Thank you Lucy. The planting site fits your description. The nursery that is planting it said that it will be a few inches above ground level and the hole will not be much larger then the root ball. I think that sounds OK especially because the surrounding soil is pretty good and I do expect some settling because of old Cherry tree roots that are breaking down. He did mention leaving on the wire basket. I mentioned cutting back the wire in areas where roots could (down the road) become girdled. Should I have him remove the basket, or will that disturb the roots too much? Do you think I should stake it for the first year? I am not sure how much wind moves through that area. I'll check it out next windy day. Is there anything else I should be thinking about? Thank you in advance. Ally

I think you are expecting too much from your plant. First, you do not want to be taking out new growth until probably the next year (or at least wait until fall if it's shooting in the spring). Second, when you do make a division, you want to be able to take a decent size rootball; depending on the species this could be any size from large grapefruit, to basketball, to even larger for bigger bamboo). It's hard to tell about amount of root growth without probing the ground or digging. Usually it's not a problem for me since I only take out something that's obviously well-established and well leafed-out. Lastly, you don't want to be taking divisions when a plant is shooting or about to shoot.

I think it depends on how available you'll be to stop in and check on things once the kids are back in school and you're back to work. If your fall schedule is such that you'll be out of the house and an hour away before the contractor gets there, and not home until after he's gone, I don't think I'd wait until fall. If it were me, I'd want to do it during the summer, while I'm around to keep an eye on things and make quick decisions when presented with them. But I'm a bit of a control freak. Also, I don't know the scope of your work, but it shouldn't be as noisy as, say, framing and roofing a new build. There will be noise with demo, and with whatever small amount of carpentry and drywall has to be done. The noisiest will likely be the tile saw, but you might be able to have that set up outside.

Q: if you are planting it between two trees, how far apart are those trees? And what kind? A: they aren't evergreen trees so technically the whole view won't be blocked in the winter so I guess I don't need this to be an evergreen. I don't know what types but would people here be able to identify them if I took pictures of the leaves? Also, do you want the distance between the trunks or the branches? I estimate the largest hole/gap when the trees are in full bloom to be about 10 feet apart (that's one branch tip to the other) abd it decressss higher than that (maybe 20' above ground). I can measure trunk distance if that helps Q: Ken is right, if you have the space Norway Spruce is among the fastest growing evergreens that resists wind and snow load,. A: how much space would I need? Q: White pine is usually not great as a privacy screen because it loses lower branches...but if you are trying to screen a (presumably second story) bedroom window, that wouldn't be a problem. And it grows pretty fast. A: I have an 8' fence and yes second story bedroom, so the bottom branches aren't a problem....how tall would the tree likely have to reach before the branches are all gone below, maybe, 10'? I'm guessing many decades if not longer?! Q: Was 40-50 feet your intended eventual height or the size you expect the tree will be when they deliver It? A: just suggesting how tall other trees are currently in the same space, and that would be a max height for me to target for this tree after a few decades. I'm trying to buy this tree at a lower cost so I'd guess a small tree is what I'd need to purchase, right? Q: Watch out for trees that have been left in pots too long and have girdling roots, though. A: how can I check for this please? thank you!!