I have routinely dug up small seedling cedars 1-12" tall from the wild and transplanted them into pots in the middle of summer. As long as they are watered every other day and kept in partial sun I have seen about 80% survival. If you can water them ever other day for a while and erect a partial shade then you should be able to plant them out now. If not pot them in ~ 5 gal. pot and locate it in partial shade. Use whatever native soil you have, they are not picky. My $.02 worth. (When mine have grown to about 18" I plant them out).

Thank you Scotjute, apparently the cedars I ordered have been growing in pots but will be bare root when shipped out. I made the same mistake last year by buying Dawn Redwoods to late into the planting season. I took the advice from members on here and planted them in some potting medium and placed them in my garage. I was glad to see both of them survived and have been planted in my yard since early April thriving.

Unfortunately I'm going to plant them in my backyard facing southward and there is no shade in that current location. I can water them every other day though and not let them dry out throughout the rest of the growing season if I can plant them now. Would you recommending adding at least 20% compost mixture to my soil? I have hard Indiana clay soil.

i really hate that you are plating this invasive weed ... though it is native in some areas .. where are you???

but that said... you could probably throw them.. bare root on the driveway for the rest of summer.. the wind would blow them to the edge.. and they would root in.. and live ...

i too .. prior to knowing better... literally ripped one footer from the sand in august.. and planted them elsewhere.. and forgot to water them ... and they lived ... who needs a shovel... lol ... well i did.. to dig the new hole ...

there are much better conifers for any project... and they are not expensive when bought at that size... see link.. as an example of what is available ...

but do try to plant in the proper season .... it just make success.. so much easier ....

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Success rates are lower in the summer, but if you water it enough it should be fine. A couple times a week should be fine, maybe more in heat waves. You could use a tarp to shade it during heat waves,. Don't listen to Ken, he's knowledgeable but he is an exotic conifer snob. Serious gardners who know what they are doing and enjoy it sometimes undervalue plants that need little care. Eastern red cedar are North American natives, tough trees, and birds like them. Plus they make good privacy screens.

I wouldn't put it in a put it in a pot...I hear young trees can develop tap roots that make transplanting difficult.

Thanks Ken & Ed. I understand that there is a strong hatred for invasive native trees but I honestly love the Red Cedars. I've been wanting to plant some for some time now and the opportunity arose this week to buy some. I have other spruces and specimen conifers planted but I still like to have a wide variety of plants/trees. Thanks for the information, I greatly appreciate it.

Edit: spelling

This post was edited by Cal_00 on Fri, Jun 27, 14 at 14:27

Hi Cal_00, The mistake that you made was ordering from someone who ships bareroot trees in the Summer. What's to keep the plants from "cooking" during shipment? Do they have new growth on them, what's to keep it from turning brown? Let's hope you do not get plants that were held in cold storage for the past 6 months.
ERC is not an expensive item, they are commonly marketed for conservation plantings. Next time go to your local Indiana plant sale and buy them direct from the grower.
I have the solution for the poster who thinks that ERC is not pretty enough. Simply go to the local crafts store, buy some large, pink ribbons & bows and tie them onto his/her ERCs, problem solved.
Only a novice, inexperienced, noobie calls ERC a weed.

Here is a link that might be useful: Trees Forum Post