Sapling question

[Harvey Mungaknuts]

I know someone can give me a good answer.  my sister just yesterday received saplings from the Arbor Day foundation that she has been expecting since spring.  what should she do with them now?   It would be to cold to putt into groun right?  And then there would be a chance of animals eating them off right.   TIA

[Guest curwensville]

Plant it and place some protection around it.

[lavender]

I agree. There is no other way to keep them unless you have excellent storage facilities and know how exactly to store them. It is not too late to put them in as long as the ground isn't frozen. Keep them watered until the ground does freeze if there is little rain.  Mulching them wouldn't hurt. They will grow roots until the ground does freeze.

It is not good commercial practice to keep you waiting that long and then send stuff out this late in the season. It's like the seed companies that send out out your tomato seeds in May. They should have enough sense to realize that we live in zone 5 and we need time to get things started.  I've stopped ordering from companies that do it.

[Petee]

If you can't get them into the ground now where you want them forever, then put them in pots of very loose soil that drains well.  Fill the pot to the top.  Set the pots into an old garden or area that is well dug, with good drainage, and where the seedlings can be protected from rabbits and deer.  They are a young tree's worst enemy.   Add enough peat moss to keep the soil around the pot relatively soft.  Mulch them well after the ground freezes.  Then you can either lift the pots in the spring and plant the seedlings where you want the (again with good protection) or leave them potted till they need bigger pots.  You can do that for a couple of years if necessary.  That's how some nurseries keep them over.

 

This is a picture of the new nursery bed for the BUDS Gardeners.  We are keeping  plants over till the next year for sales.  Before they used to struggle through the winter and we lost a lot.  This bed is still not solid with pots.  We still have room for a lot more.  A bed like this will help you grow nice sized trees or shrubs for planting and it could be surrounded with wire fencing easily if needed.  

 

Notice the small trees.  They are from the Clearfield County Conservation District Tree sale for a very small price.  When I got them a year ago they were tiny little seedlings but in the next year or two they will be a grand size for planting.  

[Guest tompepper]

you can plant them or teansplant in any month with an R in it.Gradma seez so

[lavender]

you can plant them or teansplant in any month with an R in it.Gradma seez so

Works for oysters too!