# Is it too late to plant trees in zone 7a?



## ceriano

I'm planning to plant a few sun valley maples. Is it too late in the season to do any planting?


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## varmint65

No, plant them and water well at time of planting. Mulch around root zone well and water once a week until ground freezes. As the temperature gets colder you can reduce the watering frequency to 10-14 days. The soil will remain warmer than the air temps. and the ground won't usually freeze until sometime in December. (late December).

The roots will grow until that deep freeze even though the canopy of tree is dormant. You'll have ~ 7-8 weeks of root growth if you plant now and water appropriately.

If small bare root trees(seedlings), best to hold off until late winter early spring.(Feb-March)to plant.

Regards,

Will


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## Butter

The best time to plant a tree was 30 years ago, the second best time is today!


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## Deadlawn

varmint65 said:


> No, plant them and water well at time of planting. Mulch around root zone well and water once a week until ground freezes. As the temperature gets colder you can reduce the watering frequency to 10-14 days. The soil will remain warmer than the air temps. and the ground won't usually freeze until sometime in December. (late December).
> 
> The roots will grow until that deep freeze even though the canopy of tree is dormant. You'll have ~ 7-8 weeks of root growth if you plant now and water appropriately.
> 
> If small bare root trees(seedlings), best to hold off until late winter early spring.(Feb-March)to plant.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Will


^^^This.^^^

The only thing I would add here is to protect the baby trees from mice and rabbits that will chew the bark and kill the trees. Best to use guards that don't actually come in contact with the trunk so air can circulate. Remove them once the growing season starts in spring. I use these:

https://www.shellt.us/products.html

https://orchardvalleysupply.com/products/shellt-grow-tube


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