Planting Trees at Camp - Help

plant when dormant, so December through February

I know the nursery I order from sells hardwoods in boxes as small as 25, but I'm not sure they deliver

One thing to keep in mind is that if an area has a pretty decent deer population, they may browse the hell out of your seedlings after they bud out, killing them

Here is the Arborgen catalog, looks like they do deliver:
LINK

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December through February

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yup

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Arborgen

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I've used them before, and they usually have beautiful trees.

Compare the prices at Arborgen to the LA Dept Ag and Forestry prices. Depending what you are getting, the stuff from the state is likely cheaper.

Go here to see what's available for this year, then go here for the prices.

If you're looking at specific species of trees, Mossy Oak has their own nursery in Starkville, MS. Plus, they ship them to your door. They have a variety of different tree types. They use a special technique called "air pruning," which means they plant the seeds and let them sprout in a special container that causes the roots to grow in a more spread out, fibrous way. Basically, instead of a couple tap roots, there's hundreds of tiny fiber roots, which means the tree can pick up more nutrients and water from the soil. Some of mine have grown from 12-14" to 6-8' feet tall by the year after I planted them. They are a bit more expensive, ($3 a tree, for a 6-18" one year old seedling), but in my experience, we haven't lost any to drought or natural conditions YET. I've planted about 100 of them in different varieties on my property over the past couple of years. Good stuff if you're willing to pay a little more for a healthier tree.

If you're looking for tree species recommendations, I like to mix varieties of oaks: Nuttall, white, southern red, shumard, swamp chesnut, water, and cherrybark oak are some good ones. It all depends on your site conditions. Honeylocust is an excellent wildlife tree to consider as well. For fruit trees, you want wild varieties rather than domestic varieties (they are hardier and do not need pesticides). There are plenty of different wild species of apples, crabapples, and pears, but honestly, its hard to go wrong with a bunch of persimmon trees. Everything eats persimmons like crazy.

I think that Mossy Oak also sells bareroot seedlings in bulk, like 100 for $100 I think. These aren't air pruned or container grown, they are grown in the ground and then dug out when you buy them. 100 trees for $100 is a pretty good deal, but you can only get one species. www.nativnurseries.com

We've gotten some bigger trees from a nursery in Georgia and one in Alabama, but these are extremely large trees (15 gallon pots, several years old) and I don't think that's what you're looking for. But I got some excellent trees from those places, as well.

Mayhaws are good understory trees. Paw paws also if you can find them. plant in volume, you will lose a few of all of them to wildlife. Chickasaw plums trees - find some seeds and plant a couple dozen in a small patch. in ten years you'll have a nice growth of wild plums.

Im glad you had good results with them, but I know several people (including myself) that have had less than stellar performance from the RPM (air pruned) trees. A tree or two for your yard may be ok, but I think their growth tapers off A LOT when you put them in a natural setting that isn't over-fertilized like their nurseries. They are also rediculously expensive.

All I can tell you that hasn't already been said unless i overlooked it Is make sure you put a cage around them. I planted fruit trees on my place and the deer ate them as soon as I planted them.

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I've used them before, and they usually have beautiful trees.

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I will be getting 2 million + trees from them this year

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I will be getting 2 million + trees from them this year

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Pine or Hardwood?

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I planted 200,000 pine from the state forestry guys.

I hated that icy cold nutrient gel they put on the roots.

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You can buy loblolly pines from Dollar General and 90% of them would live. Hardwoods are particular.

The gel, well, I have messicans.

Disclaimer: If you are messican, I meant Hondurans.

Thanks for yall's help. I am going to look at Mossy oak and LA Ag to order a a few hundred.

About how big a cage do I need? Just a chicken wire circle will work?

I looked at building cages or buying tubes. Does anyone know where to get discount grow tubes? They are more expensive than the trees