Spring tree and shrub planting

[1STRANGEWILDERNESS]

Hey guys,

I am planting a bunch of red osier dogwood and some staghorn sumac, among other things this spring.

I have planted some shrubs in the past but only a handful here or there not a few hundred.

Questions : How long can you keep bare root plants before planting? I just received an email late last night from fed ex that the nursery was going to ship my order. I still have over 1 ft of snow on the ground

Also anyone ever planted these before? Any advice on what to fence with and how high etc would be appreciated. I do 6 ft around my apple trees but I’m hoping to get away with less on these. Fencing is expensive !!

[justdirtyfun]

Sounds like a little early to plant, lol.
I have been able to plant temperature wise but have way too much moisture in the ground. Yours is on top.
Getting that many plants protected is a tall order. I am not sure how to do that. Maybe a roll of snow fencing can be cut into small sections. Use twine to tie it to stakes.
I have 10 wild plum saplings to plant near some persimmons. Feeding us and deer if they don't hog it all.

[Hawthorne]

https://www.michigan-sportsman.com/foru ... ts.377864/

Go to the habitat forum on Michigan sportsman. Click on curated posts. Read anything written by Bishs. Some great info for planting and taking care of seedlings. Bishs built a wildlife paradise out of a open farm field. It took him years before he saw results. I toured his property. He did a phenomenal job and was killing big bucks off his land. Unfortunately cancer got him

[1STRANGEWILDERNESS]

Sounds like a little early to plant, lol.
I have been able to plant temperature wise but have way too much moisture in the ground. Yours is on top.
Getting that many plants protected is a tall order. I am not sure how to do that. Maybe a roll of snow fencing can be cut into small sections. Use twine to tie it to stakes.
I have 10 wild plum saplings to plant near some persimmons. Feeding us and deer if they don't hog it all.

I got ahold of them and they said they were sending out all their orders before the corona virus shuts them down.. guessing I’ll have to keep them dormant for a month or so

I might try snow fencing a long narrow row of shrubs..

Good luck with the plums hopefully you get to harvest a few. I hear the turkeys really go nuts on them things.

[1STRANGEWILDERNESS]

https://www.michigan-sportsman.com/forum/threads/how-i-plant-seedlings-and-transplants.377864/

Go to the habitat forum on Michigan sportsman. Click on curated posts. Read anything written by Bishs. Some great info for planting and taking care of seedlings. Bishs built a wildlife paradise out of a open farm field. It took him years before he saw results. I toured his property. He did a phenomenal job and was killing big bucks off his land. Unfortunately cancer got him

Thanks, I’ll check that out. That’s the only other forum I’m on haha. Sucks that poor guy built all that and by The sounds of it didn’t get to enjoy it real long.

[MN_DeerHunter]

i'm on the Michigan sportsman forum as well, a wealth of knowledge. I have planted a lot of bare root dogwood in the last few years, but I normally do it in late April (southern MN). I would suggest keeping the plants in a cool dark place and make sure the roots dont dry out.

For dogwood I prefer to use 4' welded wire with a 5' 3/8" thick rebar stake:



A cheaper method is using 4' chicken wire zip tied together also using a rebar stake (I got this idea from Bish):



Chicken wire is a PITA to work with.

Unless you plant hundreds and hundreds the deer will destroy them all if not caged.

[1STRANGEWILDERNESS]

Sure hype I can get em to take. I have a lot of Tamarack and buckthorn around the house. Stuff grows like weeds. Some areas I was thinking about dumping a bunch of tamarack. Creating an area the deer would not want to try and maneuver through. There I may stuff a bunch of cuttings and such in and hope for the best. I don’t know if it’s because of the wolves or what but the deer around here tend to avoid tight quarters like that “most” of the time.

Most of this stuff I’m buying is getting fenced for sure though.

[hunter_mike]

I took a bunch of red dogwood cuttings and am planting them this spring on my brothers land. My first time doing such a thing. Thanks for the info guys

[1STRANGEWILDERNESS]

Mine showed up at the door Friday. I put them in my shed which the temp dropped to 18 last night in there they are in a big box. Hope there okay. I’m gonna from home about 14 hrs+ each of the last few days so I didn’t do much with them. Thinking of putting checking to make sure roots aren’t damp and placing them in an old chest freezer out there with my little electric heater inside it. Crack the lid and set the thermostat to kick on If it gets below 32..best I can come up with.