is it too late to plant bare root trees??

looksee

In fairness Lumen a 3m tree should not really need a stake, (depending on how big it was when you planted it). And agreed, if a tree that size did need staking I would be more inclined to put in almost scaffolding till it settled, for the very reason you give. I am not convinced that eucalyptus is a suitable tree for a suburban garden, (I guess you are not suburban if you have a septic tank ) but lots get put in, and I have seen more than one come crashing down in a gale, they do not have extensive root systems to anchor them. I would like one of those 'painted bark' ones though!

Lumen

looksee wrote: »

In fairness Lumen a 3m tree should not really need a stake, (depending on how big it was when you planted it). And agreed, if a tree that size did need staking I would be more inclined to put in almost scaffolding till it settled, for the very reason you give. I am not convinced that eucalyptus is a suitable tree for a suburban garden, (I guess you are not suburban if you have a septic tank ) but lots get put in, and I have seen more than one come crashing down in a gale, they do not have extensive root systems to anchor them. I would like one of those 'painted bark' ones though!

I agree with all of this. Several people on this forum tried to dissuade me, but would I listen? Still, the other ones are fine.

Apparently eucalypts hate root disturbance, so the tree is at this point a botany experiment.

abnormalnorman, what did you plant in the end?

magicbastarder

i'm hoping to get about 25 foot of hedging in in the next few days, have spent the last week or two digging out root ball after root ball where the hedge is due to go.
i rather ambitiously bought 30 bare root beech last weekend hoping to have them in by midweek, but it'll be midweek this week at the earliest.

gozunda

magicbastarder wrote: »

i'm hoping to get about 25 foot of hedging in in the next few days, have spent the last week or two digging out root ball after root ball where the hedge is due to go.
i rather ambitiously bought 30 bare root beech last weekend hoping to have them in by midweek, but it'll be midweek this week at the earliest.

What are the rootballs from that you are digging out?

abnormalnorman

Lumen wrote: »

abnormalnorman, what did you plant in the end?

5 cherry blossom kanzans and 5 October glory (red maple's)

magicbastarder

gozunda wrote: »

What are the rootballs from that you are digging out?

the previous owner of the house had a thing for australasian plants, by the looks of it. today it was a bottlebrush plant i finally lifted the rootball for, and that was a bastard to get out - the roots went straight down so i had to dig underneath it to get it out. i've taken out nine rootballs/rootplates by now, two to go.
there was a holly, a smokebush plant, and quite a few others i don't quite know the names of.
they were planted too close together, ended up turning into an amorphous blob about 12 foot tall.

gozunda

magicbastarder wrote: »

the previous owner of the house had a thing for australasian plants, by the looks of it. today it was a bottlebrush plant i finally lifted the rootball for, and that was a bastard to get out - the roots went straight down so i had to dig underneath it to get it out. i've taken out nine rootballs/rootplates by now, two to go.
there was a holly, a smokebush plant, and quite a few others i don't quite know the names of.
they were planted too close together, ended up turning into an amorphous blob about 12 foot tall.

Would it get possible to get one of the small mechanical diggers in? It would make short work of the rootballs and the trench could be planted up quite easily.

magicbastarder

nearly done now. was cheaper than joining a gym.

magicbastarder

i think my back is going to punish me in the morning.