What size plant are you starting with? Be careful with putting too small a plant in too big a pot.

Where do you live? How are you going to store them over the winter?

Looking at the list, most are fast growing and can be had a a big box hardware store cheaply. What is the cost of the supplies now versus waiting and buying the trees when you are ready to plant?

At the moment I am working with cuttings off some of the tree varieties - they are 4 to 6 inches. Some varieties I will grow by seed such as the willow. I have started the cuttings in 3 inch disposable peat moss cups - the kind compiled of peat moss that you simply transplant then the roots grow through.

I live in Nevada. The first winter they will be stored in my basement. But thereafter I hope to keep them outside and permit them to go dormant so that by the time I plant them in the ground they have experienced a winter or two. After probing a flirty nursery attendant I found out this is the way the two major chains of nurseries near me do their trees.

Trees that are 3-4 years old in most of these varieties will run me $60-$120 each. At the middle of the road - $80 - with enough trees to shade a driveway, yard, and pastures on 40 acres I probably need about 200. The supplies to take 1000 cuttings or seeds (some combination of both), the pots, soil (I use my own sand here and later use a compost I make myself with some help from my horses) and finally the pots - most of which I can get for free by asking local nurseries for their extras they plan to throw out - the cost is a mere fraction. So, I have set out to learn this skill:)

Thanks for any help!