So, early last week I came to the realization that fall would be a better time to start the orchard. I called the online vendor and canceled my order. I gave my order # over the phone, and the woman on the phone said, “All set, your order is canceled.” I gave her my name and asked, “Are you sure you have my order there? Do you want me to repeat the number?” “All set.”
As I suspected, canceling my huge order of trees was too easy.
Much to my surprise, a 4 ft. tall box was at our door yesterday afternoon.
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I do a lot of online ordering, so this was not a big deal. I proceeded to open the box and there were 50 bare root trees in there. 40 apple trees, along with 10 free (mostly Forsythia and Sugar Maple) trees. I called the vendor and complained. I could reject the package as “return to sender,” but the trees probably wouldn’t make it. So I figured I’d try to plant them in containers and keep them alive until fall. If things go well, it will be much easier to plant the trees in smaller bunches, rather than all 40 at one time. (Yeah, what was I thinking? To avoid calling me an idiot, let’s just say I dream BIG.)
I had to scramble around town to find cheap nursery-type buckets. I was unsure about the proper soil to use and bought this kind:
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By 10pm last night, I had 40 apple trees in containers in my driveway. I moved them to the backyard today. I had an extra passenger which made the trips longer, but more amusing.
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So this is what the container garden looks like now.
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I have Freedom, Liberty, Empire, and Enterprise varieties. I soaked the roots for 6 hours. In my googling frenzy, I saw required soaking times of 4-6 hours and as much as 24 hours. I decided to go with 6 and just made sure to really saturate the soil. I kept the grafted part of the root above soil, but on some of the trees I could not find the grafted portion. Some of the trees could use larger containers, which I have ordered cheaply online. I can transplant some trees when they arrive. Next, I will try tying the crooked ones to stakes to straighten them out a bit. But for right now, I think I need a nap.