Maintaining plants in containers over summer is far more challenging - and risky - than planting them in the ground! Gradually acclimate to your conditions and plant the in the ground. No need or advantage to waiting till fall.

I'd plant them now. Before too much new growth occurs.

A light frost or two won't hurt them and keeping them in pots can be a pain remembering to water and roots/pots getting too hot in summer sun.

If they've been outside at the nursery, they should be okay in direct sun.

By fall they'll be well on the way to being established and ready to take on winter.

i see GG types faster than me..... or maybe shorter answers! haha!

Many thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it.

agree on not messing with pots .. especially if not already experienced ...

the key here.. is that its still full dormant.. based on the buds.. in the pic ...

get it in the ground.. asap ... so it has a few weeks to settle the roots.. before the buds start openning ...

i cant see the whole plant above.. but i might plant it slightly crooked.. so the leader is more upright ... with most weeping conifers... you have to train them to height ... if that is your goal ...

and the one in that pic.. you are not going to easily pull that hard wood straight.. without potentially breaking it off ... been there.. done that ...

give us a big city name.,. z6 is rather divergent ...

in the future.. take delivery in FULL DORMANCY .. if they are shipped from warmer zones... even if you have to get them in mid march ... its easier to put them in the garage and protect them for a few weeks.. rather than dealing with already budded out plants ... i wouldnt be surprised if your garage is z7 ... go figure] ...

ken

btw: thats a shipping stake ... so if the box turned upside down.. the pot stayed positioned ... when time comes to stake it.. get a real stake ... come back and we can tell you how ...

When you tip them out of the pot, check the roots to make sure they aren't tangled up. Some plants that are kept in a small pot too long sometimes need untangling if the roots have been following the inside of the pots for some time.

Thanks Ken and Bill, Im in south Michigan near the lakes. Good to know it is still dormant, I wasn't sure about that.

One last question if I may, to make sure Im doing things right; I got one in the ground today. The roots looked healthy and easy to untangle. I use a root rake to untangle/straighten the roots and I rake out most of the container soil mix. I do this in the shade and keep the roots moist. When I place the root ball in the prepared planting hole, is it best practise to spread the roots out some (they were fairly long) or is better to have them point down as much as possible?

Spreading the roots outward, away from the base is best. With small plants, the top 6-8" of soil is deep enough. Don't dig the hole too deep, to make sure you have firm soil under the roots, otherwise the plant might settle below grade after a time. You want the root flare at or slightly above ground level so it's not buried.

Alright, I can't really seem to stop buying new plants. I now have a few more new conifers waiting to be planted. They are large 5 gal bought locally yesterday with lots of new growth. So far 1-2 inches of new growth from each bud. Given its now near end of May is it still preferable to put them in the ground now or is it better to keep them containerized until early fall? Im in lower Michigan (z6) so the hot humid weather won't really get going until July. I have clay soil and have had plenty of rain lately so I would say still a month until it's starts getting dry.

I really appreciate all the good advice that can be found here. Thank you.

Plant them

ron