Planting trees

kingjames_2nd · Post by **kingjames_2nd** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 9:16 pm

I go to school at Lakehead In thunder bay. I dont really know alot about planting in the area because i have only ever planted in BC and AB. If i wanted to find my self a nursery around here ( i am sure there must be at least one) maybe PRT for instance. If i went to them and tryed to get a box of frozen seedlings, maybe a surpluss box, do you think they would hook me up?

my theory is, I get the box, ice it and drive to southern ontario to my parents's 15 acre patch of Ex farm land and plant me a nice little forest.

has any one ever done something like this? is it a stupid idea?

I had a friend who quit in alberta one year with a bundle in the bottom of his bag. he then grey hounded his way back to kamloops where he lives and planted them in the back yard. apparently 7 or 8 out of 15 survived the first winter, even after the long warm bus ride. any one ever done this? lets here some stories!

gumby · Post by **gumby** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 7:31 am

some people from my crew were planting along a fairly major road last year... whenever they were at the cache people would pull over and ask if they could buy the trees (for WAY more than the trees were worth, too, or way more than they would get planting them at least)... they didnt make any deals though, they're honest planters, and kept a close watch on that cache. and this was a remote northen ontario highway!
so i think that trees are in high demand. not sure if nurseries sell them. love your idea though, i would do it, imagine that, if youve got a bit of open land it would be super creamy to plant and you could pound in a box full of jack pine, nice forest in 30 years...

Post by **Scooter** » Sun Mar 19, 2006 4:10 pm

At this time of the year, you'd have a hard time getting trees for free from the nursery. I don't know what a box would cost to buy outright, because it depends on the type of tree and quantity in the box, but you'd probably be looking at over $100. I bought a box of 500 pine trees in Nova Scotia twenty-five years ago (I was just a kid and convinced my parents that I wanted to start a Christmas tree farm, so they let me buy the box and plant them on our farm). At that time, I think the box was around $50, and inflation would drive it up a lot. I'd just call the nursery and see what they say, out of curiousity.

However, if you go at the end of the season, and IF they happen to have a pile of culls there, they might let a poor student take a few hundred for free, depending on who you talk to at the nursery. You'd probably need your own container.

daleks · Post by **daleks** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 12:24 pm

for some years now, bc has had several programmes through the mof which, depending on how much land you have (10 acres for some, 15 for others), aid in the planting, spacing and general clean-up of that land....perhaps ontarion has similar programmes....

Post by **Scooter** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 1:25 pm

Check this out: http://forestry.about.com/cs/catalogs/a ... ling_s.htm

One nursery sells 6"-12" white spruce (Sw) in lots of 500+ trees for $0.65 each (USD). Prices would obviously be lower for mills & provincial governments buying in quantities approaching the millions.

jeff · Post by **jeff** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 4:37 pm

If driving from TB to Southern Ontario check out http://www.nt.net/~millfor/HOME.htm Look under orders then seedlings.

Not sure what availability is currently but we can probally help you out with Pj or Sb as long as you are not picky about container size / type or seed zone.

As far as survival just treat them nicely and plant them within a few days of pickup there should not be a problem.

Jeff

sasse · Post by **sasse** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 2:28 am

Hoody you gonna plant some trees back home eh. Contatact the minestry of forestry. My old man got 25000 for free all he had to do is sigh a contract saying he wont cut them down for like 20 years.

What you should do is come out to the loops for one more season, then in Augest the two of us will get on some bogus summer show in Ontario will quit the second day and tack a few boxes with us.

Nice pic

kingjames_2nd · Post by **kingjames_2nd** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 2:34 pm

you gota give more hints than that or i'll never guess who you are.

as to planting i cant do the spring but i am looking into doing a late summer deal with steve... say august?

edfry · Post by **edfry** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 12:21 pm

kingjames_2nd
You dont need to ice them. Just soak then alot (if they are plugs, Wet slurry mix around the roots if they are Bareroots) If they start to dry out, water them again. Stick m in a silvacool. Just be careful about the seedlings flushing (new shoots) as the shoots are tender and liable to fall or break off, hindering a healthy growth.

The most important thing is stock type and elevation requirement of the particular stock you have.
Fir dont grow well in wetter areas, High elevation spruce dont like arid conditions.

jeff · Post by **jeff** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 6:55 pm

While elevation is very important in BC its not such an issue in flat (relatively) Ontario. The real key here is seed zone which basically relates to how far from the place of seed collection can the tree be moved and still be able to thrive. ie seed collected from trees adapted to growing around Ottawa will not thrive if planted in Red Lake. Some movement between seed zones is acceptable. Movement between seed zones does not mean that the trees wont grow they just wont thrive. If you want more info about seed zones and which ones you should be considering (and your at Lakehead anyways) talk to Dr. Parker or Paul Charette in the Forestry Dept.

You should be looking for stock that is overwintered (OW) and hardened off. If cold stored outside OW trees will begin to flush but typically not until the end of May (just as we want them to do once planted). If cold stored in a freezer that flush can be delayed even further.

As long as you plant the trees within a few days of picking them up they will be fine. An attempt to keep them cool would be a good idea but as long as they are not locked in a sweltering car there should not be an issue.

steve · Post by **steve** » Sat Apr 15, 2006 12:57 am

hoodie, i've planted a bunch of trees in my parents backyard, coming from BC, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. Some live, a lot of them die. All but one of the trees I planted after my first season died. I left them at the bottom of a silvie for about two weeks until I felt like picking up a shovel again. That one that lived though, he's a trooper.
I planted some of those cedars that we were planting on the MOF contract back there too, but most of them are pretty dead now. There's lots of pines and spruces but their most common cause of death is my dad and the lawnmower. Not too sure if he's doing it on purpose or not ....

sasse = babak?

kingjames_2nd · Post by **kingjames_2nd** » Sat Apr 15, 2006 7:44 am

-yah i am pretty sure the friend i originally talked about was you steve.
- sasse i have deduced must be jasmine
- you owe me a box i have decided, i'll collect in august

Post by **Scooter** » Sat Jul 22, 2006 10:00 pm

If you're looking for information about pricing of seedlings, go to this thread:

http://www.replant.ca/board/viewtopic.php?t=824

Read Patrick's first post there, and click on the link to the 2005 bid awards. There is a ton of pricing information in there about what the BC Ministry of Forests paid for seedlings from various nurseries around the province in 2005, with a column that breaks it out into price per tree.

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