A big job ahead of me....

[Stonehenge]

I had no idea I could pile 30 - 2" caliper trees onto a Chev 3500 and a 5 ton trailer....

But we did.

I would have taken a pic of the trees on the truck and trailer, but it was getting dark and I needed to unload them.

BTW, these are the trees that are going to line the driveway of our new home. :D

I'm pretty excited. :woot:

[Dale Wiley]

What size are those root balls??

[Stonehenge]

They varied - they were anywhere from 24" across to 36" across, depending on the tree. Bigger than some of what I'm used to in 2" caliper trees...which is why I'm really enjoying working with this nursery.

I think the pic is making them appear small. The trees are between 11-13' tall, plus the height of the root ball. (Sentinel Crabs)

[jwholden]

Holy crabapples Batman!!!

Do you have connections with a local arborist who can spray those crabs for you? I assume Sentinal is a pretty resistant cultivar.

[Paul]

Shouldn't be more than a days work!

[jwholden]

Mark the planting locations before you start the machine.

All excavated soil on a tarp or piece of burlap. Rocks go right into the wheelbarrow, no seperate piles. Mix some good soil or compost with the backfill. 1/2 to one bag of cedar around the base of each tree. Plant them high, that darned clay!

[Stonehenge]

JW - the excavated soil on a tarp - is that for when there is an existing lawn? The reason I ask is, all I have right now is dirt for as far as the eye can see.

And this is actually really a lot earlier than I was planning on buying any plant material or doing any landscaping - I haven't even created a design yet!! But I knew I wanted an ornamental with a vertical habit to line the driveway. I was made an offer for these trees that I couldn't refuse. So I didn't refuse. ;)

[CountyMaterials]

Jeff - not much plant or tree knowledge here at all but, wouldn't you be able to do what a nursery does. Instead of not really knowing where you want them in relation to your whole project, couldnt you just line them up, thrown some mulch over them and save them for when you are ready? Is this kind of what the nurseries do?

[Stonehenge]

Kind of. The nurseries usually do more than that at the end of the season, to prevent the rootballs from freezing.

We dinked around at my place with some of the masonry, and while we were at it we planted 8 of the trees. No matter how many times I do it, I am always taken back by the immediate impact trees have on landscape.

[Bexter]

Jeff... you would love our new/used tree spade right now for that job... just finished a job consisting of 285 2" caliper boulevard planting ... the cats meow . I think our best day was 50(4 man crew- hole plugged-tree planted- watered in and mulched) ... you have to take into account mobilization of the equipment ..loading trees etc.. plus they loaded up for the next day ..pretty good day I thought.
It's not a huge one, will dig up to 3" which is fine for us. Used the 863.