You think I should plant them while it's raining, hard? I would be dealing with nothing but muddy topsoil, and getting soaking wet.

Why do you want to keep them in the house? They can at least get used to your temperature outside. Or on the porch if it’s also supposed to be really windy.

What about just dropping them in the holes and then filling in the holes Sunday morning?

Although they should be fine sitting in the house to. The risk of putting trees in the house is you may "wake them up" too early, but I should think arborvitae would be out of dormancy by May anyway.

I just planted them, all of them. It was pretty much only drizzling outside, so I went ahead and did what needed to be done. It started raining pretty good on the last one though, but because I was a sweaty mess, the rain felt amazing...

I can't believe it, but all of them had circling roots in their pots! The roots were SO delicate though, that they were effortless to loosen. For 6 inch tall trees, the roots were HUGE! The roots were easily twice, maybe 3 times as long as their height. In fact, I had to wide all of our holes to accommodate them. That was definitely the worst part of the planting.

Their little trunks are thick, too. Very impressive...I have mulch, but I didn't mulch them, figuring that can wait til Sunday. Besides, I may have to add more topsoil once we get our 2 inches of rain...

I hate that this was a total rush job. :( But I did everything I was supposed to, even though I got sprayed in the face once, and at the very end, on the last plant, I accidentally tipped over a FULL wheelbarrow of topsoil that I had just filled. Admittedly, I screamed the F word, loudly. In 17 years, no neighbor has ever heard me scream, or say the F word, but there is no doubt on this day, through the rain my voice echoed across the lake.

I heard plants like the rain. I just planted three Ironwood in the same rain this morning that came your way. I was working with a sandy loam though so it can be easy to work with in light rain.

Perfect timing imo. Good soaking rain insures everything got watered. And nothing better than rain water. Roots will be settled in with soaking rain. All that's left is level out the dirt and add mulch and with precipitation chances higher this time of year and less heat to deal with, plants will have a chance to get established. Congrats on the project completion! ;-)

Will it be okay to keep them in the house?

==>> never.. they are not houseplants ...

and depending on where they came from ... and whether they were in a greenhouse.. i would have hardened them off to location ... temps .. and sun ... before i planted them ... but dont worry about all that ....

that minor issue aside.. i agree that planting in rain .. or when there is a few cloudy days.. cool.. etc.. were all on the plus side ...

ken

Hi Ken. I planted them right away, within an hour of writing my initial post. It was raining hard that day, and for the next 4 days it was nothing but clouds and rain, so it worked out perfectly.

I watered them for the first time yesterday, since we had hot temperatures, and the soil was getting dry. My sandy soil dries really quickly. It's amazing! Anyway, my trees look ecstatic in their new homes. There's no sign of any transplant shock or anything.....My husband says they're so small they look more like heads of cabbage, than trees. lol