Bare root trees

[realist]

Does anyone use bare root trees? I planted three almonds and one took right away, the other two have languished and are just now sprouting but the top it dead. All three were planted the same way I just can't figure it out. Thanks for the help

[bacpacker]

All my fruit trees were bare root. Got them from Stark bros. They had the best root system I've ever seen on a tree. I have lost a couple.

The best thing I found was to fill the whole in partially and water in well so the dirt would settle around the roots. They don't like air pockets much. Fill the hole the rest of the way and water again.

[realist]

You do the same thing that I did. I also cut them back as instructed by a bunch of nurseries. I guess I was just unlucky.

[bacpacker]

It happens. They need regular water, but not too much. Sometimes they still die.

The thing I like about www.starkbros.com is they have a one year warranty. I have used it and they do stand behind them.

[realist]

I'll check them out, thanks.

[bacpacker]

I got an email from them this morning about a sale they are running. I'll post it up here over the weekend. On my phone now and not real keyboard frienxly.

[Socalman]

I have had excellent luck with bare root fruit trees. I always make sure my planting hole is about 3 times larger then the root system. Then I begin to fill it with a 50/50 mixture of the dirt and planting mix or compost. When it is partially filled, maybe 1/4 I fill it with water and let it settle and then firm it up by stepping on it as this helps to get rid of air space. Then I place the the tree in and continue to fill it back up with my mixture of dirt and planting mix. Over 30 years here and I have never had a tree fail.

[bacpacker]

Stark is running a end of season sale. They have several varities that are $10. Good time to buy.

[realist]

These trees are driving me nuts, no pun intended. One almond came in normally, the other came in at the bottom so I have to check on the original root stock and the other is DRT. My Fuji apple I thought was gone now has all sort of buds, the other came in normally. All were planted at the same time, in the same soil and watered the same. I can't figure it out.........

[Sniper-T]

I went out with a buddy on the weekend, and we dug up about 150 trees from another friends place for transplantation. We shovel dug all the little ones, so got some nice dirt balls, but we also grabbed a trailer load of larger ones, which we extracted via backhoe. And none too gently either. Most of these ended up being bare root by the time I got mine back in the ground. I'm watching closely to see if they survive.

All trees were Tamarack, Black Spruce, Scotch Pine, and Birch.

[realist]

Well that is a little extreme, I thought my five or six trees were a lot. 150 trees is a small forest. Its nice to have friends and be in a location you can get the trees at that price.