OT evergreen seedlings

fixerupper · Jan 16, 2011

I have a chance to get ten Blue Spruce trees that I assume are seedlings for a dollar apiece. Marilyn's sis is getting them for answering a few questions about trees and she has no place for them when they come so I said I'd take them.

The question I have is can they stand to be buried by the deep snow in the winter? I plan to plant them in this one spot close to the buildings and a water source and then re-plant in a few years but the place I have in mind drifts two or three feet deep or more. Can they be covered like a rose bush? I know these trees get covered with snow in the wild but the mortality rate might be high. Thanks in advance. Jim

2x4 · Jan 16, 2011

plant'em & forget'em; they'll be just fine unless you brushhog'em. Then not so much...

old · Jan 16, 2011

A number of years ago my dad would set out a few each year and the only problem we ever had was the fact the deer love them when they are small and eat them. Then when they got bigger they love to rub them and have killed a few that way. But as for weather once in the ground they seemed to d well if they could get past the first say 3 or so years with out the deer eating them

Keith-OR · Jan 17, 2011

they grow all over here in the mountains of Oregon, so I guess the snow would not bother them. They make good life Christmas trees for your yard.

Keith & Shawn

BushogPapa · Jan 17, 2011

Blue Spruce make nice-to-look-at Christmas trees, but the needles are sharp as ..well, they draw Blood..!!!

You don't want them anywhere that water stands on the ground.
Space them at least 10 Ft apart and not too close to buildings..
A 2oz shot of fertilizer around the tree is good, once a year..just poke the ground with a stick and pour it in..
Put them where you want them..you may not get back to transplanting them later...!!
Blue Spruce seedlings (2 year?) will take 8 to 12 years to make a Xmas tree..

Ron.

supergrumpy · Jan 17, 2011

local tree nursery sells them in springtime, think you get 100 for $19, I started planting few hundred each year in late April while ground is still soggy, planting in frozen ground not my idea of a good time

planted them too close together so I dig the in-between ones out and transplant them, lose about 10% on transplant, hardly lost any on first planting except to the bushhog

I would wrap them in wet burlap inside large paper bag and keep them cool until ground thaws out

JOB · Jan 17, 2011

Arbor day does that every year, sells six inch spruce trees for a buck apiece. When you water spruce trees, water the needles also, spruce take in a lot of their moisture throught their needles. Might be true with pine also. And like others have said deer love them, fence them off, and plant in full sun. I have some mature spruce and you can see tracks in the snow where the deer still come and brouse on the spruce trees. They will send a book of trees to buy from also. Don't buy any oak trees from it. They give you a three foot tree with one foot of root. They have cut off more root than they give you, I have never had one survive. I have bought birch from them and they do well. If you want good trees at a reasonable price buy them from your local soil and water conservation district. They get them from the department of natural resourses.

Dave 2N · Jan 17, 2011

Bingo! I've got quite a few Blue Spruce I planted that are bare on one side because of deer rubs.

TomH in PA · Jan 17, 2011

Buried in snow is probably the best way for them to spend the winter. Here's some more info:
Musser Forests

BLW · Jan 17, 2011

I have planted 4 or 5 different kinds from the state reforesting system they only cost about 10 cents ea and grow good some are 30" high now the only mistake I made is planting too close to buildings and other things-- then we have to cut them down when they get too big and a prob. keep this in mind if you keep them in wet newspaper they will last until frost is out of the ground much easier then- they were about 12 to 18 " high blw

fixerupper · Jan 17, 2011

Well thanks for the information, or confirmation. When these trees grow in the wild I don't know what the mortality rate is. Dad planted a bunch of seedlings way out in the field back in the sixties and they were eaten off by the jackrabbits. I don't know what kind of evergreen they were. We didn't have deer at that time but we did have a lot of jacks. Now it's turned around.

We do have a Concolor Fir grove that dad planted back in the fifties. I pulled out nine of them a year ago and replanted new Concolors but they're 3-4 feet tall and were VERY spendy. These little buggers I'm planting in the spring are the first attempt at seedlings since the sixties. I plan to plant them fairly close together and replant at my son's place after a few years. Dad has planted a lot of trees over the years and he claims an evergreen needs to be replanted to make it bush out. I guess we all have our theories whether good or bad. I do plan to fence them. My big Lab keeps the animals away but he pees on anything that sticks up and I know he'll be sniffing the new trees.Jim

old · Jan 17, 2011

My mom has one that is about 6 inches in diameter and it has taken a beating for the last 3 or 4 years by what we can only figure is a big buck but so far I do not think any of the guys who hunt here have shot him yet because it keeps coming back every year to the same big tree. Another one we have the buck has not been back so I figure we got that one since it has not been hit this year

INCase · Jan 17, 2011

well $1 a tree is VERY steep. commercial grower price is about 35/100. State programs are less than that.

They should be ok in the snow. If you want them to grow well do NOT wash the roots off before planting. Usually works better to trim the roots a little (just a little) before planting. Also want to keep the weeds down too. I've had some I didn't keep mowed and they lived but didn't grow (6 inches tall after 4 years). As other have said spruces don't like wet feet so standing water is bad.

Some say put a dead fish in the bottom of the hole when planting. I use a little AGGRAND fertilizer in the hole.

JDemaris · Jan 17, 2011

We planted hundreds of connifer seedlings in a rural area of NY that gets low down to minus 30F and tons of lake effect snow from Lake Ontario. Also a bunch in northern Michigan. Blue Spruce (AKA Colorado Spruce), Tamarack, White Cedar, Balsam Fir, and White Pine. $22 for 25 seedlings, , or $62 for 100 of them. We buy every year here in NY and in Northern Michigan.

All the Blue Spruce have done fine. The worst ones are the White Cedar and Balsam Fir. That because the deer love them and chew off all the summers growth, every winter.

Main thing about the Blue Spruce is - it won't want to turn blue unless you've got the proper acid in the soil. Too akaline and it will want to stay green.

OT evergreen seedlings

fixerupper

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2x4

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old

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Keith-OR

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BushogPapa

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supergrumpy

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JOB

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Dave 2N

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TomH in PA

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BLW

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fixerupper

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old

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INCase

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JDemaris

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