Fall is the best time although Spring is a close second. There are no hard and fast rules about this. You can plant trees in the summer and I've even seen them planted in winter without a problem. Trees are under more stress during the heat of summer and with the frozen ground in winter so those aren't the optimum times. You have plenty of time right now to plant a tree. Plant a way!

I'd like to know what months are ideal so I can sort of plant around it. These trees are planted at my Mom's place so I can't do regular follow up or watering. If the best Spring months have passed I'll order the next batch in the Fall.

I'd like to know what months are ideal so I can sort of plant around it. These trees are planted at my Mom's place so I can't do regular follow up or watering. If the best Spring months have passed I'll order the next batch in the Fall.

tree_oracle, here's another tree related question:

I planted three, 1-yr old apple trees in my yard this year, which are now crawling with tiny green inchworms thanks to the neighboring elm trees. Today I sprayed them off the grafts with my hose. Do you think I should be vigilant with keeping the worms away?

Persimmons, those are almost certainly winter moth caterpillars. You can spray them with Bt (which is a bit more environmentally friendly) or Spinosad (which is still technically organic and does not need to be reapplied after rain). If you don't treat the trees, the caterpillars will probably eat up all the leaves. The tree will grow new ones, but it will be stressed and after a few years of defoliation may die.

Persimmons,

I agree with the diagnosis and treatment that lalala gave you. Keep in mind that if the worms have gotten too big then Bt will do little to control them. At that point, you have somewhat of a dilemma that I've faced many times myself. You can spray the trees with the insecticide of your choice and kill the worms but unfortunately most of these chemicals do a number on bees as well. Whether the bees are killed are the just avoid trees that have been treated, I have found that spraying the trees tends to greatly decrease my apple harvest.

As long as the trees are healthy, they can survive the onslaught and put out additional leaves in a few weeks. However, it stresses them to do this and makes them more susceptible to disease, drought, etc. That said, none of my trees have died from these worms and I've battled them for years. Just make sure the trees are watered and maybe fertilized so that they have enough energy to recover.

Thanks for the advice lalala and tree_oracle. I've been gardening this past week under the shade of the elm trees and have the grossest stories about these damned caterpillars.

Some crawl in my ear, I think it's an itch, and end up smooshing caterpillar guts in my ear... Other times I'm caught in a web of their silks and end up swinging the caterpillars like pendulums into my eyes, hands, face...

Ugh. I'll probably not spray the trees with an insecticide because bees are already active around the site they're planted in. Instead, I'll keep to my watering schedule (~5 gallons per week) and will spray/rub off the caterpillars that crawl on the trunks.

I just had 10 8-foot 'Dark Green' Arborvitae (Thuja occidentalis 'Nigra') delivered and planted on Thursday, by a company called Connecticut Trees. They have VERY competiive prices on Arborvitae. They were recently dug from the fields, trucked up here and planted, so I hope they are going to handle the transplant okay. We had some heavy rain tonight which is great to help them settle in! I hope they survive okay.

Persimmons, those caterpillars do sound gross and I believe the winter moth is an invasive species. However, when I see caterpillars I think "bird food". Hopefully you have lots of birds around to help eat the caterpillars! Sometimes populations of certain species get a bit out of control, but it seems to be cyclical.

hi terrene, we are in northern MA and looking for some larger trees. My search for Connecticut Trees did not yield a site ... can you pls reconfirm the place?

ro-man,

There are several nurseries around the state that provide large trees. Unless you're looking for trees that are unusually large, I think you have several options to consider. Weston Nurseries, Sylvan Nursery, and Hyannis Country Gardens are just a few options.

Hi Ro-man, sorry I am a little delayed in responding, but things have been crazy busy, and I just now checked back to this thread.

The site address is cttrees dot com.

They have a limited selection in what seems to be trees that are using for screening and privacy. I got the 7-8 foot Dark Greens. My neighbors have been driving me crazy for years, and I'm pushing to beef up the privacy borders..

I called 2 local nurseries to ask about availability/prices of larger Arborvitae, and their quotes were double or more CT trees. And apparently, nobody has large specimens of the "Green Giant" this year because they sold them out last year.

Now I am crossing my fingers that the trees survive. I am watering them abundantly (when it doesn't pour), and plan to mulch with compost and wood chips soon.

Just wondering how the cttrees held up. I am looking at having them plant ten trees, wondering if its worth it. Do you have any pics?