Norway spruce seedlings-help

[timnick]

i tried to plant some but they are at the farm 80 miles away and hard to water consistently. My idea is to order seedlings and keep them home this summer in pots on the patio so I can water them, then plant them in the fall. What do I keep them in? Special pots?(wife is against planting them in the back yard for the summer.). I got an order form from chief river nursery in Wisconsin, they have 2 year seedlings and 4 year transplants. I would like the 4 year. Do I handle them differently? Any other ideas welcome

 

[Mennoniteman]

I too would like to hear from someone who has experience planting Norway spruce?

 

[MarkDarvin]

I'd skip the bare root and go with size 20 norway plugs from Itasca and plant them all as soon as you can in spring. You'll get 3-4 times as many for the same price. Repeat the next year with the same amount in case some don't take. Then you can skip all the busy work maintaining them at home.

http://www.itascagreenhouse.com/page4.html

I've never watered a tree i bought from Itasca.

 

[Chainsaw]

I agree, I'd plant them right away. If they need watering a couple of times to get them started then it's just a couple of trips and done. At least that is how it would be here. Actually I have only watered the when I planted. Most of them make it. I used two year transplants because that is what was available then.

 

[dogghr]

I just share this advice. Of 200 Norways that I planted over 2 years I have maybe 6 that have survived. The first batch, despite it said deer don't like them, were destroyed within weeks that spring by deer browse and rubbing. So make sure you protect them some how or maybe overwhelm them with a thousand. The other batch was followed by a dry spring and like you have no way to water them. Most of them died. I've given up on them and switched to other conifers with a better success. And like everything, the conifers that nature plants for me do very well, so I've just been sitting back and let her do the work for me. If you want a good brush type tree that is drought resistant, I've had great luck with Hazelnuts. Good luck.