I usually "rootwash" small container stock (band pot to 1 gal size, sometimes up to #5) if I am planting during the dormant season - esp. early spring. I'll also do it in fall even if there are still leaves, as long as the weather is cool (mid-Oct or later here) since by then the plant is essentially "ready" for dormancy, even if leaves haven't fallen just yet...slightly premature leaf loss is usually trivial in my experience. Sometimes I avoid it if the roots are very dense and fibrous, since it's hard to fill in the soil, but for fleshy rooted plants it works well. Larger plants it's possible, but harder without a second person there to help stabilize the tree as you fill it in. I usually shake gently and let clumps remain - if there are a few feeder roots in a nice clump I don't necessarily take off the media if nothing appears dead, crisscrossed, or circling in that particular clump. I find that, among other things it accomplishes the following: 1. Better contact with native soil. No "interface" issues (the small clumps of potting media notwithstanding, but they're usually small enough to not pose an issue, and in fact help prevent root dessication/damage to feeder roots). 2. Better anchorage. Once the soil settles in (which should be ASAP if you water properly) the tree is nearly as well-anchored as it would have been if grown on-site. No "ball and socket" issues that you get with both container and B&B that keeps original soil/media intact. 3. Examine and correct root deformities. Many times, circling and potentially-girdling roots can be un-circled and straighened out. Even if not, it's easier to get a good, accurate cut to remove roots that are beyond repair. 4. Less water needed. At first, this isn't so true, but with container stock, you have to water copiously until enough rootws have grown out into your native soil (which is 99% of the time far more moisture-retentive than typical container media). If you bare-root first, your native soil IS where the roots lie, so you only have to really water enough to keep the area just moist. Slightly moister than an established plant, since the plant does still have to regenerate some of the fine feeder roots and root hairs, but not as much as a container-grown plant, which has most of the roots still within the container medium for quite a while. Even compared to B&B, since more roots are usually preserved vs. B&B, you could get away with slightly less watering after the first month or two. This post was edited by hairmetal4ever on Wed, Apr 23, 14 at 13:28

Wow! What a wonderful picture! To be that close!! I am nervous about this dispatching business. I have lost nests with eggs every year. I always thought it was a cat, until I started doing some research on here.... I have many pairs of bluebirds that come to my feeder for mealworms, but they are beaten out of the housing market every day by the sparrows. I saw in the one post that someone recommended to you to set your trap at dusk, so I just went out there and pulled some of the nest thru the hole, so it looked disturbed. The sparrows come and sit on top, but they haven't gone in. It's only been a couple hours, though. I don't have a mesh laundry bag. I don't know what I'm going to do. I will have to be ready. Can you believe all we go thru for these bluebirds!

Yesterday afternoon I discovered them making a nest in the hay loft. There is no way for me to get up to those rafters safely and my husband is away. I read on Sialis that some people have luck catching one in a small have-a-hart trap. So I set one up on the shelf in the stall that they hang out in. With any luck I will get one of them and then I can reset it. I am so frustrated by these destructive birds. There are only two right now and they seem to be running my life! I am deeply concerned about the mama Phoebe sitting on her clutch in the stall next door.

I had a lady blue get trapped in a HOSP trap house too. They were already nesting with one egg in another house so I didn't think it was a problem. After I released her, I beleive she left my area. My male called and called for three days. I don't think your lady blue will go back there. I THINK another female showed up and did some building on their nest with one egg. That egg disappeared after a few days of her reworking the nest? Now she has four new eggs and is incubating. I like the hole reducing idea.. will get one for my trap house so this doesn't happen again.