Dig some holes somewhere at the edge of the yard and bury the pots in the ground for the winter. Surround them with some wood mulch if you deem that necessary.

eta: provide varmint protection if applicable.

I thought about that, someone else mentioned it to me earlier in the year with some other plants. The issue there is that I can't think of anywhere that won't be in the way :-/

My biggest empty area is full of tree stumps. I hired a company to come and grind them, but they keep delaying so I honestly don't know when to expect them. I'd be afraid that they would come in and drive over the new trees, and with all of the live roots I'm really not sure that I could dig a big enough hole anyway.

The area where I actually want to the plant the trees would be the next best spot. But I'm hoping to have several wild trees in that section taken down this Winter, and there's only one direction for them to safely fall so I have to avoid that whole area. That eliminates a whole 60' diameter!

That leads me to the back yard, but I just sowed grass and hate to mess it up with a bunch of big holes.

Seriously, every time I find a spot, I have to rule it out for some reason :-/

Can you get hold of some straw or hay bales? If so, group the trees tightly together in a somewhat sheltered location away from any heavy rainfall and surround them with the bales. I'd use some loose straw as a mulch over the tops as well.

'The issue there is that I can't think of anywhere that won't be in the way :-/'

wait...wait wait wait. Aren't you the same guy that just posted pictures of a huge, empty yard surrounded by woods?

https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/6316468/new-layout-for-several-deciduous-trees#n=3

You won't need to worry about sunlight, the trees will be dormant soon, so even if back in the wooded area, it shouldn't be a problem. Actually, along the edge of the woods was my thinking.

:-) It's only half a dozen trees we're talking about.

Get some mulch or sand/sandy soil together, bury the pots in that. Cover the tops as well as the sides so hard frost cannot immediately penetrate from any direction. Pull this arrangement apart as soon as frost is over in spring, get them into their permanent planting sites promptly - trees left sitting in pots start to deteriorate as soon as root growth exceeds the space available within the container*, the potting medium starts to become broken down. And plants of any type left in place long enough to root into soil around or beneath containers will start to shift the young and vigorous portion of the root system to outside of the pot.

*60% of annual total of increase in root length occurs in autumn, after overwintering buds have been set at stem ends

wait...wait wait wait. Aren't you the same guy that just posted pictures of a huge, empty yard surrounded by woods?

Not sure why you're trying to call me out?

I have several trees against the driveway that are blocking sun from the drive, so when it snows or ices this area stays frozen for WEEKS. Which means that, while everyone else is out in a day or two, I'm usually stuck for awhile.

The guy that dropped the tree on my house was supposed to remove these trees next, but of course I'll never see him again. Then I hired another guy, but he got COVID and has been down for the last 2 weeks.

This is the biggest:

It's actually a beech and an oak intertwined. When he takes them down he'll have to pull with a rope to keep it from landing on the paved driveway, so it will land somewhere in the vicinity of where I've drawn a black line in that picture.

The pic is misleading, it would land probably 75' away from the house.

But since I can't be entirely sure where it will land, that whole diameter is off limits.

'Not sure why you're trying to call me out?'

I wasn't 'calling you out'.

And I didn't understand that you had so many trees left to fall that there was absolutely no place that you could winter 5 or 6 potted trees. You could cordon off a 6'x6' patch somewhere, it's nbd.

You'll figure it out.

Bill

Edit to add: Jason, I've been fighting covid for last 2 weeks, so I'm taking myself out of this discussion, and most others, at least for a while.

I feel your pain, Bill. My dad got COVID last year, and about a month later he collapsed and was in ICU! Then in July his heart stopped, and they determined that COVID had scarred his lungs up so badly that he was in stage 4 pulmonary fibrosis. He's been in Hospice ever since.

People act like it's over, but it's definitely not. The number of cases are down, sure, but the severity hasn't changed. I sincerely hope you feel better, and soon!

But anyway, back to the trees.

Another issue I have is that a lot of trees were cut down in the back yard, too, and left laying. I've posted to give away the wood for free if someone comes to get it, but that means that they have to drive around the perimeter of the yard to get to the back. So that means that the whole Western side of the yard is off limits, too.

@Embothrium, the only area that I can safely do that would be in full shade now, but it might be part shade over the Winter. The sun is completely blocked by a large oak tree, but once the leaves are gone then it will at least get dappled sun. What do you think, would that be OK?