Plant in a 4" diameter plastic nursery pot (like the ones you buy perennials in) using regular garden soil. Dig a hole, place the pots in the hole so the top of the pot is about level with grade, and backfill around the pot.

When you have found a spot next spring, just pull the pot out of the ground, tree out of the pot, and plant. If you wait another growing season, you can leave the pot in the ground but it will need watering regardless.

That's an 18 month plan maximum! Longer and you'll need better soil, larger pot, and more fertilizer.

i would go with a one gallon pot ....

i would use a much coarser media ... than the standard perennial stuff.. mix that with 50% bark.. or something larger ...

and i would stick them in the ground as noted.. ONLY .. if you have high draining sand... like i do ... why do i think you mess with low draining clay ...

otherwise... put the pot against a north facing wall.. no sun all winter.. ever... and when everything freezes solid ... lay it on its side ... so water doesnt accumulate in the media ...

the base issue.. or the key here.. is to get the roots dormant.. and keep them dormant.. until spring ... no going in and out of dormancy either because of a black pot in winter sun .... or a structure that gets too warm in winter ....

this is conifer planting time in my z5.. and you are north of me.. the best thing to do.. would be to simply plant them.. and move then either next spring or fall ... mother nature really is better at it.. than anything we can dream up .....

the only factor in future life .. is how long they had them indoors... and how badly they mistreated them ... before you got them ...

ken

Thanks smivies and ken - the trees are looking a tad dull, but the planting medium is nice and moist, so hopefully they hadn't been mistreated. Am I right in thinking that the mesh/net is biodegradable and shouldn't be removed? Or should I remove the net and tease out the roots?

(And I must admit...I'm thinking...if I had a good spot for a conifer I would rather go to the nursery and select something really interesting and cool...wouldn't I???lol)

yes.. remove the netting ...

they are un named seedlings.. telephone pole trees... plant them out at the lot line.. and grow them as an xmas tree ... and harvest them after some pruning for such ....

knowledge is in the experience.. so why not mess with them.. you might learn something...

just remember... they are trees.. they like a drink. and then near drying.. they do not want to be constantly wet .... as compared to damp ....

i have had such..lose every single needle.. life is in those buds....

give it a go.. you have nothing to lose.. but a little media ... and even that could be reused

ken

I want to know more about the couple getting married. THey sound interesting...coneheads, perhaps?

Look most likely to be White Spruce seedlings.

Resin

resin is never wrong about green forest trees...

see link for potential...

as i said.. in a hundred years.. a telephone pole ...

act accordingly ... [which does not mean one foot from the foundation.. or under.. as i believe you would say.. the hydro lines .... lol]

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

OK - planted them in places in the yard where there is NOT space for a tree, and if they survive winter I'll try to find a better spot. Love the Xmas tree idea ken, but I fear by the time they are big enough to shelter all those gifts I'll be in a nursing home and won't need my own tree lol.

The newly weds are both very much into cycling, camping, extreme Frisbee - all of those sorts of things, and were married at a rustic resort, under a birch bark arbor, in the pouring rain! Someone somewhere in Ontario has a greenhouse operation selling conifer seedlings specifically for wedding favours etc. - invested in by one of the 'Dragons' ('Dragon's Den' is the Canadian TV version of 'Shark Tank'). Clever idea.
Jan