by the fall which is the best time to plant them anyway. So I am juggling what to do with these trees.
They arrived with the mail and are bare root starter trees. The price is right, now to see how many of these trees survive. I will be planting a few of them here in the urban homestead but the space is at a premium here so not a lot can be planted here, but we will squeeze a few in. I will plant a few June Berry(Service berry), a few Paw Paw, a couple of mulberry and a Black Locust or two depending on the space left.
These trees come bare root, meaning no pot or anything. They are dug up while dormant(ie no leaves and hibernating). Your supposed to get them planted and in the ground as soon as you get them. I got them this past week but have not been able to plant yet. So I am now losing sleep over getting the time to get them in the ground! LOL
I just received confirmation from Stark Bros that my fruit tree and berry bush orders have shipped. So I am going to be CRAZY busy around here for the next week between work schedule and trying to find time to get trees out and of course lets not forget the ever important time to set out our early cold hardy greens. They should be set out to harden starting this weekend and will be planted some time next week... So BUSY really is a 4 letter word when it comes to making time to plant.
Some quick tree planting tips... When planting your trees don't go and put compost and rich soil in the hole with your tree. You are effectively making an in ground pot for the tree which will not want to leave that spot you put the rich material. Instead just dig the hole about twice the width of the root and twice as deep. If you happen to have some fungi to give your root system help then great, if not don't worry... If your using BTE gardening the fungi needed will be there soon enough with your wood chips! Put your tree in your hole and backfill with the dirt from your hole. Don't pack it down and stomp it down.... You don't want to compact the soil. Next layer some manure over the top of the soil. Next put on a deep layer of wood chips and add plenty of water for the tree. The first year or two is when your tree will be establishing its roots and are the most critical time for you to water and keep an eye on your trees.
I will post some pics of the trees as I am pulling them out to put in pots and to plant so you can see what they look like. Hopefully the Stark Bros trees will be here soon and I can do them all at one time over a couple of days. Time is in pretty short supply right now so anything to allow me to break off a chuck of time at one shot would be great. I will keep you posted and will post some pics of the trees and process.
I hope your having fun... this is a great time of year, exciting, challenging, and a great time for learning. :-)
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