I have done this by putting the plants in 5 gallon buckets and filling the buckets with slightly damp sand, or if I can't get that, potting soil from the store. I dig holes in the snow to the ground outside the north side of the barn. The buckets then are put in the snow holes and get covered with snow. They are usually okay until I can plant them as soon as the ground can be worked. I have had good luck asking nurseries to put a blue ice cold pack in the package, in case the package is transported in heated trucks, etc. They often charge more, but it is worth it. In the past, I have gotten plants that were coming out of dormancy when I got them. In these cases, I pot them up like above, except they go into a heated area with light, such as my basement until the outside plants break dormancy. Good luck.

I would recommend planting them in pots and burying the pots in your garden bed since it's in a sheltered spot. You should be able to just cover them with straw just like the other plants. I wouldn't cut the foliage back unless it looks like it could possibly have diseases.

in my zone 5 .. ann arbor MI area .... i move 30 to 50 trees and conifers in October .. after the deciduous trees lose there leaves ... with 99% success .. and usually the ones that die were already weaklings ... in my zone 5.. this gives the two cool seasons before the heat of next summer ... and about 90 days before ground freeze just after new year .... how this all relates to zone 3 is beyond me.. one would think you have a local CA forestry person.. or soil conservation .. or some type of local governmental unit that could answer this question ... trees grow outside... skip trying them indoors... unless you have some extra .. and like experiments... but i would still leave them outdoors for the requisite dormancy period.. then try bringing them in .. and i don't know that info either... good luck ken PS: back into ma earth .. water deeply.. mulch heavily ... keep deeply watered through fall .. but don't freeze into an ice cube.. let nearly dry in between deep waterings.. you are responsible for all water next season... deep and dry in between ... then they should be ready to be free range in 2009 ...

So sorry to hear about the loss of your father. And I understand about wanting to keep his little tree going. Some things to help: First, if you're seeing teeny black flies crawling on the soil, and flying around, they most likely are fungus gnats, as Dave has mentioned. Fungus gnats thrive in too moist soil. So, the very first thing I would recommend is to re-pot your little tree in better draining soil. If you search this forum for "511" or "gritty mix", you'll come up with some good potting soil recipes. Or, if you can find bagged Farfard Professional Potting soils in your area, they also will work. Again, search this forum for "farfard" for the best choices. Citrus do not tolerate soggy soils well at all, and will suffer from root rot, besides promoting pests such as fungus gnats, which can damage tender feeder roots. Next, moisture meters (of this caliber) can be pretty inaccurate. You can try using one, but you're better off just using a stick inserted down to the bottom of your pot. Checking the soil moisture down to the bottom, to make sure you're not retaining a puddle of water at the bottom of the pot. As far as fertilizers, most folks on this list use DynaGro Foliage Pro, and you can supplement with Osmocote Plus, which is a time release fertilizer with a good NPK ratio plus all the micros. The Dynamite Select All Purpose will also work. Use the Foliage Pro with every watering. Skip the Tanglewood - your tree is much too small for that, and really, this product is used in citrus culture to keep ants off of outdoor trees. This will not prevent the types of indoor pests that plaque indoor citrus, including fungus gnats. Put your tree outside as much as you can during the year. Most folks will acclimate their trees to the outside slowly, over a couple of weeks as soon as temps allow. Don't do it too early, as you don't want to end up with the tree exposed to temps below freezing, but citrus are outdoor plants, so as much total outdoor time, the better for the tree. Lastly, to treat the fungus gnats. Use Gnatrol. Works extremely well. You might need a few applications as a soil soak, but that will take care of them. Be sure to treat all your indoor plants, as they will spread from plant to plant. Patty S.