Newbie needs help-trees arrived too soon!

I couldn't believe it today when my mailperson set a tall box in my breezeway, and it contained 3 Buckeye trees, and 1 paw-paw! Seller confusion-will make good, etc., HOWEVER I have no clue what to do now, and neither does he. (He's in a zone where they could be planted now) They are beautiful 3 ft. trees with good-sized rootballs, dormant, with buds.

I'm at a loss as how to proceed. There is no way I can safely get them in the ground prior to April or May. Right now they are in the moist plastic bags (with moss around the root balls) that they came in, in my enclosed breezeway where it is around 60 deg. I know that is too warm, but the garage is 32. I do have access to a friend's basement.

ANY help, recommendations MUCH appreciated!

The basement, in the dark, if it's cool enough to keep them dormant (in the low 40s or upper 30s). Otherwise, I'd take my chances with them in your garage, on an inside (house) wall. On days with temps above freezing, put them outside, still with roots in moss and bags, but the tops open to the air, out of the sun. Bring in at night if temps get below freezing. If possible, heel them in with leaves or topsoil if any unfrozen is available. Otherwise, just keep them wrapped so they don't dry out and in cool but not freezing temps anywhere you can find them (garage, basement, but best outside in the shade). They will last for weeks this way, until you can heel them in, and eventually plant them.

Thanks so much. I really want them-for a little park project in our village (pop. 380) and don't want to lose them. Was so worried about them breaking dormancy too early. My garage is seperated from house by an unheated enclosed breezeway so it doesn't maintain ANY temp except outside, right now 32. I could move them tomorrow to my friend's basement which seems the range you mentioned.

However, when you say heel them in, do you mean if I provided topsoil, and or compost/mulch on top of frozen soil-like 18 to 36 inch above frozen ground I could keep them outside? I would be more than willing to do this near their permanent 'residence' if it would work. like a temporary raised bed for a couple months? I'm assuming you mean that as long as the rootball doesn't totally freeze they would remain dormant, and then later in the spring I could move them to permanent positions? If so, I know I could get help doing this since this is a local community project, and I can easily get a'work force' of 10-15 to construct the beds.

Would this make sense?

You've got it understood exactly. "Heeling in" just means (basically) to keep the root ball buried and the tops sticking out so that the trees don't break dormancy. You can do this on top of frozen soil. Just pile up a foot or so of not frozen soil, mulch, leaves, etc. Probably the easiest obtained would be a couple bags of mulch. Exactly like a small raised bed. It might even freeze, but that's OK. I would loosen or even take off the plastic bags. Later, if the trees start breaking bud before you can plant them, go ahead and pot them up temporarily, and plant them when you're ready, although it would be best to plant them as soon as possible.

Good luck! Let me know how it works out.

I would pot them up if at all possible. Then you won't have to worry about deadlines and if you had to you could even wait till fall to plant them. I think they would probably be OK outside after potting them. I do a lot of mine like that and they make it fine. But it is a risk.

I would pot them in a 5 gal bucket or rubber maid tub.
Put them outside on 'decent' days so they can get air. Leave them in the garage the rest of the time.
I don't think they will be hurt. We have trees all the time that make buds or start to flower and then get froze when the temp drops too late in the year. It won't hurt the tree in the long run.
If you have a dolly or a two wheel you can move them easily after they are potted, they will be heavy.

Hope your little trees are doing well wherever their temporary home is. The same thing happened to me, received bare root trees in February, even on the Eastern Shore the ground is frozen. They where very tiny and I lost them all. Have since purchased from the same company (everyone says to order only potted plants, and they have done beautifully. You seemed pleased with the products when they were received, I didn't see a post on the Watchdog, so was wondering where you purchased them.

Thank you all so much for your feedback. After HoosierGreen's feedback, I went ahead and heeled them in outside after unfreezing mulch from the local nursery. The guy who loaded the mulch for me-this was in the middle of a massive snowstorm-looked at us like we werer nuts. Took a-a couple days to thaw the mulch. Right now they look no worse for wear, or outside exposure. The taproots were so large I don't think I could have afforded a pot big enough to plant them in. The prices were so very reasonable, that I decided that it's a blessing if they do well, and if they don't, I can replace them. I would puirchase from this vendor again in a minute. As I stated earlier, it was my fault, not his, that they came so early.

The vendor is fastwarrior350, on EBay. I found him through a link on DG. (Long time vendor with very positive feedback) Great communication and beautiful stock.. I also ordered some trillium and bloodroot (bareroot) which are in a basement space. The roots are healthy looking and I'm looking forward to putting them in the ground. in several months. I would definitely purchase from this vendor again.

Appreciate all the shared info.........you all are great!

Appreciate all the feedback. Will pot immediately if they start to break dormancy, but have my fingers crossed that they wil 'break out' in late April or May.

Thans again!!!

One of the nursery owners who is also a professor at the university here says if the ground is not frozen, you can plant trees and shrubs any time. Your ground is probably still frozen.

clpgirl said:
"The vendor is fastwarrior350, on EBay. I found him through a link on DG. (Long time vendor with very positive feedback) Great communication and beautiful stock.. I also ordered some trillium and bloodroot (bareroot) which are in a basement space. The roots are healthy looking and I'm looking forward to putting them in the ground. in several months. I would definitely purchase from this vendor again."

What a coincidence! I received my plants from fastwarrior today. I also bought bloodroot and trilliums. Plus some Euonymus americanus. The plants were excellent!