i hope you have a warranty ... it doesn't sound good ... i don't think your watering it had any impact.. but i would caution you. that snow is water.. and if it melted so you could water ... there probably wasn't any need to water ... follow me?? if you had inserted your finger a couple inches.. you probably would have discovered how wet it was ... you also don't mention whether it was ball and burlap or potted.. which can also be B&B .... odds are.. it was poorly dug ... and being of such large size .... it just didn't have the root system it needed to survive... i doubt you would find an 8 footer that wasn't field grown and dug for transplant ... one other thing with conifers... being evergreen .. i swear they can be dead for a year ... before they actually dessicate in the cold dry winter ... so there is a good chance it may have been near death late last fall .. i would suggest you go with a smaller replacement ... it might not make the instant gratification you wish .. but a 4 foot tree will get re-established faster and end up out growing a larger transplant .. follow up on your warranty ... good luck ken PS: what do the buds look like???? hard and firm... it might still survive.. mushy ... they are rotting.. and will not sprout ...

Margo, I'm not an expert on this topic but I'll share some thoughts on how I grow bare root seedlings. Others on this list will likely have different methods. First, I figure out the placement of the seedlings. If you are planting them in their permanent home keep in mind the mature size the trees will become, how exposed they will be to winter weather, and how you can provide them with water. Next I dig a planting hole the same depth the seedlings were previously growing in. You can usually tell this by the coloration of the root collar just above the roots themselves. When digging the hole I make it two or three times as wide as the seedling roots, taking care to loosen and score the soil around the edge of the hole. This will allow the roots to spread easily into surrounding soil. Some people prefer to amend the soil with compost or fertilizers when planting. Personally I don't add anything to the soil as recommended by several members of this list, but that's your choice. Once the hole is ready, carefully place the seedling in the hole and gently untangle and spread out the roots. Then backfill the soil up to the root collar line. I press the soil with my hands around the seedling to reduce any large air pockets. I water the seedling thoroughly, making sure the water gets down to the root area. Finally, add a couple inches of mulch over the planting hole. This will help conserve moisture in the planting hole, reduce weeds, and also keep the roots cool. Keep the mulch from touching the main trunk of the seedling. For newly planted seedlings I try to keep the soil moist or slightly damp under the mulch but not soaking wet. Too much water is as bad as too little water. Seedlings need some soil moisture to become established but as they say on the list, conifers generally don't like wet feet either. Much also depends on the type of soil you have, how fast water drains, and how hot and dry the summer weather is. You'll have to check the soil every few days, especially during hot weather. So that's how I grow seedlings. It sounds complicated by once you get the feel for it, the process is fairly simple. HTH, Dave

Maybe there is something I can add that can be helpful. I said I never used any "heavy transplants," but one time I did buy ten, I think, and here is the best way to plant them. Obviously you can't use the method I described earlier for the seedlings, because the roots are heavy and are firm and radially arranged. With my seedling method I never remove the soil from the hole, but with transplants you must. Here is what I would do if you want to do transplants again. Get a couple or three of those 3 or 5 gallon containers that trees come in and have them handy. When you dig the hole, save the soil in these containers, the best topsoil in one or two, and any poorer soil from deep in the hole, if these is any, in a separate one. Break up the clods, remove rocks, etc. This way you don't lose a bit of soil and can work it better. Now comes the tricky part--arranging the roots in a spread out position but at least some reaching down as far as they will go in the hole. Now you add soil (use the best soil first) from the bottom up and try to press it firmly around the roots and between the roots as you fill up the hole. You have the hold the tree in place with one hand and fill with the other--this can be tedious. I find the handle of a trowel can reach between the roots to help press the soil. As you do this you will have a tendency to push the tree further down in the hole--pressing the soil to get it firm can cause you to push the tree down also. If you don't press the soil too tight to begin with, you can pull the tree up a little from time to time as you are filling the hole and surrounding the roots with soil. When you are done and feel the soil may be a little too loose, you can press inward and down from the sides of your planting hole. But don't stamp it really hard--just firmly. If the tree is a little lower than you planned, you can just scoop the soil away from the trunk so you don't bury the base of the tree deeper than it was where it was grown. If the tree sits in a little depresion of an inch or two when you are finished, that is OK--it will just make watering easy. If any soil is left over, which should be the poorer soil, use it to make a ring around the tree a foot or so away to hold the water when you water the tree. I said I could plant up to 20 trees an hour using my seedling method. Planting heavy transplants like I describe here will probably take at least 15 to 20 minutes each. But it will be worth it--I doubt you will lose any. And for these transplants, water them at planting time liberally, and afterwards moderately. --Spruce

Strongly suggest the hybrid pitch x loblolly pines. I'm not one for favorties but these may take the cake. They are fairly new to many nurseries. I have planted several hundred seedlings in clay, and they have grown over six feet in just a couple yrs. They also have the cool properties of pitch pine in that they sprout from the trunk. This looks cool and it also allows the trees to continue growing after massive deer damage if it occurs. They have great form as well and are self pruning. These are not much talked about since they haven't been around for long, but I think they will become favorites in many future reforestaton projects (especially in the midwest were loblolly pines and other more southern yellow pines struggle). John