It depends on the tree type. Some grow faster than others.
Slow growing trees can take 20 years to reach 10 feet tall.
Medium growing trees can take 10 years to reach 10 feet tall.
And fast growing trees can reach 10 feet tall in 2 to 5 years.

arbor day .. is not a highly recommended source for quality trees .. if you wish .. make a donation ... but don't start with stock that is already questionable ... use the SEARCH function for other posts... or any of the watchdog sites ... very experienced gardeners MIGHT be able to nurse the stock to success .. i would always hesitate to suggest them to newbies... who might get discouraged by failure ....

buying whips is a VERY REASONABLE and cheap way to buy trees.... there are numerous mail order catalogs .... i have had very good luck with musser forest, henry field and jung catalogs ...

but the bottom line.. is be prepared to plant a dormant whip .. the day it arrives .... have the holes dug in advance.. you can not soak them in a pail for days on end.. waiting until the weekend ... you can NOT leave them in the package for days either ...

have the hole ready .. read and follow all directions EXACTLY .. and you should have great success .... if they say to soak for an hour.. soak for an hour.. etc ...

the best time for planting bare root stock .. in MY ZONE 5 .. is the first few weeks of April .... as soon as the ground thaws .... and yet.. 6 to 8 weeks before the time the heat of summer is SUPPOSED to start .... a call to your local Ag office or soil conservation district.. will probably get you that window for your zone.. if no one chimes in here ...

dormant stock is usually dug in late fall or winter.. and stored in warehouse refrigerators .... and packaged and sent at the appropriate planting time ...

i am not aware of anyone shipping bare root, dormant stock in fall .. but you never know ....

perhaps a post in regard to recommended sellers will get you more info than you want. ...

winter is the best time to get catalogs and pour over them and make orders.. and usually.. right after the first of the year... there are many bargains to be had ...

good luck

ken

If you have a forest to plant then, invest in all the whips you can find. Once received, though make sure to pot and tend them until they are rooted well enough and have enough structure to survive the exposure of being planted in the wild.

If you have a hedge, screen, or mass planting to put in, plant one to three gallon potted sized plants.

If you are planting one, or two trees, plant 15 to 25 gallon B&B. If you have 4 or less to plant than invest in 5 to 10 gallon potted sized trees and shrubs.

The above is not hard and fast regulations I stand by. In general though, I tend to plant according to such limits.

Also, consider the needs of the planting area. Is the locations where you plant needing a tree or shrub which is a certain size to maintain the balance of the area, then bite the bullet, and fork out the dollars for the size and quality of speciman or cultivar needed.

treeguy123 - thanks for the general growth tips.

Ken - you have some very informative tips. I figured that the smaller it was when planted, the more difficult it would be to make it, but I wasn't sure. I've only planted flowers and bushes up until now. This may be a truer test of my green thumbs :) I will check out those mail order catalogs that you suggested.

Katrina1 - thanks for the purchasing size guidelines. I am only going to be planting 2 or 3 trees right now, so I will see if I can't find some bigger ones to start. I figured that would be the best way to go, but I thought I should make sure.

thanks everyone

What Ken said. :)

board girl, if you are looking for some decent ornamentals, suitable for supporting wildlife as well, check with your local soil and water conservation agency, or your agricultural extension agent. The prices are excellent, but they don't have the packaging frills you'd get at a nursery. Our local one has smaller packages (or should I say sets) a homeowner could use, as well as a rural landowner. The ones we have available come from our state nursery, and their quality is unquestioned.

As a general rule, smaller trees grow guickly after planting and larger trees take some time after transplanting to recover. So, after 10 - 15 years the rapid growing whips are close to the same size as the slower growing big trees. With the whips you have a little tree for a number of years and with bigger ones you have a big tree during the same time period.

So it really comes down to how long you want to wait for a decent sized tree and how much extra you are willing to pay for a large tree. Me, I like a bigger tree for the longer period of time.

I think the size guidelines here have been pretty good. I recently planted 4 25 containerized trees and they're doing well, so far.

The land we own was originally destined to be a tree farm when it was planted in 1996. Seedlings were planted, and the only ones that died were the ones we mowed to bits. Now some of the Red Pines are 15 feet tall and are growing 18-24" per year.

The most important thing is to get trees from local seed sources. They will perform the best in your area and give them a lot of TLC for their first year. (But not too much! Fertilize very lightly, if at all, and water only when it needs it).

And yes, the Soil and Water Conservation office is a great way to get trees. I'm getting 150 on Saturday to plant. They come from a local seed source and are very very cheap.

Other sources for small trees I've dealt with:

forest farm: always shipped rooted in soil.
musser forests: mostly BR but some in pots as well.

Carino Nurseries and White Oak Nursery (NY state) also seem great.

Species and planting medium are also big factors.
A 3ft bareroot birch I planted last week of
April in a pot is now over 11 feet tall. I actually got it
from arborday. One more thing to beware of with arborday
(and probably a few others) is that they sometimes
ship you mislabeled trees. I ordered a white ash which
it turns out is a mountain ash. Quite different,
but I guess it won't suffer from Emerald Ash Borer.

In any case, I would first lookup native tree nurseries in
your area. They may have very healthy 2-3 yr old
stock in pots. You can look at them before you
spend any money and they won't suffer any major
transplant shock. These are also likely to do best
in your area. Then try the good mailorder places.
You may also want to check out your state's nursery.
Finally, if you want to get trees for cheap and
support a charity, arborday fits that bill.

in my experience.. the bigger the transplant.. the harder and longer it takes for RE-ESTABLISHMENT after transplant ... i would NEVER pay more money for a bigger tree ... and it doesnt take 15 or 20 years for a babe to outgrow a larger transplant.. in my experience ...

think of a 30 to 40 dollar limit... the biggest you can find ...

in April of 2000 .... i got 40 bare root trees .. mixed oaks .. red,scarlet,black,shingle... some ash [who knew at the time] ... red bud .. from van wade in mansfield OH .... 6 to 8 foot naked trees [8 foot when your are holding it.. 6 after you plant the roots ] ... you have to have a lot of faith with bare trees .. lol ... they are going on 15 to 35 feet tall ... trees apparently like sand .... thank god it rained once a week the first summer .... then the second year i only watered in drought .... third year free range ... the oaks are growing 3 to 5 feet per year... breaking all old wives tales of slow growth ...

i planted them with a moat around them.. so i could lay down a few gallons of water .. and mulched them well with hardwood chips .... if you are in clay ... you do the opposite.. planting high ... so as to not drown the things ...

i moved to former horse pasture.. and have converted it to treed ....

at that time i also put in a divergent bunch of mail order trees like whitespire birch .. to name one... 4 foot whips.. planted in clumps of 3 to 5 ... they are going on at least 20 feet ...

you need to ID the following to aid in your search ...

define your soil type... along with drainage .. to determine which trees will do well ... looking around the area and learning to ID what grows naturally is a very easy way to do it .... a picture of a leaf will get an ID here for the 'sperts'

ID your goals ..

ID sources of the trees ...

learn to plant correctly .. never amend.. mulch.. and water for at least 2 years ... let them nearly dry between watering.. and insert your finger to find out when they need water ... water infrequently.. and DEEPLY ... water has to get to the roots .... and past the mulch ...

and knock yourself out and have fun .. we have all killed stock .. don't let that set you back .. lol .. maybe that is why i prefer a 20 dollar plant over a 200 dollar plant... the loss is much easier to take .. lol ...

and the most important piece of info you need.. IS THE PROPER PLANTING TIME .... plants are very forgiving if the timing is perfect ....

good luck

ken

Small red oaks grow fast only if they get the amount of water they need, when they need it.

Three years ago I planted 7 one gallon potted size Scarlet oaks in two staggered rows on the front side of my half acre lot which does not have piped in water and no house on the lot. Those trees today are still no taller than 2 feet. Two died.

At the same time I also planted four of the same one gallon potted size oaks on the back, along a farmer's fence line of that lot. These are now almost 4 feet tall, and only one of them died. They are growing on a part of the lot which gets better rain runoff and which is more level so the water remains a little longer before saoking into the soil or running off.

Then again, along the side, front of that lot, I planted Two 7 gallon potted Summard oaks and one 7 gallon potted Scarlet oak. They have survived my not watering them, and endured nicely. This Spring I installed two swales which help direct the Spring and Fall rains runoff in the direction where the trees roots can stretch to receive that beneficial moisture. This year's Spring and early Summer, it rained often and a quite a bit. They were planted last fall, and have grown two almost three feet, since first planted. Pretty good considering their 8 foot height with only small root balls that they had when I first planted them. It also helped that our previous two year drought was coming to and end when I first planted these taller ones last fall.

Wow, you all have given me some great info!

I went to one of my local nurseries today to see what larger specimens they had, but I was pretty disappointed with the limited variety - could be because of the time of the year that it is. Their lot didn't seem sparce, there was just a lot of the same things; mostly Maples and Japanese Maples, Cherry, Peach and Pear, and a lot of evergreens.
I'm going to check a couple other places to see what they have, too.

I want something that will grow relatively fast, but I don't want anything too weak. And though I think they are pretty, I don't want an ornamental or an evergreen, or anything that drops fruits or nuts or cones. I hope I don't sound like I'm being picky, but I just want a nice tree - nothing too fancy. I want something that will be BIG in 30 years, so I can look out my window and say, "I remember when that tree was only this high...."

I've resigned myself to the fact that I will not have the shade I had before I had to cut down my 2 huge Pine trees for many years to come, so now I just want to plant some new trees and give them as good a chance as I can to make it. I guess that's why I wasn't sure if I should start small or not.

I'm thinking maybe a Poplar or Hybrid Ash would be a good tree for me, but I'm new to the whole tree game, so there may be something better, and if you think you know something I should look at, let me know. The location will get sun all day until late afternoon when my big Maple finally starts to throw some shadows.

Oh, and I bought some of those tree watering bags, for lack of better terms; the ones that sort-of lay around the base of the tree and you fill them with water and it waters the tree for a week or two. Are those good to use, or do they give too much water?

Thanks again for all the help!

poplar.. fast to grow... fast to shed limbs.. fast to die .... the only premise that is acceptable to me.. is plant one for quick shade ... and cut it down in 5 years ... otherwise.. skip them ... my 3 remaining poplars ... the others died of disease .. have been shedding leaves for 45 days due to this years heat and drought ...

as for any ash .... with emerald ash borer on the march .. i do NOT recommend any of them ..the last thing you need is to invest 5 in growing a nice tree.. to see it destroyed ...

how far are you from mansfield OH? .. google it ... it might be worth a call to wades tree farm ... if not just for the info they can provide ... or look in the phone book for a tree farm in your area ....

you are really limiting yourself if you are relying on the retail industry for your options ....

ken

Ok, so that's a no-go on the Ash and Poplar. :) See that's what I'm here for - people to put me in the right direction.

I am more than 8 hours from Mansfield, OH, so I don't think it's an option for me to go there. I will have to rely on places that are either closer to me or that ship at reasonable rates.

Here are some others that have piqued my interest: American Sweetgum, Black Tupelo, London Planetree, or maybe even a Mimosa. Any comments on any of those?

Those are great trees except for mimosa. Mimosa is not a good tree. Black gum/tupelo is a slow grower that prefers a wet location. The fall color is excellent but defoliates very early and may not have much of a show if in drought or dry location.
The london plane is similar to sycamore, (a great native shade tree) only a more rounded, somewhat smaller form. The leaves may be a bit smaller too. It has a slower growth rate but generally named varieties have showy bark and better resistance to anthracnose.
Sweetgum is a very common native tree in the forests of the southeast. The fall color is usually very good when not drought or dry site and lasts a long time. It has a medium growth rate. After about age 20 it will produce seed balls which some view as a nuisance. You can try to find a variety called 'rounditiloba' (sp?) which does not have these. The leaves are rounded.

I bet you could find all of these trees growing in your area, maybe even some you can dig in a rescue operation or roadside ditch. (if you substitute Am. sycamore for london plane)

I live in central wisconsin. It's mid September, and we have had frost. Can I transplant a short needled pine tree at this time? Do I wait until spring? The tree is about 4 feet tall. It is surrounded by many huge hosta clusters. I'd like to get those moved also.

Thanks
Marcia

You probably have your answer by now, but ...

We planted a 18" stick (not kidding you) from the garden show - a tulip poplar. We planted it three years ago when my daughter was three. She used to bend over it to give it kisses. When she started preschool, they were the same height. That tree is now 8 feet tall and gorgeous!

squeakmommy - thanks for your addition. I appreciate the perspective that you gave.

I actually still haven't decided what to do, or what tree I want. I didn't want to rush into anything and get less than desired results, so I'm going to continue to research this winter and then probably plant my tree next spring.

This spring I planted some whips. Kousa Dogwood, red flowering dogwood and purple leaf plum. I also planted one of each in their own large pot. Root system seemed to be good. How long before they break bud or leaf out? My regular dogwoods have already bloomed etc. I am in zone 5 and we have had a cool wet spring, but this is the middle of May already.

I know a gal who does the best job of all when it comes to planting trees. She pretty much always starts from seed. Her trees are always in synch with their growing conditions. If, for example, it's been dry, they put most of their energy into expanding their root systems. If there has been lots of rain, they tend to put on much top growth.

This gal-Mother Nature's her name- has been so succesful that her plantings once covered almost the entire E. United States.

So what's the point? Start small. That big, beautiful specimen at the garden center was dug out of a nursery row, lost most of its' root system, and is now badly out of balance. A tiny whip, however, is closer to that natural system whereby the top growth is never too big to be supported by the root system.

+oM

Tom - Since I was about to ask the same question as china1940 (how long before they break bud or leaf out?), I really enjoyed your description of that gal who does such a great job of planting trees.

Since I live in the balmy clime of southeastern VA (zone 8), where everything leafed out weeks ago, I'll probably ask that question - but not tonight.

I hope all goes well on the new homestead. Very very cool.

Pam

Ken have you grown any Hickory like that? How quickly have they grown for you? Thanks!

Yeah, Tom has it right. Nothing is too small. Let me tell the story of my "dixie cup" tree. Near the town of Hyattstown, MD--not to be confused with Hyattsville, MD, there was an old house with two Norway spruce trees planted in front as traditional German "bride and groom" trees. These two trees, when I first saw them, made me think of the giant conifers of the Pacific N.W.

I visited these trees from time to time just to see how they were doing and to admire their magnificence. One of the last times I saw these trees the house had been abandoned and it was spring, so I thought I would scrounge around and see if I could find any seedlings. Well, I found a few, but they were so very, very small--really just seeds that had germinated just about a week before. No green except the little ring of cotyledons. I put them in little plantic coffee cups that I found by the roadside (not actually dixie cups) and took them home and planted them in my garden. One soon died. Another lived for a little over a year, and the third I have growing now at my place in Winchester. After it grew in my garden in Arlington for about 4 years, I moved it to my timberland place where it grew for three more years and then I moved it to my place in Winchester. It almost died from my fertilizer mistake three years ago, but is now in full recovery mode. I really treasure this little thing--maybe not so little now.

So--nothing is too small, even for transplanting. The other two seedlings died, probably because they were not the product of cross pollination. A pair of trees NS growing alone is usually not a good source for seed that will produce good strong trees. But these trees were so magnificent, I had to try to find something. I say "were" because the one that was slightly smaller has died--and I have not seen the other one for more than 10 years now.

--Spruce

Broadly agree with +oM on nature's methods, but do bear in mind that nature also provides for a very high failure rate - a tree may produce from tens of thousands, to tens of millions, of seeds during its lifetime, yet on average, only one of those seeds will reach maturity (and is all that is needed to maintain a stable population). A very high proportion of the failures occur in the first few years.

Resin