planting tree row

[outdoor ran]

Im trying to plant a row of trees between the road and my house. The first tree I put in was a balsam that previous owner planted to close to the house. Its about 6 feet high and is doing great. Has 2-3" of light green tips and looks good. Now I'm trying to get another tree to take about 8ft away but for some reason I've now lost 2 trees in that spot. Whats the proper amount of spacing between the trees.

I'm 2 cheap to go buy trees from the nursery so I'm trying to transpant some of the several liitle balsams on my land. The first tree was planted in the spring, maybe thats why its doing good? I'm hoping to get about 8-10 trees in before winter. How late is to late to plant a tree? Any advice on this project, I really have no idea what i'm doing

[Powerstroke]

Evergreens especially need as much time as possible to develop roots to make it through the winter. Trying to plant evergreens too lat ein the fall will not give the tree a fair chance and you will only be wasting your hard work.

There could be a couple different reasons that the 2 trees died in the same spot. Number one is pretty obvious right now and that would be a lack of watering and drought stress. The impact could be even worse if the trees were harvested from a shady area and they are now in the sun. The needles on the fir are flat and may not be accustomed to the effects of direct sunlight.

[outdoor ran]

You know what. The first tree is from a sunny area and the next two I took out of the woods under big trees where they wernt getting any light. Do you think its to late try to plant some more if I do it this week. Should i look for trees in the open to take out and replant?

Maybe i would be better off buying and planting some little pines. I would proably be old and gone time they got big enough to do what I want them to do. Thanks for the help powerstroke.

[Steve Foss]

Balsams will give you a better screen than pines, because balsams are a lot thicker all the way up. You can plant them a lot closer together than that, too. It's not too late to transplant now, but make sure they're small enough that you can get the whole root ball without damaging it, make sure your hole is plenty wide, make sure you water it in like crazy and keep watering. Three times a week isn't too much. And get some mulch. Mulch will hold in that water really well. Shredded bark, wood chips, coarse sawdust from the woodshop, any of those work great. Do not fertilize. Any new growth put out in August won't be able to harden off before winter, and will die back.

[outdoor ran]

Wal-mart is clearing out a bunch of spruce trees. Thinking about trying them for my tree fence. Is 8ft spacing going to be to close? I want a wall of green so I cant see the road. Ive got a cute little pine in the back yard but its under a big pine. I think its a white pine. I suppose I would mess up my tree row if I throw that in the middle?

I Really don't know much about trees and need to learn alot. Thanks for all the info guys.

[Steve Foss]

Ran, throwing the little white in the middle of your row only messes it up if YOU think it's messed up. Won't hurt the planting in any way, it's just your personal taste.

Eight feet apart with the spruce will mean that they'll start to touch each other when the bottom of the tree/branches reaches a diamter of eight feet, so it will be several years before that starts to happen, depending on how big the trees are. The closer together you plant them, the sooner you'll have a screen. However, that's also the sooner they'll start to grow into each other and need thinning.

For what it's worth, I think eight feet is a good distance. Are we talking a variety of blue spruce or white spruce? Colorado blue spruce is the common blue variety and Black Hills spruce a common white variety. Only reason I ask is that Black Hills get wider faster than blue.

And, as mentioned in my previous post, don't forget to water the PI$$ out of them and mulch them like nuts. Your biggest challenge now will be to keep them good and strong and get them situated before winter, and good watering will be the key. Do not fertilize them. Any new growth yet this summer will not harden off before winter, and will die.

[Powerstroke]

A couple things I noticed from the last couple posts.....White pines are very intollerant of salt. If your road gets salted in the winter or any other deicing products it will have a damaging effect on the white pine.

Also, Colorado Blue spruce are non-native to our area and tend to have a very difficult time adapting. They get several diseases and have a difficult time growing. They will grow and they will endure, but they tend to require a lot of care and preventative maintenance.

IMO I would stick with a Black Hills spruce or other more "native" spruce tree.