Best way to plant trees for easy moving

[Ping]

So, I want to get some fruit and nut trees in the ground while we're building our home since they take awhile to reach production age. At the moment, the area where I want our orchard is covered in brush and small fir trees. It is also near where we're building which means big trucks coming in and out, people working who don't watch what they're stepping on, etc. I'd like to put the trees on an area of our property that doesn't get so much traffic to keep them safe until the house is done, but I'm concerned about transplanting them, which could be in 1-2 years. What is your experience with transplanting trees? Can we dig them up with the tractor or is that too traumatizing? Should I put them in big pots? Will they outgrow the pots? Will they not grow/mature as well in pots?

Thanks and Blessings,
Ping

[farmergirl]

I would just put them in pots. Lots of "container grown" trees are sold at nurseries.

[haypoint]

I have the same plan as yours. I have over a thousand fruit and nut trees, grape vines, shrubs and flowers in pots of different sizes. If possible, bury the pots. Lots less watering and reduced winter injury. Soil in containers dry out very fast. This is the third year for a few. Just use large pots to prevent them becoming root-bound.

[agmantoo]

Not meaning to dilute your enthusiasm for getting positioned for a future orchard but I strongly suggest that you wait until you move to get the trees. Trees get stressed each time they are moved. The less the trees are stressed the more vigorous the growth will be. Larger trees stress more than small ones. A 2 ft tall tree will out grow a 6 ft tall one when planted and attended in the same manner. The first couple of years may have you to question what I am stating but after 5 years the smaller tree will have outgrown the initially larger one.

[kabri]

We are in the same situation, just started clearing our land. I've got 10 korean pines, 2 heartnut, 2 yellowhorn and 1 walnut in pots right now in our garden at our current home. One advantage of this is that you discover which bare root trees make it before you go to all that work doing the final placement. Our walnut tree never spouted this spring. So it was of questionable quality and I will be asking the nursery for a replacement. Since the 2 heartnuts leafed out, planted in the same potting mix, I don't think it's the dirt. Also a few of the pines are not looking well, the rest have new growth.

[Dirtslinger]

Originally Posted by agmantoo

Not meaning to dilute your enthusiasm for getting positioned for a future orchard but I strongly suggest that you wait until you move to get the trees. Trees get stressed each time they are moved. The less the trees are stressed the more vigorous the growth will be. Larger trees stress more than small ones. A 2 ft tall tree will out grow a 6 ft tall one when planted and attended in the same manner. The first couple of years may have you to question what I am stating but after 5 years the smaller tree will have outgrown the initially larger one.

YUP! Been there done that. Fruit trees are best planted as bare root whips- not even the potted ones at the nursery. They have a fragile root system that does not like to be disrupted.
I hate to say it, but wait. Or maybe try 4-5, but don't waste your fruit tree budgets on risks. They may not end up thriving.

[Mike in Ohio]

I use pots as well. I don't bury them anymore as some trees (for example columnar apples) will grow deep tap roots fairly quickly. My recommendation would be to use pots but then have them sit in a raised bed with geotextile fabric or gravel (sand might work) underneath the pots. Fill the area around the pots with mulch.

Mike