Just planted these scot pines from the tree farm... Please help with first aid!

I bought these scot pines from a nice young man who runs a local xmas tree farm. He told me that they were approx 15 years old, seedlings. One has inch and a half length needles, the other has one inch long needles. They stand four feet from the ground level. He b&b'd them with good (heavy) sized root balls and delivered them to me last evening. I put them in the ground, burlap and all, and exposed the top of the root ball in order to pull weeds (grasses, honey suckle, and luckily, no poison ivy...). I mounded soil to make a moat to hold rainwater. I watered them thoroughly. My main question at this juncture is "do I need to prune any excess branches to compensate for the root loss? I read Will and Chris' exchange about "...don't prune until August in order to encourage root growth..." Does the same apply for newly dug field trees? Do I prune now or wait until August? The trunks are very thick on these trees with lots of branching - YUM!!! I am thinking that I will cut roots next Spring with a digging spade; in closer to the trunk; I will feed them well this year. Any thoughts would sure help. Thank you!

Howzit Todd,

IMHO, I would wait and give it a rest. The way it looks it's doing fine. If your not in a hurry, just water, feed it well then later on start to pruning it to the way you have envision it to look like. Hope this helps.

-Tim

Hi Todd, couple of thoughts. Do they get enough sun where they are? In the close-up image there appears to be a rather strong infestation of Pine Scale. A strong tree, it's not so bad. Establishing a freshly dug tree, it can sap energy. Good find!
Wood

Those will make some good trees in the future.Keeping them alive is the first step Let them be and fertilise heavily this year spray with neem oil to kill the scale if that is what I am seeing in the close up and in a few years remove from burlap and ditch 1/2 of the field soil repeat the following year .

Hello Todd. Root production is paramount at this stage. Why did you plant them back in the ground? Large containers would have been a better option. The longer in the ground, the thicker the roots and the more difficult it will be to remove the burlap. If the rootballs were compact and full of fibre, you still have time to get them in pots before they start to shoot.

will baddeley wrote:Hello Todd. Root production is paramount at this stage. Why did you plant them back in the ground? Large containers would have been a better option. The longer in the ground, the thicker the roots and the more difficult it will be to remove the burlap. If the rootballs were compact and full of fibre, you still have time to get them in pots before they start to shoot.

I'm not sure why. I thought they would grow better in the ground. I didn't think I should try to put them in bonsai soil yet, or disturb the roots any more "than necessary". I dug two smaller trees (myself), hastily (two weeks ago), and the root balls crumbled; revealing minimal fibrous roots. I watered the roots on the spot,got them home and planted them in turface; I pray they make it. Now I'm wondering if I should pull the two large ones from the ground and put them "as is" in large containers, without disturbing the root balls; filling in with good soil. Then let them be. I am concerned about removing the burlap. The other thing is weight; the largest one weighs approx 150 lbs; the smaller one probably 100lbs. Decisions, decisions... Now what. Thanks for your input. Todd

GaryWood wrote:Hi Todd, couple of thoughts. Do they get enough sun where they are? In the close-up image there appears to be a rather strong infestation of Pine Scale. A strong tree, it's not so bad. Establishing a freshly dug tree, it can sap energy. Good find!
Wood

I think they will get enough sun. I took the photos at dusk. Thanks. Regards, Todd

If they have good rootballs then just move them to large containers. Don't worry about the burlap for now. You will have to leave them in pots for 2 years before attempting to remove the burlap and I suggest you cut it away carefully.