Many nurseries deliver bare-root trees. If your spring is going like mine is, and have just received a bundle of trees as the snow drifts around your compost bin, whatcha going to do with a bundle of bare-root saplings? If you had dug out your holes last fall, and put the dug out soil under cover, you could in fact plant hearty trees with that held-back soil. they are dormant and can take the weather while dormant. I did not take my own advice, so I just re-hydrated a pail full of peat moss. I used that moss to heel in trees into a bottom draining pot. I also added water to remove-reduce air pockets. Those saplings can sit with minor shelter till The snow drifts melt away in SE-OH. Time enough now to replant when my fingers don't turn blue...
Snow is melting, the sun is shining its time to get bare-root trees into soil in pots. I also potted up my last (castenea) chestnut and chinkapin, both of which had roots erupting into the peat-moss standing in place for soil while they were in the fridge. Cornus mas stones in their warm germinating pan have also gone out of doors.
I hope to create a legacy of two food islands. Swedeborgian and mormon missionaries planted what they perceived as model gardens of Eden.
OIKOS and Mussers delivered in the past day-or-so. Everything that needs potting is done. I will hold off on repotting azalea till I gets some paper-white pans for them. The azalea are definately inflaming my hoarding gland. they are tiny and just rooted cuttings. For a bonsai guy these are gems. reds and "orchid", a new to me color...
I took some antonovka (apple) babies and used them as the feet of grafted trees. I used some local russet apple top-wood and cobbled together my own little monsters. Three of the five I built have woken up and look pretty good. Inasmuch as I only did this once and something more than twenty-five years ago, I'm over the moon with joy. its not quite time to climb on on a roof-top and exclaim :Its alive!!, but its close...
