Need advise on anyone who plants tree seedlings

[Rat Rod Mac]

This past winter I had a few trees harvested off my place and ordered six hundred oak seedlings to go around and spot plant in the areas where the trees were cut down. The seedlings arrived late this afternoon and to my surprise they are HUGE. I've planted oaks in the past and they were 1-0's, the size of pencils. These are two feet tall and the stems are the size of your thumb. The roots are massive also. I just use a dibble bar to plant them, but this is really going to be a challenge. My question,, could I take my pruning shears along and trim some of the roots and possibly the main stem and branches back without killing the tree or causing it to grow deformed? What makes matters even worse is the area my woods occupy is full of rocks, difficult to slide your dibble bar in sometimes even to plant a small seedling. Any advise or opinions welcomed. Thanks. RRM

 

[DrRod]

I have planted a lot of Christmas trees -- some larger than others. I tried a dibble bar ad found it impossible to get a decent hole for the roots. So I got a one-man post hole driller. I suspect you can rent one if you don't want to invest. It can be a workout but it makes a nice straight hole [don't wiggle it or you will get an hour-glass hole that will leave roots uncovered].

Can't speak to hardwoods, but with pines and firs you routinely trim the roots so they don't get stuffed into the hole. If they are too long, you will get U-shaped root systems that will eventually choke themselves out.

As for trimming the main stem, you will encourage a bushier tree with more lower branches. I wouldn't recommend that.

 

[newbury]

Could you use a "bulb planting auger" and a battery operated portable drill?
If rocks are that bad though I think you are out of luck.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

A 3-point auger is a lot less work, particularly if anywhere in a 3' circle is good enough. If you hit a rock, you can always move over.

The bigger seedlings are worth it. First year survival is mostly dependent on trunk diameter. The bigger the trunk, the more likely they are to survive. The roots should have been pruned already by the nursery.

 

[cqaigy2]

All i can remember about planting tree seedlings, is it has to be cold and wet, preferably raining, and it has to be on a 45+ degree side hill, where the only thing keeping you from sliding down hill is holding on to the last seedling you just planted. :laughing:

Sorry, nothing of value to add to what has already been said.

 

[MossRoad]

Almost 30 years ago, we had 4 acres planted with 2,150 trees. Every other row was pine and every other row was mixed hardwoods. Then two outer rows of 2 year old pines, and two rows of mixed shrubs and crab apples. They used a small Ford tractor with front wheel assist and a 3 point tree planter similar to this video. As you can see, it slits the soil open and has a sleeve in this soil where you drop the saplings. Then it has two wheels that press the soil closed around the sapling. The one they had also had a herbicide sprayer on the two press-wheels, so it side sprayed the grasses and weeds in a strip as it went along. 2150 trees took less than 4 hours with this thing.

Call your local county extension agent and see if they have a tree planter for rent. Co-ops and the Department of Natural Resources might have them as well. Hard to find them for sale. I've looked, but none ever local.

Here's the 2 year old pine rows 29 years later.... most are 15-16" diameter now. The inner rows are 13-14" diameter. The hardwoods are 8-15" depending on the species.

 

[2458n]

That is how I planted the CRP ground on my farm. Used a cane pole out the back with a line coming down at 8 ft. When the line pulled across the last tree planted in goes another one. Good to hold the tree at depth you want to plant at when your hand hits the ground let go and the closing wheel sets it at right height. Need a tractor that has a slow ground speed. Like a farmer you need to pray for rain. Fall planting would be best. Government pays you to plant in summer = go figure.

 

[dragoneggs]

I'm no expert for sure, but the bigger the hole/root space, the better the growth/success. Gotta give those roots some easy soil to best take 'root'. Can you get a small tractor w/BH to take a scoop at each planting?

 

[fishheadbob]

Maybe 20,000 seedlings and still planting.
A dibble bar works well with plugs or 1-0 seedlings but your describing something a lot bigger. A dibble isn't going to do the trick with seedlings as big as you have. If you're planting in an established woods a tractor mounted planter won't get in; a post hole digger sounds like a good idea until you try one. Never worth the effort in my book but some guys love them. Sounds like a spade and a lot of time consuming digging to get the job done. Get some help, buy some Ibuprofen.
Some people will trim back the roots, and you have mentioned cutting back some of the above ground growth. I have always considered both of those options to be pretty lousy suggestions; Mother Nature and the nurseryman who grew the seedlings both know that the top is in proportion to the roots, if you cut back much on the roots there may not be enough to provide for the top. Also the trees will already have a mild form of transplant shock before you start trimming, if you cut back on something that will make the shock that much more severe.
Have fun, this years seedlings should arrive in 3 weeks for me.

 

[DrRod]

Tractors and automated planters work great in fields but if you are working in the woods it can be pretty tough going.

As for using a drill with an auger, that works great in a flower bed but in native soil the kick back is impossible to control. Plus you can't drill much more that a one-inch hole.

That's why after trying all alternatives I went with the one-man power auger [mine is a Stihl and not cheap]. I use a 3.5" auger [any bigger gets to be a struggle] and it will kick back about once in every five holes -- even fields have rocks and roots. It has a whammy bar that swings back against your leg to act as a brake when it hits an obstacle. After a bit of work, it will put a dent in your leg so I wear a thick rubber knee pad up above my knee so the bar hits the padding, not my thigh. It looks kind of odd but will save you a lot of aggravation. Again, don't wiggle the auger in the hole [you'll get an hour-glass shape that leaves roots bare in there] -- best to go down then up about three times so it doesn't get bogged down in the hole.

Also, I have to disagree on planting in wet ground. I find the dirt comes up in dense clumps which are hard to push back down in the hole. It the dirt doesn't flow into the hole you won't get good root coverage. After a couple of failed plantings, I started making a batch of pre-dirt [my term] using dirt, sand, peat moss, and a touch of fertilizer. I drag it along in a stone boat [the big plastic thing sold by the DR mower people -- its actually the top from their smaller power wagon -- and with a good rope on it you can just pull it along as you set the trees in the holes]. I dump a couple of scoops in the hole before pushing the extracted hole dirt back in. This ensures that the roots will at least get some initial dirt contact before the whole thing settles.