When the snow melts here in Minnesota I am as anxious as anyone to get out there and start planting trees. But I have learned over the years that tree planting is one situation where the early bird doesn’t always get worm, and that it’s better to wait until the soil warms up a bit before planting trees and applying tree tubes.
I had a customer years ago who planted black walnuts by direct seeding (planting the nuts rather than seedlings). He always waited to plant until late May or even early June. This was in SW Wisconsin, by the way. One year black walnuts planted in early June emerged from 4 foot treeshelters by the end of the growing season!
Trees won’t really start to grow – and roots won’t really start to “knit” with the soil – until the soil warms up. Planting trees while the soil is still cold isn’t necessarily harmful, but the seedlings will dry out a bit before they are able to start absorbing moisture, and the won’t start to grow at all until things warm up.
It’s better to put an extra week or two into site preparation than to rush to get seedlings in the ground early.
… All of which works out well since I’m nearly sold out of tree tubes until my next large shipment arrives approx May 1 – Order Today To Reserve Yours! Call Chris at 507-301-5106 or contact us today.
