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not planting bareroot trees right away
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Posted by allenabq (My Page) on Sun, Feb 18, 07 at 0:15
| After much reading, I've decided what I'd like to do is put four cherry trees in the same hole. To do this, you should have the same rootstock on all your trees that will go in.
So now I'm faced with a quandary. I've figured out the four I want (Craig's Crimson, Royal Rainier, Bing, and Van), but I will need to order bareroot trees from two different nurseries in order to have them all on the same rootstock. Since there is a significant chance that I'll end up getting two of my trees a few weeks before the other two arrive, my question is how do I keep the earlier arriving ones healthy while I wait for the others to get here?
Can I keep them temporarily in a pot of sawdust or some other material?
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Follow-Up Postings:
RE: not planting bareroot trees right away
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I’m starting all my bare root fruit trees in five or seven gallon pots with quality potting soil. Next summer, when I have more time to clear planting areas and dig holes, I hope to actually set up planting areas and plant them. I’ve started all my bare root roses that way, and it worked really great. The pots warmed the soil and gave the roots a jump start they wouldn’t have had in the colder ground. My soil doesn’t drain well, is prone to fungi infections, and needs more fussing with than I have time for right now.
If you’re making raised beds, it couldn’t be easier: Set up the box. Un-cork the well rooted trees, and put them in their place. Fill in the spaces with potting soil. No digging necessary. I did three boxes last summer, and they’re all growing well, starting to flower now. |
RE: not planting bareroot trees right away
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I can't imagine putting four cherry trees in the same hole, but I guess that is just me. Fruit trees are like puppies, they are all cute when they are young, it is when they become older that we might begin to wonder what we were thinking. I know I have done that. too many times. An old girl friend with a German Shepherd in her apartment wondered what she was thinking. I suspect you will come to wonder what you were thinking. But hey, if it doesn't work out then just make firewood. Fruit trees will hold for at least two weeks easy if you keep the sawdust, or whatever they were shipped in, reasonably moist. Do not plant a cherry tree and then transplant it when it is leafed out. It will die. Actually I don't like to transplant cherry trees at all.
cherries are not roses. Not when it comes to transplanting. I have transplanted many roses, they are easy. cherries are not. |
RE: not planting bareroot trees right away
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| geraldo... it does sound a bit bizarre at first, but its well-documented on this page: http://www.davewilson.com/homegrown/all_ed/Ed_recommends.html and I've found other places that talked about it as well. Basically, its assumed that if you're doing this, you have limited space which also assumes that you'll be pruning the trees each year to keep them a manageable size. There's photos here of what a 4-in-1 planting looking like when the trees are mature and kept pruned properly. http://www.davewilson.com/homegrown/winners/contest_pix.html Since a set-up like this would work perfectly in my back yard, I've decided to give it a go. And as you said if it doesn't work out, there's always firewood. lol Thanks for the tips on keeping the trees healthy. |
RE: not planting bareroot trees right away
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Ok, Allen, I take it back. "Do Overs!" If you keep them pruned waaay back then it can work fine. Go for it. Apples, I could imagine and peaches, too. It was the cherry part I couldn't get my mind around. Also they are spaced about two or so feet apart, which is different than the placing in the same exact augured hole which is what I was visualizing.
Are these Gisela roots? |
RE: not planting bareroot trees right away
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| No, they are Mazzard. That's the typical rootstock you can find in the nursuries here IF they even know what rootstock their trees are grafted to. About the only place I've found dwarf rootstock is at Lowe's and Home Depot. And of course, they don't have a clue what the rootstock is. Instead of taking chances, I went with Mazzard. I really have no problem with it, given that I'd be doing regular pruning no matter what. But if I eventually sell the house and the new owner's let the trees go... well, that'll be THEIR problem. lol I also rethought the layout of my back yard for future landscaping projects and realized that having the trees in a cluster like that wasn't going to be the best use of space. So now I am putting them along the back of my property spaced ~6 feet apart. And it turns out that that way, I have room for a fifth tree! |
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