Varies a lot from species to species. For some, e.g. Siberian Larch, it just has to get above 0ð and they'll start growing (it comes from an area where the end of winter is very sharply defined with minimal risk of later frosts). For others, particularly where winters can be mild and spring is long and slow, it has to be well above freezing, maybe 10-15ð, for a good long period, before growth starts.

Resin

10-15ÃÂð ???.

Cute.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: You figure it out

"10-15ÃÂð ???.

Cute.

Dave"

Can blame your computer's formatting for that! It should appear as a degrees symbol, and does on my monitor.

Resin

No kidding. type "C or F" please. When I see all these strange characters I too wondered, but I thought it had something to do with Finnish!

Dax

I know it has more to do with location and air temp

===>>> i completely disagree .. it has to do with SOIL TEMPS.. the point at which the roots become active.. and start pumping water ...

last sunday.. we hit 80 .. prior to that.. we had the coldest 6 weeks on record ... and up until a week ago .. i had spots where the soil was still frozen ...

i dont care what the ambient temps are .. a conifer in cold soil.. is not going to bud out ... and if you threw on a blanket of mulch.. on cold soil.. that will only delay it longer ... and that is good ... though you want action.. the possibility of hard frost/freeze after bud out.. is a big issue ... on some types ... so you are better off int eh great white north.. for late bud out ...

relax rick ... BTW ... when you planted them.. i presume you watered them .. did you introduce frigid water deep into the soil??? i hope so ... but air temps arent going to warm the soil a foot below grade for weeks to come ... eh????

i cant recall where you are.. but the forsythia are just getting near bloom.. i dont think i will see much conifer growth for about another month .. though the larix and metasequoia [the early ones] are just pushing the buds a bit ...

i am finding it hard to believe none of you addressed this.. unless it is a frozen soil issue that you warmer zone peeps just dont have to deal with ....

patience man!!!

ken

ps: transplanting can also simply throw them all out of phase .. plus being boxed and shipped cross country.. and all that ....

Thanks Ken for the reasurance... I've never planted dormant plants before or any conifers for that matter. I've always planted my perennials/annuals in full bloom. 95% of them have survived, but the ones that didn't would turn brown right away. I wasn't sure if conifers, since still dormant, would act the same way or not which is why I was just curious. We aren't talking about just a couple, I've planted 60 so far so I hope I have a good success rate with these.

I've always planted my perennials/annuals

===>>> exactly.. you are on the incline of your learning curve on conifers ...

if you plant 60 ... and a vast majority look like they are doing nothing... then its still dormancy ....

when i was at your point in my conifer life.. i didnt have the peeps here .... it was the longest few weeks of the year .... waiting for them to show signs of life ...

simply put.. there is no IMMEDIATE GRATIFICATION when it comes to conifers and trees ....

just hold on.. most, if not all ... will come along just fine.. keep us posted ....

all that said.. even with all our wisdom ... i would not be surprised with a 10% failure rate .... and i am prepping you for that .... it is a cost of doing the biz .... and just dont beat yourself up about it ... we will grade you on that curve ...

good luck

ken

Frozen soil? What a quaint idea!

i dont know if quaint is the word i would use.. especially in late winter ...

as far as i am concerned..it isnt spring yet ... lol ..

ken

Unless I hear the pitter-patter of raindrops on my roof at 5:00 AM tomorrow, I's gonna take the day off and plant trees up at the property.

I've got more N.spruce, hybrid larch, red pine and white pine going in this year. I'd not planted any white pine there yet. I have quite a few in the woods and here and there, a youngin coming up. But I wanted more out in the main planting area so I went ahead and ordered a few. Most all the ones in the woods that are of moveable size are already in good locations.

+oM

Holy...you planted 60 conifers this spring already? Are these little babies we're talking about?

I planted 19 or so confiers and trees that ranged from 2-8' tall and I was a reck for a week!

Yep, actually as of yesterday about 70. I just got my order From SongSparrow. These are beauties, about 3-4 foot tall heavy grafts. Quality was far above anyone else I've purchased from.

The other ones I planted range from 1 to 2 feet. I've been working on this landscaping project now by myself for the last month and it's been very tough. So far I've put in multiple flagstone paths, dry river bed w/bridge, layed bolders etc. I can't wait until I'm done and I can sit back and relax... hopefully by the end of April.

Gaa! So I gets there, head to the first planting area, scrape away the woodchip mulch from the first spot, and.......frozen ground! Dern it all. I knew this might happen, but there has been so much heavy rain, I thought the frost would be gone.

I did find that in another area, the soil was workable under the mulch, so I did get a few in the ground. Twenty red pine in the highest and sandiest section of the property. My forester buddy once said my land is "too good for red pine". I get what he's saying, as this species will do well on pure sand, and most of my property is a much richer sandy/clay/loam sort of thing. But I wanted a few of these giant reddish-pink gleaming trunks in the future scene, so red pine it is.

Next up,larch, N. spruce and white pine........and today we have rain/snow.

+oM

Tom and all;
do you have any rough idea of when N. spruce seedlings should emerge in my area?
(I'm in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, cusp of zone 7/8).

Josh

Sorry josh...no idea. Are there many P. abies in your neck o the woods?

+oM

There is no magic temperature for breaking dormancy. There is a chilling requirement (x number of hours below x degrees) to go into full dormancy, and there is a requirement of x hours above a temperature threshhold to break dormancy.