Hi fireballsocal,

sorry new to this, why a 45 degree angle instead of up and down? I will get started with potting them up soon. I just opened the box and both trees are there. Thanks for the info.

Mark

Here is what I did with what I got, the trees were larger than I thought. One is a Honey Crisp SmDwf and the other is a Pink Lady Dwarf. While the basement is a finished basement the heat duct is blocked off very well to include insulation so no heat is getting to the basement. I just hope it's not so mild that the trees break dormancy. With the rootball size and size of the container it's the closest I could get to the 45 degrees. The soil is and organic soil store purchased, it's all I had on hand.

They will be fine, better if you can keep them cool enough so they don't quickly break into bud. I get bare root fruit trees every spring and they always seem to come before weather permits planting, I just pot them up in the normal fashion, keep them as cool as possible, and then plant out when able.

Heeling in a plant is just a way to keep the tree from freezing in the winter. You cover the root ball of the tree with dirt or mulch to provide an insulation barrier to extreme weather. It doesn't have to be 45 degrees but you want enough of the root ball covered that if it gets below freezing for any length of time in your garage, the tree has the layer of soil and mulch to protect it. Here is a short video talking about the process. http://mikesbackyardnursery.com/2010/11/what-does-healing-in-your-plants-mean/

Edited to change the word trunk to root ball.

Thank you both for the advice. I will just leave the trees the way they are in the container I put them in. I will keep them in the basement and monitor them. Thanks for the video on heeling trees.

Clean off snow a little and plant, then shovel snow back ..better then the basement.

Fireballsocal I decided to mix your advice of heeling in and Konrad taking them outside. I was just afraid that in the basement they would break dormancy even though it's cool down there. I have two raised beds and I took the 4x4 and dug down under the ground level and put the roots there with a mix of the native soil and the organic soil, there were also leaves under the soil.

I can't plant them in their home because it's on the side of our home and I can't make out my property line and the neighbors, and there is no way I am digging around all that snow. I need to plot and space for two Apple trees and two Peach trees on that same side.

If you have rabbits around you had better protect them RIGHT NOW!

Wow another thing to worry about now. Thanks for the tip. Any suggestion on protection?

chicken/poultry wire. Should be able to find it at a local hardware store or big box store like Home Depot, Lowes, etc

This looks good for now, the work has just began, rabbits, voles, deer, ...probably not moose and porcupines like I have.

Sorry for suggesting you pot them up, I just assumed that the ground would be frozen solid.

TurkeyCreekTrees thanks for the advice on chicken wire. Konrad I hope I never see a Moose here, I don't think we would know what to do. Ubro no problem at all the first inch or two was frozen but I think being in a raised bed with a soil and leaf layer help out. I was just nervous that if I kept it in the house it would break dormancy then I would not be able to sustain it indoors and they would probably die. I appreciate all the advice from everyone.

It is also OK to keep bare root trees in the box and leave the box in the very cool, dark area like an unfinished basement. Just make sure to look in once a week to make sure the roots are still moist.

It can be kept almost two months in my experience. No harm's done. It did not break dormant as it was cold enough but not too cold to freeze the roots and there was no light.

you are right rphcfb14 but the storage temps. have to be correct. I do lots of bare root bench grafting and once the whips are grafted the resulting tree is kept in moist peat, in the dark and close to freezing temps. I hold them at least a month so the grafts heal up nice, so it is possible.

Just an update, I appriciate all the help and advice, it all worked out. These are a few months ago.

This pic is from this weekend, can I let it bloom then pick off the flower later? I want pollinators to know its here so they can come back even though I won't let fruit set this soon. Is that the right thing to do?

In general, people like to pick off flowers from a young, newly planted tree as we want the tree to spend its energy to create more roots and establish. Keeping flowers and let it fruit, it'd spend too much energy in doing so and slow down the tree's development.

Depending on the type of a rootstock a tree is on, sometimes letting a young tree set fruit could runt out the tree. If it were me, I'd pinch them off.

The pink lady has Geneva 935 and the honey crisp has M111 rootstock. Thanks for the advice.

The apple trees did not grow much, they are about the same size, they flowered and produced apples, but I snipped them off so the trees could focus on growth. I am guessing they did more root growth than top growth? Not too long ago I put some black kow composted manure on them. Waiting on the warming weather to see them with buds and leaves hopefully soon. Can I let them produce apples this year or would I have to do the same and pinch them off?

You should really focus on root growth and limb structure this year, but I have cheated and left a single fruit on some of mine before, especially if they were vigorous the year before. Spoiler alert, it won't taste as good as next year due to the fact that you will still need to water regularly to get good root establishment, and you won't be able to stress it by holding back water. It is so hard to pinch off the little beauties, but it pays off in the long run!

Thank you, guess I will go ahead and pinch off the apples again. I did not water them much at all last year, but we got plenty of rain. I also only added blood meal once before planting the trees. Guess I will find out if they made it when spring rolls around.

Old farmers rules were 1st year for roots, 2nd year for branches, 3rd year can start light crop. (P.S. I cheat and usually let 2 fruit ripen in 2nd year for a taste) if the tree actually flowers.