dig the permanent holes now... throw in a garbage bag of leaves from the curb.... store the dug out soil in a place where it will NOT freeze solid ...

after 1/1 ... de-pot ... spread roots.. put in soil half way .. water if NO CHANCE of immediate freeze ... refill hole... use leaves as mulch ...

then pray ....

if the soil freezes .. before 1/1... just put the potted plant into the hole.. and jam the leaves in there.. and plant them in spring.. as soon as the soil thaws ...

pots in winter can be very problematic with winter sun heating the pot.. and it refreezing at night.. and winter winds drying it out.. by protecting it in the ground.. you reduce all that risk ...

do not freeze the roots into an ice cube ....

store the receipt in a good spot in case of total failure ....

ken

Thanks Ken, great advise as always.

I do have a couple ~4x8' raised beds (about 12" tall) ... one which is 70% full of good soil for a 'summer only' garden. I could throw the pots in there, if you think it wise to, then try and plant them in the spring (Apr, May) instead.

I don't really have enough leaves available to me to do as you suggest ... I just have a big compost pile (mostly grass + brown matter) in one of the two raised beds ... and the other was my garden as already mentioned. I was trying to create some compost and also have a place to dispose of my excess grass clippings.

Does this additional information change your reccomendations?

Do I need to be weary about watering the (potted) trees from now till 1/1 ? Should I just try to avoide watering before a period of freezing temps? I did water them on Saturday when I brought them home ... and it will probably become freezing temps tonight ... and for a few days this week.

Thx,
Scott

i find it hard to believe that you cant find someone in the neighborhood that doesn't have a hundred of them at the curb ... but maybe CO is different than here ....

regardless... the idea is simply to cover the pot.. so sunshine cant warm it .... as far as i am concerned.. cold is not an issue ... the issue is repeated thawing during the day .. and re-freezing at night .... over and over again all winter long ...

here in MI.. we are famous for 3 to 5 days of 60 degree weather in February .... a black pot in the sun during such time.. could hit 80 i bet ... and be back to 20 at night ... that sure doesn't sound good for roots to me ...

the pot should never dry out ... but should never have enough water to turn into an ice cube .... i don't know what more to tell you ... here in MI.. with 40's the norm .. the pots just aren't drying out that fast ... insert finger and water if dry ... avoid over watering ...

are the pots 12 inches??? .... if higher.. just mound some soil to hide the pot ....

another alternative.. is to just put them on the north side of the house... to avoid all sun ... unless prevailing winds are howling on that side ...

there are so many ways to avoid thawing of the pot.. i am sure you can figure out alternatives ... and that it will be there consistently all winter????

good luck
ken

PS: 2 feet of snow.. makes all protection issues just about moot ... but can we be sure you will get snow cover???? .. and that it will stay there all winter ....

PPS: a few bails of straw .... bunch the plants together.. and put the straw around them ... bales intact ..... instant wind/sun break on the pots.. so many options ....

Well, I live in a newer area ... and there really aren't any trees sizeable enough to produce many leaves. I have over 50 trees planted on my property, but they dropped their leaves and the leaves just blow away ... to Kansas? I wouldn't have enough to fill a grocery bag right now.

Last winter, I did have 2-6' drifts of snow that lasted from mid December till almost April. That was unusual.

I have a spot on the North side of the house which gets drifting snow and almost always gets up to the top of the 5' fence in certain spots. Strong winds are also common, almost no getting away from them here. The wind will blow down a large hillside and the snow runs into my 5' fence, and goes down the 180' lenght, then forms large snow dunes in the final 20-30' ... some last year were 8' tall after the blizzards were done.

I guess I'll just try to bury the pots in my raised beds and mound them with surrounding dirt, to keep the sun from heating them up. THen I'll try planting them in May. Last year, I got 13" of snow on May 20th, but I'm hoping that wasn't normal.

Thanks for the useful advice.

Yes, they are in 12" pots.

Currently, I have the pots inside another pot, so they are somewhat sheltered from the sun.

We have had a few days where it gets up to the high 50's ... and perhaps a couple 60's is certainly possible. For the next couple weeks, 30's and 40's only ... around 20's at night -- but your concern about the pots heating up seems to be a valid one here.

I am trying to decide if planting in the final destination (digging holes now) makes the most sense, or if putting these into my raised beds (surrounded by dirt) till spring ... makes sense.

I've read that someone locally has some small ponderosa pines for sale ... and he mentioned they are 'dormant' ... but does a pine tree really ever go dormant? It planting in the winter an option?

I'm just trying to see how these living Christmas trees really work out ... in Colorado. They are very beautiful outside my house right now. I have one strand of lights on each of them ... and they seeem to be doing well. They are getting snowed on about weekly. I have packed some extra snow into the outer pot and also put some extra snow on top of the soil, for moisture.

Thanks,
Scott

in my z 5.. picea pungens are pretty bullet proof....

the ONLY way i can see .. to answer every question you have .... since you have 4 ... is to experiment ...

plant two permanently after xmas... one in the veggie patch .. and one on the north side of a building.. with no further effort ..

see what happens...

i doubt you paid the retirement for them.. lol ... i bet they all live ... they dont care about the weather like you seem too ... just keep the pots/roots dormant ...

good luck

ken

Thanks Ken. Your probably right, they are really tough.

My garden bed is on the North side of the house, partially shaded ... but the wind can be bad at times. Even though I don't really have hardly any snow on my property, this area has about 4-5" of permenant snow accumulated already. It probably won't melt unless I get 5-6 days or really nice weather in a row.

Some people around here have told me that as long as they can dig the hole, they will plant trees year round. This is coming from a landscaper type who also sells trees.

I suspect I might be able to still dig a couple holes -- I like your ideas and frankness.

Thx,
Scott

Just a brief update on these 4 trees.

I wintered them over in my raise bed which was mostly full of grass clippings and composted materials.

I planted them this year beginning in mid to late april. Last snowfall was approx. May 10 ... and they are all doing well. Of course the ones I planted first have totally flushed out and the ones planted most recently are just doing that now. I had them out in the front of the house as (lighted) Christmas trees between December and mid January.

So all in all, I'm vary happy as all of these trees are healthy and experiencing lots of growth in their new homes.
THey were busting out of those pots.

I will post some pictures of them soon.